Textures and colors
I'm still slogging through the Cap Shawl edging, now about 1/3 of the way through with it. By the way, don't ever worry that my future foray into weaving (if ever I get a loom) will make me stop knitting or spinning. Besides the whole portability issue, I love knitting and love my warm shawls and socks. I love the textures and patterns that I can make with knitting, and I love the colors available in roving and yarn.
I just have a desire to play with the textures and color patterns unique to weaving. I really believe if there is such a thing as former lives, I was definitely a fiber person in at least one of mine (probably more). I just feel drawn to all things fiber. When I spin, I am fascinated by the way the individual fibers of the wool (or whatever I happen to be spinning) are drawn into the twist. Since I spin very thin, I draw just a few fibers at a time out and I just love watching them twist to make yarn. It's amazing to me how natural the process has always felt to me, like I already had the muscle memory to do it. I love how the colors in a multi-colored roving or batt blend together to create something unique. For knitting, I love how different combinations of the two basic stitches can be used to create so many different patterns. I love lace so much because of the truly amazing patterns. I mean pattern in the sense of the actual visual structure as opposed to the written pattern.
So now weaving has caught my fancy. I often look at clothing and scarves to see if the cloth is knit or woven and the patterns created by different techniques. Weaving has been on my queue of hobbies for a while, but I really was caught by the bug when I went to Knitter's Day Out a few weeks ago. We stopped in a couple of stores on the way up. At one store, there was a beautiful scarf woven in Zephyr and in The Mannings, there were several beautifully woven scarves in Zephyr, Tencel and other things. I just can't stop thinking about them and I can't stop looking at woven scarves and weaving books. The time has come.
I just have a desire to play with the textures and color patterns unique to weaving. I really believe if there is such a thing as former lives, I was definitely a fiber person in at least one of mine (probably more). I just feel drawn to all things fiber. When I spin, I am fascinated by the way the individual fibers of the wool (or whatever I happen to be spinning) are drawn into the twist. Since I spin very thin, I draw just a few fibers at a time out and I just love watching them twist to make yarn. It's amazing to me how natural the process has always felt to me, like I already had the muscle memory to do it. I love how the colors in a multi-colored roving or batt blend together to create something unique. For knitting, I love how different combinations of the two basic stitches can be used to create so many different patterns. I love lace so much because of the truly amazing patterns. I mean pattern in the sense of the actual visual structure as opposed to the written pattern.
So now weaving has caught my fancy. I often look at clothing and scarves to see if the cloth is knit or woven and the patterns created by different techniques. Weaving has been on my queue of hobbies for a while, but I really was caught by the bug when I went to Knitter's Day Out a few weeks ago. We stopped in a couple of stores on the way up. At one store, there was a beautiful scarf woven in Zephyr and in The Mannings, there were several beautifully woven scarves in Zephyr, Tencel and other things. I just can't stop thinking about them and I can't stop looking at woven scarves and weaving books. The time has come.
posted by Alison at 8:40 AM
8 Comments:
Big sigh of relief! I was a little worried because I love seeing all your lace. The cap shawl is looking lovely. I'm one of those strange knitters who love doing edgings. I just love seeing all those stitches coming OFF the needle! And I'm a quilter too - I guess there are a lot of us who dabble in more than one fiber art.
Uh-oh....Does this mean I should feel guilty for taking you along on the shopping trip? :-)
Sorry for no reply e-mail yet--I change jobs next Monday (same company), and it's been a whirlwind getting finished up here.
And hey - weaving seems to be the best use of gorgeous rayon chenille yarns, which are otherwise miserable to work with!
Check out the gorgeous weaving yarns at http://www.justouryarn.com/index.html
They don;t show any weaving on the site, but they had a great selection of weaving projects and fibers at Stitches Midwest. Makes me want to take up weaving...
Blessings!
Ikat.
Then check out either Dave Daniels or Criminy Jickets for ikat yarns and socks.
I look forward to seeing your new pursuits.
I love your description of spinning. It is *such* a fascinating and mesmerizing process. I'm glad you won't be abandoning knitting and spinning for a new love. :)
Weaving tempts me too, but I have enough hobbies already. I never seem to have enough time to spend on them as it is. Maybe someday I will give in and buy a loom, but not for now.
The Cap Shawl is looking so gorgeous!
Heh. Weaving has been calling to me lately, too! I love hand woven stuff. :)
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