Knit Crochet Weave Spin Dye

2009-11-10T12:09:00.003-05:00

We had a full weekend of workshops at WovenArt! Andrea Wong was here on Saturday, to teach us the ins and outs (over and arounds?) of Portuguese style knitting. I personally really enjoyed learning a new way to knit. This is the easiest and fastest way to purl, for sure. While I am not sure that "fast" is an ideal goal for all knitters, it sure will be great for me. Because of the shop, I am constantly knitting shop models, class samples, and, natch, presents! So, for me, fast is good. For others, learning a new way to knit might be beneficial as a way to prevent knitting fatigue, or a way to tease the brain a bit. I love brain work! There are all kinds of studies that prove that new challenges are good for your brain.
This is Andrea, showing two students how to get the correct angle. See the pin? Well, see the yarn, tensioned from the shoulder? It is around a pin.
Here is the pin! A nice view of the knitting pin on Jennifer. What a pretty smile! Thanks for posing, Jennifer!

On Sunday, I taught a full day workshop on Rigid Heddle weaving with two heddles. It took the morning to set up the looms, and the afternoon was devoted playing around with different color and weave variations. I was teaching, and didn't have a chance to take pictures, but if you pop over to Carol's Blog, you can find out more.

Up North Table Runner

2009-09-05T13:15:00.007-05:00

I would like to share with you a project I recently completed on a 15" Flip rigid heddle loom. We have a condo in northern Michigan on Crooked Lake. We are trying to sell the condo. I had this idea that the dining room table needed a little dressing up - to impress prospective buyers. The look I wanted was to have an up-north, rustic feel, with out being too Summery.

I decided on the stripe sequence, and hem stitching instead of a knotted fringe:

Notice in the picture above how open the weave is. Pictured below is the same thing, after washing. It closed up and softened up. Before washing the texture was like a very stiff, thick canvas. After washing it had the perfect floppiness for table runner. Certainly not flimsy - but not the least bit stiff either.

Finally, above is a picture of how it looks on our table. The runner distracts very well from the gouges, crayon marks, and other tragedies of the table's long membership in our clan.

Here are my notes:

Up North Table Runner
Warp and weft yarns: Euroflax light worsted from Louet
Planned Finished length: 96”
Planned Finished Width: 13”

Width in Reed 14.5”
length of warp: 110”

8 e.p.i

total warp ends: 112

Warp color order: (12N 2B2T2b2T2B) repeat four times, end with 12 N
N= Navy
B - brown
T= Tan
b= light blue

Weave an inch or two in plain weave, secure ends with an overhand hem stitch. Continue weaving to the end. End with hemstitching.

Notes: Lost tension while moving loom around. Plus, found it very hard to create an even tension with linen on a rigid heddle loom. Hole threads always tight, slot threads always loose. Still managed to weave through - and the finished product looks mostly even - a little bit of a problem on the edges - where the threads were much looser.

Cut off. Wash in washing machine on hot, dry in dryer. Hold breath. Remove from dryer, and admire lovely "hand". Trim fringe to length.

Finished dimensions:
Before washing 12.5” x 100”
After washing 11.25” x 83” not including fringe

This turned out to be narrower and shorter than I had planned - but I still think it looks right on the table.

Charity Knitting Contest

2009-09-01T07:03:00.001-05:00

The Spartans team of Woven Art in East Lansing hereby challenge the Wolverine team of Knit A-round in Ann Arbor to a charity knitting contest. As everybody knows, this year has been a tough one for many families in Michigan. It has been especially hard on the families of auto workers in Genessee county. Let's pull together and warm up our fellow Michiganians with hats, scarves and mittens! The kick off of the knit off is NOW! We'll knit and crochet and weave until the end of the U of M vs Spartan football game. The winner takes the honors - but the real winners will be Michigan Families!

New handpainted sock yarn

2009-08-27T12:39:00.004-05:00

I have added a new sock blank to my stable. This one is called Treadsoft. 100% superwash merino, it has a nice, firm twist. A real bonus is that I have it wound in 4 ounces skeins - each with 490 yards. Enough for a generously sized pair of socks. My camera and my monitor have conspired to gray out the top one - which is a rich burgundy/brown blend. I am tempted to scoop one up and cast on for Damson . Be sure to scroll down one page.

It's not Fall yet

2009-08-20T14:15:00.002-05:00

But I can't resist the Fall colors. From left to right: Merino, Soy and Merino blend, Merino Superwash.
8 ounces of each. All available for sale. Call me! 517-203-4467

Surface Design and other projects

2009-08-13T13:24:00.001-05:00

I just received the Summer 2009 issue of Surface Design - and the focus this month is on knitting! Grab a copy, or browse mine when you are in the shop next. Find out how sculptors are using knitting both for it's structure and for it's metaphoric power. It also address collaborative knit projects, such as the Gas Station cover we helped with a couple of years ago with the International Fiber Collaborative. Have you heard about the Canada based Revolutionary knitting circle? Be sure to google this. Their motto: "Building Community, and speeding forward the revolution, through knitting. I love this.

I have been quiet (at least in the blogosphere), but I've been knitting, and weaving, and spinning, and dyeing. Below are a few "starts".

Eyelet cap from Vogue Knitting Fall 2009, knit in Mericash handpaint from Duchess Yarns.

Shop hop tease - do I see a toe?

Shop hop tease number two - a long, open cardigan designed by Nancy McRay (why that's me!), in hand dyed Monty 3/9's. What do I mean "Shop hop tease"? This is the pattern you will get when you visit my shop during the CAYSC shop hop this coming September 17 to 20. The other tease is the pattern you'll get once you visit two of the four shops - can you imagine what you'll get if you visit all four?

New Bags!

2009-07-28T14:38:00.003-05:00

I am so excited about the Timeless Totes that just came in. The smaller bag on the left is the Accessory bag - it has pocket pages inside that are perfect for holding circular needles. Plus other small items like needle gauges and stitch markers.

Now I have to decide which will become mine!

Mother/Daughter spins

2009-07-13T09:25:00.002-05:00

Spinning at Blissfest - Kathryn and me.

Ripped!

2009-06-30T07:40:00.003-05:00

I was making excellent progress on my second sweater design. I am designing this garment for a special event later on this year. I have a generous test knitter, who is just one step behind me. I made it all the way to the sleeves. At this point I needed to check my math again to figure out sleeve decreases. Checking my math meant checking my gauge. Checking my gauge I found I was getting 6 stitches to the inch. That just didn't sound right. The pattern says 5.25 stitches to the inch. Huh!?

I got a peek at test knitter's sweater. She is getting specified gauge. It looks great. Mine looked fine too- but certainly a tighter knit. I see no choice but to start again. Here I rip!

Why today is insane

2009-06-18T14:55:00.002-05:00

Woven Art has been evacuated for this afternoon and evening because of a gas leak. BWL was doing some sort of routine maintenance on the gas line. they told us about it in advance, and there seemed to be no reason for alarm.

I was in my office, doing major battle with my new operating system on my computer ( it ate my accounting files), when Meg, my co-worker, looking very concerned, opens the back door. The gas smells from the front of the store were getting pretty intense. Next thing I know, she was tell me we had to leave the building. The reading in the basement was pretty high.

Anyway - please don't come visit Woven Art today. I am sure all will be back to our normal level of yarny lovliness by tomorrow.

TNNA Highlights

2009-06-17T11:07:00.003-05:00

My five days at The National Needlework Association conference and trade show were a total blur of classes, vendors, meetings, greetings, and excellent food and beverage. I took a class with Sally Melville called "First Choices" on how to make sweaters that are flattering. Most of the information is in her new book "Mother Daughter Knits". After seeing the real garments, in person, I ran right out and got several copies. I must, must knit the white blouse. And never drink red wine in it.

I also took a class from Cat Bordhi. It was a free form moebius knitting class. I have knit several of these clever items before. I have taught the class several times as well, and I have even found a favorite cast on, that is a little different from hers. Still, I found the class to be very liberating, and I learned many new tricks. She is great, great, great. Do not pass up an opportunity to take a class from Cat.

I taught a class in Rigid Heddle weaving - essentially the same class I offer frequently at Woven Art. I had 8 students. They all completed a scarf in under 6 hours. I even saw a couple of handwoven scarves on the show floor the next day.

I met Liz Gipson, author of "Weaving made Easy", a great new book for Rigid Heddle weaving. I had sent her a vest that I had designed for the Cricket loom.

There is much more to tell, but I will save that for a saner day

Big Hairy Spider

2009-06-16T10:36:00.002-05:00

This morning I opened the dishwasher. It had just finished - the dishes were still hot - and there was a SPIDER inside. It was about the size of a dime - but chunky. He, or She was jet black, with a white spot on the butt. Anyone out there know what kind of spider that could be? I couldn't kill it. This is not because of any sympathy toward spiders, but because it was very scary looking, and I was barefoot. I trapped it under a glass bowl, slide a Comcast advertisement under it, and tossed it all into the yard. The bowl is still out there.

I'll tell you about TNNA tomorrow.

Now for some knitting

2009-06-08T16:01:00.005-05:00

Did you think that in my enthusiasm for weaving, I had stopped knitting? Au contraire!

Recently I took a little trip, and wanted a little project to take along. Not something I had to knit for a class, or for a shop model, or for a present. But just for fun. There was this yarn, a fingering weight kona superwash that I've loved since the day I rinsed it out. I knew it needed to become socks. I waited for someone else to scoop it up (well, a couple of days anyway). No one did! So, it became mine. Then I searched high and low for the *perfect* pattern. After many books, and much searching I concluded that Grumerina's Jaywalker was the exact right fit. But, because of the size of the yarn, I changed needle size to 0. You might be able to tell from the picture that I am using two circular needles instead of the suggested double points. I had to fiddle with the pattern a bit, because Grumperina specifies how many stitches there would be on each double point, like many sock patterns do. About 30 seconds of thinking, and the translation to circs was complete.

Don'tcha love how the color works with the pattern? That little flash of white seems to fall at just the right spot.

My other project on needles (hmm that implies only two. Maybe I am falling off a bit*) is cardigan pattern I am writing. Pictured below are the bottom and front edges. It is knit from the top down, and I am almost done with the body. Soon, I can go on to the sleeves. I have one test knitter knitting along, so I need to stay ahead of her. But I am still a newbie at this pattern writing business, and I need to knit it myself to see how it works out, before I can let others at it. I am in awe of the knitwear designers who work it all out on paper, and send it off to the test knitters, confident ( and right about it too!) that a sweater will result. Maybe someday, sigh.
In case you are wondering, the cardigan yarn is hand dyed (Woven Art) Monty 3/9's. Delicious!

The rain today caused me to drop everything, including dinner plans, to go to Woven Art to move looms, and cover drains. One more storm is expected tonight - but at the moment the sun is shining, and the sky is blue, making me feel a little silly.

*Not true. I just remembered another pair of socks.

Souvenirs from Tucson

2009-06-06T12:20:00.002-05:00

Souvenir: a thing that is kept as a reminder of a person, place or event.

I recently spent four days hanging out with my middle daughter and her friends in her town of Tucson. As a mom, I needed to see her in her place. I found her deeply embedded in a community of like minded, hard working, healthy organic farmers, and bike mechanics. She indulged me by taking me to every yarn store in Tucson. Grandma's Spinning Wheel is closed on Mondays (WHAT?), but we picked up a couple of drop-spindles and some fiber at the delightful Kiwi Knitting near the U of A campus. At a pot-luck at the Farm later that day, I pulled out the spindles and the fiber, and let 'em at it. Several people gave it a try, and one or two went off into "spindle-space", where they couldn't hear us trying to bring them back to earth. They made beautiful yarn together.

Wanting to bring a bit of the Tucson experience back home with me, I visited my own local farm market this morning. I found a hanging plant, some cilantro, some berries that I will put on my Torte di Limone that will be tonight's dessert. The torte was our contribution to the pot luck, and the recipe can be found at Italian Food Forever.

Happy Birthday Jessy!

2009-05-22T11:22:00.003-05:00

And Happy Baby Jenn! Lots to celebrate around Woven Art this week. A new baby, Ezra Hughes born to Scott and Jenn Hughes May 16. The 31st anniversary of my marriage to Gary - come see the 31 long stem red roses that are all over the shop!
And, today, Friday, is Jessy's birthday. For her birthday surprise, I am spilling the beans on the present I promised to make her in a blog post awhile back.

This will be, someday, a runner for Jessy's table.

Sock Yarn!

2009-05-06T12:51:00.002-05:00

Experiments in Collapse

2009-05-04T13:42:00.006-05:00

One of my (many) current goals is to learn more about weaving fabric that has dimension through controlled shrinkage in one or more direction ( warp, weft or both). Pictured above is a collapse weave using a monk's belt pattern with a high twist wool crepe yarn weft and a silk warp. Both yarns from Habu Textiles. The ending is "picked up and knit" with the same yarn as the warp.

In my latest experiment I attempted to add a warp wise collapse. That's not what happened.
What did happen is pretty cool:

I used 10/2 bamboo (Xie from Southwest Trading Company) in three colors, and a cobweb weight merino wool hand dyed in orange. My guess was that the bamboo wouldn't shrink, and the merino wool would shrink a lot. While winding on, the wool was held at a tighter tension, while the bamboo was allowed to beam on naturally. Each stripe was 20 threads wide, and 20 ends per inch.
The total width in the reed was 24 inches. I alternated the wool stripes with the bamboo stripes.

The threading was 1-2-3-4 for the wool stripes, and 5-6-7-8 for the bamboo stripes.
Tie up:
treadle 1: 1-5-6-7
treadle 2: 2-6-7-8
treadle 3: 3-5-7-8
treadle 4: 4-5-6-8
treadle 5: 1-2-3-8
treadle 6: 1-2-4-7
treadle 7: 1-3-4-6
treadle 8: 2-3-4-5

Scarf number one was woven with high twist wool crepe from Habu Textiles as weft.
Treadling pattern:
1-2-3-4 for 14"
5-6-7-8 for 1"
1-2-3-4 for 10"
5-6-7-8 for 1 "
*1-2-3-4 for 5"
5-6-7-8 for 1" *
repeat from * to * 3 times more
1-2-3-4 for 10"
5-6-7-8 for 1 "
1-2-3-4 for 14"

This created stripes of 3/1 and 1/3 twill, interrupted by opposing squares of 1/3 and 3/1 twill in one inch sections. You can see these in the photo above - little squares of color poking through. The finished dimenions of the scarf before washing were 19" wide by 73" long. The finished dimensions after collapsing in water are 7" by 70"

I wove a second shawl on the same warp, using Harmony from Jojoland for weft. This yarn is a cobweb weight merino wool in a very long, subtle gradation of color.
Keeping the tie up the same, my treadling pattern was
1-2-3-4, for the entire length of the shawl.
This one didn't collapse at all. I was very surprised! Before washing the shawl measured 18.5 inches by 85.5. After washing the dimensions are 16" by 79". The drape became a bit softer, but the shawl itself is still pretty flat. There is a slight color difference from one side to the other - but not nearly as dramatic as the first scarf.

Just for fun- here is a picture of the fabric wrapped around model Kelly. Picture is taken before cutting the fabric into two peices, and before washing. Kelly is also wearing a sampler headband that was woven in Jane Patrick's workshop on Rigid Heddle weaving. I would take better pictures of it - but she refuses to take it off.

Weaving and Dyeing

2009-04-27T13:09:00.002-05:00

I am having too much fun with my rigid heddle weaving classes. About once a month I get a new crop of enthusiastic weavers, and then I get to see what they do. Everyone comes up with something unique.

Here we have Sue, Sandy and Sharon modeling their scarves. Woven on their very own rigid heddle looms.

A few posts back I issued an invitation. The first five respondents were to get a reward. Something I made just for them. Below is the first. It is a custom dyed skein of super wash merino, for Obsidian Kitten.

Jane Patrick Workshop

2009-04-22T16:28:00.003-05:00

We had the great pleasure of hosting Jane Patrick for a workshop on 2 heddle weaving this past Sunday. We learned how to use two heddles in a rigid heddle loom to increase the numbers of warp ends we can have in an inch - allowing for a finer cloth. We used 10/2 cotton sett at 20 ends per inch, in two ten dent reeds. Since the looms were warped with a pattern of two light colored warp threads followed by two dark colored warp threads we also were able to explore color and weave patterns. We played around with two heddle patterning. We added in the fun of pick up sticks. And just when our brains were full to bursting, we tried double weave. That's two layers of cloth, woven at the same time. Double weave can be two separate layers, or linked on one or both sides, making tubes.

Monday afternoon - I needed a nap.

Below are some pictures:

Jane Patrick on the left, showing Barb a cool trick. Barb is standing, and Michelle (in pink) is concentrating.
A room full of weavers! See the beautiful art quilts on the walls? They were made by Marilyn Prucka, who is the weaver closest to the front of the picture. It was so wonderful to have this art work on the walls during this workshop - they bring such a sense of calm.
Stan and Lyn Marie, weaving away. Stan is a woodworker, and brought in several lovely stick shuttles. I only got to see them for a minute before they were all claimed.
This Pink warp belongs to Beth Smith. She likes pink! Isn't it pretty?
And finally, here is Beth, on the left, next to Pam.

Rigid Heddle Weaving's got my blog

2009-04-16T11:13:00.006-05:00

I am drumming up interest for my "Scarf in a Day" workshop that I am scheduled to teach at TNNA in June. For those of you who don't know, TNNA stands for The National Needlework Association, and it has a big convention in Columbus, Ohio at the beginning of every Summer. This is where shop owner's go to buy much of their yarn, take business and technique classes, and network. It is a lot of fun, and a lot of work.

Here is a picture of Meg modeling the project I plan to teach to other shop owners. The scarf really can be made, start to finish, warp to fringe, in under 6 hours. Weaving has brought my customers lots of excitement. I have been teaching weaving for about 20 years, and never have I seen the interest this strong.

For those of you who are not TNNA members, but would like to learn Rigid Heddle weaving anyway, I will have another class beginning in May. Check here for details.

In related news, Woven Art will be hosting Jane Patrick this weekend for a workshop on weaving with 2 heddles on the Rigid Heddle loom. Get to know Jane by visiting her blog.
My head is already spinning with the possibilities. There is so much out there now specifically related to rigid heddle weaving. For fun visit askthebellwether , and search for rigid heddle weaving, right after you ramble around her blog for awhile - there is a lot there to see.

Not all weaving is done with a Rigid Heddle, but in all weaving comes a moment of truth. Truly a frightening moment for even the most experienced weaver. It is the time when the proof of hours of work will be seen. The moment when you know if it is good, or not so good. That is the moment of cutting off.

And, it's good!
Pictured above you see a detail of Brenda's beautiful shawl. It is made with hand dyed, and natural Kona Sport. The weave structure is a complex twill from the 8 Harness Book of Patterns. The shawl is about 20 inches wide, and 72 inches long, not including fringe. Brenda is tall, and wrapped in this shawl she looks royal.

I love Licorice

2009-04-09T11:40:00.001-05:00

Look what the Yarnharlot is knitting with! I call it Licorice Twist, and can make it any color you want!

Mama's Proud

2009-04-07T10:38:00.003-05:00

Look at Liz! Liz started taking classes at Woven Art as a freshman. She graduated recently, but luckily is still in the area on a teaching internship. But look what she made! It is double weave, with a purple (purple!) silk warp and weft, with strategically placed strands of Glisten, a ribbon yarn with tiny spots of glitter, from Louisa Harding. But, as if that didn't make it beautiful enough, she went and made little pockets, and inserted sequins. Can you see them:

The original plan was to make fabric for pillows for her couch. And that may still happen, but I think the Woven Art tribunal convinced her it needs to be worn for a Summer first.

Look who else is weaving! Sharon, for one (though she's not blogging about it yet), and Wendy!
Makes me want to weep with joy.

Mayhem!

2009-03-29T11:08:00.002-05:00

Oh, wait - it's just Thursday night at Woven Art.

College Town Living has it's perks

2009-03-25T10:30:00.003-05:00

Last Friday, Julie Baker, a reporter from the State News interviewed me at the shop for a Faces and Places article in the State News. (Click on headline above: College Town) On Tuesday, she came back for some follow up questions, and brought along Jason, a photographer. I love the article the two of them put together. I think Julie really captured the feel of what I want Woven Art to be, and Jason did a great job with the pictures. He was pretty intrigued with the notion that some of the yarn we have is locally spun, so he came to the Flock University Spinning Guild meeting that happened to be last night. Not only did he come, ask some questions of our fiber folk, but then, get this - he learned how to spin. He left with a decent bit of real yarn wrapped around his wrist.

Plus - last night we learned all about how to spin flax. Thanks you Angie! I had never spun flax before - just a few turns of hemp - but it is really not the same. I love it's stiffness, and body. I don't love that the best results are from putting water on it. And, supposedly from spinning it counter clock wise. I tried both directions. I got a smoother spin going clockwise, but the resulting little skein fell instantly into a figure 8 twist. The second tiny skein was spun counterclockwise, and fell into a perfect little circle - but oddly, not quite as smooth a yarn. I need to investigate further. I'm going to need some plastic bobbins.

A dropped stitch

2009-03-12T10:52:00.002-05:00

A new customer came in yesterday. She wanted to buy some double point needles for a sock she started a very long time ago. She was new to knitting way back then, knit half a sock, and put it away for various reasons. But, now she's back. She showed me her sock, which had four needles in it. She thought she needed to have 5 to proceed. I took hold of her sock to demonstrate that you only need four needles to knit a sock (the 5th one is extra), and saw that three needles were right where they should have been, holding an equal number of stitches around, and the 4th was stuck into the body of the sock. I was about to yank out fourth needle when I noticed it was holding a dropped stitch. A Dropped Stitch!!! I got as excited as a dog on a walk. I love dropped stitches! In other peoples work, not mine. I went into my "fixing the dropped stitch zone", and within a few minutes, my fun was done.

If you need a dropped stitch fixed - bring it on! Just don't try to talk to me while I am in my zone.