Weaving and learning with Jane Stafford

Last week Shelley and I spent a few days on Salt Spring Island with Jane Stafford who was teaching three workshops on weaving.  It was FANTASTIC in every way!  Jane is an energetic, upbeat, fabulous teacher with a great sense of humour (and colour) who has been weaving for 32 years.

Jane with cotton.

Shelley and Jane.

A gorgeous mohair warp tied to another stunning mohair warp.

Showing us an easy way to tie on.

The cross - winding mohair onto the warping mill.

Shelley concentrating.

Jane pulling the end of the mohair warp and showing us there are no knots.

More beautiful mohair warps.

Cutting the fringe.

Shelley and I stayed at Green Acres Lakeside Cottages on St. Mary's Lake.  Our cabin was sweet and the view was gorgeous.  As well, we had a whole lot of fun together!

Me trying to take a photo of the two of us before we left.

Some samples of the weavings at Jane's studio.

We both came home with a wider, longer, deeper, passion for weaving.

A wonderful night to you all.

Irresistible

Did you know that Fun Knits has three exclusive colourways of Lorna's Laces? We do and they are online!

The three colourways are Fun Knits, Quadra Island, and Olympic. I'm hoping Shelley will talk about the wonderful scarf we are all knitting out of the Olympic colourway, as it is her design and very clever.

I couldn't resist the Quadra Island colourway, and knitted up this lovely little cowl with it.

The cowl used less than one skein of yarn - and is lovely and warm. A great burst of colour in this grey weather!

You can see the Lorna's Laces colours here.

Keeping Warm

I finished up my Christmas knitting on December 24th. I had been making Mr. Kate a neckwarmer, but could only do it as stealth knitting when he was at work. Luckily I cast off and sewed in the ends at 1:30 on the 24th. Phew!

This is a simple 2x2 neckwarmer, done in Koigu KFM, colourway 300. I cast on 120 stitches on a size 2mm and worked the 2x2 rib for about 7 inches. Then I slightly flared the neckline by k2,m1,p2,k2,p2 around. I then worked k3,p2,k2,p2 for about an inch, and then repeated the increase row on the other k2 section. Then I worked k3,p2,k3,p2 for about one and a half inches and cast off in pattern. I used slightly less than half the skein in my estimation.

The flare at the bottom helps the neckwarmer sit snug under a jacket, which is important when you are riding a motorcycle, as the wind will quickly blow anything not tucked in!

The fit turned out great, and Mr. Kate is all ready to start riding in the early spring.