Canada Geese

This is a project I finished about 1-1/2 years ago for my husband's 65th birthday. We both love Canada geese and often take a ride on one of his motorcycles up the Natchez Trace on what we call a goose hunt. Late afternoon, we often see them feeding and sometimes with babies. We love the fact that they mate for life and when we see two, we will say, "there's a married couple" or in the case of odd numbers, an old bachelor. We've enjoyed this hand hooked pillowed and it is currently residing on our bed. Hooked in a size 4 cut of mostly hand dyed (by me) wool. The back and cording were dyed at the same time as most of the blue in the water. Lenny Feenan, The Burning Artist drew the pattern for me. It was a pleasure to hook.

Hello After a Long Break!

I was sure that it had been some time since I had posted to my blog and was I ever right! Retirement has been a lot busier than I ever imagined! Thank you all for your patience while I have taken a break. I seemed to have gotten more interested in rug hooking than weaving in the last few years but I vow to get back to weaving and even some dyeing - maybe not cellulose/plant fibers such as cotton, rayon and tencel; I have become quite interested in dyeing wool fabric for my own hooking and it may be, down the road, that I offer some wool fabric and yarn for sale. But, for now, I am enjoying the learning process. On a personal note, we have a new four-legged member in our family, Petey Belle. He is a merle cockapoo and as of August 3, he is 4 months old. He just completed obedience school and obeys most of the time. Hopefully, maturity will help obedience. (; Here are a few pictures of him. I promise in some upcoming posts to do some 'show and tell' of my rug hooking and even one woven piece. (I must put something on the loom!)

A Memorable Weekend

We had a wonderful weekend with musician friends with whom Don worked off and on for many years. Some came from Kansas City, MO, Cleveland, Ohio and Mobile, Alabama. We met everyone at a local restaurant on Friday night and then again on Saturday about noon in order to set up music equipment and rehearse. There were approximately 20 musicians there. Not all played but so good to see them all. There were about 150 guests there. Some have attended every time this group of friends has gotten together to play and visit. Each year, we are afraid might be the last we see some as all are getting older and some in poor health. One came (and sung) who we had not seen since 1975. What a joy to renew an old acquaintance and meet his family.

Winding a Skein into a Ball

Remove and save the label for sett suggestions or gauge. Open up the skein. Ideally, you will own an umbrella swift and ball winder and these instructions are assuming you do.  Insure that the skein is not twisted, then place the skein on the swift bringing the swift up to meet the circumference of the skein. Locate the beginning/end of the yarn; this is where the beginning and end were tied together. Cut this loop (last) and the remaining tie-bands off the skein. Caution: This step should not be done prior to placing the skein on the swift.  Wind off a couple of rounds to see if the yarn is going to feed evenly and insert the end into the ball winder and wind into a center pull ball. If the yarn seems like it is tangled, it is probably just a kink in that spot. Resist the temptation of weaving in and out as it misaligns the yarn. Usually, if you will give the yarn a little pop close to the skein, it will loosen the kink and you can proceed to wind into a center-pull ball. If you are using a hand dyed yarn and using more than one skein, lay one skein on top of the other to insure the color is running the same direction. Then, be sure you wind in the same color order.

Publishing with New Laptop

If you are a follower, you might have noticed that I posted approximately 30 pages in the last few days. Most are from my old website which presently resides on my old desktop. We are in the process of clearing the harddrive and I will be posting from my new laptop. I could not publish from the laptop and hopefully, this change to the new blogger interface that Kim recommended will help.

Mother Bunny and Bunny Love

Thanks for bearing with me while I transfer files from my former website to blogger. There will be many files that I hope will be helpful to weavers.

In addition, here are the latest rug hooking projects I finished and gave to my sister-in-law who loves bunnies. They were designed by Karen Kahle of Primitive Spirit Rugs and were a lot of fun and fast to hook.

Knitting or Weaving Yarn?

I have often heard yarns referred to as knitting yarns or weaving yarns. I've heard it said that yarns on a cone are weaving yarns and yarns on a skein or ball are knitting yarns; that stretchy yarns should not be used for weaving; that knitting yarns are pre-washed and weaving yarns are not pre-washed. An educated guess is that a dyed yarn has been pre-washed.

It can certainly be confusing but the truth is that none of these factors define a knitting or weaving yarn. These are only conditions of the yarn that should be considered before knitting or weaving a project.

If you are in doubt of whether a yarn will make a good knitting or weaving yarn, first consider how you will use it. For example, a stretchy yarn might not make the best warp. But, it might be used for example. Or, if in doubt, and you want to use the yarn, use it as weft.

If you are using a hand dyed yarn, consider that it has been fulled some and sett it closer than a mill dyed yarn. If knitting, knit a swatch with 3 to 4 sized needles and wash the swatch to determine the needle size to use for the finished product.

In addition to how you will use it, consider the qualities you want in the finished product. Would you like a scarf that is lightweight or heavy, warm or cool accessory, nice drape or very light? Qualities of the finished product are largely determined by the fiber content of the yarn and structure of the fabric.

For a lightweight scarf, go with a laceweight yarn. For something a little heavier, a fingering weight and even heavier, a DK weight. (If you go any heavier, you're going to have a saddle blanket around your neck. Ask me how I know! )
For a lightweight, warm scarf, consider a protein (animal) fiber such as wool, silk alpaca, etc., or combinations of the same such as Jaggerspun Zephyr Silk/Merino. Melody Superwash Wool or Harmony Laceweight Merino are also good choices for warm, lightweight scarves.

For a lightweight, cool accessory with nice drape, tencel is a good choice and can be used for both knitting and weaving warp or weft. For something a little lighter, knit or weave with 5/2 perle cotton.

By considering the structure, any of the examples above can be knitted or woven so that you have an airy scarf or one that offers more warmth and drape. Choose knitted or woven lace for an airy scarf, stockinette or twill for a heavier scarf. Change the gauge or sett to suit the fabric you desire.

Knit or weave with the yarn of your choice and enjoy the process!