Tag Archive | triangle

March already

Well, it’s been a awhile since I’ve posted. Sorry about that, but it’s been the season of the Doldrums. Not fully winter with all its beauty and not fully spring with all it’s beauty. That in-between stage with lots of mud and rain and mud and warmish today and back to freezing tomorrow… you know.

And then we had that slide a few weeks ago that cut us off from town. So today, since they have the higher route plowed and open (it’s usually closed for the winter) we decided to go to Redding. The view from the top almost makes the trip worthwhile. We truly live in a beautiful country. I only hope we can keep it that way. Between SP & the pot growers clear cutting and spraying defoliant.

It was a sea of fog in the valley, but the ‘sea’ looks very different from above.  Looking back west toward Billy’s Peak and home. That’s the last peak there on the right. We live at the foot of it.

BP sm

Looking east we can see that Mt Shasta has a nice white covering, too. Elevation for Billy Peak is  7275′,  while Shasta is 14,180′  which will explain the difference in the depth of the white part.

Shasta from the top 4 sm

But in town I got some new yarn, which Jane Grogan (Teacher from Wisconsin) pointed me to. It might be interesting, at least. It’s a Red Heart yarn called “Scrubby” and is supposed to make face washers and pot scrubbers. I have a hard time imagining one for both uses! lol My face gets dirty, but not, I hope as dirty as my pots and pans! Well, I will weave up a couple today and give them the Test and let you know what I think about this. I think Red Heart is taking this opportunity to turn it’s reputation for scratchy acrylics into a virtue!

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The sun is out this morning and the primroses, daffodils and forsythia are blooming. The weeping willow is leafing out and the buds on the peach are getting fa,. signs that spring may arrive after all! Hope you are getting those good signs where you live as well!

 

Weaving colors

Played with the 7″ Quilt Weaver Square yesterday and worked a experimental hounds-tooth. Trouble is that the pin count is an odd number so it doesn’t come out even. Going to have to play with it a bit more. Tried it on the diagonal but goofed that one up and frogged it. It will work but it may be a bit loose, I’ll have to do it again and full it before I  decide. The diagonal 2 red-1 white worked out evenly and looks nice.

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I’ll keep playing with these. If you want more information, I posted a project page on Ravelry. I also got out the bag of 4″ squares I have previously woven and am intending to work on that  again since the xmas vest ran short. I may have to wait for OFFF in Sept to find more of that yarn or something as a go-with.

Meanwhile we’re at the stage of winter/spring when Mother Nature can’t seem to make up her mind which it is to be. Hard to decide plans from day to day. But I think my plans so far for today is to weave and not do much else. Hope you are getting some weaving time!

A month late, but Happy 2016!

Well, I have been weaving, but too much other stuff going on as well. Not the fun stuff, but the busy stuff. You know….

Snow–DSCN0447 Rain…rainTrying to get to Medford for lumber and supplies, including groceries. Not making it! Well, we did eventually make it but not this time. Very slick ice over the mountain, we gave up and tiptoed back down 2 mph.icy Mt. And a new doll…Front so I had to go play with the doll knitters for the Valentines KAL. Yes, I know I could have woven one, but I like to knit also. I’ll be good now. And then there’s the end of the year paper work… such fun. NOT!DSCN0511

So there’s my excuses for not posting. We’re signing up for the year’s fiber fairs and planning trips already and as I said, I am getting in a little weaving time. Still working on the many way to make a 6″ square. DSCN0508 And also looking at possibly teaching a class so need short fast projects. Hummmm……

But today is February oneth and time to pay bills so I guess I’d better get on with that. At least the sun is shining today so it is a bit more cheerful if not significantly warmer. Snow tomorrow, they tell us.

Hope your winter is going well!

 

 

A winter project

Here is a little project I have been working on occasionally this fall. I have not quite decided what it’s going to be. right now I am just playing. I also posted this to Ravelry so if you are a member there you may have seen it. I am using the Multi looms because this is sock weight yarn. I bought it at OFFF and have the label somewhere, I’ll look it up. It is hand dyed superwash wool, that I do remember. But after weaving a couple 6” squares, I knew I was going to get bored before the entire large skein was done so got the idea to make 6” squares using the other sizes. I have not run out of options yet. And have not decided if I am going to involve the triangles or not. As you can see I have also not done anything with the tails either. But it is kind of interesting to see how close to the original 6” I can get. The top center block was put together by sc each side and then slip stitched the two sides together. I like how that looks but found that it makes the block just a tince too wide and with more than one seam it makes them way too wide. That could be compensated for by working an edging around the outside of the block but I decided to go with a narrower join, just one row of sc. I chose this dark maroon yarn because I thought it toned the red & green down a bit and also being a bit smaller yarn the seams would be a little less bulky. It’s already been redone once and is still subject to frogging. And I expect it’s going to be a long time finishing. 🙂
Samples

  1. 4×6 & three 2×2
  2. 4×6 & 2×6
  3. Three 2×6
  4. 2×6 & three 2×4
  5. One 6”

Thankful-day!

Hope you all have family and friends to share your day with. That is one thing we can all be thankful for, I do hope.

We celebrated this event last week with family. It was great and I am daily thankful that I have them, even those times when they tick me off, as family will do occasionally. But even then, I am glad I have them.

And they were very gracious and told me they loved the hats, which I hope was true and if it wasn’t I am thankful that they said so, anyway! Here’s the bunch.

4 earflap hatsBless us, every one!

Happy Thanks Giving!

And I hope, for all of us, a grateful one. In spite of our griping, we all have many things to be thankful for. I am thankful for family and for having some of them here this weekend & next. I’m thankful for hubbies swearing away in the kitchen, putting down badly needed new flooring, and thankful for my early xmas present, a new camera! so I can show you all what’s happening. He’s a little blurry since I shot just as he was getting up  off the new floor but you can see that he is hard at work. It’s going to be nice! There are occasional advantages to being married to the contractor. 🙂

new floor

 

But I have been weaving, too. My Florida sis and her dh are among the expected guests and I kind of thought they’d be a little chilly up here, even tho the forecast says the snow level probably won’t get below 4000′. But, just in case, I made us all new ear flap hats! If you are on Ravelry you may have seen them already but I am going to share here anyway. Himself is modeling. But I wore mine walking the other morning when it was 24 degrees and I can tell you, they work!  And they are all, excepting the maroon one which is handspun wool, at least partly acrylic. All the earl flaps are a thick chenille-like acrylic/nylon and also very warm. If you think you might like to make one, you’ll need two 12″ squares and two 7″ triangles for the flaps, folded in half. The rest is trim.

ear flap hats man Randy

two more DSCN0013

So I hope this helps you have a warm Thanksgiving walk!

The other thing I am grateful for is having so many wonderful sharing weaving friends! Thank you all!

Turkey weavingHazel & Randy

Looks like Fall

We have frost warning’s and the weather page is starting me mention snow levels. The chances of it this week are slim, but it’s encouraging to see it mentioned again. We had some rain yesterday, tho not a lot.  But I have been knitting on my 2 year (so far) sweater just have one sleeve to go. And today starting a doll sweater for  an ‘Along’ in my doll group.

I have the tunic, previously mentioned as ‘vest’ put together but am having a problem with it. A lot of people have told me they like the colors and the length but I am not happy with either. I think it’s too long and too gaudy. I’m going to try to over dye it to dull it down some and them I’ll consider length. It’s the sitting problem, you know what that does to loosely woven or knit fabric. 😦  Take my word for it that it looks better here than it does on me. Himself was supposed to get a picture for me as my little camera is being contrary, but he hasn’t had time yet, he says. But I have also got started on my Xmas yarn. Progress of a sort… And no presents made this year. Ah well… Hope your November is starting off on a high note! accoridan

done vest, maybe

 

Tri looming

There’s been some discussion on Facebook about making tri jackets and sweaters. I made this one years ago, before it began getting too small, those gremlins will keep doing this! Anyway here’s more or less what I did, using my adjustable triangle. These measurements are taken from the aged and much worn garment so are probably not too close to what it started as but will work as a guide since you’d have to make your own size decision. It will show how I put it together in any case.

Front: The large plaid tris are folded over at the shoulder front and back and the tip is folded back to make a cuff at the sleeve. The lines don’t always coincide with the photo but I think you can follow it. The one marked 10 inch is a small tri folded at the under arm to finish the sleeve. The points of the blue tris are folded under, the hypotenuse of those forming the hem front and back.

front layout

Back: The plaid tris are seamed up the back to about 5″ from the fold over, you’ll adjust that to fit you. The front opening and neckline are finished with a row of single crochet and one of reverse sc or crab stitch. This fit me pretty well back in the day. If you have a more rounded figure it may tend to hike up in the back a bit. I’ve gone to using the smaller looms as it gives me a bit more control over fit but this ought to be good for slimmer figures or for children.

back layout

I have a photo of myself wearing this but I don’t have a clue where it is. If I find it I’ll come back and add it. meantime, I hope this little bit of info is helpful to anyone wanting to make use of some nice handspun or even nice “store=bought”!  😉

Home again…

We had a great time on the road this last of September. Down to Booneville for the California Wool and Fiber Festival where we met some old friends and made some new ones, then up the coast to Oregon. We spent a couple days playing on the beach. The Oregon State parks are very nice, we had power and water, hot showers, all the amenities as well and lovely trails and beaches.

DSC03941 DSC03967 DSC03955 From the high places we watched the California Grey whales spouting, there were lots of them. That was pretty neat, even tho we couldn’t really see them close up. DSC03971 I got to sit in the sand and listen to the breakers.

Then we went on up to Canby for the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival. Meg Stump had taught a pin weaving class on Friday and recommended us to those of her students who didn’t have their own loom or who wanted to get a few more sizes. We met a lot of new weavers and, of course, many who had previously bought looms were coming back for more or for advice or just to chat. The weather was perfect and it was a lovely weekend. I bought yarn but did not spend all the profits so that balanced nicely, too! I think this one is going to be my Christmas vest.

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I have been asked to teach next year, people seem to be interested in hints on how to make their own clothing with the looms, so I will be spending my winter deciding how to go about that. If you are one who does this and would like to share hints I’d love to see your work and hear what you have to say about the process.

And here’s a little fun thing that came home with me. Appropriate for this trip! Meg Stump’s mermaid! Isn’t she cute! She has a pretty little shell in her briefcase. Meg says she’ on her way to work. We get to guess… What kind of career would attract a mermaid…?

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Spring

It’s the 8th of May and the roses are in full bloom. Definitely an early spring. A little cool this week and windy but still getting a lot of gardening done. My Alaskan corn is up and growing. this is going to be an interesting experiment. It is a small corn designed to grow in adverse conditions.  I think the weather this year qualifies for that!   But I thought that if it is successful in Alaska it ought to produce a couple ears down here. X your fingers!

Meantime,. I have not made any progress on the demo vest. I am thinking I may just give up and do the cut and sew. At least I’d have a vest I could wear. I don’t suppose everything has to be a big challenge, some thing can just be easy, huh? And I got out my bag of squares which I think are wool or silk or…? I’

ve forgotten, only that they are not likely to be machine washable. I am putting a couple things though the gentle cycle this morning and am adding one each of these blocks just to determine what will happen. If they dont’ entirely ruin, I will go from there. I am thinking another vest. This one ought to be lighter weight, tho, more fit for cool summer mornings and evenings.

Meantime back to spring… the rhubarb is also ready!  I’m not a fan of strawberries with it but I made it half and half with a couple sweet apples and it is just yummy! Tamed the Rhubarb a bit and gave the apples a little jazz. We’ve made big holes in two pies so far and I have the makin’s for a 3rd! I think I’ll wait until next week with that one as sis is planning a trip down.

rhubarb apple pie