WIP Wednesday (for “Work In Progress”) is a meme where we share our current fibery projects. It was started by Nicole @ Book-Wyrm-Knits, who also reviews books at book-wyrm-reads.
Spinning
Boreal: I am making progress on this spin; since Aug. 6 I have finished the second of three bobbins and started the third. The fiber is a 4-oz. braid of Malabrigo Nube in the “Boreal” colorway, split three ways vertically. I was intending to do a three-ply fingering yarn, but I’m debating whether to do a chain-plied yarn instead, to preserve the color runs.
Knitting
I have made a little more progress on the May I Borrow This Please shawl, the knit-along (KAL) I’m doing with my fiber guild. I still hope to finish it by the end of August, but I’ll need to spend more time knitting! The pattern is May I Borrow This Please by Lorraine Waitman. The yarn is labeled as fingering weight, but it looks and feels much more like a DK; it was hand-dyed by Hairball Yarns in New Mexico (who I think is no longer in business.)
I haven’t picked up Dad’s Homestead Tweed Cardigan Vest since the end of January, but at least I got a better photo today. I hope to get back to knitting this soon.
Weaving
Lark’s First Woven Scarf: Last fall, I bought a Schacht 15″ Cricket rigid heddle loom from another woman in my fiber guild, and on Friday, I had a lesson in how to weave. I’ve woven about two feet so far, maybe two and a half. (This was not hard; I’m using worsted-weight yarns and getting about 5 weft threads to the inch, so it’s going along pretty quickly.) I’m aiming for something relatively soft and drapey, so I’m allowing a little breathing room between the threads.
I know I have made mistakes so far, mostly when changing from one weft yarn to another, since I didn’t really know how to do that right. You can kind of see from the second photo that the weft (the horizontal yarns) are different colors and even different textures. The warp (vertical yarns) are an unknown acrylic worsted I had in my stash. The weft yarns include the same worsted, plus something in slow-changing greens and browns that looks like Noro but probably isn’t, and a rayon ribbon yarn (Berroco Glace, if you’re curious) in two different colors: pale green and a sage/olive green that closely matches the warp yarn. It’s a plain weave (no fancy manipulation of the warp, just over-under-over-under), and I’m changing out the yarns as the fancy strikes me, so some stripes are wide and some are narrower.
It’s meant to be a scarf, but I think it’s too wide, so I might have to call it a shawl. It may look like a mess when it’s done, but it’s all a learning process, right? And anyway, I’m having fun!
Leslie @ Books Are The New Black
So impressive!!
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Anne - Books of My Heart
You are so talented! I love seeing your progress.
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Nicole @ BookWyrmKnits
I love it all! In some respects I wish I had gotten a Cricket when I picked out my rigid heddle loom. I opted for a Harp instead, and I do love the additional options it provides that the Cricket doesn’t. But still… the Harp is bigger and takes longer (at least in my head) to set up. I really enjoyed the weaving course I took using the instructor’s Cricket.
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Lark_Bookwyrm
The Harp is a really nice loom! I do like the Cricket’s compact size, but for longterm versatility, I suspect I will eventually add (or even replace it with) a 22″ or 24″ loom with double-heddle capability. Possibly an Ashford Knitter’s loom, since those fold for storage and travel, and once we move in a few years, space is going to be an issue. However, I got a really good deal on the Cricket; I doubt I’ll find a deal that good on a larger loom, so we’ll see how much I get into weaving before I make any moves in that direction.
lory @ entering the enchanted castle
I am glad you are having fun with weaving! You’ll figure it out by doing, which inevitably involves “mistakes”. I have not been doing any fiber work for myself lately…you make me want to take up the wheel and the needles, but it might have to wait till winter.
Lark_Bookwyrm
It’s true; learning by doing (and making mistakes) is really the only way to learn and improve as an artist/crafter. Books help; videos help; but they aren’t a substitute for getting your hands into the work.