Fibres West

I spent all evening setting up the booth at Fibres West in Abbotsford. Here is a sneak peak' I actually remembered to take pictures this time. Should be a fun show. Lots of great booth here.

Citron

Couldn't resist picking up some Zauberball Crazy the last time I was over at the shop, and knew what I wanted to make with it. Citron, a pattern from the Winter 2009 Knitty, is a great pattern (albeit with a lot of stockinette). It creates a wearable half circle shawl, perfect for spring.

The zauberball wasn't quite enough yarn, so I finished the ruffle with an orange Kroy sock yarn in my stash that my son helped me pick out.

Partners.....

Aren't they totally adorable!!!!!

Shelley and Linda, the dynamic co-owners of the infamous Fun Knits Yarn Shop, snuggled cozily together in the gorgeous tartan blanket Shelley designed and wove (she's a blanket-making maniac of late) and gave to Linda "because the colours are so Linda".

t-towels continued.....

I decided to add the red, and trade the robin's egg for a lime.  The 5.5 yard warp for t-towels is now on my Saori loom.  I'll try to do some weaving tonight after work and post some pics.

The colours are more vibrant than this which will show better when the weft is in.
Happy sunny Saturday to all.

Where inspiration dwells......

I was walking along the beach at Rebecca Spit a couple of mornings ago and chanced upon some garbage strewn here and there by the edge of the shore.  I picked up several pieces and then suddenly noticed that the colours in the collection of trash I held in my right hand would make a gorgeous t-towel.  At home I pulled the colours off the shelves stocked with cotton cones and here is what I have:

Question: I'm wondering about the addition of red and white - any thoughts?

I'll try to get it warped and wound onto the loom in the next couple of days.  And, in case you're wondering - the orange came from a can of orange crush, the pink and green from a kid's toy, the blue was inspired by plastic shreds of fishing equipment, and the robin's egg came from the cellophane wrapping off a cigarette package.  Not a nice sight but there appears to be an upside to everything.

Glorious cotton/boucle and a little recycled sari silk...

I'm crazy in love with our new 2/8 cotton and 2/8 cotton boucle - the colours are enchanting and although there are a variety of uses for cotton (handknit lacy summer shawls, crochet, dish/wash cloths, etc.) as a weaver, I'm over the moon about stocking this particular weaving staple. I purchased just about every colour we brought in and here's what they look like in my studio.

First I wove a t-towel, sett at 12 epi with 276 ends, using 2/8 cotton in ivory, black, rust, and brown for the warp, and brown cotton boucle for the weft.

And then I wove a sample scarf as I'm making a tunic and wanted to see how the fabric would turn out.  The sett was 12 epi with 72 ends using 2/8 cotton and cotton boucle in an emerald green and purple -- the green stood out too much for my liking (perhaps an olive would have worked better) so I chose another set of colours for my tunic warp.  The weft is Mango Moon recycled sari silk (one of my first purchases at Fun Knits when Shelley was in the little cottage) and pash-mohair combined into one strand.

And here is the new warp for the tunic fabric.  It's a combination of a reddish burgandy and a reddish purple (Sorry Shell, can't remember the names - I'll look for them at work on Thursday).

The weft is the Mango Moon recycled sari silk twined with purple pash-mohair.

And here it is directly off the loom unwashed.....

I'll machine wash and dry it a little, and let you know how it feels.

Happy knitting/weaving/spinning and whatever else gives you joy and meaning.