Weaving!

Saturday, I took a weaving class from Linda Witt of Misty Mountain Farm. The class was held at Nature's Yarns, so I didn't have to drive all the way out to Linda's farm - though I LOVE trekking out there! It's just beautiful! The Tri-loom is a triangular loom with nails on all 3 sides - the process is similar to how we all wove pot holders as children with one major exception. You're working with the warp and the weft at the same time - and there's no edge finishing required! (However, most of us opted for the chain stitch at the top edge to give it a reinforced edge.)

There were only 4 of us in the class, so it was almost like having a private lesson...especially since one of the other students was a good friend of mine, Gretchen. One student left early on, so in the end, there were only 3 of us plus Linda.

I had originally selected a turquoise and blue multi-colored yarn from Blue Heron Yarns to weave with. However, Gretchen selected a gorgeous variegated yarn in browns and earth tones from Scarlet Fleece. Of course, since I'm no longer on a yarn diet, I had to "second guess" my choice as well....and I selected a variegated blue yarn. On the left is a "progress shot" of my partially completed project.



Sharon's yarn of choice was double stranded - one strand of her hand spun with one strand of a sock type yarn. It made a gorgeous pattern and a nice thick cloth (photo on the left). The woven cloth with the Scarlet Fleece yarn produced a very open weave - I really like the density of Sharon's project.



Linda used a Louet boucle for her project (photo on the right). It produced a VERY thick cloth, so after weaving about 4 inches, she decided to weave using "every other nail". You can see the difference in density between the top corners and the midpoint on the sides.

Needless to say, there was a lot of giggling and chatting while we wove. It was quite easy once we got started. The tricky part was getting it started. I was the remedial student as I had to start mine twice before I got it right - LOL! Gretchen was the standout as she managed to completely finish her triangle in class. Here, she's putting a chained edge on the top of her shawlette/scarf.

The small 3' Tri-loom makes a triangle that's about the size of a kerchief you'd wear on your head. It will also go around your neck as a neckerchief that you could secure with a pin. I think I'd prefer the larger 7' loom - it can be adjusted so I can make a 3' triangle OR a 7' triangle - perfect for a shawl. I'm not sure I like how open the weave is on my finished scarf/shawlette - I think next time, I'll definitely go with a thicker yarn.

On the knitting front, I've finished the first Colinette sock in the Fruit Coulis colorway. Each side of the sock looks very different. I do like it though...and I like how the foot of the sock turned out as well. Here's a view of each side so you can see the difference. Amazing!









I've just started the second sock...and I've got my fingers crossed that it will turn out with approximately the same patterning and pooling.