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I could have written, "Up, Stick, Up, Stick, Up, Down," instead, but that really would not help without showing the draft, and I do not understand those yet.
Doubled laceweight alpaca makes this the finest piece I have ever woven, and I am really pleased with it, making it the finest piece I have ever woven. The pattern is pretty on either side, and the drape is great. Even the hemstitching looks good.
This was the first time using the 12.5 dent reed for my Ashford rigid heddle loom, and I love the possibilities it offers. The warp is a strand of Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud in Horizon and the rest of the mystery alpaca I used for the Annis I knit for my mom for the other strand. Then I doubled the Alpaca Cloud for the weft. I used a pattern from one of my weaving books, worked on it a little bit, and then let it sit for months. I had put this on the loom as part of the weaving demonstration I did this past Spring. Anyway, I finally sat down to the loom and a couple of days later I was done. Then, I took three more months to blog it after nearly dying in the August heat to photograph it. Everything in its time, right?
I have not decided who this belongs to, but I have decided that alpaca might be wonderful for weaving.
When I got ready to attend SAFF, I was probably most excited about the spinning class. I had never attended one, so I was really looking forward to the formal instruction, and the topic of the class, spinning faster, sounded like just the thing for me. Then, SuperstormSandy came along and my class was canceled. I was disappointed, but knowing what others went through and how they continue to be affected by the storm really made it difficult to feel too sorry for myself. Still, I wish I had been able to take the class because I had hoped to learn so much.
Although I have been spinning for a few years now, I continue to have about the same productivity level, and that is not too good. This is not really too much of an issue, but sometimes I have a timetable for a project. Take for example, the scarf for my sister-in-law. I would really like to have it ready to send to her for Christmas. The trouble is, I have so much going on right now, and so many other things I want to do. For now, I just pop in a spinning dvd and hope that listening to Judith MacKenzie as I spin is helping, and even if it is not, it is a good way to pass the time. Most recently, I have watched discs on silk and camelids, and I have found them to be fascinating. I have even learned a nifty way to remember the difference between Bactrians and Dromedaries, but not everyone finds that as interesting as I do. Anyway, along the way, I have picked up on some little tips that I hope I will be able to put into practice. Watching her spin is inspirational to me, and that is always good. I am spinning a three-ply, and I am already finished with the first single and have started the second.
However, the spinning has to wait for a couple of days, because I have to cook a turkey, make good cranberry stuff and little s'more pies, and find ways to fit everything in the refrigerator. Maybe in between things I can work on the millions of crocheted blanket blocks I need to finish and then assemble, but I have a few more weeks to complete that project. Yesterday I made four blocks (and wove in ends!) and assisted in taking children for photos. It is good that I love people, or else I would not have been able to bear that adventure.
I will close this with a note of thankfulness. There are many people and things I am thankful for, but tonight, I am thankful to have a working light in our bathroom. That was not something we had last night or most of today.
It is not always necessary or advisable to spend too much time thinking about why I do what I do. I spend more than enough time with that as it is. However, sometimes people ask, and if I do not know already, it makes sense to figure it out. I am, of course, talking about Color Affection. For someone who knits lots of teeny-tiny things and lace, it has seemed something of an odd choice to some, and in some ways, it is. This is not a criticism of the pattern at all. It is a lovely, squooshy, cozy, hug of garter stitch, and after I get over my temporary dislike of the colors, (this always happens toward the end of a big knitted thing) I think I will wear it often and love having it.
I knit this as part of a mostly-local KAL. Being who I am, I have to be careful that I do not just stay at home and let connections wither away. I found that I had been doing that more than is good for me, and if I did not put more effort into it, I would likely no longer have a social knitting group, and that is one of the few ways that I get out and spend time around people who are not family. I was not making it a priority, and I was letting everything else come first. Since no one could do anything about it but me, I had to do something. When the plan for the Color Affection was hatched, I viewed it as the perfect way to be present and participate, and perhaps strengthen some bonds. Even if it did not help out, I would have a new warm and snuggly, and that is always good.
So, there you have it, and my garter-stitch-iness is not yet at an end. While at SAFF, my sister-in-law fell in love with some BFL/silk fiber and asked for a scarf, and with a little bit of investigation, I discovered that it is a garter-stitch scarf she desires. Yep, I'm going to be spinning and knitting a fingering weight garter-stitch scarf. There's no mystery on why I'm doing this--love.
Well, it was a fun and fabulous time, and now I need to sleep. Too many days in a row where sleep only showed itself in fitful, restless spurts of three-four hours makes for an exhausted Sarah. It was a weekend that started with sun and shorts, and ended with snow and mittens. Throughout it all, there were amazing views, unexpected experiences, and so much wool.
