Monthly Archives: May 2020

New Pattern: Stanwood Shawl

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We might all still be stuck inside, but that doesn’t mean I can’t get excited about bringing you a new pattern!

Introducing: the Stanwood Shawl, in the new collection from Knit Picks, Vivid!

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I’m really pleased with how this one turned out!  It’s a lovely, squishy, garter-stitch scarf/shawl hybrid that features contrasting stripes along one edge and short-row points.  It features a slightly curved shape, which lets it settle gently around the shoulders.  And, best of all I love the way it lets you play with color.  Mix and match your favorite 3 (or more!) skeins of sock yarn, and see how they play together.  Fun!

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Plus, it’s nice and long.  If you’re more of a scarf person than a shawl person- it’s perfect!

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(Also, I gotta say, Knit Picks have some fun, bright designs in this collection.  Definitely check it out!)

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Head over and grab a copy of the Stanwood Shawl here!

Lessons

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I have finished my weaving project, and I’m pleased to report that everything went a lot more smoothly once I had my loom warped correctly (and the 2-year-old was napping).

I’m pretty pleased with how the fabric turned out.  I used a mystery teal wool (maybe Cascade 220?) for the warp and some beige-y Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud DK for the weft.  The finished project (I guess it’s a scarf) is lovely and drape-y and soft.  It’s probably not the color combo I would have reached for in an ideal world, but it’s pretty enough, and used up yarn that has been sitting in my stash since (probably) the last decade.

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However, this process had taught me a few things:

  1. READ THE INSTRUCTIONS.  Still kicking myself about the warp situation.  (I’m not going to read the instructions next time.)
  2. Weaving goes so much faster than knitting!  I made a whole scarf in, like 2 days.
  3. Weaving burns through yarn so much faster than knitting!  I used up 3 whole skeins (sure, 2 of them were fairly small, but still!).  Definitely something to think about when trying to downsize my stash!
  4. I really like the edging stitch/tassel combo on this one.  I’ve never done an edging stitch before, and like how it turned out.  It was real satisfying, and made the scarf look nice and professional (unlike the rest of the piece).IMG_2888
  5. I’m not great at weaving.  Like, I know the basics and was able to make a chunk of fabric, but it’s certainly not even row-to-row, and it has a weird curve to the left.  My current guess is that I did something funky (obviously) when warping, and made the yarn too tight on one side.IMG_2897
  6. I realized that I don’t really know what to do with woven fabric (other than make scarves).  I mean… table runners (scarves for furniture), place mats (short scarves for furniture), coasters (tiny scarves for furniture), and bookmarks (even tinier scarves, but for books), but other than that… I’m not sure.  Can you cut this kind of woven fabric and sew it?  Would it fall apart?  Any ideas or resources would be greatly appreciated!

Well, it was a fun little project, and definitely something I need more practice with.  I should go digging in my stash to find more forgotten yarn.  Maybe everyone gets woven scarves for Christmas this year…

Have you tried any new projects during lockdown?

And now for something completely different

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I’ve reached the part of quarantine where I decide that warping a loom with the “help” of a 2-year-old is a good idea.

It is not a good idea.

Especially when the last time you warped a loom was maybe 4 years ago (I’m honestly not sure).

I thought I had the right idea, kind of glanced at the pictures in the instruction book, and barreled ahead while the kid was being as non-destructive as possible.

Anyway, here’s “Warping a Loom: A photo essay.”

  1.  I was feeling cocky- I had done it!  I remembered what to do, and had managed to do it with my toddler in the room with me!  Isn’t he cute!  Isn’t the loom lovely!IMG_2857
  2. Oh no!  I just realized the yarn on the left side of the loom (in the picture) is supposed to go over the big bar, not under it.  (Note: I’m sure there’s a name for the bar on the left side of the loom, but as has been established, I didn’t read the instructions, so I have no idea what the name is.)IMG_2858
  3. Panic.  I really don’t want to undo all the knots and threading each bit of yarn through the heddle again, so I decide that the easier thing to do will be to literally take the loom apart and put it back together around the yarn, instead of the other way around.  I dig out this weirdly patriotic screwdriver.IMG_2859
  4. I take the loom apart carefully, with “help” from the kid.  He’s very interested in tools.IMG_2860
  5. I put the loom back together, with more help.  He’s very helpful.IMG_2863
  6. It looks good!  The kid tests it for strength.  Seems OK.IMG_2864
  7. Victory! (Hubris!)IMG_2868
  8. Oh wait…  The yarn is all supposed to be even, now that I fixed the loom!  Why aren’t they even??IMG_2873
  9. Oh.  The warp is supposed to go over the bar on this side too.   Good thing I haven’t put away the screwdriver yet…IMG_2874
  10. Fixed (part 2).  And I’m pretty sure it’s fixed for certain, this time.IMG_2876
  11. Oh yeah… look at those lovely lined-up threads.  And it only took me twice as long as it should have!IMG_2878

The moral of the story: Read the directions, even if you’re sure you know what you’re doing.  (You don’t know what you’re doing.)

Still Sweatering

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I had planned to write today’s post about my Lovenote Sweater that I finished more than a month ago, and that I really love.  Honestly, I’m not sure why I haven’t posted about it yet, other than that I forgot because of *gestures vaguely* all this.  I had really high hopes.  I was going to get dressed in something other than pajama pants, brush my hair, maybe even put on a bit of makeup to hide the stress zits, and have my husband take a couple pictures of me in my (not so) new sweater.

That was earlier this week.  Now, I’m just kinda tired, and don’t feel like it. It just seems like a lot of work to change my outfit.  You get it.

So, instead, I want to share my progress on my Quarantine Sweater.  I’m cruising along, a good 10 inches or so into the body.  I had been thinking about making this sweater cropped, like my Lovenote, but honestly I forgot I was supposed to stop after a couple inches.  So I just kept going.  Now we’re a stripe or two away from a nice long sweater. IMG_2852

I love how the gradient is turning out, though a part of me wishes that I’d gone through the effort to plan it out a little more carefully so that I just did one pass-through for the entire sweater.  And I think it’ll be a good spring-y sweater when it’s done (still, hopefully, in spring).

I’m currently thinking of making it hip length, or longer, but maybe with T-shirt sleeves.  Is that crazy?

(Though, if the sleeves go the way the body’s gone, I’ll probably space out and make them a good 6 inches too long…)