Doubling down

Over the last two weeks I’ve been working on a self-imposed program of professional development which includes reading for my classes next school year, reading about the classical philosophy of education, and working through courses on classical pedagogy and subjects. Thus far I’ve met the goals I set for myself, which is encouraging both in the information I’m enjoying, but also having a way to structure my days. This week the ACCS virtual conference is happening, so I’m setting less lofty goals for myself in the first three days of this week. Our graduation ceremony is also at the end of this week, and I’m looking forward to seeing colleagues and students again.

In addition to all the reading and thinking I’ve been doing over the last few weeks, I’ve also been really enjoying the challenges of learning how to get the best results out of my rigid heddle loom. I experimented with doubling the warp for cotton dishtowels to see if it would give me a better fabric. I planed to make two towels—one with a single strand of weft and one with it doubled. Warping the loom took much longer, but I was quite pleased with the results as I wove the first, single weft towel. Only, due to a terrible error in basic math I made it about twice as long as I had planned, so I only had a little warp left to experiment with the doubled weft. Doing the doubled weft was extremely tedious, as in order for it to look good both strands have to be lying flat beside each other, which requires lots of fiddly about on the weaver’s part. I’ve got the fringe noted on these two pieces and just need to wash them to see the final results, but I think double warping and single weft will be a good option going forward. I’ll just do better math next time!

The other big challenge I set myself was learning how to double weave—to weave a folded piece of cloth so I could make something twice as wide as my loom.

Getting the loom double warped and threaded was pretty involved, and I actually ended up doing the threading twice because I discovered some significant issues once I started weaving and had to pull it all out.

However, all that work on the front end (and having to buy a second heddle) is totally going to pay off with only having one seam instead of three, and only having to match two woven piece instead of four. I’m working on a ruana using some very deep stash laceweight that I think will make an excellent work wrap for my sister, and then I plan to make myself one too. I love the colors, I love learning this challenging technique, and I’m excited to see what the finished product looks like. Today I laboriously hem stitched the edges using a ruler to make sure I didn’t sew them together, and then I can carry on with the weaving.

Part of the reason I know that the double weaving will pay off so well in the finishing is because I got the destash yarn I ordered from a lady of Ravelry, and finished the third panel of the woven baby blanket. It took waaaaay longer than I had thought it would to seam the three pieces together—probably in part because I was using three different colors of yarn for each seam, but also because I was having to do a bit of easing as I went. Now I’m working on a twisted fringe, as I want this to be super easy care.

The fringe is also taking forever, but I think the end results will be totally worth it. I’m looking forward to sending it on its way! I have a coworker who’s wife is expecting, and I’m debating about weaving them a blanket as well. My niece is pretty well provided for in that area, but I might weave her one too. We’ll have to see how long these double woven ruanas take me!

While I’ve been spending quite a lot of time weaving, I’ve also been plugging away on my pink summer top. It’s at my waist now, so it looks like a) I won’t need quite as much yarn as I thought and b) I should be able to get this finished this month. I think I’m really going to like it, though there is of course the fact that I’ll only be wearing it in certain air conditioned situations! Oh the joys of living in the blast furnace of the south...

Well, I have a book report to finish, and it's not writing itself. Here's to another week of learning and making!

Making and learning through the turmoil

Once my school year ended, I gave myself a week of vacation (which coincided nicely with my birthday week) before jumping in to the professional development I’d planned to work on this summer. That includes reading, online classes, and later this month an online seminar. I also need to go through materials and unit plans for next year, but I think I’m going to do that in either July or August. In between all that I have of course been making, but also doing a lot of praying and taking some steps to educate myself in the wake of the protests and Black Lives Matter movement. So far protests in my little Texas town have been peaceful—which is encouraging, and I pray that these days of turmoil will lead to an anti-racist tomorrow.

In the midst of all that I have been working on my summer top (nothing exciting in the progress), a little on my Ink cardigan, and quite a bit on my Trekkie socks, as I’ve had need for some mindless knitting. I finished the first one today, and when I had a triumphant finished fitting, I realized that a) the heel decreases weren’t quite where I expected them, and b) I had never made myself a plain sock with a short row heel and my integrated gusset. I wonder if I’d be more satisfied with doing a 60% heel… It’s not like I don’t like the heel--the fit of the sock was lovely; it’s just not what I was expecting. The second one is started, as I still need a brainless knitting project.

I’ve been doing a lot of weaving and a lot of learning about weaving these last two weeks as well. I wove two panels for what I hoped would be a ruana, but found that they were rather narrow. So, I found someone destashing the discontinued yarn on Ravelry, and I’m hoping I can get the yarn soon so I can weave two more panels to widen this to usable size. Knowing that, I’ve also ordered a second 12 dent heddle, so I can play around with some double weaving, and have a bit less seaming to do with my next two planned ruanas.

I’m also working on weaving a baby blanket for a friend. I’ve planned the blanket to be in three panels, and two of them are done. I ran out of the black yarn, so I’m waiting for another destash skein to makes it’s way to me so I can finish. I was quite pleased by how I matched the panels, and hope the third one comes out as well.

And, the other big experiment from last week, was using crochet cotton to weave tea towels. I reduced a pattern I found online, and while I learned a lot and will be able to use the finished (slightly wobbly) objects, the fabric is much more open than I had hoped. The mercerized cotton gives an interesting texture; it wouldn’t be for drying dishes, but as a liner for a bread basket will probably work quite well. I’m trying again, this time doubling the warp, and then doing one towel with one strand in the weft, and another with two so I can do some more comparing. At the very least, I’ve been getting some valuable experience working with fine gauge cotton, and will be much better able to use the ‘real’ stuff when I buy some. Here are the finished towels-

Neko spent a week where he couldn't keep food down, but after a trip to the vet and some anti-nausea pills (not sure who was more traumatized by the process of administering them--him or me!) I’ve got a little floof feeling much better, who likes to be a part of my reading from time to time. I’m continuing my challenge to myself to make at least one new recipe a week, and I’m also continuing my morning walks in the gardens near my house. The gym has opened back up again, but I’m not sure I’m quite ready to head back yet. It’s so hard to know what the most wise courses of action are these days…

Parting shot: I love how tidy a freshly warped loom looks!