Hi there - time for a weaving update I guess.
Back in the summer I bought some chenille thinking it would make nice winter scarves. I had four colours, a rich gold, pale blue, purple and a sort of rich terracotta shade. With our weather feeling decidedly autumnal I thought it was time for winter scarves ! I also wanted a quick easy to do project so the chenille seemed ideal.
I wound the warp using all four colours and then used each colour for the weft on one scarf ending up with four scarves. This is only the second time I have used chenille, the first time I made towels with cotton warp and chenille weft. I didn't have a problem with the warp, even although I had wound it four strands at a time it wound on through the raddle quite easily. I tried to thread in the same order across all 96 threads, you can tell I am uncomfortable with 'random' !! I sett at 12 epi, with one thread per dent in a 12 dent reed. Plain weave so only 2 of my 14 treadles in use !
This is how it looked on the loom with the gold weft.................................
The weaving was very quick and uneventful which meant I finished them in record time. I had already decided I would have a knotted fringe so I didn't hemstitch as I 'always' do ! That was a mistake ! When I took them off the loom I left them joined together and washed them on the wool cycle of the washing machine. When I took them out all was well and into the dryer they went. They came out 20 minutes later feeling delightfully soft but with totally tangled joined up fringes !! I think it took me longer to sort the mess out than it did to weave the scarves in the first place !
Tony had to quickly make me a gadget to pin down the edge of the scarf to let me remove the loose weft threads and sort out the tangles. A good Scottish word for this mess would be a 'fankle' !
Anyway, if I had only hemstitched the scarves there wouldn't have been any fankle. Hemstitching would have taken only minutes to do !
However, this is the pile of finished scarves, they are very soft and as you can see the chenille drapes nicely. just right for cold autumn mornings. I took the pictures in the evening with the light on and the colours are a bit bright !
Now for a knitting update.
I had some rather nice tonal cashmere which I had bought at Woolfest back in June just asking to be used ! It was a bit thicker than lace weight I thought but not as thick as sock yarn so what could I do with it. I looked at my list of favourites in Ravelry and chose Spring is in the Air a nicely shaped shawl. It was very straight forward to knit with good clear instructions. Here are some pictures of the result. I added beads to the fringe.
I would knit this again as it is so nicely shaped and sits well on the shoulders. The cashmere makes it very soft and warm.
Next up on the loom will be one of the fine cotton scarf kits I brought back from Sweden with instructions in Dutch !! Wish me luck with that !
Hope you have enjoyed the update. Until next time, happy weaving and knitting !
Hi Dorothy!
ReplyDeleteYour chenille scarves are wonderful... such a nice colour selection!
I can feel the cuddle factor from here :)
I absolutely love the knit shawl... so elegant, love the beads and especially the colour.
Sorry the fringes turned into a fankle!
Maybe you and I can chat about what I've done in the past that might help for the future?
Hugs, Susan
With the temperature outside dropping towards freezing point tonight I sit here thinking how lovely one of those scarves would be to wrap round my neck!!! It is an amazing variety you managed to make out of those four solid colours. Sorry to hear that the fringes made a "fangle", I can almost hear you muttering while "unfangling" them :-)
ReplyDeleteThat cashmere knitted shawl is just beautiful!! And I can just imagine how soft and warm it would be to wear. I have not even started to figure out how you manage to get those tiny little beads on there. I mean, - a piece of knitting, all one continuous thread??!! But then I am not a knitter, and I choose to think that lace knitting was not even invented when I learned to knit (too) many years ago!
Look forward to seeing how you make out with the Dutch weaving project. Knowing how your Danish - and Swedish - is expanding, I have no doubt you'll be doing excellently ;-)
Ellen
Hi Dorothy,
ReplyDeleteLove the colors of the chenille scarves; I take it these are cotton chenille. You were lucky to be able to get out of the mess of the tangles; gosh, I don't think I would every put a warp in the washer, and dryer all attached like that. I would have finished the end first. Anyway, they turned out nice. I love the knitted shawl, that is a beautiful piece of work.
This is Canadian Thanksgiving, and we all have so much to be thankful for. We are also having beautiful weather, and I spent about 3 1/2 hours out working in the gardens - might just get my "beds" put to bed before the snow flies. We already had a taste of winter earlier in the week, I walked Suzie the other morning in snow/sleet and hail - no enough for any of it to stay on the ground, but a sign of things to come.
I am over 1/2 through my strips for the friendship coverlet project - though no weaving this weekend if the weather holds.
Take care and all the best to you and yours.
Happy Canadian Thanksgiving.
Weaverly yours .......... Barbara
Luscious looking scarves! Thanks for the new word - fangle. I am amazed at how much you knitting you get done.
ReplyDeleteLove the shawl, it doesn't look very straightforward to me (a very occasional 'failed' knitter!). Good luck with your Dutch instructions, weaving certainly broadens the horizons!
ReplyDeleteYour scarves are wonderful! Very nice colour.
ReplyDeleteKram Birgitta