Precious

Hey! Why isn't there a skein of handspun at the start of this post? Skeins of handspun have become a bit too precious to me. Now that I can spin and photograph yarn in a way that I like, I've inadvertently become afraid of making things with my yarn. This is with good reason - virtually everything I try is disappointing compared to the skein I started with.

Now, before I go further, let me clarify about needing to make things with handspun. It is a minor pet peeve when someone sees my yarn and says, "Oh beautiful! Now what are you going to make with it?" I like my yarn as yarn, and I think of the skein/photo as a finished object. When you see an abstract painting that you like, you don't say, "Oh that's wonderful - now what can I use it for?" If you spin a yarn with the goal of making a beautiful skein, it will probably work better as a skein than as a hat/pillow/whatever. This is fine and I will probably always spin some yarn just to be yarn.

That said, I have fallen into a comfortable rut of just doing things that I know will turn out well and not taking risks. I think giving myself permission to fail and try new things will make my crafting time more fun. (My free time to craft really is the real precious commodity here!)

So I did it. Instead of weaving dishtowels on my latest warp, I took a skein of handspun off the shelf and started weaving. I'm making "yardage" (love that word), which is a fancy way of saying that I'm making cloth to cut up later and I don't have to worry about my selvedges. Here are is a sample pic - I happen to like this part of the fabric, but it doesn't really matter since I am having fun doing this and learning a lot!



Wilbur has a contagious rash (yuck!) and is home from daycare. He constantly begs to go "eye" which is his word for outside. Here he is outside on the weekend, and it is supposed to be nice and warm tomorrow. Hopefully we can get some good "eye" time because I will be home with him while he is out of daycare.

Full Rectangle

Today Weaving Week comes full circle, or full rectangle as the case may be. After my multi-shafting on the new floor loom, I went back the the Cricket to make another scarf. This loom is cute and little and I can weave in my lap. Will even "helped" me weave, although by the time I got a picture he was reaching for the camera. He was very possessive of the weaving shuttle and I think I caught him saying "mine" (while hugging the shuttle) and "no" (when I tried to take the shuttle back) for the first time.





Not sure how long the weaving phase will last, but it's been fun so far. And if you miss the skeins of yarn... rest assured I have still been spinning, too!

Penultimate Weaving Week Post

Yes, there will be some more weaving in this post, but we're almost caught up!

After my dishcloths, I made a swatch (runner?) out of stash alpaca to practice for my real-deal dishtowels (a future project). This pattern says it is a variant of huck, but having not woven huck before, that is meaningless to me. I like the structure, though. Selvedges not great... oh well. On the plus side, warping went much, much better the second time around.



AND THEN I made a mixed warp scarf in straight 2/2 twill. I really enjoy this scarf and have worn it every day during the past week.









We had a rogue oatmeal incident recently. Still investigating to determine the root cause - was it the oatmeal, the spoon, or the Dada? Dunh dunh DUNH!!!!!!!!

Like a Pipe Organ but with Yarn

... And then I got a floor loom. Total impulse buy, but so happy I did it. First time warping? Possibly the most awkward experience of my life. But it was all good after that, and I have many progress shots of my first dishtowels. They turned out super thick (just makes them more absorbent? :) ) and would actually have made good placemats in slightly different dimensions.

You can see on the picture of my foot that the whole point of a floor loom is to use your feet to create the shed that you pass the shuttle through. Kind of like playing pipe organ, but with yarn.

Front (the reed that beats the fabric)


Back (the harnesses that make the shed)


Under (foot treadles that move the harnesses)


Side (w/ floating selvedges)


All done


Wilton got a hair cut last week and it is much lighter closer to the roots. I am calling him blondie, maybe he will end up blonde for awhile after all. Here is another gratuitous clothing shot, this is the sweater from Gran - also seen in this post when it was a lot bigger on him.



Grandparents were here this weekend to have fun. This was the first weekend that Will could put the blocks together. (Shirt also from Gran).



Energetically wrestling with Grandpa while Dada gets a rest in the background.



More wrestling.

New Cousin

We were so excited to get a new cousin this month! I hope that she and Will get to play together some time when she's a little older. I wanted to make a baby blanket as a gift, but the Cricket loom I have is only 10" wide. I ended up making strips and joining them, with help from this article. It was a lot easier than I expected and I was very happy with the result. And it is made from machine washable/dryable yarn, since I'm practical like that.

Clover lounges before the blanket is washed:


After washing, most squooshy blankety goodness ever:


Shot of how the fringe finished:


Mr. YP does a lot of the daily routine with Willerpillar, for which I am grateful. But I do have him Tuesday mornings, since Mr. YP has to get up at 5:45 for clinicals. Here is a morning pic in jammies. I am resigned to the fact that any picture I take has some sort of clutter in the background, at least it is darkened in this one. The clutter is forever accumulating, like a relentless tide. But I'd rather have time for weaving than endless picking up. :)


I got Will dressed in his OPA shirt that morning, the daycare people loved it!


It looks like he is a budding artist here, but actually he still has a lot of trouble holding the crayon in a way that makes a mark.



And finally, here's how a lot of the pictures I take turn out.