Weaving Up a Storm

I really need to get some new stock made and posted, preferably before the madness that is NaNoWriMo. That gives me nine days. Should be doable, provided that I don’t get sidetracked by a) kitten, b) other crafty projects, c) the unpacking of the last two boxes.

I hate moving. I really, really, REALLY hate moving. Which is why it makes little sense for me to take a full month to unpack, but there you have it. At least I’ve only got one room to go now!

Knitting is easier than sewing, because I can do it when I’m out and about, so I finished a pair of socks despite my relative business.

Pattern: Minerva’s Tower.

Ravelry: link.

Yarn: Knit Picks Essential (75% superwash wool, 25% nylon, 50 grams, 211 metres/231 yards), 2 skeins burgundy.

I bought this yarn probably three years ago, knitted one sock, was rudely interrupted by a break up that made me not want to touch anything I had been working on prior to it, and stuffed it in the closet for an eternity and a half. When I was going to Edinburgh at the end of October I looked through my stash for a suitable solid sock yarn and found it.

Ripping that lone sock out and reknitting it into something like this was oddly liberating and just what I needed to do.

The pattern is written by my dear friend Corrina of Picnic Knits, and I love it to pieces, especially the fact that there is a small/medium and a medium/large size, of which I knitted the latter. I did not follow the directions for the toe, which I regret, but can’t be arsed fixing.

Wool socks are necessary when I weave, because you cannot wear shoes while doing it, and the weaving room is in the basement of a church with concrete flooring. It’s always freezing down there, and I lovelovelove having proper socks to keep myself warm!

Speaking of weaving… It’s a new thing of mine, and I love it. It’s very meditative and I put music on and get to work. The rest of the women taking this class are ranging from 55-85 in age, so I’m the young one, but I’m okay with that. I especially like that I can go there any time and work without having to talk to anyone. Why yes, I am a bit of a hermit.

And while we’re on the subject, a few weaving related pics:

In the last year I have gained a ridiculous amount of weight because of meds that are essential for my well-being. This of course means that none of my clothes fit anymore, and cleaning out my closet of all these shirts that were too short and too tight and just made me sad was amazing. So, when I started weaving I decided to take all these too small clothes and cut them into strips and make a long memory rug from it.

I have a lot of different colours, but red and green are the ones reoccuring the most often. So, to use that as a strength rather than trying to hide it, I sorted everything by colour before starting to weaving.

The second pic shows my loom all set up and ready to go. It takes quite a bit of time to do the warping and other stuff, but once you’re done, it’s so satisfying to sit down and weave.

I’ve woved almost exactly a metre at this point and used up all my reds. Between each one I have 10 cm of navy blue, to break up the different colours and bring them together. The little old ladies were dubious at first, but seem to be more convinced after I’ve done a few stripes…

I really like the result produced by striped strips of fabric! Most of them are red and white, but I also have a red and black one, and some in several green and purple shades coming up.

I can’t weave without music on, so my ipod always accompanies me. The others chat or listen to the radio, but I weave the best (and the fastest!) when I turn the music up and get going. Here it is The Indelicates that are accompanying me.

Posted: October 21st, 2009 under all my posts.
Tags: finished objects, knitting, weaving

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