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Tuesday, January 12, 2010

On warps and wefts

First come knitting, then spinning, and now weaving! This fibre obsession is never ending, is it?

So it all started a couple of weeks ago when I saw someone put up a rigid heddle loom in the Ravelry destash/trade board. I expressed interest and we got talking and I naturally got all excited. Then a friend of mine offered to lend me her loom to try out, and I had so much fun! Here's the first scarf that I made.
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For the warp (that's the threads that go lengthwise on the loom) I used 100g of my handspun merino that I couldn't stand knitting with. And for the weft (that's the one that goes in and out sidewise) I used some leftover RYC Cashsoft DK from my Deep V Argyle Vest. I was SO proud of it, and decided right away that I wanted a rigid heddle loom, so I ordered a 20" Ashford Knitters Loom. It should've arrived last Monday but due to the courier's extreme incompetency I still don't have it.

Anyway while I still had my friend's loom I wove my second scarf!
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It's a much shorter scarf (the first one was 2m long!) and I used some UK Alpaca yarn that I've had in my stash for years.

One thing I love about weaving is how darn quick it is! Can you imagine how long it'll take me to knit a 9" wide 2m long scarf? That is, if I survive the boredom! Also, I get to be much more adventurous with my weaving as I can combine different yarns, something I'm always wary to do with knitting. One thing I've found with me and my crafts is, the more I know, the less adventurous and experimental I become. So I'm hoping this will help me be more adventurous with my knitting too.

Oh, and I just bought a sewing machine and it got delivered yesterday. I don't have any fabric to play with it yet, but I'm sure you'll be hearing more about my new endeavours in the future!

Tuesday, January 05, 2010

New Year

This is definitely my longest hiatus to date! Come March, I would've been blogging (on and off) for 6 years, and that's starting to feel like a lifetime. Now that I'm back, I'd like to make some changes around the blog and be a better blogger all around!

Every year for as long as I can remember, I have always made New Year's resolutions. Usually they are really long lists of things I'll forget a fortnight into the year. This year, I made none. Instead, I have a few mental resolutions. They are fairly vague, but my "rule" for this year is to DO things. Procrastination has always been one of my biggest weakness, along with lack of self control at yarn sales, but that's a different issue. Also, I vow to try to coax myself out of my comfort zone and say YES more often and seize more opportunities. For example, a friend's mother asked me if I'd like to volunteer teaching knitting at a group she's trying to organise once a month. My first instinct was to run away, giving myself and her all sorts of excuses. But I calmed down and said I'd love to do it! It's a little thing, but I'm starting with baby steps :)

So there, that's my New Year's non-resolution! I'll be back soon (hopefully!) with loads of knitting contents and some weaving too!

Happy New Year 2010 everyone!