Something new

I'm excited because I had a Kromski Harp folding rigid heddle loom for Christmas. I've been wanting to try weaving for a while so I'm delighted. I put a warp on it of 4 ply oddments and I've been practising over the last few days. Since I took this photo, I've tried patterns with the pick up stick, which gives some interesting effects. I think I'm getting the hang of it now.

As the weather has gotten colder recently and getting into bed is like getting into the fridge, I bought a hot water bottle and of course I had to make a cover for it. This is crocheted from Jaeger Matchmaker DK and it feels nice. I made the pattern up as I went along. Crochet is great for that, it's much easier to design on the fly than knitting, for me anyway.

The Ribena sleeves are growing steadily but there is still about 3 inches to go before the armhole shaping.

Wherever does time go?

I'm astounded that it's been over five weeks since I posted. Still, there has been a lot of sampling, and progress has been slow. Knitting is going on, I started Ribena from Knitty, only I'm going to make long sleeves. I wanted something fairly simple and this fits the bill nicely. So far, I've finished the back and front and am making both sleeves together. The yarn is Patons Diploma Gold DK and I'm using 4mm needles for the stocking stitch sections, 3.75mm for the ribs.

It took a long time, but I finally spun up the merino silk blend. I made a 2 ply and it is 469m weighing 100g. I think I've found a pattern for it, but I won't be starting yet.

After a lengthy drilling session, my oak peg loom was completed. The first project on it was a small rug, which I wove with english wool tops which I divided lengthwise into eighths, and then spun lightly.




Mollie, one of our two cats, is very attracted to this rug, and sabotaged it a couple of times during weaving. As a result, I decided to felt it, or it would have a very short life. My attempts in the bathtub were ineffective, so into the washing machine it went. Now it is smaller, still damp and much denser, but crucially, it's cat proof.