Something brewing..

~

Spring Bloom

When the lovely knit wear designer Janina Kallio

of  'Woolenberry' asked me to do a test knit

I couldn't help to snag a skein of "Glacier."

I dyed it a soft companion in "Ball Jar".

As always, Janina's pattern did not disappoint!

"Spring Bloom" is available as part of her 2018 Woolenberry Shawl Club.

It is a fun and beautiful knit.  I can't wait to see what she has

in store for the rest of the shawl club!

Thanks to everyone who stopped by my booth at the Raggz Fiber Event.

It was a lovely day full of fun ~ new friends and catching up with familiar faces.

~

Catching up..

Because I do most of my updating on Instagram, 

this journal space tends to be left behind...

Thought I'd pop in for an update.

Couldn't resist keeping two skeins of the new

chicka-dee-K base for a booth sample.

Colorways: Delilah and Purple Sage

Kemper Wray has a lovely pattern called 'Color Field Shawl.'

It comes in two sizes, below is the small using one skein of each yarn.

Her pattern is available on Ravelry.  It is a fun and fast knit!

The Etsy shop is a little lean at the moment as I prepare for the

next event.  I'll be updating the shop after the 

Raggz Fiber and Wool event on April 21, 2018.

~

Thundersnow..

'Thundersnow' on snow..

~

Wintering..

Days full of cold hikes.

New DK base dyeing.

Winter beauty.

Happy New Year

~

Lather, rinse, repeat...

Be curious.

Try stuff.

Don't be attached to the outcome.

< Repeat >

Woven sett samples with knitting sock yarns.

~

Fractal

Our guild hosted a wonderful spinning workshop with

the lovely and talented Jillian Moreno.

We had a wonderful time experimenting with color in her

'Color Play' class

Knitting up some mitts with some fractal spun fiber from class.

Loving the way the stripes are knitting up!

~

Fiber: Into the Whirled: color way 'Captain Tiuhtpants'

Pattern: Part Ann Budd's recipe for mittens, part mine

Double Pointed Needle holder: Steel City Stitcher

Golden Days

Autumn's colors are lingering this year.

I've been treasuring every second of the golden 

autumn light.

Just popped the last two of these limited edition 

'Autumn Leaves' mini sets in the shop.

A most heart felt thank you

 to all of you who stopped at Indie Knit and Spin 

yesterday.  It is always a wonderful event

and yesterday was no exception.

~

Pouches

One of the first sweaters I took apart was

made of this wonderful thick european wool.

I dyed a few hanks of it and the yarn has been hanging 

out in the stash for years now.

I wove off a few small pieces of fabric with the leftover

warp from the poncho.  Inspired by a dear friend, I thought I would give sewing 

a pouch a try.

The first attempt using a purchased pattern was a complete disaster.

After that I decided simple is best.

They aren't perfect, but I love their cheerful quirkiness!

..and zippers aren't as hard I thought..

Driftwood

Driftwood Poncho

Warp: ebay perle cotton warp

Weft: unknown cone of yarn from Salvation Army

Double weave with hand embroidered embellishment.

Hand knotted fringe.

~

Reclaimed can be beautiful.

Farm Show

Had fun last week representing the Butler Guild by doing a weaving

demonstration at the Butler Farm Show.

The spinners hand spun Linda's beautifully prepared wool rolags

into yarn for weaving. 

I warped enough for two scarves and wove the second one at home.

The weft for the second scarf was a miscalculated warp

from a demo last year.  Glad I hung onto it because I had just

enough to weave off the scarf!  

The medium blue weft really makes the colors pop..

One more demo to go.  Next stop...

Indiana County Fair

#weaveallthethings

hash·tag

noun

1. On social media sites, a word or phrase preceded by a hash or pound sign (#) and used to identify messages on a specific topic.

Sometimes I use the hashtag 

#weaveallthethings

when I share my work.

That little tag really encompasses what I love most about weaving.

For example the above shawl was woven with:

• Reclaimed sweater yarn.

• Vintage yarns from garage sales.

• Yarn naturally dyed with Oak bark from my yard.

• Handspun yarns - with fiber that I hand dyed.

• Reclaimed silk from Indian Sari garments.

• Random balls of yarn found at thrift shops.

• Yarn given to me from guild members.

• Left over yarns from knitting projects.

The garment above was not woven with any yarn purchased specifically

to "weave a shawl'..

 I find it is much more fun to #weaveallthethings !!!

Part Two: Construction

Weaving away.

Blue warp:  Hand dyed indigo from a few years ago

Terracotta warp:  Repurposed sweater

Blue weft:  super super thin weight of a cotton cone yarn

from the guild trash-to-treasure sale.

Using a double bobbin shuttle for the thin weft making it

two strands.  Makes the edges a bit tricky, but I love the 

way it is weaving up!

~

Saori shawl to follow..

Part One: Process

The first scarf I ever made was woven on a board with nails.

Not knowing how to "weave" or what yarns to use,

I made it up..

Shortly after that I started looking for sources of yarn that were 

inexpensive.  Not knowing what proper weaving yarns were, I started 

taking apart sweaters.

Creating with what I could find was addicting.

I am now a curator of discarded fibers: sweaters, cones, and odd balls of yarn.

It has been four years and weaving with found

materials makes me happier than ever.

This discarded linen blend sweater was unraveled to be made into 

a new scarf.

The yarn will be paired with hand dyed indigo and with a 

cone of discarded yarn at the guild Trash-to-Treasrue swap.

~

Stay tuned..

Rosepath

'Reclaimed Rosepath'

25"x 25"

All reclaimed materials: three sweaters, Salvation Army cone, 

and miscellaneous thrifted ball yarns.

Mounted on found beaver-chewed driftwood.

~

Fleece to Shawl..

{Before the Bath}

This shawl was woven in about three hours using

freshly hand spun, unwashed, wool.

The yarns are springy-full-of-energy fresh 

off the spinning wheel making weaving with

them a challenge.

Once the shawl is soaked and blocked the yarns will calm down.

This piece was woven during a demonstration at the 

Depreciation Lands Museum.

~

Now to wash this sheepy thing

: )

~

Something from nothing..

After all the precision work for the Master Weaving homework, 

I woke up craving Saori.

The warp was wound from scraps of yarns

given to me from other weavers.  I love using cast-off, donated, 

and reclaimed yarns.

The Noro weft was dug from deeeeeep in the bottom of

the stash.

I was having a great time weaving, but

my studio partners were not amused...

The scarf woven is open and etherial.  I'll post some

some photos once the fringe is twisted.

The remaining warp was beat down tight.

Loving the fabric it made!

Hoping to have enough to make a small pouch.

The magic of scraps and Noro ; )

Shop update..

Planning a shop update for June 24, 2017 at 7pm EST.

'Thick as Thieves' and 'Washi' will be included.

Can't wait to get this new 'soft as a feather' base in the shop!!

~

Sheep to Scarf Showdown..

For anyone near Pittsburgh.. come join us!!

We will be at various locations around Historic Harmony, PA.

Look for teams near The Bottlebrush Art Gallery, The Weaver's Cabin and Darn Yarn Needles and Thread!   There will be chances to win the final scarves..

~

Tucson..

Garage doors up..

Unexpected rain..

and a skein of Tucson..

~