I finished the spinning for the phoenix a week or so ago – just over 1,000 yards of superfine silk, a bit thinner than sewing thread. So now it was time to finalize the design.

Designing the scarf was complicated – I had to juggle dozens of competing objectives. I had spun the yarn in two ~525 yard color gradients that would (hopefully) match to produce a symmetric scarf. I had also dyed 1,200 yards of 60/2 silk in a gradient from navy to royal blue, to use as a background color.

Here are the yarns for the first half:

The yarn changed color smoothly along its length. To retain that smooth, even gradient, I would need to use up all the yarn, leaving no jumps or gaps. So that was the first challenge: design a scarf that would require almost exactly 1,050 yards of the handspun gradient weft.

That meant juggling width, length, and picks (number of weft threads) per inch to get the numbers to line up precisely. Very precisely.

First I needed to estimate how many picks there would be per inch. I didn’t have any handspun to spare, so I wove a beautiful sample using 60/2 silk as a proxy for the handspun. When twisted together, they appeared about the same size, so I figured it would give me a good starting point.

Here’s my sample in 60/2 silk:

This sample came in at 72 ends per inch, which would be just perfect for a scarf 72” long and 14.5” wide.

So I worked up a design that suited perfectly. Here’s a picture of how it would look when worn (the white line divides the two sides):

I made the final tweaks, added a short hem, and started weaving.

A few inches in, I discovered two VERY, um, exciting things. (Yikes!)

First, the handspun wove up very differently from the yarn I’d used for sampling. Instead of 72 picks per inch, I was getting 50! That meant that my perfectly reasonable 72-inch scarf was turning into an ultra-long “Dr. Who scarf” at 103 inches, with skinny, stretched-out phoenixes.

Second, I had less warp than expected. WAY less. I was using a previously painted warp that changed colors every 2-3 yards. I had thought this section was three yards long, giving me plenty of leeway. Nope. It was only 69-70” between color changes – not long enough even according to the original plan.

Back to the drawing board. I eliminated one phoenix on each side and re-spaced the design:

Now I had a design that would weave up to 66” long – which would let me squeak in with an inch or two to spare.

I wove up the first phoenix, then realized that I’d created a different problem! My original design called for 525 yards of handspun, perfect for the amount I had. My shortened design only required 325 yards. As a result, the colors were changing far too slowly along the length of the scarf. My first phoenix was almost entirely brown!

To speed up the color changes, I decided to throw away about half the handspun I’d just spent two months painstakingly creating. (Gulp.) I’d weave half an inch, then pull out and throw away four or five yards of yarn. Then I’d weave another half-inch, and pull out more yarn. That removed the yarn a little bit at a time, which mostly preserved my smooth flow of color.

The second phoenix came out beautifully – everything I’d hoped for.

The photo doesn’t really do it justice. The handspun has small irregularities in the color and size that add wonderful texture to it. It’s much more interesting and, well, handmade than the original samples woven in machine-spun silk. Those were lovely too, but didn’t have the same liveliness and joy.

I’m definitely going to do more projects with handspun! I’m really excited by the possibilities.

I measured the remaining navy blue warp periodically as the scarf grew, and decided that I had just baaaaaarely enough for the rest of the scarf + hem. In a real pinch I could also overdye the white portions at the very end – though I hate dyeing on the loom.

I wove like a maniac (1,000 picks per hour!) and quickly reached the halfway point:

I’m now at about the 2/3 point, but I won’t make any more progress until Wednesday.

Why? Because I’m on a plane to LAS VEGAS, where I’ll be competing at the USPA Drug Tested National Championships in just two days!

My goal weights are:

• Squat: 137.5 kg (303 lbs)
• Bench press: 80 kg (178 lbs)
• Deadlift: 152.5 kg (336 lbs)
• Total: 370 kg (814 lbs)

If I hit all three of those target weights I will set new PRs (personal records) in all three lifts, break the California state record for bench press and meet total, and achieve my primary goal, which is totaling over 800 lbs.

I think I’ve got a decent shot at it. Fingers crossed!

Wish me luck!

I’m making slow progress on spinning the phoenix yarn. I started getting repetitive strain injury symptoms in my right hand, so I took a few days off and did some active recovery work (stretching, band flossing, etc.) before starting up again. And I’m going fairly slowly, about half an hour a day.

Here’s today’s skein. I’m getting out of the orange section and into some lovely golds!

And here is the full gradient so far:

To jog your memory, I’m spinning these braids of silk fiber:

Gold and yellow are yet to come!

Move-wise, I’ve finally started packing my stuff. The move is still two or three months away, but I hate last-minute panics, and I’m planning to sell some things, so better to start sooner. I found a phenomenal iOS app called Boxes that is teeeeeeerrific not just for packing but for anything that involves labeling and inventorying. You create “spaces” (categories) first, then put boxes into each space. For each box, you can do a list of items, and add photos of each item. Then you can add tags (“weaving supplies”, “yarn,” etc.) And then, you can print a label with all the box info on it AND a QR code so you can scan the box and instantly bring up all your notes, pictures, etc. on your smartphone or tablet.

I think this is phenomenal even if you aren’t moving. It would be perfect for inventorying things for homeowner’s insurance, for example, or just to know where the heck you put that widget 10 months ago.

So I am gleefully packing up and photographing yarn. I’m not going overboard on inventorying everything, but I am taking photos and putting in general descriptions.

I’ve packed five small moving boxes so far, mostly silk and metallic threads. I’m guessing another 10 boxes at least to contain everything. Maybe more. I have at 400+ pounds of yarn! Don’t ask where it all came from, please. (I suspect it of multiplying when I’m not looking.)

Powerlifting-wise, I’m now only five weeks out from Nationals (SQUEEEEEEEE!!!!!!). The final week is typically a rest week, so I have four training weeks left to go. So my coach is pivoting me from general strength training to meet prep. That means that instead of doing 3-5 reps in my first (heaviest) set, I’m doing one HEAVY single-rep set before backing down and doing more work at lighter weights.

Here’s what a typical exercise entry in my training spreadsheet looks like now:

Translating the shorthand, it says to do 1 rep at a weight heavy enough that I could only do two additional reps if I continued.

Once I input that weight into the Set 1 row, the program estimates the maximum weight I can lift, and puts that in the bottom row.

Then I multiply that max weight by 80% and lift that weight (rounded to the nearest five pounds) for four reps, doing a total of four sets of four reps each.

The practical difference is that now, instead of doing an initial set of 3-5 reps at 140 pounds in bench press, I’m now doing a single rep at 160 pounds. That is roughly a 15% increase in weight from my usual training, and puts me up around 90-95% of my max lift. That is HEAVY.

This shift from lighter weights/more reps to heavy singles is prepping my body and my central nervous system for an all-out effort. It’s also giving the opportunity to perfect my form at heavy weights. You can get away with less than perfect form when you have lighter weights, but as you near your max, you have to be much tighter and more focused on getting everything perfect, or the bar won’t come up.

(You won’t hurt yourself if you fail, though – the rack’s safety arms will catch the weight. Powerlifting, and weightlifting generally, actually has one of the lowest injury rates of any sport.)

Here’s what 160 lbs x 1 rep in bench press looks like right now. Significant effort, but not a real struggle. I am hoping to hit 172 lbs at USPA Nationals to break the California state record for my age/weight class.