Going to camp again

I just have time for a quick post of some of the things I’ve done at Knitting Machine Camp.  These are from Days 1 and 2.  Today (Day 3) is the last day and I’ve got to get going soon to be there on time.  So here it is:

Pot Holder and dishcloth sets

 

While the dishcloths are something I make often, the potholders are a new technique.

Potholder

This is weaving, done on the knitting machine.  I think I did try it a few years back at Camp.

Close-up of weaving stitch

The machine is only knitting with the small gray cotton yarn, but the colored yarn is getting ‘caught’ in the knitting for a look of weaving.  The potholder is knit twice the size, folded in half and the edging holds it together.  Slick and fun and quick!  I’ve just got to weave in the loose ends on the dishcloths and these sets will be donated to our church festival coming up in July!

Lace sock

I had a goal of learning to use the lace carriage.  This sock is the result.  While I think the yarn is not a good one for actually wearing as a sock, I was really happy with how easy the lace was to do. 

Lace top of sock

The sock is not sewn together, so you can see how the lace looks when laid flat.  I’m excited about the possibilities of adding lace to my alpaca projects. 

And there may even be some things I can do with the weaving stitch.  Maybe a vest?  Or ……  Oh the ideas whirl in my head!

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Wee confession

That is ‘wee’ as in little. Last Saturday I left my camera at Twisted Suri after our Discover Alpaca Fiber Day. I got it back today. So expect a lot of catch up posts from me. I have lots to show you.

Weaving sample

Here is the completed weaving sample from my second day of class.

Front and back

After class I continued with the second green and then the two browns which are handspun. I finished the ends with just hemming as I don’t plan to wash or use these little samples. You can see the back side of the floats I did.

Floats on green

Here is another close up of the floats on the front side I did while learning to use the pick up stick. They just thrilled me.

More weaving

My first sample is off the loom.

Cotton sampler

I finished one end with hem and twisted fringe.  I just knotted the other end. 

Close up of hem

Although the log cabin design didn’t show up much with the variegated yarn, I am happy with my little sampler from class.  I will keep it to remind me of how to do the design as well as finish the edges.

Alpaca yarn still on the loom

This is my second day’s project.  I plan to try some other yarns to see the effect and finish up the warp I have on the loom.  The warp (vertical yarn in the picture) is my fingering weight alpaca.   The outside warps have only one strand per hole, the very center has 3 strands per hole, and the inbetween warps have 2 strands per hole.  This will give me an idea of how each will look with various alpaca yarns I weave.   And I learned to make those cute little floats (bumps) on purpose!   Again, a great class!

I’m weaving!

My first day of weaving class is over.   My head is spinning – with new words, new techniques, new skills (or attempts at such!) and new ideas. 

Weaving on the loom

This is what I made today.  I learned my ‘reed’ or heddle (that is the horizontal piece at the back of picture where the yarn goes through) had 8 dents (holes) per inch, which means I can use pretty fat yarn to get a pretty solid fabric.  This is the 100% cotton yarn used for most hand-knit dishcloths.  It is supposed to be a log cabin pattern, but because one of my colors is variegated with white in it and the other is solid white, the pattern is mostly lost.  But I got the technique in my brain (I hope!)   Tomorrow is day 2.  First we learn how to take our weaving off the loom, then we start all over!  Warp again, learn a new pattern and weave some more!  I’m going to try alpaca tomorrow!  So excited!  If anyone is wanting to learn to weave – on any size of loom – the Weaver’s Guild of Minnesota is the place!   They have looms, yarn, instructors, everything you need.   And classes about spinning, dyeing and much more!