I finished my red-and-black checkerboard shawl, and am twisting the fringe! It’s closer to fuschia than black, but it came out as well as I could ask for. I wove it in a 2/2 twill so the red-and-black parts are twill diagonals, which looks more interesting than over-and-under plainweave.
I’ve just finished beaming on the warp for my next project, which will be a silver-and-black advancing twill in a complex snowflake pattern. I’m using a 55/45 silk/cashmere blend from Colourmart, which has great deals on cashmere and silk weaving yarns. (Okay, they mostly sell to machine knitters, but I like it for weaving.) I start threading today – fortunately I have only a short ride today, which leaves room for weaving!
I have also started spinning some sock yarn, with a 75/25 wool/silk blend from The Silkworker. I haven’t spun anything in ages, but her stuff is so luscious that I couldn’t resist ordering some. I’m mostly working on it in the mornings, before Mike is awake (I can’t weave while he’s sleeping – nobody could sleep through the racket of a working loom). It’s coming out beautifully, and spinning up faster than I expected. I should have the first batch done tomorrow or Saturday.
I haven’t had as much time to weave as I would like, since my training right now is taking about 30 hours a week (between riding time and travel/prep time), but at least I’m making some progress. I have also designed an orange-and-black shawl based on the heart pattern in Twill Thrills: The best of Weaver’s, which produces a pattern reminiscent of a cat’s eye. It will be the next on the loom, after I finish this project.
Off to weave some more!
