New links to my weaving pages

I had an e-mail last week from a weaving friend asking where I had written about lashing-on. I couldn't find it myself straight off, in fact I had to use Google to find an entry in my own blog!

So now, for my own use and for the benefit of anyone else who can't find old entries, I have made a page to index my blogs about loom set up and weaving. See top left.

Yes, I've done a couple of other pages with links as well, UK weaving blogs and the web pages of professional handweavers in the UK.

I've also been writing a few book reviews for Amazon and joined Ravelry (Dot-knits).

But no weaving...

Why? I've got 'flu. Don't tell me swine flu is contained, I don't believe it!!

This one is more persistent than severe, but bad enough to stop me doing much - it's very limiting if you can't get your brain to concentrate on anything for more than 10 mins before needing to rest - but on the other hand it's surprising what you can do with odd ten minutes here and there.

I've found I can do a bit of long draw spinning, a bit of patchwork sewing (a quilt entirely handsewn that I started 8 years ago, maybe I'll finish it this year) a bit of reading, and hunting out and ordering some more books(!). This little stint has tired me out again, excuse me while a shut my eyes a bit.

Z z z z

Knitwear design

Surprise, surprise, another new book..(?) o.k. you already know, I collect books like nothing else...

This is a good one. The best bit is that having bought this book, there's a long list of other books I thought I might want that I can now say I don't need. I might borrow them from the library instead(!) but I have got myself a reference book that covers many different knitting techniques.

This book is splendid. Lots in it. Not too expensive, in fact, cheap for the range of knowledge and the beautiful clear instruction and photos. I am reading it steadily and it is giving me all sorts of ideas about things I could do in knitting. It's a book for anyone who wants to design any knitting, and the subject is colour. It probably says all you really need to know about colour and knitting.

It's very good on choosing colours to use together, knitting with different coloured yarns and multi-colour yarns and the effect stitch choices have, creating pattern effects in the colour, or random effects, and then special techniques: stranded knitting, intarsia, helix knitting, shadow knitting, mosaic knitting, twined knitting, double knitting (two layers at once), designing with modules (a.k.a patchwork knitting), entrelac. There's a nice "design workshop" section with basic garment design and most appropriately it ends up with finishing touches.

It is:

The Essential Guide to Color Knitting Techniques, by Margaret Radcliffe, pub. Storey Publishing in the U.S., 2008, ISBN 978-1-60342-040-2

Chocolate scarf

At the weekend I wove the next of my sequence of scarves on a Noro Kureyon Sock yarn warp. I am very, very pleased with the result. The weft yarn is Araucania Yarn, hand dyed, from Chile. I took the photo of the scarf in progress so you can see the colours in the warp which are cool shades of brown and grey and how the warm brown shades in the weft set it off. The weave pattern is a 4 shaft undulating twill from this book: However, the inspiration came from the undulating twills in the Janet Phillip's Sample Blanket which I wove last year. This blanket is not only a wonderful reference to look at when I am wondering what weave structure to use, but was also a tremendous learning experience as I discovered many new weave patterns. Here's the relevant section of the blanket: And here is my new scarf, off the loom and after washing vigourously in hot soapy water: The feel and drape of this weave is everything I hoped for, and I love the wavy lines. My selvedges are significant improved from the previous scarf, this I am sure is because I am getting used to winding on the warp carefully. I advanced the warp just one inch at a time, and I was only weaving a quarter - half inch before moving the stretcher. Last week I bought two more combinations of yarn because I don't want to stop weaving scarves just yet! One of my other on-going projects at the moment is spinning my way through a couple of coloured Ryeland fleece. Here's a bobbin full on the lazy kate of my Timbertops Leicester: Before spinning full bobbins I prepared a small skein to test out the behaviour of the yarn. I knitted swatches on three different needle sizes to see how it looks. This is the pillow slip full of wool yet to be spun: Isn't it pretty? The fleeces were supplied by Sandie Davison of Yorkshire Woollybacks.