How to Avoid a Padded Footlet
So my plans for starting the Green Gable sweater this weekend just didn't happen. I keep swatching, and swatching...getting gauge has become an obsession. Do I have to figure this out right now? No. But it's more fun than restarting the Padded Footlet.
This gift is now way overdue, and considering the amount of time it takes to make one of these suckers (well, factoring in the procrastination) it's just down right tacky. Time to suck it up and make some progress. So I cut off the mistake-ridden footlet and re-cast. I WILL MAKE PROGRESS! Atleast that is what I keep telling myself.
Speaking of progress, I did get some weaving time this weekend, hooray! Despite some troubleshooting that I was eventually able to figure out, I have been zoom zoom on the loom. Yah, there are some mistakes, but I am still in that blissful stage of learning something new. Everything looks so cool despite uneven warp tension and a warp end that didn't make it through the correct dent. My weaving can only get better, right?
Yes, weaving is technical and takes work. But I really don't think it is that different from knitting. With knitting, it's one stitch at a time. That can be tedious. Stitches per inch, needle size, stockinette, lace... There are knitting projects that you can socialize with and watch TV. Heck, even have a cocktail or 2 or 3. And then there are projects that need your undivided attention and include charts and notes and a sign that says "Silence!"
Weaving is similar. When I'm measuring the warp, I need the cats to be in a food coma in a different room, no tv, no phone, no humans. I need to be able to count and concentrate and swear freely. This part gets better with practice, or so I have been told. Winding the warp onto the loom, music is good, cats should still be in a food coma and I need a couple hours to finish, and maybe one very quiet human. Swearing is possible so I may be a bit snippy. However, if all goes well, it's cool. Threading the heddles and sleying the reed, back to quiet time. Music is okay, but I really need to be able to focus. Do you get in the 'alpha zone'? Yes! It's guaranteed alone time. I have carried on long conversations with myself working out all sorts of issues. (Should I be admitting that?) And progress shows with each set of threadings. It's very satisfying. Kind of like a sock, it's complicated, but it's broken into parts, and getting through each part is satisfying. Once the warp is on the loom, you get to start weaving. And weaving is actually very fast.
I guess in that way it is more like sewing. There is a lot of work to get the garment/project set up. Measuring, cutting, marking, etc. But the actual sewing is fast because of all the work done beforehand.
So y'all should take up weaving. Yah. Totally.
posted by Annie at 7:18 PM
10 Comments:
Shoot, I have to even count out loud when sorting out a pattern. Now, I'm looking at that weaving and thinking, I can knit that, but weave it--Never! Did you skip a grade? The colors are simply lovely. I need to find my 'alpha zone' and fast.
oooooh weeeeeeeeeeaving! Fun with heddles! Looks great! Wheeee and sorry about the gazillion swatches...eek!
Hope you get your gauge issues all worked out on gg, the color you chose looks great. All those different patterns coming out in your weaving look beautiful! Personally, I like to think of it as talking to the knitting, like "come on, work with me". But maybe that sounds even worse... :P
This weekend I got a hand-me-down loom from one of my grandmother's friends. I haven't had a chance to play with it at all yet... but yeah... I'm taking up weaving, too!
Heya...got my Sew EZ Blocking board from http://www.guardian-tablepad.com/sewez.html very good price...
Nancy
Yikes! I don't think I can take up weaving, sounds like hard work :-0 It's very interesting to follow yours, though. Which color are you using for Green Gable, they are both pretty.
I wanted to let you know about your question about the cotton chenille. It's pretty cushy, kind of a treat. I have been washing the one I made a while a back and putting it through the dryer, it's held up ok, but I think the dryer is hard on it. I could hang it to dry, but it's a washcloth, so I probably won't. The light blue hank I have is a different cotton by Cottage Knits (the other ones are Chrystal Palace)
and it's supposed to be safe to go through the washer and dryer so I am interested to see how this cotton holds up, cause I think they make great gifts and I would like them to last a while.
Well, that's a bit more than you asked for but I hope it's helpful :-)
ps. I've been wanting to ask about getting your email address, I have been wanting to reply to your comments.
knittypants at hotmail dot com
Everything does get easier the more you do. I still need quiet when making a warp, all that counting, you know. And even better than easier, everything gets quicker. My first blanket took me 4 weeks to make and that was with about 12 hours+ of weaving( and preperation) each week. Now I can make a blanket the same size in less than half the time.
The weaving, the warp, all those threads - I really don't understand how you are able to do that. It looks very difficult. And then you come up with all those different patterns when you weave. This looks like rocket science to me :-) But it's the best looking rocket science I've seen.
I'm impressed :-)
I can't take up weaving because I'm sure that I'd like it, and it would cut into my knitting time! Oh for more hours in the day. Your weaving looks pretty darn good to me!
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