Oh boy! Oh no! Scarf a Day starts tomorrow!

The Crackle Continues

Got the third Zielinski sample woven this evening, using the same threads and block progression as the first two:


For some reason this structure didn't beat in as much as the other two - not sure if I'm just beating more gently today or if it's something structural. Could be either one, or both.


So far, I think I like this one best, although I have a nagging worry that I got the treadling wrong somehow. It doesn't look as neat and tidy as Zielinski's drawdowns but I find that I rather like the variety of structures in the different blocks in this one more so than the others. There's a lot going on in this cloth structurally speaking, not to mention the colour changes.

I know it's hard to see the structures very well in these on-loom pics. I'll scan all the samples when they're off the loom so that they're really big and clear, but for the time being here's a side by side comparison:

Sample #1 is on the left. Sample #3 is on the right. Sample #2 was too blurry and went home. You can very clearly see the difference in the way the samples beat up -- there are the same number of blocks in both. If you squint and hold your mouth just right, you should also be able to make out the same block progression in the two samples. (The embedded picture is still Very Small - you can see the threads much more clearly if you click on the picture to see it full size.)

And now for an Artist's Way tangent:

I'd hoped to get more than one sample woven today but I finally went on my first Artist Date - I'd been thinking about it for about a week but somehow hadn't actually gone out and done it. I finally bit the bullet, grabbed my digital camera and headed out into the relatively balmy -13 degree sunshine to tromp about the yard and take some pictures. And by "some" I mean over 300. Had a great time doing that and also the editing and cropping and weeding out afterwards. Here is the result.

A friend and fellow guild member is going to come over in the morning and have a go at these samples - I'm really looking forward to it! No one but my dear ol' mum has ever come to my home and and woven on my looms.¹ I'll have to find some other pattern weft for her to use since the 4/8 green is nearly used up. Just as well - no sense her weaving samples exactly like mine!

I'd really better get a move on with these samples myself, since I've got a lot to do unweaving-wise over the next two days. I really want to get this warp off by the end of the day on Saturday, 'cause Sunday is Feb 1, and you know what that means...²

1. Come to think of it, I don't think even Mom has ever woven on Mabel. Good ol' Mabes, she's a monogamous kinda gal. Makes me feel a bit guilty, actually, seeing as how I've been stepping out on her with Joey all this time, not to mention all those trysts with looms in the classroom and even a one night stand or two with Mom's looms... Poor Mabes!

2. Feb 1 is the first day of Scarf a Day, of course! Gah! and also Woo! I must say, I am feeling some trepidatious³ excitement about the prospect.

3. Is that a word? That should totally be a word... holy Hannah, it IS a word, at least according to wiktionary. I really didn't expect that. ... Ah, but I see that my New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, Thumb Index Edition (in two volumes - big thumbs?!) does not concur. Instead, it offers up "trepidatory (adj.) of, or pertaining to, or characterized by trepidation."

I think I prefer trepidatious since it 1) sounds like it really shouldn't be a word even though you want it to be one, and 2) sounds like something out Mary Poppins.

Scarves today, scarves tomorrow

Okay, so here's the deal. I've been toying with the idea of a Scarf A Day blog for a while now. Then yesterday I wanted to learn something about the way Blogger blogs are set up and I created the Scarf A Day blog to test my idea, figuring I'd use it when the time came, if it came. Silly me, I thought it could sit there, unnoticed, until I needed it. Here it is, mere hours later and, lo, it already has a follower!¹ Which is GRATE, and exciting, and inspiring -- some of the reasons I was considering the project in the first place, so it's all good. I just wasn't ready to actually do anything with it yet. Now I figure I'd better post a little bit of expo to explain, to tantalize, and to cement my intentions to go ahead with this beastie.

The basic idea is pretty simple: I'll weave a new scarf every day and put pics online. Beyond that, the details and ground rules still need work. Am I really going to do this every single day, or just on weekdays? For how long a period? Do I have to warp the loom every day, or am I allowed to weave more than one scarf off a single warp? If so, how many from one warp is okay and how dissimilar should they be? Am I allowed to wind a bunch of warps ahead of time or does the entire idea have to happen in a single day? Does the scarf have to be finished (i.e. fringes done, wet finished, pressed, whatever) the same day that it's woven? Do I post the hot-off-the-loom scarf before finishing, or the finished scarf, 'cause that can take overnight. Do I post progress shots so people can see the scarves under way or just finished product shots? Etc. etc.

There are other kinds of questions that need answering, too, like how do I manage this project with the other production and guild sampling that needs to happen on the same loom? How do I manage this project with all the other stuff going on in my life, like getting ready to open the shop in four months, or the other people in my life? My husband has said, "I don't care if you do a scarf a day, but I don't want to have to," meaning that he doesn't want to be pressured into keeping me company as I desperately try to finish a scarf by midnight or when I get tired of the idea but feel like I have to keep going. Fair enough. He's also worried about scheduling - what if he wants to go on a trip, what then?

At the moment, I'm thinking of these answers to all those questions: I'll just do the month of February, and I'll only commit to doing week days. I will try to put on a new warp almost every day, or every other day, but won't make any promises in that regard. I'd rather warp for three or four scarves at once and I'll still have blankets and other production going on the big loom, so it might take me a couple days to get four scarves off the small one. I'll make sure that every scarf is unique but it might just be a change in weft colour that sets one apart from another. And, if something really important (family is important!) comes up, I'll just miss a few days. Big deal. As for the other stuff, I'll make up answers to those questions as I go. I'm making the rules here, after all.

And now, since a post sans pictures is boring, here are some shots of the scarf anna half from yesterday. Guess which is which!



As you can see, another really critical question I have to deal with is "how the heck do you take good pictures of scarves?" Here's a better close up of the fabric:



1. Hi, Laura! Thanks! :D

Endings and beginnings

The rosepath singles are nearly done! Could have stayed up to finish it tonight but decided to leave it until the morning so that I'll be more alert when I go over the yardage for skips or other glitches. I've also gotten the first couple inches of Joey's scarf started, so maybe I'll finish off that warp tomorrow as well. I need to get Joey cleared off so that I can get cracklin! Especially since the crackle's got to come off before the end of the month if I'm really going to do the scarf-a-day in February.

I'm off to tuck myself into bed with The Artist's Way - a glass artisan friend and I have agreed to at least read the book at the same time, though we've made no promises about actually doing any of the exercises. I must admit I'm pretty skeptical but I figure what the heck.

In pursuit of fibre

I have vowed not to write much today, or at least not this morning, 'cause I really need to get to the looms. I was worried when I started blogging again that I'd wind up spending more time on the computer than weaving and so it has come to pass. Best head that action off at the pass, else I'll have to do some choosing. I want to have my cake and eat it too - high fibre cake, of course! - so today, just a few tiny tidbits.

1) I got mail from one of my favourite customers who, in addition to picking out some colours for a new wool blanket, has sent me some pictures of her babies, Bogie and Bailey, enjoying a blanket she's had for a few years now:


Aren't they cute little darlin's? I love to see cats on my blankeys - mosty 'cause I just love cats but also because it means they're really being used and not just folded up and put away. The blankets, that is, not the cats.

I have heard back from Aunt Janet re: her blanket as well, so now I've got two blankets waiting for the big loom. Really must get that rosepath stuff off so the blankets can go on!

2) I found a link to this very, very cute o w l s sweater by needled by reading the craftzine blog today. I am tempted and I have loads of chunky yarn to use but a sweater is an awfully big project and I'm trying to keep knitting projects small, both for sanity and for the sake of my wrists. Incidentally, in the context of her o w l s sweater, Wazzuki also has some very good things to say about the collaboration on and originality of designs and remuneration for design work, etc. Things I wrestle with myself on an ongoing basis. If you're interested, you'll find them here, near the bottom of the post.

3) I ran across Bonnie Tarses' Weaving Spirit blog on which, among other things, she has kits for sale. The idea for kits has been on my mind for some time, since even before the Yarn Barn asked for permission to kit the project I had in the ND07 issue of Handwoven magazine. I need to do a lot more research but I'm thinking about selling pre-wound warps for several of my placemat colour palettes and possibly some of the scarves as well. Will have to investigate how to put them on the blog, the shop website, and in the shop this summer as well.

4) Am still toying with my 'scarf a day' project idea. Whether I go ahead with it will depend largely on how much weaving I can get done in the next two weeks. More info on this to follow!

Oops, better post and get off the comp as it's 11:59 aye em and I want to at least get downstairs this morning! Must fly!