My Dilemma

Now I do plan to finish my latest project, the lap afghan with the difficult but doable pattern, but I think I might set it aside for the moment and work on something else with an easier pattern.  I'm not having any trouble managing the difficult pattern but it's tiring.  Yes, that's what it is...tiring.

Anyway, I feel I need a break from too much concentration and will be much happier working a pattern that's easier on my old brain.

Washing the Afghan

I always say I just love how we learn from each other...techniques, yarns, patterns, etc....and one of the smartest things I learned this week was on how to wash our fringed projects safely.  This is especially important to know after poor Faye damaged her afghan after working on it for so long.

Anyway, someone suggested buying one of those garment bags that are used for delicates in the washing machine.  You can get them at the dollar store.  This is such a smart idea and so simple I wonder why I never thought of it myself.  This is why we need each other to keep improving our craft!

I think we'd only need to protect our project like this if the fringe is a little long but it couldn't hurt to use the garment bag for all our Swedish weaving projects.  I think I will!

New Project

This is my new project...a lap afghan.  The fabric is a lovely coral color and the yarns are bright green, yellow, and salmon.  The pattern is from Annie's Needlework "Learn Swedish Weaving & Huck Embroidery".  It's actually called "Waterfall" and is for a gift bag but we can always use any pattern for alternate purposes.

The pattern is sort of complicated but not too bad once you catch on to the rhythm.  I haven't decided yet how much of the pattern I'll use before adding lattice/diamonds.  It's nice to have that option.

You might notice that I always scan and print patterns from the book and put them into a clear plastic sleeve.  This is a good way to keep your expensive pattern books from falling apart from use.  I keep a binder of all the patterns I've copied like this.

The pattern is a bit of a challenge but it's fun to stretch my brain a bit to conquer it.  I'll post a finished photo!

Faye's Afghan Complete/Maybe Damaged

Faye and Donna didn't want their photo taken but here is Faye's beautiful afghan completed.  So much work as we Swedish weavers know and sad to say it might have gotten damaged right after this photo was taken.

Faye lives in a condo with her own washer and dryer but they don't work well with heavy items.  She asked if she could use the washer here in my apartment building and, of course she could, but I told her the washers here don't have a gentle cycle and they might damage her beautiful new afghan.  She used it anyway.  It came out of the wash with the fringe terrible tangled and frayed in spots.  I could have cried and so could Faye.

She took the afghan home wet and said she'd try to untangle the fringe there.  I think the problem was that her fringe was quite long but I'm sure the tangling wouldn't have happened if there'd been a gentle cycle on the washer.

I've had a similar problem when I've been preparing monks cloth and gotten a lot of pilling unless I used the gentle cycle but I don't normally leave a long fringe like Faye's so I hadn't seen this kind of mess before.  It's heartbreaking and I hope to heavens that Faye can fix it in some way...maybe cut the fringe shorter.

Tip for the day:  When preparing your fabric use hot water and gentle cycle in the washer.  On a completed project, it is still wise to wash it in a gentle cycle, especially if the fringe is a little long.

Just a Note

I have 2 pieces of this peach colored monk's cloth and am working on one already using 3 different colors but I wanted a pretty variegated yarn for this other piece.  There wasn't much to choose from but I really love this Bernat Satin "Rose Garden".  I'll post a photo when it's done but I have to finish the one I'm working on already.

Janet's Project

Janet is a fairly new Swedish weaver who was kind enough to send me a photo of her project.  She's done something here that I haven't so far and that's to frame with a row of contrasting yarn just above the fringe.  I've seen it done before and it really is a nice touch that I'll use, too.

I hope she continues to find useful information on this blog.

Faye's Swedish Weaving Afghan

This is Faye's afghan, all finished except the hemming.  The truer colors show up in the bottom 2 photos but even they don't show the richness of color in this afghan to it's best effect.

Faye used a lot of variegated yarns and chose her pattern as she went rather than having a full plan from the start.  She also worried that her fringe might be too long but I think it's perfect.

I haven't been a fan of this fabric color (I think it's called potato) but, after seeing how beautiful it looks with the yarn she chose I want to do one, too.  

Lap Afghan Complete

I finally finished the lap afghan I've been working on and it's turned out well.  The 47" x 30" size is perfect for a lap afghan and easier to manhandle than the full sized one.  The fabric is white monks cloth and the yarn is Simply Soft in medium purple and soft green.  I love this color combination, especially on the white cloth.

I did the weaving horizontally but planned for the pattern to be viewed vertically...I hope that makes sense.  Playing around with and designing the lattice/diamonds was lots of fun.  I do this with most of my projects now and it's another way to make them unique.

I'll be sticking to lap afghans and table runners for a while now.

Unique Lattice

Something I enjoy doing very much is creating unique lattice/diamonds in my projects.  I began this lap afghan using part of an existing pattern but waiting until that was complete before figuring out how I'd do the lattice.  The only rule is that everything has to connect and be consistent.  I've only finished one section but I hope it shows what I mean.

When I first started learning Swedish weaving it was accepted to do large lattice/diamonds inbetween the patterns but one day one of my friends decided to use small diamonds instead.  And this is how we came to open our minds to the many other possibilities we could produce.

Sometimes innovations come out of mistakes but, regardless where they come from, it's fun to try new ways.  If you don't like it, you can pull it out.

I'll post a photo of the completed project when it's finished.