Off on a tangent

I happily spent time over the holiday period leaving behind the intense concentration of my lace projects and working on an easy pattern I have used before. This time I used a larger scale and thicker thread (yes #20 crochet cotton is "thick" in the lace world.) I used a part ball of multicolour thread from my stash and just kept going until it ran out. Here is where it ended up.

The hat band was planned from the start. The leftover piece was put to good use on a floaty summer top which I really like except that it had a strange piece that looked like a facing put on the outside instead of the inside. It really annoyed me that it was finished with a white overlocked edge. I had just enough lace to cover the white stitching and make it look as though it was meant to be there.

Then, always up for a challenge, I took part in an exchange along with dozens of other tatters around the world. (No, it is not a dying art.) It was a quick and easy one with the topic being a tatted heart prior to Valentine's Day. I don't do many hearts, preferring snowflakes or stars, but there are dozens of patterns available. I was paired with a woman from Minnesota and here is what I will be sending her along with a few bits of kiwiana. It is two heart motifs joined together at the edges to make a little basket.

Now I wait to see what she will send me.

Another Blend of Oddments

There are three leftovers in this scarf. Two are thick and very stretchy as they are actually knitted tubes, and the other is a thick, fluffy but non-stretchy yarn - all are wool to the best of my knowledge. I knew there was a possibility of "something" happening because of the difference in the yarns, and I expected some ruffles.

For a weft I used a fine black yarn which I believe is also wool but plied with gold lurex. It looks good but is inclined to be scratchy. I hoped it would be cushioned by the fat warp yarns. 

Certainly something did happen, but in the opposite direction to what I expected. The warps "collapsed" together to make a narrow pleated scarf, about half the width it had been in the reed.    When I got over my surprise I decided I like it and it has already been claimed by one of my daughters - yes on a sweltering 30 degree day!.

Enough scarves for now. I am going to hide in my corner and make some lace, and when I weave again I will be looking at wool (or linen . . or alpaca).

Seasons greetings and much creativity to one and all.

Challenges

A fundraiser supplied $10 with a challenge to take it away and use it to increase its value.  For a warp I used some fine wool (no label) a friend found in a charity shop. I wove two scarves using silk weft for both but used a different twill variation for each. I finished them with my usual Philippine edges and twisted fringes.

That was the easy part. Now I have to sell them and try to make several 100% for the charity - that's the hard bit. TradeMe, here I come.

A challenge of a different kind is one I can't resist - "What can I make of the leftovers?"   A little bit of this and a little bit of that can, with a bit of juggling, be made into something with a bit more character than each yarn on its own.  These two "scraps" together were not quite enough for my scarf length so I unwound the warps, shortened the length and made a shorter scarf. That's two little oddments that I didn't have to add to the scrap bag. Weft is a very fine blue cotton stranded with mother-of-pearl.

Grocery Bags

As a result of a challenge in our Weavers' Group I used stash - in this case carpet wool - to weave half a dozen bags suitable for grocery shopping now that plastic bags are no longer acceptable.

Weaving is one thing - sewing up is another. This is one I finished before the last meeting of the year. The rest are in various states of manufacture

Oh well. another UF for the UFO pile.  I can see I will need a sewing bee soon.

More scarves - more "comfort weaving"

I have decided I really like alpaca for scarves. Here are three in slightly different weights, just finished. I have been casting around for just the right specs for a man's scarf. Any of these three would serve but I have chosen the dark navy one for a family member's special birthday.

Back to the Loom

Life has been getting in the way of my weaving lately so I have been making an effort to do what a friend calls "comfort weaving". Here are three scarves, all using the same multi-coloured yarn as the warp and three different wefts: blue wool at 10 epi, finer black alpaca and an even finer pinkish (puce?) alpaca both at 12 epi. Each has a different handle as you would expect but all three have finished well and I am pleased with them. 

It was interesting watching narrow stripes forming in a long (2 scarf) warp as I was winding it, so had to experiment to see if I got wider stripes in a shorter (1 scarf) warp.   It sort of worked.

And another thing . . . 

I discovered I can still knit!

I should go on holiday more often.

Nostalgia Time

This year is the 100th birthday of what is now called Blenheim Musical Theatre.  Back in the 1970s and 80s I was part of the wardrobe department, becoming involved because I offered to weave the fabric for the 1979 performance of "Joseph."  As a weaver this was a fun challenge and an opportunity to get into the technicolour scene which I did with great glee, adding lots of glitter along the way. Tricia Burtenshaw made up the Dreamcoat with my fabric and it looked stunning on the stage with a "cartwheel" of panels as the spokes were unrolled and taken in a circle around Joseph (Greg Christensen) in the finale. Unfortunately I don't have a picture .
The garment has since had a few display outings, in particular at the Creative Fibre National Festival in Blenheim in 2012. Now in 2018 it is the 100th birthday of the "Operatic Society" (as it was called) and there are displays being held in the foyer of Blenheim's grand new ASB Theatre, one decade at a time. Now is the time for the 1970s and here are some photos, and in particular Joseph's Technicolour Dreamcoat.