Huck Luck Adventure Workshop

Our Weaving Chicks Study Group had a workshop this past weekend on Huck Variations, 12 different patterns using the same threading and tieup, just changing the treadling.

My friend Bonnie organized and presented it. We did two sets of the 12 samples, one set to wash and one set to leave as-is for comparison. We used a thick 8/3 white cotton as both warp and weft, and some people used color for one repeat of each pattern to make the design more visible.

1” cardboard strips were used for separators between samples, and we either used Fray-Chek or hemstitched the ends of each sample. I hemstitched mine.

Here's Bonnie's already washed sample - the texture is so different from the cloth on the loom!

We learned a lot about huck and its different textures, and are already dreaming about different uses/projects for different designs. A great time was had by all!

Extreme Plying

In the Southern Cross Fibre group on Ravelry, we're doing an Extreme Plying SAL (spin-a-long). None of this mundane single or 2-ply or 3-ply or n-ply stuff for us... the more extreme the better. I thought I'd kick things off (and wet my feet) with a 9-ply yarn. Thus far, the highest I've plied is a 4-ply (for Mr. Debbie's sweater yarn).

To this end, I split a braid of SCF Red Rock finn into 9 equal pieces:

 Then I spun each piece onto a separate bobbin:

They're pretty equal - some of the bobbins look like they have more on them, but they don't - they weren't empty before I started spinning. I just spun on top of leftovers.

The plan is to thread each singles through a rigid heddle to keep them equally spread, then guide them onto the wheel as I ply. I have no idea what I'll do with the finished yarn, but I think it will be COOL. :)

3 Miles!

...of handspun, that is. I keep track of the yards I spin - that's plied yards... I can't possibly keep track of the singles yardage before plying, so I just keep track of finished yarn. I use a little widget called Knitmeter - it keeps track of your spinning, crochet, or knitting. You can see it in my sidebar, and get one for yourself if you like. I'm a bit amazed that I've hit 3 miles already in 2013! I think completing Mr. Debbie's sweater yarn helped with that...

Speaking of which, here's the finished 4-ply (4 separate plies, fingering weight) sweater yarn. All polwarth, 4 different colorways from Southern Cross Fibre, spun separately and plied together. It's 1800 yards, more than enough for a sweater and matching socks:

Here's a skein of Hello Yarn, rambouillet in one of her shop colorways, "Throwing Stones". 300 yards of n-ply sportweight:

Some luscious merino/silk, from Enchanted Knoll Farm's Hooves club, December 2012, "Rusty Cock". I'm calling it "Rooster"... 150 yards of n-ply sportweight:

And finally, more silk for weaving scarves. This is 2 ounces of tussah silk, from Enchanted Knoll Farm, in her "Gold Dust Woman" colorway. I spun it into 400 yards of n-ply laceweight:

Handwoven Rainbow Black Towels

I finished the towels! These may be my favorite so far. The rainbow colors against the black background remind me of stained glass. 10/2 cotton, hand-hemmed, 16"x24".

My only regret is not having wound a longer warp! I was low on the black 10/2 cotton, so I only wound an 8 towel warp. Thankfully, I've restocked, so I can weave some more!