Weave-it!

I've now completed my quest to acquire a couple of these little weaving looms, via eBay in the States. I'm still amazed at how cheaply and quickly things get to the UK from the US by airmail. It makes the world seem very small.

At my spinning group I picked up an old Spring 1996 copy of Spin Off magazine which contains an article describing wistfully, the demise of the Weave-It loom. In the latest issue of Handwoven, there is an article which uses a similar rectangular loom to make a small shoulder bag.

Here are the two looms I successfully bought, sitting on top of the Spin Off article. The 4" wooden one is an older model than the plastic 2" loom.

There is a fabulous website - eloomanation.com - which allows you to download old pattern books for the Weave-it, including patterns for baby clothes, coats and suits, along with afghans and other household items. Check out the blog and links also, for some really advanced uses for the woven squares.

Here are my first squares made with Garnstudio's Vivaldi, a variegated 76% mohair, wool and polyamide mix yarn (rather hairy/itchy) which I bought on sale for £2 a ball at the InterKnit Cafe in Farnham on my recent visit.

I'm planning to make a throw, as large as the amount of yarn allows.


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More Dyeing

On Saturday at my spinning group we had another dyeing day, this time using Indigo and Goldenrod.

The Goldenrod was split into a dye bath of flowers, and a dye bath of leaves and stalks. The indigo was very strong at the first attempt, but then we got dipping and watched the green-to-blue colour-change happen as it hit the oxygen in the air.

Some folk did some over-dyeing on previous skeins that hadn't turned out as expected or liked, and they mostly got greens. Here are some drying outside on the fence:

I dipped some spun merino and some tops into the Indigo, and added some laceweight shetland to each of the Goldenrod pots.


Sue A. from the group brought her husband along in the afternoon - weighed down by a sack of this season's fleeces. As they're moving house, she 'wasn't allowed' to keep them all, so we had a free fall all - 'ooohing' and 'aaahing' and having a good rummage. I chose a grey/brown cream-tipped fleece - of indeterminate breed - to the cries of 'NO WILLPOWER!!'. This will join the two white Poll Dorset shearling fleeces that I already have stashed at home (not to mention the Moorit Shetland in the loft!)

Something tells me I'm going to have to get to work on fleece prep this winter in a serious way. Where are those carders....................?

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My knitting has slowed up a little recently, but this is probably because I have any number of projects on the go at once. I've recently started a very simple baby cardigan for a work colleague:


and have made a hat from my own handspun mystery wool plied with a variegated silk cap:


This looks a bit like a turquoise dumpling, but with the lack of anyone to model it - I had to stuff it with roving to get some sort of head shape.

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I'm slowly getting my plans together for the Knitting and Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace in October. I've bought my bargain basement coach ticket already, and have attempted to book a class and buy my show tickets, but the website is i-n-c-r-e-d-i-b-l-y s-l-o-w. I've got to the payment stage twice now and the whole thing has crashed. At this rate there'll be no courses left to book onto....

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KidSilk Krazy

Yesterday I reached levels of palpable excitement as I read my bulletin from Knitting Daily.

There was a review of a new book release from Interweave - Folk Style by Mags Kandis.

In it, is a Modern Quilt Wrap, and joy of joys, it's knitted in Kidsilk Haze:

Regular readers might remember the Chantal stole by Kim Heargreaves that I crocheted for my Mum in June/July.

There was yarn over from that, but I didn't want to repeat the crochet, so this will be a perfect way to use up my odds and ends. Hurrah! I may have to increase the colours or substitute, cos some of my part-balls are very small.

I've pre-ordered the book from Waterstones, so should get it as soon as it emerges in UK bookshops.




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Jolly Japes and Jewellery

On Friday I played hooky from work and went to the mainland.

First stop - Guildford. Straight to Pandora's in the High St. A great little shop with needlework, patchwork, knitting and craft supplies. Picked up a baby cardigan pattern and these lovely big buttons which had just come into the store:

I'm thinking they'd be great as a handbag closure or on a chunky knit with just one big button.

I picked up a Traditional Knitted Guernsey book in Oxfam - in German! Thank god for Babelfish! It's weird looking at a book all about the history of knitting on the North East Coast of the UK and not being able to read a word of it.

Off to Fibrecrafts for some much needed extra bobbins for my Ashford Trav. Also bought a little fibre in the way of some chambray shaded linen and 100g of bamboo. Bought a couple of skeins of Sari Silk to do a weaving Project that I have in mind - sparked by the latest issue of Handwoven. Not that I have any sort of proper loom or anything.

Next stop was Farnham (major hold up in the roadworks) to visit the Interknit Cafe. Kareen has a fantastic yarn shop, a great atmosphere, and stacked full of unusual yarns, knitting notions, buttons and books. I picked up some bargain shaded Mohair yarn - again for a weaving project, and a few balls of damson-coloured soft merino mix for an autumn scarf.

While I was in the shop I was having a look at Kareen's yarn storage (pic here from her Blog when the shop was being fitted out).

My suspicions were correct - the units are from IKEA.

I'd been toying with the idea of driving over to IKEA at Croydon to pick up a smaller version of one of these units, but was feeling tired. Seeing it in the flesh though, I was convinced enough to make the trip. I'm in dire need of storage for books and craft materials, and this looks just the job.

The unit pictured is 5 x 5 sections. The one I went for is 4 x 4 sections. Not only wouldn't the larger one fit in the car, but I wouldn't have been able to lift the boxes on my own.

A nice man came to the rescue while I was heaving the second of the packs onto the trolley in store, but I had to wrestle it in and out of the car on my own. Let's just say I won't be doing THAT again in a hurry!

Now I need to make enough space at home to lay it all out and build it.

Where's a big strong husband when you need one. Any spare? Send them my way!

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On Sunday I was demonstrating spinning with other members of the Guild at Woolverton Manor Fair. We didn't see as much of the Tudor re-enactment people this year and I missed seeing the dancing in the Great Hall yet again. I was a bit disgruntled with my spinning fibre (Ryeland), but still managed to get a bobbin filled on the Sonata. It's an incredibly springy wool, not something I'm very used to.

We chatted to a lot of different people who's family members had worked in the weaving industry in the North of England. It's really interesting what you find out at the shows we attend.

I had a mini Reflexology session, and my sinuses are much improved since.

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Tuesday I played truant from work again (flexi days are the best) and had a wonderful day at a Guild colleague's cottage where we took a course in Beaded Jewellery.

The cottage used to belong to Lord Tennyson's Estate Manager in Victorian times, and allegedly, Tennyson used to sit on the doorstep and discuss what needed doing around the Estate.

Standing in the footsteps of the author of the Lady of Shalott? Incredible. I used to swoon over pre-Raphaelite images inspired by this poem when I was at Art College.

Here is my finished project from the day - a bracelet with a beaded loop and lobster-claw closure. Fire polished faceted beads and size 11/0 seed beads.

I also started a spiral bracelet and have the beads for another. We were warned. It can be very addictive.

It was a glorious day. Sitting in the garden at lunchtime eating home grown cherry tomatoes, herb bread, profiteroles and lemon drizzle cake; and spending a whole day on a new creative pursuit. Absolute heaven.



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