WEAVE – Celery Scarf

CELERY SCARF

This is the secret project i was working in May for my swap partner. For the record i was into Green Swap on Australian Swappers Group on Rav. Now that it reached my spoilee i want to brag about it .
It is my almost “Sheep to Cloth” project except that i didn’t shear the sheep and didn’t card/comb the fibre ; I spun the yarn, dyed it and finally wove it into a scarf. Having said that this is also my first weaving project.
By the way i named it Celery coz of its varying shades of light green.

Size: 5″ X ~38″(without fringe)

Notes:

The fibre is optim also known as silky merino that i got from celia. Spinning was a nightmare for DH as the fibres that got off while drafting got stuck everywhere including his office wear Since the fibres are so fine its a bit difficult to keep them in one place.

I spun the yarn in two batches; the first one was around 12-14 wpi and the second batch was a bit thicker 8-10 wpi. Both the skiens combined are around 260-280 mts. The snap above was taken when the skiens are drying after a quick wash.

I dyed them using vinegar, food color and steam combination. The resultant color is lighter than you expect. I mean if it has been wool/merino yarn the resultant color with the same dye would be more dark.

I was initially thinking of knitting a scarf but since the skien weights are so different, i know i will be way out of gauge when taking yarn from the other skien while knitting…. So weaving it is .

Its fun researching for various weaving methods; learning a completely new terminology; visiting some nice blogs and all..
I finally settled on “Backstrap weaving” as it involves some very basic tools and i can improvise a lot with the things i can find around the house to make a loom. Finally after understanding the weaving mathematics and playing with numbers i started weaving… and its done in 5 days; ofcourse the washing and making the ends took a day more.

The thinner yarn (top photo) is used as wrap (lengthwise ) and the thicker (the above one) for weft (the widthwise).

Time taken:
So if you don’t consider my research time and the time i spent on constructing the loom; it took…
4 days for spinning the yarn
1 day for dyeing and drying
5 days for weaving
1 day for fining it off.
Not bad for first weave project…(i think… )

I didn’t calculate for the take-up sufficiently and my scarf ended 5″ less than i expected. Its ok, its sufficiently long to use as a scarf; it will be as a neck-warmer if you double wrap it; the fabric has got a very nice hand (almost like silk); and it is so light that you don’t even feel it

Learnt: Learnt a lot and with the habit i have.. i also have extensive notes; if i want to do weaving again later

All i can say at the end of it is.. “I am so proud of the scarf…” As my first weaving project i would have loved to keep it and even DH was liked the scarf… (though for the life of me i couldn’t persuade him to wear a knitted scarf…) But it is made for my spoilee and there is so much fun in giving something and to know that they liked it a lot…

Jewellery – Aqua Dainty

AQUA DAINTY

History
During my brief stint with jewellery almost an year back, i wanted to try crochet/knitting jewellery. A trip to the bead shop gave me the push i needed. I picked some bead and wire to experiment.

Materials: Thread, Hook, Beads.
Pattern: Dainty Earrings by by Julie A. Bolduc.
Notes:
I wasn’t thinking of making these when i made a trip to the bead store. They didnt have what i was looking for and i left the shop with wire and czech pressed glass beads.

Couple of beads and some thrift store crochet thread are transformed into “Aqua Dainty”. I like the way they have turned out, the czech pressed glass beads really make the pair very special.

I made a couple of changes to the original pattern to include the beads and the number of beads i have. I didnt have the pattern in mind when i picked the beads; i liked them and they followed me home.
I am now looking forward to experiment with various variations to the basic pattern.

Jewellery – Leafy Granny

LEAFY GRANNY

History
During my brief stint with jewellery almost an year back, i wanted to try crochet/knitting jewellery. A trip to the bead shop gave me the push i needed. I picked some bead and wire to experiment.

Materials: Wire, Hook, Beads, Ear hooks, Jump rings.
Pattern: Granny Square Earrings by Leigh Manson-Brown.
Notes:
I wasn’t thinking of making these when i made a trip to the bead store. They didnt have 30 and 32 gauge wire i was looking for, so i came back with 26 and 28 gauge wire and some czech pressed glass beads.

All they say about crocheting wire is true… now i know by experience.
Wire is unforgiving, adament, cruel, punishing….Unlike thread/yarn it goes its own way and it took couple of false starts before i could adapt myself to it.
It has its own advantages too; unevenness is part it, blocking is a breeze, the end result is very rewarding i must say (apart from sore shoulders, calloused fingers ).

No changes to the original pattern. since i didnt have briolette beads on hand, i used the leaf beads which had a horizontal hole on the top. I didnt have 20 gauge wire to wrap the bead so i used 26. please don’t look at my wire wrapping skills they need a lot of practise

Sydney Weekend: May Wrap up

Its the end of May and i realised that its been more than a month since i blogged (lazy pickle)… Its getting cold day by day and i feel very lazy when the weather is dull.
Here is how i spend the days apart from knitting/Crocheting/Spinning (long post with lots of photos..)

Leura Cascades
Back to the Blue Mountains… I think its the 5th time we are visiting Katoomba. Every time DH says “Blue Mountains”, i say “Not Again” but somehow he convinces me. Its very windy on the day we visited and i cursed myself for not wearing a scarf. No public transport to Leura cascades, so we took a taxi (the guy was very helpful) and the whole trip from Katoomba stn to Leura falls and back to Leura stn costed us only 15 quid. I enjoyed the walk to the cascades, the falls beyond and the veiw from there.
The view

The Cascades

Coogee to Bondi walk
Long time back we made the walk from Bondi to Coogee (but i forgot my camera then). So we thought of making it in the reverse from Coogee to Bondi and this time i remembered to the camera. A late afternoon rain was forecasted but we thought we could complete the walk long before the rain….the lesson learnt is
my very of “late in the afternoon” is different from the weather guy. We had to run for the bus when rain poured on us as we approached Bronte beach; Some pictures from the rain interrupted walk.
Sunny


Cloudy

Rainy

Autumn Walks
I love seeing the leaves as they turn from green to yellow, orange, pink, red, brown, grey….

Northside produce markets
I like the weekend/weekly markets in Sydney; so whenever i get a chance, i drop by. I always miss the produce market in North Sydney as it closes by 1pm but not this time (even if i made it only hour before they close). I missed the yummy tomato relish but got some blackberry jam. Tried different types of honey before settling on one and got some sour dough bread… to be honest i didnt like it… its just not my type

The HardenHoney stall where is picked the “Coriander” Honey.

Fibre petting
I wanted to visit the Virginia Farms to get some fibre, but some sudden changes to the bus timetables made the day trip even more difficult. Celia (raveller) invited me to her house to pet some fibre so that i will get some feel before i mail order the fibre. I had a chance to pet some exotic fibre like camel, cashmere, angora, optim, BFL apart from silk, cotton, mohair, merino blends, alpaca… i also got some samples of each fibre which are now neatly labelled for future petting.
She dyes yarns and fibres herself and had yarns and fibres in gorgeous colorways; i forgot to take a photo of the heap of yarn, but you can see on Ravelry.
My score…

My Birthday
It almost rained for the whole day… a very different experience as this is my first b’day in a cold weather; i normally have (and now prefer) a summer b’day.

Origami Workshop
I attended an origami session recently; i was very much into origami when i was in school but somehow i lost interest after that.

Rain n Shine
Its been raining for the most of the month… if not raining it will be cold and windy. I think i am never going to complain about heat in India again
zeez… shivering out in the middle of the day is not me…

Visit to Virginia Farms
Celia had to pick some goodies at the Virginia Farms and invited me. It was a nice and pleasant drive. Wow… I love the place, the fibres, the yarns, the tools (Spindles, Wheels, Looms…).Jeni, The lady who owns and runs the place is very nice. I also got to meet another Raveller Susanne. Some pictures to drool

My Score… Boucle, Slub and Plain Merino yarn.

Helensburg
The last weekend of may was spent visiting the temple in Helensburg; nothing special but felt that i am back in India while having a piping hot “Masala Dosa” under a tin roof with the rain pitter pattering.
I badly wanted to go to “Sutherland Spinners and Weavers Exhibition” on the way back but it was raining hard and though the hall is near to the station; DH discouraged me as we didnt even have an umbrella.

Thats the end of May and Autumn (in Australia).
Welcome June and Winter.

FO: Red Woof Bib

RED WOOF BIB

History Wanted some mindless knitting…so picked a garter stitch bib I was actually looking at a sewed bib when i thought of making a knitted one… I have my eye on the petal bib from “one skien” book. But I am not sure if i can start on a complex one.. so decided a garter stitch bib. No cheating here, this bib was made before by pledge

Yarn: Some generic cotton yarn in DK weight/8 ply
Needles: 3.5mm circulars
Others: Tapestry needle, some buttons and some crochet thread (for embroidery)
Gauge: 10S X 11R in a 1 inch square.
Size: 6.5″ x 5.5″ without the handles.
Pattern: Inspired from “Baby Bib O’ Love” from Mason-Dixon Knitting Book. I didnt have the pattern so made up one.
Notes:
I loved the Maxon Dixon bib the moment i saw as it looked so simple…. but i didnt have the book; i thought if i can’t make a garter stitch bib… and here it is.

I initially casted on 50 stitches, looked too big for a baby so reduced it to 40. But 45 would have been good. Continued on garter for sometime, included some shaping at the neck, knitted the ties which turned out to be uneven, did a wonky button hole, used up my handmade buttons, tried some experimental embroidery and here it is.. the bib is finally finished. By the way the ties are 6 stitches and 10 would have been a nicer number.

The “Woof” is not my idea; there is a “Meow” also. Have a look Jessie’s bibs (Rav Link).
The yarn looked and was hard during knitting but somehow the bib is very soft. By the way i even made the buttons used on the bib…i still have some square ones left.

If i make it again;
No shaping at neck
No uneven ties
No wonky button hole
No nutty embroidery
and ofcourse wider ties.

Learnt:
Cable cast on

Time:
Took a few days…