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I did something post-worthy!

I know, I know, I said I was going to devote more time to blogging this year. And it's been months since my last post. But I did something post-worthy!

A few weeks ago I got this bee in my bonnet to start weaving. I think it had something to do with seeing several beautiful scarves made from otherwise hard to pair variegated yarns. And lord knows I have plenty of those.

I looked into buying a rigid heddle loom - and I still probably will at some point - but decided it was too much to invest in a brand new craft (though if I stopped buying yarn for, I don't know, 3 or 4 months, I could afford it no problem! But that's a different story). Further investigation led to the discovery of the backstrap loom - which uses a hefty object on one end and the weaver's body on the other end to tension the warp. I was intrigued; several sticks and some yarn and I could be weaving? So I decided to give it a go.

Warping was a bit of a problem. For a backstrap loom, you have to warp under tension and create a figure-8 in the middle of your warp for the creation of two different sheds. I had this awesome idea to create a warping board (which can cost around $50 on the low end!) out of a cheap plastic peg board and metal pegs. This was a resounding success:

However, I was unable to wrap my head around how do put in the figure-8 in the middle. Perhaps I'm complete dolt, and I have no doubts there's some insanely easy way to do it that exceeded my spatial reasoning. Regardless, this warping board would be great if I didn't need to put the sheds in the warp! This will prove useful later.

In the end I was able to wrap my warp under tension between my bookcase and the leg of my futon. It ended up about a yarn long and probably 3-4 inches wide (I didn't measure the final project when I finished it this morning since I was on my way out the door to work) So I had my loom warped and my string heddles tied and my shed stick in place - I was actually ready to weave!

I used a horrible sticky cotton yarn that I hated the first time I used it (in a sweater), but I didn't want to use a yarn I liked in case this was a colossal failure.

Okay, you would think by now I would know better. Seriously sticky yarn is seriously sticky. And string heddles did not work out so great for me (though they were better when I switched over to the mason’s twine that was all coated and slick).

Okay, so here's what you're looking at here: the pole in my lap is attached to a piece of fabric (actually a pillowcase) tied around my back. When I lean back, it increases the tension on the warp, when I lean forward, it lessens the tension (like when I need to open a different shed). The piece of cardboard is there to give me a hard surface to weave against while leaving a section of the warp for me to braid afterwards. the warp is attached to the bookcase across from me (which you can't see from this picture, sorry) and that bad boy ain't going anywhere. I have a sword/beater/pick up stick in the shed to hold it open an I have an enormous amount of yarn wrapped on that stick shuttle there. Like, waaaay more than I needed. This was also an exercise in how much yarn can I wrap on an 8" stick shuttle?

But guess what guys - I wove! I mean, its probably the ugliest thing ever woven in the world, but I did it!

I finished this piece this morning - by which I mean, I decided my weaving was getting more even and I hated this yarn so much that I had to stop. I thought it would be long enough to be my new backstrap (because the pillowcase is less than comfortable) but the braided ends were just a mite too short. It would work great for a child. Or it might end up in the trash because it's seriously fugly.

I already have yarn picked out for my next attempt - sport weight and much more slick - and I'm going to try it with a rigid heddle next!

Things I learned from this little adventure:

• I still hate cotton, and especially this yarn
• If I’m going to braid the ends I need more space at the beginning
• I need to spread the warp out on my end poles better before I start weaving. This was way too close together
• Somehow I twisted my warp which made it really hard to tie the heddles and I screwed them up somewhere. Take more care next time!
• The last two problems could be alleviated (and the whole warping under tension that I had such trouble with) if I used a rigid heddle instead of string heddles

Which is precisely what I intend to do on my next weaving project! Stay tuned!

Worst blogger evaarrr...

I probably shouldn't feel so guilty about not writing as often as I want in this blog, considering how much writing I do on Ravelry. If I could somehow import my Rav posts into some form of coherent paragraph form, I would totally do it. But that just wouldn't work.

Let's see. Since my last post, I've been captaining Team TARDIS in Nerd Wars - the largest team in NW history! It's been so much fun so far. This role really makes it easy for me to be super excited about everything NW related. F'real.

I have made the things...so now I'll show you pictures!

This is the latest test knit for Mia Rinde - and I am obsessed. I love this pattern so much. I want to make another one, probably in pale French Blue Prism Lace from Sunrise Fiber Co. More pictures:

Trust me, I know how cool my shoes are (:

Some works in progress:

This is my Celestarium shawl beginning. Eventually, it will depict the night sky to scale. The arrows are pointing to different styles of beads for different magnitudes of stars. Yup, I am actually insane.

Some fingerless mitts for our round 1 KAL/CAL for Team TARDIS. The pattern is Gallifrey and the yarn is in the colorway Time Traveler (from Knit Picks).

MKAL SPOILERS!!

And the very last picture - the beginning of my Unexpected Journey MKAL I told you about last time from AlterLace. It depicts the house at Bag End and trees from the shire. The next clue will be released over the weekend!

New Photos!

I don't have time to write a long entry, so I'm just going to have a quick photo heavy post. Enjoy!

FO & a New Endeavor

So, yay, I finished my first FO of the year, a shawl:

The pattern is Seth by Anna Dalvi from her Ancient Egypt in Lace and Color collection. The yarn is that merino, cashmere, angora, silk blend I've been trying to find a good match for. The shawl is beautiful, and actually much more colorful than it appears in these photos.

The new year has also brought new endeavors for me! First, I'm co-captaining my Nerd Wars team, Team TARDIS, at the start of the year of the 50th anniversary of the show! We have a massive team and incredibly epic plans. There's still time to sign up for Nerd Wars, so head over here to do that, mmmkay?

Also, one of our beloved long-time players, AlterLace, has just released her first Mystery Knit Along. It's inspired by The Hobbit, and it's called An Unexpected Journey. If you like MKALs and/or shawl knitting, be sure to check it out. You can purchase the pattern up there, and join the KAL on Rav here. It's 3 months long, so it's timed perfectly with Nerd Wars dissertations, if that's how you want to play. Personally, I'm going to take it easy and knit on it when I can, and submit it as a flexible start project in the third round.

Finally, I wanted to share my dissertation plans with y'all. I'm really excited to making Celestarium:

It's a to-scale representation of the night sky, using yarn overs and beads to represent the stars. I'm using a bead mix with four different bead types to indicate different magnitude of stars, from clear, to matte, to shiny. Hopefully when it's finished you'll be able to tell the subtle difference between the bright stars and the more distant ones. I've marked all the stars on the constellation chart included in the pattern, so I'll assign the bead type to the chart as I work through it. I kind of wish I had more white/clear beads so I could do six or more magnitudes, but instead I'm just combining m5 and m6, and m3 and m4. It'll be pretty awesome when it's finished!

Stay tuned for more Nerd Wars and other knittng updates! There's a lot of exciting things coming up!