Socks,socks and more socks...

This is what i've been working on for the last 4-5 weeks:

six pair of custom order socks for a sweet lady in Canada.

This is her second batch ( with more yarn on the way ).

I've got a couple day's before the next batch gets here so i will go and play with my loom a little more...

Peacock Shawl - all done..

So here is my first weaving project all done.

I twisted the fringe into, well ,a twisted fringe , washed it,pressed it and there it is :

Measures 65" x 20" is so very soft and drapey.

It'll go to my mom in germany to keep her warm on nippy summer evenings sitting outside in the garden.

This weaving is a lot of fun and i'm totally hooked.

I'll have to find more funds to buy some more yarn for my next project.Pretty much everything i got in my stash is more for knitting purposes. So now i'll have to get familiar with weaving yarns, what weight to use for what etc. I got some in the mail today but it's not going to work for what i'm planning next.

For this shawl i used JoJoland 100% superwash wool,fingering weight.

It is very soft and has a nice drape but since its superwash it didn't full at all when i washed it so the fibers didn't lock even a little bit,which means that the weave slips around if you don't handle it very carefully.

So,lesson learned, i'll remember this for the future and will use at least something that will full for either warp or weft.

IT'S OFF THE LOOM!!

Well, i just took my first woven piece off my loom.

Up till now i've just seen a few inches at the time . Here it is in full lenght.

I'm amazed how fast weaving is, if i knitted this it would have taken much , much longer.

I'm totally hooked!

I've already ordered more yarn for several new projects.

I'll post better pic's after it's all finished. Right now i'm doing the fringe and after that i'll have to hide all the ends and then i'll wash it and after that i'll make some nice picks and also list what yarn i used ,the settings of the loom and the dimensions of the finished shawl.This will go to my mom in germany, it'll keep her warm on nippy summer evenings sitting outside at the lake house.

Have to finish...

Well, i can't go to sleep, i've got to finish this...

So the next step is beaming the warp:

for this i just used overhand knots on the back and split square knots on the front

i adjusted the tension so everything is even (i hope)

AND NOW I'M READY TO WEAVE:

and here it is, it's now 12:30 am and i'm really,really tired now but i've done it!

this is really so much fun!!!

i will practice some more and then i will start on a piece that will hopefully be usable :)

i'm going to look for a different kind of shuttle (boat)these stick shuttles are not going to work for me.

Night y'all im going to toddle off to bed now....

I've warped my Loom!!

After dreaming all night about warping and weft and yarn and heddles and reeds and....and...and...

i just had to try it today!

and it was really not that bad (what good instructions can do , thank you Deb Chandler !

I went through my yarn stash (which is really huge) and choose the most cheap yarn i could find, since this is just for practice i won't use my good yarn.

I used my warping board i made last year to measure out yarn for dyeing (and used it only once for that ). I just drilled a few more holes here and there and layed out my warp on it.

Eventually i'll have a better one but it works good right now.(notice the book right with it :)

got both warps done:

(notice again the book :)
That was really easy!

Next i sleyed the reed :

a little tedious but that was easy too !! I'm using my spinning wheel orifice hook for that,works great.

and then i threaded the heddles ,again with the orifice hook:
halfway done

finished!! :

that was not bad at all,also a bit tedious but kind of fun. I had a broken string in between but i fixed that plus i had two of the heddles that where crossed but i also fixed that(patts herself on the back )

i think im really going to like this!!!

it's now 10:30 and im going to bed, sooo tired ....

more tomorrow :)

New Adventure

Well, what can i say? It's been a couple of month since my last post (I'm busy!!)

With the holidays and sock knitting i've not had time for anything.

I'm really not even supposed to be here right now but i want everybody to see my new addition (and excuse to buy MORE FIBER ).

After weeks of looking and comparing i bought a Loom!

First i had my heart set on a Ridgid Heddle loom from Kromski but then i decided i wanted something a little more complicated( why? i don't know , i'm just that way ).

Anyway's, i thought a four heddle ,25 inch table loom would be just perfect.

e-bay here i come!

I had about $350-$400 to spend (yes, all sock money (knitted about two dozend since beginning november). and lo and behold there was a loom like that up for auction. i bid and i bid and someone else bid...and bid .. until it went over my budget) and i was crushed.

So.... Ravelry, here i come!

i put a ISO in one of the weavers market places and got an offer the same day! A Shacht 4 heddle ,25 inch loom for $250 plus $50 shipping. Used but in great condition .

Boy, did i pounce on that!!

and here it is:

unasembled:

assembled:

That thing is BIG !!

Now i'm going to have to figure out how to warp it and actually weave on it.

Already ordered books and a DVD, theyre on the way.

So, stay tuned for more, i will really try to update this regularly.

Now, back to sock knitting !!