Back in September I started knitting Cai a sweet little i-cord tied baby sweater. He needed a little sweater for around the house I figured. I used a delicate self-striping sock yarn; it would take a lot longer to knit but would look gorgeous. I figured I could do it in a month. Alas, between schedules, activities, maintaining a home, getting colds, and life in general, it is January and the poor thing is only half done. And it's made for a 6 month old. Cai is almost 8 months and comfortably fitting 12 months clothes.
Liberated, however reluctantly and sorrowfully (I have invested several months of knit time) from my project, I jumped on a skein of a funky hodgepodge of fabrics for a pick-me-up. I knotted the individual strands of differing yarn together, which took several days, a few strands at a time, and started knitting a couple days ago. If felt great to put an hour to it and be half done with my simple scarf. Tonight I finished it.
My loom is not forgotten. In fact, the past couple of nights while with the baby, I've been watching classes on how to weave from Craftsy. Just brilliant! Although I still haven't done anything with my loom, I now know how to (and am so excited to get started). I know how to calculate the yarn I need, how to best choose effective warp yarn, how to warp my loom, how to get good tension, how to wrap the shuttle, how to alternate hettle positions to actually start weaving, how to finish and more! It was wonderful to learn in such a visual way.
Watching the instructor weave gave me goosebumps of excitement. Weaving also offers tremendous possibilities for creative expression. Although you need a preferably plied strong warp yarn to put up with repeated friction, the weft can be anything. No need to worry about gauge either. I can weave with yarn, with ribbons, with cut up fabrics or paper or plastic bags, with wire, with items from nature, with tinsel. I am limited mainly by my own imagination. And the size of my 10 inch cricket loom. I am already drooling over a 32 inch Kromski Harp so I can make projects beyond scarfs and similarly sized pieces. I'm putting money aside and perhaps come my birthday and Yule again in the fall, I may be ready for an upgrade. In the meantime I love the cricket and it is the best place to start!
I never excelled in or liked Home Ec in school. So it comes as a complete shock to me to feel a burgeoning love of the fibre arts, starting with a passion for knitting several years ago. Was the seed always there, waiting to be nurtured? Watered? Exposed to the sun? Or am I just a different person? It's interesting to ponder, as we undoubtedly change in our growth throughout the years. I am literally not the same person I was a couple decades ago. No single cell in my body is the same (except for the eggs that await in my ovaries, unchanging except by age).
Regardless, it is fun to find passion in hobbies: in hands moving in creation of soft and beautiful materials with practical use. That is what it is about: the creative expression. The bonus is the practical side. Art to wear or display. Art to keep you warm. Art to snuggle and accent. Art to fuel the passions of the heart.
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| My new scarf. Love the cat peeking. |
Wonderful. Next step maybe too learning how to work a spinning wheel with the bag of sheeps wool I did keep. Aunty Sandy would love you to go over and work on the wheel. Then you could spin and weave. Drop Spinning is fun and very easy, but using a spinning wheel you can go so much faster.
ReplyDeleteYou know, there is only so much time in our lives and yes we do change. Our interests change and available time changes. With that, what we priortize to work on changes.
I believe the seeds are always there in all of us - for many things ... right up until the day our bodies die. Very exciting to experience new challenges and skills.
Beautiful work my spectacular daughter!