a simple yarn

Post Prologue:

The fiber creation process has always been intensely satisfying, albeit intimidating, where I ponder and introspect myself nearly to death!  As I continue to look back at blog-posts-gone-by, the neuroses are evident even in those early weaving days...

Blessing and Curse (originally published 10 June 2006)

Warning: Thursday-Night-Knitting-Friend-Mary once said, ‘Never knit when you’re tired or drunk.’  I’d say there’s a lot of truth in that. I wonder if the same holds true for introspection? But as it is now Sunday (albeit the wee small hours of the morning), I’d like to do some self-reflection. Tired blather? Maybe, so proceed at your own risk…

Having recently entered the sub-cultural fibre-world, I think having instant access to hundreds, thousands, or hundreds of thousands of blogs is a blessing. How inspiring it is to be able to click into someone’s life and see the wonderfully fascinating creations that are dripping from exceedingly talented hands! Aahh…

But having recently entered the sub-cultural fibre-world, I think having instant access to hundreds, thousands or hundreds of thousands of blogs is a curse. I am simply overwhelmed by the quantity of craftspeople there are in the world and mind-boggled at how creative they are and how much stuff they create! Whew!

And after starting by reading a few blogs, I am then connected to the blogs they read, which brings me to yet more creatively talented individuals who then share the 80+ blogs that they are inspired by, which sends me down another rabbit hole of creativity. I’m tellin’ ya, it does my head in! It’s like an addiction and seeing all that talent in the world leads me to realise that…

I am a hack.
I am glaringly mediocre.

And as much as I’d like to mentally and emotionally crash and burn at those two facts, I have to say…I’m okay with it. More so, as a cathartic exercise, I’ve made a short list of Confessions as a Craftsperson:

1. I will never be a master knitter, weaver, spinner, dyer, or _____ (fill in any fibre-related noun).
2. I will (probably) never be able to make a living out of being a _____ (fill in any fibre-related noun).
3. My things will merely make nice Christmas pressies for family and friends.
4. I will never have enough time in the day to create all that I want.
5. I’m way too hard on myself.
6. There will always be someone who is more experienced, more talented and more creative than me, for such is life in the Creative Food Chain.
7. In that Chain I am a guppie.

For all that, I’m still okay, because I don’t want to do what I do in comparison to anyone else but me. And why do I do what I do? I knit or weave or spin or dye or _____ (fill in any fibre-related verb) to work out in tangible form what is in me. See my first woven scarf? You know…it’s not bad and it’s something I created with my own two hands, which is something to celebrate!

‘To expect the unexpected shows a thoroughly modern intellect.’

I guess I’m not that modern…nor intellectual.

I had tossed back copious amounts of caffeine and girded my proverbial loins, as it were, for the task ahead—using the recently woven houndstooth cotton in creating a cushion cover.  But neither the scissors nor the cutting caused me profuse angst.

Those infernal corners!  That pudgy piping trim!  These pesky buttonholes!  The sewing nearly caused a cranial explosion.

Midway through the project I realized this would never go into the Etsy shop…never…ever…nope.

And yet, I love the fabrics.  And the trim.  And the buttons.  And the feather pillow.

So knowing all the gaffs and glitches and mistakes in the construction of this piece, I’ve given it a new home on my desk chair.

And I’ve got it bad.

I don’t recall having a fear of scissors before.  Truly, the only issue I ever had with scissors was in kindergarten when…

Warning: Unsavory Childhood Memory Ahead
I, a naturally left-handed person, couldn’t manage left-handed scissors.  Maddening, I tell you!  The daft things would never, never, ever cut.  I think it was a plot, frankly, to change all left-handed cutters into right-handed ones because, of course, all right-handed scissors worked beautifully.  Ultimately they won.  Out of necessity, I have swung the other way…scissor-wise that is.

Anyway, other than that incident, I’ve never considered the use of such cutting implements to be a scary proposition until now.  It comes with the thought of cutting this…

Houndstooth in lovely coral and cappuccino cottony shades.  It’s sitting on my loom, wanting to be a cushion cover.  But to become such a winsome household item, it needs to be sewn.  And for it to be sewn, it needs to be cut.  And for it to be cut, I need to pick up those scissors.  I know I’ve done it before and love the result…

But still, it will take a bit of talking myself down from the ledge of hysteria to get the thing done.

They aren’t always the same.

I want to sink my houndstooth jaws into this.  Cushion covers perhaps.

But I’ve been sidetracked with this.

To make these.

I’m delighted with my detour, don’t get me wrong, but the loom has been naked for too long.

A little like going from 60 to 0 in 3.8 seconds.

I can’t be sure, but I think it wasn’t too long ago that my little loom was just smoking.  Ah yes, I remember now…5 scarves handwoven in 7 days.  Well, before I totally dislocate my shoulder from all that back-patting, I guess I ought to show you the latest loom work.

No that’s not a houndstooth-scarf-to-be.  It’s a pile of wool and cashmere rubbish.

And those bits and pieces are no longer holding a warp.

And those heddles are sadly empty.

It took a long time to decide to abort this doomed project.  Not an easy decision, mind you.  But there were too many disasters and tourniquets and patches to reclaim or recycle it.  After the decision was made, it took about 3.8 seconds to chop it off and chuck it in the bin.

Is there any moral of the story?  Ehm…no, not really.  But I’m taking it as a sign to put away the winter wool and cashmere and I’m pulling out the cotton for spring projects!

A lot can happen in 7 days.

The call came exactly 7 days before my Dublin departure and went something like this…

Marble: ‘Hi Cheryl, I was wondering if I might commission some weaving from you.’
Me: ‘Yippee, my first commission!’  (pause) ‘How many do you want?’
Marble: ‘Five…in houndstooth.’
Me: ‘And when do you want them?’
Marble: ‘For Christmas.’
Me: ‘Ehm…’

At this point, a flurry of mental mathematics danced in my head.  Little did Marble know that in 7 days’ time I was boarding a jet for 10 days in Dublin and to surprise her for her doctoral graduation from Trinity College, also in Dublin.  My return was too close to Christmas to complete a task such as this.  Okay, think…think…how am I going to weave 5 scarves in 7 days, in colors and textures to suit people, some of whom I have never met?

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.
Or perhaps it’s better to say—
Yes, Cheryl, miracles do still happen.

Thankfully, Marble chose the minty retro bouclé scarf listed in the Etsy shop.  Whew, one down, four to go!

Then, graciously she agreed to a color combination already dressed on the loom.  Quick and easy.  So, Monday, weave off scarf in morning.  Two done.  Monday afternoon, wind warp for Scarf No. 3.

Tuesday was a blur in the ‘I-can’t-believe-that-was-possible’ sort of way.  Tuesday morning, weave off scarf.  Three done.  Tuesday afternoon, wind warp for Scarf No. 4.  Husband-Will happens to be out of town.  Children are quite content with a quick macaroni-and-cheese dinner.  Off to bed they go.  Weave off Scarf No. 4 and even with the temporary setback of a broken warp thread, it’s completed before 11pm.

Wednesday is a diversion into final Christmas shopping and other errands.

Thursday.  Wind warp for Scarf No. 5.  Weave it off.  No mishaps.  Final one done and all are washed, dried, tagged and labeled.  I am singing the ‘Hallelujah’ chorus.

Friday is dedicated to removing at least one layer of mankiness from the house and filling Mother Hubbard’s cupboards before leaving town.

Saturday…pack my bags and hand off the completed scarves to Marble.

Sunday comes and I’m off to Ireland.

Rather thrilling (in the scary ‘I’m-not-sure-this-is-gonna-work’ sort of way) first commission!  But a happy ending  nonetheless and I’m feeling pretty good at the moment.  So, Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!  And God bless us everyone!  And every other warm wish for a happy holiday to you and yours!

Which begs the question…why am I posting?

Literally, no time.
What’s more, I really can’t tell you why at the moment.
That crazy lack-of-time thing.
It’ll come up later.
An ironic bit of yarn to spin, metaphorically speaking.
But for now, the last thing I need.
No, really, I mean it.
The last thing I need is a broken warp thread.
I don’t have time to check the proper way to fix it.
So necessity being what it is has prompted the use of the following to hold things in place:

• 1 bobbin spool
• 1 chip clip
• 1 Loch Ness monster toy

Gotta say, it worked a dream.
Back in business.
Must dash.

…more ‘-warming’

Okay, here’s a conundrum…what do you give dear friends to celebrate the construction of a lovely home, filled with exquisite furniture and whose tastes run far beyond the average Bed, Bath and Beyond gift certificate?  Wait….I nicked a pic from their blog so you can see my dilemma…

A stunner, eh?  So, the obvious choice was to craft gifts of the warming kind.

As nerve-racking as it is, I do like a challenge of finding the right colours and textures to suit the individual wearer.  He-Of-The-Greenwood was simple.  Dark, Italian, silver haired, traditional and conservative in taste.  Regia silk sock yarn (merino, silk and nylon) was perfect.  Lovely drape and handle.  Black and grey houndstooth.  Easy peasy.

Marble-Of-The-Greenwood was not so simple. Dark hair with silver setting in, but warm skin tones.  Black, a favourite apparel choice but usually with a small spark of colour somewhere.  Creative and expressive in personality mixed with common sense of the legal/ethical/philosophical profession.  With a ginormous Scottish deerhound running round the place, she’s obviously a lover of houndstooth as well.

Solution…light wool with a hint of mohair to soften.  Black with winter cream to warm it up.  The blood red wool (Gardiners of Selkirk, Scotland in keeping with the theme) for that splash of colour.  I was surprised at how airy, drapey and not scratchy this turned out…might have to do a variation for myself!

It’s not the warp winding, loom dressing or weaving that trips me up…it’s the detail work.

I’m not sure, but I don’t think I’ve been gadding about.  You wouldn’t know it by the unfinished bits and pieces laying around though.  So while Wednesday is still a few days away, it’s time for a little catching up.

This scarf has been done…meaning ‘woven’…for a week or so.

But it’s the fringe-twisting…

and the photo-taking that seems to distract and de-rail.

Before busier days arrive, it’s time to get it up on Etsy.

Whew!  Now I know why Santa has all those elves!

You think he’d get tired of me and visit someone else.

There must be a mathematical equation in this somewhere…the more hurried I am, the less progress I make.  What should be looking like this—

Is looking more like this—

And what currently looks like a cheaply striped bargain basement bath towel, will soon to be a cool tri-colour houndstooth soft and woolly scarf.

I wonder if loom wrangling will ever be an Olympic sport?

‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’ right?  I think it’s equally true to say—‘Don’t judge a yarn by its skein’.

Long ago and far away I received this skein of yarn from Donyale at Indulging My Inner Knitter in the one-and-only-Knitter’s-Treat-Exchange.  It’s a very nice yarn with its burgundy and wheat coloured theme.  And so it sat.

The time came for that skein to be transformed into a ball, and oh my goodness…!

During the winding, separate colours magically blended into lovely, rich, deeply autumnal warmth.  Why has it been sitting on my shelf for so long!?!  Immediately I regretted not having knit them up into socks or something long ago, but now I’d committed it to the next weaving project.  Drat!

But happily, it’s making this multicoloured-warp-single-colour-weft-simple-twill project come to life.  It’s partnered with lighter, vibrant chartreuse wools for a framed edge and an equally chartreusey linen and fuzzy weft yarn combo.  It should be fairly soft and drapey…we’ll see.  Kinda wishin’ my hair was brown again, not gray, so I could wear this colour…  Curses!

String
Never underestimate the importance of string.

Ah, the humble string!  A bit of twine.  Not quite large enough to be considered rope, yet thicker than thread.  But let it break and the importance of string becomes painfully apparent.  Picking along on a new project, the loom just stopped.  Not all of it, mind, just Shaft Number 3.  Now, what had I ever done to this particular harness to cause it to quit?  My little Kessenich loom has always been faithfully steady.  But now I had pause to pop the hood (or bonnet for my Irish friends), which of course means getting underneath it and looking up.

Broken string.

Simple enough to fix in theory.  A bit trickier in reality.  (Do I really have clumsy sausage fingers?!?) Eventually a few loops and knots put us back in the business of weaving, which was…(proceed to part 2)

Experiment in Full
Not knowing when to quit + bit of foolishness = happy accident

Curiosity got the best of me.  I’d been wondering how a houndstooth scarf would look in Craftspun’s exclusive thick-thin Homespun yarn full of yummy Blue Faced Leister softness!  Time for a little experiment.  Black and white and red all over.  Classic patterning with a modern twist.  Well, the long and short of it—along with the thick and thin of it—was…meh.

Daughter-Kate loved it.  I was more ambivalent.  It just didn’t grab me.  (hmmm…) Well, nothing for it but to chuck it in the washing machine to see what happens.  This yarn is absolutely perfect for fulling.  I love how the pre-washed-starkness softened into felted woolly warmth!  It’s dense allowing it to stand up nicely at the neck.  An antique button from Great-Aunt-Sadie’s stash and there it is…the red ribbon scarf.

Okay, now before you go ‘Ee-ew, what was she thinking calling that washed out catastrophe lovely!?!’ I have tried and tried to capture the essence of this very cool project in pixels.  Nope, can’t seem to do it.  So this is where you take my word for it and then I bring in Husband-Will to take ‘real’ photos for Etsy.