I want to weave a vest. I want it to be something I can wear and enjoy. And I am torn between two paths:
I could choose a pattern, sew it out of a handwoven-ish commercial fabric, evaluate it, and go from there.
Or I could throw a warp on the loom and wing it.
On the one hand, I suspect that most basically boxy vests wouldn't be so very flattering on me.
On the other hand, my favorite cardigans are big boxy things.
How many hands can you have?
I'm intrigued by this pattern:
http://www.kwiksew.com/catalog/cat_detail.cfm?pid=2882
which has bust darts and an assortment of necklines and a pieced back so I could make it from one relatively narrow strip of fabric, assuming I want to cut it.
On the other hand, I do really like this simple vest, too:
http://www.weavingroom.com/OvrwWeb.pdf (have to view the pdf to see the photo; it's from Clothing from the Weaving Room.
Clearly I'll have plenty to think about while I do my chores today.
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
Monday, August 31, 2009
The end is in sight!
Way back in 2005 I impulsively cast on for Elizabeth Zimmerman's Pi Are Square shawl, thinking it would keep me busy on a long car trip. Well, it did, and it has. Here it is in 2006 and 2007. I set it aside shortly after that because I needed to make some decisions, and didn't pick it up again until July of this year, when I was anticipating another long car ride. Here's what it looked like then:
It took me a while to remember where I was and what I was trying to do. I had run out of the two purples I was using for the body of the shawl, and needed to decide how far to go with the gray and what to do about an edging.
I decided to push the gray as far as it would go, to give me more length. I may regret this when I block it. During our car trip (from Oklahoma to Michigan) I finished the body of the shawl and started the edging. As it turns out, a lace edging is not really the best sit-and-chat sort of knitting, so I didn't get much done during the non-driving parts of our vacation. But there was lots of driving, and once I memorized the pattern I started really making progress. Here's where it is today:
And here is a closeup of the patterning:
I'm not entirely happy with this. In case you're not familiar with the pi-shawl concept, you double the number of stitches at intervals that themselves double. So every line of simple holes you see there is a doubling row -- except maybe the last one, I can't remember if I doubled there or not. There's no puckering (the drawback to this method) so I might not have doubled. I'll figure that out later, when I write the finished shawl up.
Anyways, my overall concept for this shawl was "pi are squared, purple, lacy" and so I just picked patterns at each doubling, and I don't really think my choices were all that felicitous. The first pattern is a madeira fan that was hard to do and will be invisible under my hair. I like the next zig-zag one, and think it works well with both the fan and the pattern below, although I don't think I'm wild about all the faggoting on the third pattern. But my real concern is the print o' the wave. What was I thinking? It really has nothing in common with the others. I think I thought it would further develop the faggoting, but looking at it now I don't think that the visual connection really happens.
And I was intending to use an edging designed by Sharon Miller to coordinate with print o' the wave, but decided not to after all. Both are a stockinette fabric, and on a sort of cardigan shawl the edging needs to look good on both sides. The edging I chose has a double zig zag, which I hope will tie it in with the various other patterns once the shawl is blocked and you can actually see it, but that leaves the print o' the wave flapping alone in the breeze. I'm not going to rip it back, though! I just hope I remember this the next time I think, "oh, it will be a quick knit, I don't need to plan it." And also that very few things in laceweight are a "quick knit."
I am still pondering the front / neck edge. I had planned to just continue the same edging all the way around, but I wonder if it will be too floppy & lacy. Maybe I'd be happier with a plain edge? Maybe I am thinking this because it would be a lot faster? Oh, and perhaps this has something to do with the deadline for county fair entries in 10 days? I had thought it was in three days and was resigned to missing it, but then I learned I had an extra week. I could certainly finish the bottom & do a quick crochet around the inside edges .... but what a stupid reason to make a design decision. So -- things to think about while I knit.
(Another one is -- will I ever wear this? More than once?)
It took me a while to remember where I was and what I was trying to do. I had run out of the two purples I was using for the body of the shawl, and needed to decide how far to go with the gray and what to do about an edging.
I decided to push the gray as far as it would go, to give me more length. I may regret this when I block it. During our car trip (from Oklahoma to Michigan) I finished the body of the shawl and started the edging. As it turns out, a lace edging is not really the best sit-and-chat sort of knitting, so I didn't get much done during the non-driving parts of our vacation. But there was lots of driving, and once I memorized the pattern I started really making progress. Here's where it is today:
And here is a closeup of the patterning:
I'm not entirely happy with this. In case you're not familiar with the pi-shawl concept, you double the number of stitches at intervals that themselves double. So every line of simple holes you see there is a doubling row -- except maybe the last one, I can't remember if I doubled there or not. There's no puckering (the drawback to this method) so I might not have doubled. I'll figure that out later, when I write the finished shawl up.Anyways, my overall concept for this shawl was "pi are squared, purple, lacy" and so I just picked patterns at each doubling, and I don't really think my choices were all that felicitous. The first pattern is a madeira fan that was hard to do and will be invisible under my hair. I like the next zig-zag one, and think it works well with both the fan and the pattern below, although I don't think I'm wild about all the faggoting on the third pattern. But my real concern is the print o' the wave. What was I thinking? It really has nothing in common with the others. I think I thought it would further develop the faggoting, but looking at it now I don't think that the visual connection really happens.
And I was intending to use an edging designed by Sharon Miller to coordinate with print o' the wave, but decided not to after all. Both are a stockinette fabric, and on a sort of cardigan shawl the edging needs to look good on both sides. The edging I chose has a double zig zag, which I hope will tie it in with the various other patterns once the shawl is blocked and you can actually see it, but that leaves the print o' the wave flapping alone in the breeze. I'm not going to rip it back, though! I just hope I remember this the next time I think, "oh, it will be a quick knit, I don't need to plan it." And also that very few things in laceweight are a "quick knit."
I am still pondering the front / neck edge. I had planned to just continue the same edging all the way around, but I wonder if it will be too floppy & lacy. Maybe I'd be happier with a plain edge? Maybe I am thinking this because it would be a lot faster? Oh, and perhaps this has something to do with the deadline for county fair entries in 10 days? I had thought it was in three days and was resigned to missing it, but then I learned I had an extra week. I could certainly finish the bottom & do a quick crochet around the inside edges .... but what a stupid reason to make a design decision. So -- things to think about while I knit.
(Another one is -- will I ever wear this? More than once?)
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Off to Kazakhstan!
A couple of days ago I sent a package off on the first leg of its journey to Kazakhstan. This is part of an annual project to provide warm clothes for children aging out of two orphanages. What you see here is a gansey-type sweater, balaclava hat, mittens & scarf, all for the same boy. He'll also be getting a couple of pairs of socks (knitted by someone else) and a blanket; the orphanage provides him with a winter coat.
About a hundred years ago, my grandfather aged out of a similar institution. We don't know too much about his life at that time, but I hope people were kind to him. I have enjoyed making these things & thinking about orphanages, charity, family and warmth.
I've also enjoyed it on a more personal basis. I finally had a reason to knit Robin Hansen's Big Waves mittens. They sure are big! I liked knitting mittens with a different pattern on the palm than on the back of the hand; it makes me want to put a pair of Selbu mittens high on my to-do list. And I'm really pleased at the way the woven scarf echoes the waves -- it's made from the same two yarns as the mittens, and I think they look like a set even though they are in different techniques.
Weaving the scarf was fun, in part because I got to use some new equipment:
This is a floor-based inkle loom (a Leclerc Cendrel) which can also be used as a warping board. When I was deciding to buy this loom I liked the idea of having a warping board with a 10-yard capacity, since the one I already had can only manage 6 yards. But I hadn't even thought of the difference FEET would make! This warping board does not need to be leaned on a chair and doesn't fall over -- such a delight! Someday I think I would like to have a warping reel, but for now this is a huge improvement.
I still ran into trouble with my squirrel cage swift. This is a homemade one that I picked up secondhand for only $20. The reason why became apparent when I started to use it -- it spills yarn off the end, like this:
It went from unusable to barely tolerable when I replaced the axles (right word?), which had become bent. But it was still dumping yarn off the outside of the cages unless I repositioned the yarn every few revolutions -- very frustrating. This is worsted weight knitting yarn which can handle some tugging, but I want to make some warps out of much finer yarn. This sort of tangle would be a nightmare then.
Finally I thought to prop the whole thing up on one side, so the trunk was no longer completely vertical. This seemed to really help; once I had wound off the tangled bit there were no further problems. But I still don't feel confident enough to wind, say, a laceweight warp using this swift. It's frustrating. This swift and the picker I used to own have really turned me against equipment homemade by amateur woodworkers. They are almost just right -- but it turns out that those tiny details make a huge difference.
Despite these difficulties, winding the warp & warping the loom took only a few hours. I started winding on Saturday morning and finished the second scarf Monday afternoon -- very satisfying.
I'm also pleased to have used up almost all of a box of yarn. I bought an armload of Germantown worsted for almost nothing in a thrift store about 12 (14? 15?) years ago, back before I was married. I intended to use it for a sweater for the man who is now my husband, and even swatched a few times, but it just never seemed like the right project. And then a few years back I used some of the yarn as the shag for his father's mittens (apparently never blogged but you can see them on Ravelry if you care to) which pretty much put an end to that project. But there was plenty left for a teenager's sweater, and hat, and mittens & scarf ... and there's still one skein left over. That will go into the "misc. worsted" box, or maybe the "blues" box. I'd show you the empty box, but it has already been filled with handspun that used to be spilling out of a basket on the floor. And the basket? Well, let's just say that the floor is more visible now.
About a hundred years ago, my grandfather aged out of a similar institution. We don't know too much about his life at that time, but I hope people were kind to him. I have enjoyed making these things & thinking about orphanages, charity, family and warmth.
I've also enjoyed it on a more personal basis. I finally had a reason to knit Robin Hansen's Big Waves mittens. They sure are big! I liked knitting mittens with a different pattern on the palm than on the back of the hand; it makes me want to put a pair of Selbu mittens high on my to-do list. And I'm really pleased at the way the woven scarf echoes the waves -- it's made from the same two yarns as the mittens, and I think they look like a set even though they are in different techniques.
Weaving the scarf was fun, in part because I got to use some new equipment:
This is a floor-based inkle loom (a Leclerc Cendrel) which can also be used as a warping board. When I was deciding to buy this loom I liked the idea of having a warping board with a 10-yard capacity, since the one I already had can only manage 6 yards. But I hadn't even thought of the difference FEET would make! This warping board does not need to be leaned on a chair and doesn't fall over -- such a delight! Someday I think I would like to have a warping reel, but for now this is a huge improvement.
I still ran into trouble with my squirrel cage swift. This is a homemade one that I picked up secondhand for only $20. The reason why became apparent when I started to use it -- it spills yarn off the end, like this:
It went from unusable to barely tolerable when I replaced the axles (right word?), which had become bent. But it was still dumping yarn off the outside of the cages unless I repositioned the yarn every few revolutions -- very frustrating. This is worsted weight knitting yarn which can handle some tugging, but I want to make some warps out of much finer yarn. This sort of tangle would be a nightmare then.
Finally I thought to prop the whole thing up on one side, so the trunk was no longer completely vertical. This seemed to really help; once I had wound off the tangled bit there were no further problems. But I still don't feel confident enough to wind, say, a laceweight warp using this swift. It's frustrating. This swift and the picker I used to own have really turned me against equipment homemade by amateur woodworkers. They are almost just right -- but it turns out that those tiny details make a huge difference.Despite these difficulties, winding the warp & warping the loom took only a few hours. I started winding on Saturday morning and finished the second scarf Monday afternoon -- very satisfying.
I'm also pleased to have used up almost all of a box of yarn. I bought an armload of Germantown worsted for almost nothing in a thrift store about 12 (14? 15?) years ago, back before I was married. I intended to use it for a sweater for the man who is now my husband, and even swatched a few times, but it just never seemed like the right project. And then a few years back I used some of the yarn as the shag for his father's mittens (apparently never blogged but you can see them on Ravelry if you care to) which pretty much put an end to that project. But there was plenty left for a teenager's sweater, and hat, and mittens & scarf ... and there's still one skein left over. That will go into the "misc. worsted" box, or maybe the "blues" box. I'd show you the empty box, but it has already been filled with handspun that used to be spilling out of a basket on the floor. And the basket? Well, let's just say that the floor is more visible now.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
The joke's on me!
The point of my post yesterday was not "poor me, no time" but rather my capacity for self-delusion -- that I would imagine a whole empty day stretching out before me, when really what I had was about three hours.
You'll note, however, that I imagined I could get quite a lot done with those three hours. In truth, by the end I had a reasonably clean kitchen, a couple of loads of laundry, and this shirt cut out & two pockets made but not applied. No weaving, no writing, no shirt for George to wear today. By the end of the afternoon I had gotten more done on the shirt while the children played with their friends, but I'm still halfway through the collar. And really, that's a reasonable amount to have accomplished. The amount I thought I could get done is the real joke.
So today I'm trying to be more reasonable in what I expect of myself. But I sure would like to finish that shirt -- and I need to do the writing project, and my loom is calling to me. If I want it badly enough, surely I can squeeze it in?
You'll note, however, that I imagined I could get quite a lot done with those three hours. In truth, by the end I had a reasonably clean kitchen, a couple of loads of laundry, and this shirt cut out & two pockets made but not applied. No weaving, no writing, no shirt for George to wear today. By the end of the afternoon I had gotten more done on the shirt while the children played with their friends, but I'm still halfway through the collar. And really, that's a reasonable amount to have accomplished. The amount I thought I could get done is the real joke.
So today I'm trying to be more reasonable in what I expect of myself. But I sure would like to finish that shirt -- and I need to do the writing project, and my loom is calling to me. If I want it badly enough, surely I can squeeze it in?
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