Mini-mitten Mania!

After all the mittens, there should be no surprise that when the Latvian mitten group on Ravelry had a min-mitten exchange, I had to participate. I used 1.5mm or 000 needles and Koigu fingering yarn. I didn't enjoy the tiny thumbs, but the hands were fun and I was surprised at how recognizably Latvian the minis were. They aren't true miniatures (wearable by dolls) because the yarn isn't stranded to keep the hands and thumbs open.

This is the first pair I made, "larger" than the others. When I realized I had made a mistake in the brown, I decided that meant my first pair would be mine! The thumbs are hard to see because they are knit in pattern.

These are the exchange pairs. Note that one even has a tiny version of the braid in the "wrist."

 I mistakenly sent the box to the wrong address (fortunately, to someone 40 miles from the intended recipient). This is my "Oops. Thank you." pair for her.

And these are the pairs I received!

Obviously, minis can be great ornaments or nametag decorations!

Mitten Mania!

Woops! It's been an entire year since my last post, but that means I have a lot of catch-up posting to do.

Since October, I've been doing a lot of wool mitten knitting with patterns from Ravelry. This first one isn't a Halloween pattern, but I had a perfect shaded orange for it.

This next one was my first mystery Knit-A-Long, and I really enjoyed seeing it develop.

Can you spot the images from The Secret Garden? This was January's KAL.

And of course, Saint Patrick's Day!

I chose this pattern for Ravellenics (started on the first day of the Olympics, finished by the closing ceremonies).

Fun!

The ram and ewe mittens.

And more to come later!

First handwoven gown!

Although this image looks dark, you can scroll down to see a much brighter version of the black and elderberry fabric using the 8-harness 13th c draft. I'm also wearing one of my knitted silk purses. Even though I wore this at the Midrealm's Kingdom Arts and Sciences day, only one person commented on the gown--and that was after complimenting me on the lavender silk hairnet I had made and was wearing! Oh, well, I was excited! Happily, it was unusually cool that morning in northern Indiana, so I was able to wear it through lunch, after which I changed into a linen gown.

Green Spring!

April was the second rainiest in Indiana (.01 short of the record), but at least it means May is green! I took the blue and grey off the loom, and decided to wind a three-yard + waste warp in Jaegerspun Maine Line wool 2/8 in Basil. The diamond design and the columns are both threaded the same but treadled differently. I suspected the diamond would be best with a contrasting weft, but I really like the columns.

At home, I've been cutting and hand sewing medieval hoods. Pictures to come!

End of semester

In academics, this is the end of the semester, with an absurd number of essays to mark, then finals to give and mark. At the Indianapolis Art Center, this is the last week of classes for a month. Floor loom weaving deprivation ahead!

I have spent as much as I could in the fiber studio, and this Sunday was able to cut my Marine Blue and Shale fabric off the loom. After weaving 6.5 yards, I did the rest in another treadling in solid blue to make a zig zag pattern I really enjoy.

To make life even better, the weekend of the 20th I had a three-day workshop on rug weaving with Jason Collingwood. Everybody was faster than I was, but I still learned a lot.

Here are just a few of the different techniques used in the class:

 Jason demonstrating linking wefts on someone's loom.

 Linking weft threads to create the wedges.

Whew! The workbook has far more techniques than I could keep up with, so I definitely have more to try. Take his workshops if you have a chance. He's funny, patient, and very clear in his instructions. I'm glad I have his father's big book, The Technique of Rug Weaving, as well.

I'm busy winding warp, hoping to wind it on this week so I'll be ready to go for the next class at the Art Center the first week of June.

Happy weaving!

Spring--at last!

During March I finished weaving the six yards of my black and elderberry wool and am now sewing it.

 I've now started 8 yards of an 8-harness draft in Marine Blue and Shale (light grey, although it looks white in the photos.

The first is the right side, and then the second picture has he right side above and the "wrong" side being wound.

 For one week, these lovely star flowers bloom, but only in areas which are mainly shady. They even appear before crocus!

Today the temperatures reached 70, for the first time since early November, so Spring is here--at least for a few days!

Surprise! It worked!

Here is the full repeat before simmering:

Here is the repeat after 30 minutes simmering in plain water. If the colors ever fade, all I need to do is re-simmer!

Back in the 70s, Sally Fox read about the many colors of naturally colored cotton grown in South America and worked hard to rediscover these through experiments in early selective growing. She sells them through Vreisis, and others have followed her path. So far, she still hasn't found the true red and true lavender mentioned in ancient records. Still, amazing!