Six and Some Random Thoughts

 Finished project of the year number six is hot off the loom.  Actually it is hot off the loom and in the mail ready to be shipped to my sister.  It is made of soft baby alpaca and silk, and is so yummy and gorgeous to touch.  I am all about grey so this shawl is perfect.  Something about the softness of grey, it is so versatile and neutral all at the same time.  Grey can be so beautiful don't you think?

I have had a busy week so I am going to be rather random here.  I find the floor of my oldest son's room to be sort of like an archaeological site.  Clothes and wet towels from three days ago are at the bottom of the pile with today's clothes on top.  I can tell what he wore everyday depending on where it lays in the pile.

I feel that way about his clean laundry pile, also.  I just keep cleaning the clothes and folding them up, layer after layer until he finally, after much prodding takes them up to his room.  Here they occasionally get put away, but more often than not they merge with the clothes on the floor.  My boy will have a rude awakening next year when he is off to school.  He already knows how to do laundry, but when he actually has to do it, while keeping up with swim practice and school.....this will be interesting to see.

I can not believe it is the end of January already.  Where is the time going?

I talk about my Max all the time.  He is the sweetest, most sensitive dog.  When my kids were young, if one of them had an ear infection than sure enough Max would get one, too.  My oldest son sprained his right ankle pretty badly last Thursday.  Wouldn't you know Max hurt his right front paw on Monday chasing after a ball.  I took him to the vet today just to make sure it wasn't serious.  He is getting better but still hobbling a bit.  It told her about my son's ankle and she told me she sees this all the time with Golden Retrievers.  I think that is amazing. 

This has been an odd year weather wise has it not?  Lack of snowfall for many, blizzards for others.  Here in Florida it has been exceptionally warm.  I know I shouldn't complain, but it is so hot here most of the year we like a bit of a change so we can wear sweaters and scarves.

Speaking of scarves, I have had them all stacked of a shelf.  Some get pushed to the back where you never see them.  Walking thought Target the other day I noticed a shoe organizer that hangs from your closet shelf like a clothes hanger.  There are ten single compartments for shoes.  I bought it and now have a perfect place to store my scarves.  They are neatly folded and I can see each one.  Perfect.

How is that for random?

Late Saturday Afternoon

 It is late in the afternoon on Saturday and I am so happy.  I am done cleaning windows and scrubbing the mold and mildew off my front walkway.  I have beautiful tulips on my table.

 I have newly polished toenails.

 I am wearing my oldest, favorite pair of jeans

 I have started a new crochet project that promised to be challenging and beautiful if I can master the pattern.

 I am sitting outside for a few quiet moments with a cup of tea.

Contemplating reading this wonderful book.  Life right now is quiet and lovely.  I want to remember this minute as my life is not often quiet and lovely.

Hope you are catching a moment for yourself on this Saturday afternoon.

Noro Knitted Vest

I am so glad you like the new look of Mereknits.  My sister is a genius that is for sure.  Now when I want to feel really cool I jump on my blog, because my blog makes me look a lot better than I am.  I sort of feel like I am in middle school and I have just been allowed to join the cool kids.

So in case you were wondering I still know how to knit.  Actually I have been knitting this Noro vest at a snails pace and it is finally completed.  Want to take a look?

 

 This vest is made with Noro Taiyo in color 12.  You all know about my love/hate relationship with Noro, and this yarn is no different.  I purchased this a while back to make a sideways vest from the new Noro book.  I swatched and swatched to get the right  gauge and finally decided that I was being foolish.  A sideways vest looks great but can be a big disaster if it doesn't fit right.  I speak with full experience on this matter.  If you make a sideways sweater there isn't a great way to fix the problem of it being too big.  There aren't any seams...so it is rip, rip, rip.

 

 I decided to go back to a tried and true classic vest that has ample room for fixing errors in the size.  From the Noro Joy book I give you Marina.  I have made this before in a colorway I adore, so I knew I could make it, I just wasn't sure I was going to like the results.

 

 I'm not sure I actually do like it, but what I do like is that it is finished.  I knew this colorway was not for me, yet when the Noro fumes overtook me at the yarn store it ended up in my basket.   

 

 I love the vest below also made from Noro, Silk Garden if I recall correctly.  I decided to make the new version about two inches longer for a little variety and to use up more yarn.

These colors are much more my style.  I will try to take a picture of the new vest on me tomorrow.  I am hoping it looks better than it does in the pictures.

I am off to the yarn store in Tampa after work today.  I am looking for some yarn to make one of two amazing crochet projects from the new Interweave Crochet magazine.  I have made two separate attempts to find yarn for these projects with no luck.  I have looked online but have not been thrilled with my choices, and I have to say I love to feel yarn before I purchase it.  Wish me luck and give me strength to stay away from the wall of Noro Yarn that will be beckoning me.

A New Look

I think it is about time that I have an updated look for Mereknits.  But there is a big problem, I am technology challenged.  I have yet to figure out how to take a picture on my Android 4g phone, I can barely text, and I do so using one finger to punch in the letters at a time.  I am hopeless.  I work with special needs children, mostly babies in need of a lot of help.  My brain and my hands know what to do when I touch a baby.  I can tell you what is going on with their development within seconds.  But change something on my blog....no way.

This is where my incredible, wonderful, perfect, stunning, beautiful and talented sister Claudia comes along.  She is the one who got me into this blogging business to begin with, and for that I am eternally thankful.  I was chatting with Claudia yesterday, whining a bit about my blog being sooooooooo outdated.  She said she would update it and here you have my new look.  After a few questions from her about the feel I was looking for, I drove to work and she created my new look all the way from New York.  That works for me.  I think it looks fantastic, and frankly I think Claudia should go into business helping the technology challenged bloggers such as myself create the blog they envision, just can't create on their own.  I feel like I just had the best haircut in the world, or I suddenly got into terrific physical shape without even trying.  A whole new me!

What do you think?  If you love it please let me know and let Claudia know, too.  I think she deserves it after all her beautiful work.  Thanks Claudia, if I haven't told you lately I am sure a lucky girl to have you as a sister.

Three & Four

   First let me thank you for all the lovely comments on my weaving how-to post.  Bloggers love a good how-to don't they?  Are you sick of my shawls yet? These are my latest.  It takes me about 8 hours each, give or take an hour to complete a shawl.  Some shawls are so simple, but others the yarn breaks and breaks, which makes the whole process a lot longer.  You can tell my life is ever so exciting as I am churning these babies out left and right.

 I have been weaving obsessed as you can see.  Maybe I should rename my blog to Mereweaves.  There has been very little knitting here and the only crochet I have done was the edge I put on the shawl below, after I took the picture.  The shawl above was made from you guessed it...Universal Yarns Classic Shades in Wine.  Love the color, but I will tell you this yarn was constantly pulling apart on me.  I was getting very frustrated but was able to get it finished, and I think it looks pretty nice.

This purple shawl was made from Berroco Lustra, silk yarn and a bit of mohair.  It is a lot more beautiful in person, the color is amazing.  I took this picture in the late afternoon in the shadows so it is not all that lovely based on this picture.

I have at least one more shawl to finish before I ship these to my sister. Then I think I need to get a little motivated on a crochet project.  I have been searching for something to knock my socks off and I may have found it in the latest issue of Interweave Crochet.  If you are a crochet fan I think you will love this magazine, there are several projects I would like to make in it so I bet you would find something to motivate you, too.  I would love to know what project you are working on that knocks your socks off!

Hope you all had a great weekend and are staying warm if you are in the US.  If it is chilly in Florida I know it is chilly where you are.  Have a great week.

Let's Weave

 Welcome to the corner of my bedroom where I have my wonderful loom.  This loom is different than what you think of a traditional loom.  It is The Sprigg's Adjustable Rectangle Loom from Hillcreek Fiber Studio. 

When you think of weaving, I think most of us think of a large floor loom with a warp and weft.  This loom is amazing and comes in several sizes and shapes.  I believe they have a triangle and square loom in various sizes as well as their rectangle loom.  I am more of a rectangle girl so I decided that this was the loom for me. I had observed some women working on the triangle loom while visiting a yarn store and I was hooked, or should I say obsessed right away.

To start you think about how big (wide and long) you would like your project.  You change the width and length of the loom by changing the screws on the back of the loom.  The rule of thumb here is that the length has to be a multiple of the width.  So for shawls I have decided that there has to be 60 nails for the width and 180 for the length. There is a continuous strand of yarn that will end up being your warp and weft.  Lets take a look.  First you make a slip knot and put it in the upper left corner.  From there you you count out 60 nails (they are marked every 10 nails) at the bottom and move your yarn under the 60th nail.  Next you move to the top and go around the 120th nail and back to the bottom for nail number 120 which is in the lower right hand corner.  (It looks like a zig zag)

Moving counterclockwise around the bottom nail, you move the yarn to the nails just to the left of your first nails and you are thus establishing a pattern.  When you make it back to the top left hand corner, your yarn goes under the first piece of yarn and on to the nail on the right. 

As you move down to the bottom you will start to weave your yarn. There will be areas that you will weave your yarn (moving left to right) and areas that self weave (moving right to left) because you have a continuous strand of yarn.  I know it sounds a bit confusing but it is easy peasy.

Here we have several more repetitions but the thought is the same.  You can see how it grows and what the weaving looks like as you progress.

Initially I like to weave using just my hands, and actually some people like to do this the whole project, but I end up using this long wooden hook to pull my yarn through once the project gets to be too wide for my hands.  I think it keeps the yarn more taunt, and is faster for me.

I also us a wide tooth comb to push the fibers together to help create a straighter line.

The very last portion is done with this crochet hook that has an eye like a needle.  Thread the eye portion and weave it through the remaining portion using the crochet hook as a giant needle. 

I always add fringe while the project is still on the loom. 

Then I carefully place the loom on the floor.  And then very, and I mean very carefully I take a very small crochet hook and start to unhook the top of the project from the loom.  I usually start in the upper right corner and move myself across the top as fast and as careful as possible.  This can make or break your project.  After all your hard work, if you snag this portion your project is a done and in the trash bin..

Hopefully most of your projects will end up like this.

I have learned a few things from the gazillion mistakes I have made while weaving.  Wool catches upon itself and will often pull apart just when you are at the end of your loop, and you will have to pull that portion out and start again.  This happens especially towards the end of the project, try not to scream, just re thread and try again.  A single ply yarn, while soft and yummy may not be your best bet for a larger project, (please see above).  The softer and yummier the yarn the easier it pulls apart just when you don't want it to.  Always start new yarn on the left side at the beginning of your loop, the tails are later incorporated into fringe.  The best thing I have learned is that this is really fun and a great way to play with yarn.  The shawls I have been weaving take about 400 yards of yarn, which includes the fringe.  You can go crazy with different yarns and ribbons, all of which I have done before.  But for these etsy shop shawls I wanted to be a little more conservative and let the beauty of the yarn speak for itself.  

Hope I haven't confused you too much.  You all know how yarn obsessed I am, weaving is just another fantastic way to play with yarn. 

Two

 Just a quick post to show you finished project number two for the year.  This shawl was made from a combination Cascade Eco Duo and Alpaca yarn I had in my stash.  I actually tried to make this pattern on purpose, changing the yarn type every ten pegs on my loom.  I think it has made an interesting plaid that is subtle but adds some depth to the shawl.

THis shawl is very soft, can't you just picture it with jeans and a white t-shirt?  Of course that is the way I imagine every shawl, as you can see I am not a fancy girl.  In my dream life I am standing on a wide front porch of a very old home calling my kids into dinner, with a gorgeous shawl wrapped around my shoulders.  Ah.... a girl can dream.

I have wrapped up three shawls and the red scarf all from my loom, ready to ship to my sister for her etsy store.  I have two more shawls in my head if not on my loom, then I will switch to a few scarves. 

When I made my green shawl I took lots of pictures of how it was made.  Is anyone interested in a post about weaving?

One is Done

 My first project of 2012 is finished.  This shawl is hot off my loom.  Made from Universal Yarns Classic Shades in the colorway Reef.  It is 70% acrylic and 30% wool.  I love this yarn and have made many projects from it is the past.

Here is a up close and personal shot of the shawl.  I love the way weaving is so much different than knitting and crochet.  I am still so fascinated that just manipulating yarn in some fashion creates a fabric.  Whether you knit, crochet, weave or felt making a fabric is so amazing.  This will soon be shipped to my sister for her soon to open etsy shop.  I have one more shawl on my loom to complete before I ship everything out.

My blogging time has been extremely limited.  My youngest who has been home schooled this past semester is on the computer all morning and I work in the afternoon.  My MIL is also visiting so my time at the computer is even more scarce.  She is 93 and worth every second I can spend with her, so I promise that I will try to pop by and visit all of you this weekend when I get the chance.

I think it is time to start thinking about investing in a lap top, but I hesitate as I would much rather spend money on yarn.

Hope you are all well and enjoying the New Year so far.  We started ours off with a new water heater....hmmmm  not the way I wanted my first purchase of the New Year to go.  But you forget how much you use hot water until yours is limited.

Happy Weekend.