Rainbow Towels in Progress...

I spent the weekend in the company of wonderful friends, the Weavin' Chicks - learning to weave Advancing Twill. We wove a scarf from bamboo, and learned that "Advancing Twill" means "a zillion picks per repeat"! We managed to get some lovely scarves woven - here's mine, before fringe-twisting and washing (I promise a better picture when it's done):

Happy to be able to report some progress on the Rainbow towel warp. Since I have 12 towels on this warp, I decided to weave 6 pairs of weft colors. The first two towels are PINK:

The second set of two towels is PURPLE:

And the third set is BURGUNDY:

I'll weave more tomorrow - I'm hoping to finish the whole warp tomorrow and Wednesday, so I can bring it to show off at the Saori retreat this weekend. A group of us are meeting at my friend Cheryl's Weavin' Place Saori-Style studio-in-the-woods for a Saori "Kai" ("sharing time") retreat, and as a special treat, my dearest friend Sherie is coming from Amarillo for the weekend! I can't wait to see her again.

I've also made great progress on my husband's sweater yarn - I've got two 4-ounce bobbins spun, and am working on the third (of four). This will be my first 4-ply yarn, and I can't wait to start plying, because the colors are gorgeous (pictures tomorrow, I hope!)

I love October.

October means the sweltering heat of our 5-month summer is behind us. The humidity drops a bit, the high temperatures dip down into the 80's, and we actually get temps in the upper 60's at night. We celebrate by throwing our doors and windows open to air out the house and relish the DRY. :)

I've been on vacation from work this week, recharging my batteries and reorganizing my space. My "studio" (that means my corner of our large living room) had become cluttered and was stifling my creative breath. With things put away and neatly stored, I have room to move and play and dream. :)

Weaving-wise, I've finished (finally!) the Huck Lace dishtowels - I love them, with their earthy organic cotton colors and thirsty texture. Now to hem and wash (finishing is my weakest link).


I've also been weaving some cool cotton openwork scarves on the rigid heddle looms. It's leno with a 'twist' - the entire scarf is twisted while weaving, creating a lovely fishnet effect. I'm working on a variation this weekend that includes bands of plainweave - I'll post pictures of that one when I'm done.


Spin, spin, spin - you know I always have yarn in progress, since my wheel brings me balance and sanity. Its treadles are my footrest in the evening, and the repetitive motion is so very soothing. I've finished lots of yarns, some for the Etsy shop, some for custom spinning requests (yes, I take them - I can spin fiber you've purchased elsewhere... just drop me a line for details) and some for ME.

(as always, click for big)




Oh, and I attended a cotton-spinning workshop with the guild - had fun sharpening my skills on spinning cotton yarn. I chain-plied my samples into one yarn - fun! I'll have to weave a little something with it as a memento.


And knit: I'm knitting along with the Camping Shawl KAL in the Southern Cross Fibre group on Ravelry. I'm using commercial yarn for this one, a lovely heathered brown in Knitpicks Shadow called "Redwood Forest".


My lace skills are beginner, definitely, but I'm excited to be knitting my first circular shawl. It's nice to have knitting in my lap again, now that the weather is cooling - did I mention that???

Love you, October!