Handwoven Gold Waterfall

Here's the first project on my new Saori loom, though I didn't weave it Saori-style. I've had this rayon/silk yarn for awhile - I got it from a Ravelry destash, and have been petting it for months, trying to decide how best to use it. I decided to use tencel as its weft, and wove a shawl as my Saori loom's first effort.  I love how the finished shawl turned out - after hemstitching, twisting the fringe, giving it a gentle wash, and a good pressing, it has fantastic drape and shine.







The shawl/wrap is a generous 75" x 14", with 6" handtwisted fringe on each end. The rayon/silk was divine to weave. I think I need to get some more!

Handwoven SAORI Blue

I have so much catching up to do - the fall sweater's body is done and I'm knitting the sleeves, I've finished the tencel twill scarves and the shadow weave scarf, and I've spun several skeins of yarn - but the only thing I've got photographed right now is the SAORI Blue shawl/wrap/scarf:

I used mixed cottons, bamboo, rayon, and fun novelty yarns in both the warp and weft. I love weaving Saori - it's "no rules, just fun!"

SAORI Red Shawl - Finished!

The finished shawl is 70" x 13.5", with a 7" handknotted fringe on each end. It washed up so nicely - very soft, with lovely drape. The main body of the shawl is cottons, with rayon and bamboo and novelty accents. I'm really happy with this piece!

Saori RED - Workshop Piece

I'm at a Saori workshop, assisting my friend Cheryl, who is a certified Saori instructor. Eight wonderful ladies have driven here from Florida to learn how to weave Saori-style. They are all traditional weavers who are eager to add Saori weaving to their 'toolboxes'.

Here's my warp on the loom:

And the weaving in progress:

I think it's going to be a shawl when it grows up. :)

Handwoven, Handspun: Sydney Harbour shawl

Where was I? Forgetting to blog, that's where I was. :\

OK, let's just pick up anywhere... I've been busy spinning and weaving and knitting, and I have lots of things to show you. I'll just pick one, that I happen to be quite proud of, and that's my Sydney Harbour Shawl.

My friend David at Southern Cross Fibre started a line of semi-solid colorways, designed to stand well on their own or to be used with others in stripe work or colorwork. He offers them as singles or in combo packs. I got one of the Sydney Harbour combos, and was inspired by the beautiful colors (and egged on by David) to spin and then weave a striped warp shawl.

The colors are so lovely together:

The fiber base is polwarth, a beautifully soft wool with a lovely shine. It's a Merino/Lincoln cross, so it has the softness of the merino with the strength and lustre of the lincoln. I spun each color separately, and navajo/chain-plied to give me a nice round soft yarn in a heavy fingering weight.

Then I spun some undyed moorit (a term used for non-white wool, usually tan to light brown, but more of an oatmeal color in this case) polwarth to pair with the colored skeins so I could make a wider shawl. I also spun some of the same moorit polwarth into a 2-ply laceweight to use as my weft.

I warped it on my 25" Schacht Flip rigid heddle loom. I knew I wanted it to be plainweave, and I wanted to minimize loom waste. The rigid heddle looms are great for this - I ended up with NO loom waste, as my tie-on lengths became my fringe.

I had great fun planning out the striping, and the weaving went all too quickly.

A hand-twisted fringe and a bath, and it was done.

I believe this is the first project I've taken from fiber to finished handwoven piece, and it was immensely satisfying. It's very soft, wonderfully warm, and I'll definitely use it in cold weather.

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!