Coming Along Nicely

This is really a lot more colorful than it looks in the photo...yarns are medium purple and light green on white monks cloth.  The pattern is vertical rather than horizontal.  Once I've finished the pattern, I'll fill in with lattice but I haven't decide yet exactly how I'll do that.

Lap Afghan

I wasn't up to starting a full afghan but I had this piece measuring 48" long x 30" wide already prepared so this will be my new project.  The yarn colors are aqua mist and lavender blue...I've used this combination before and really like it!  I'm not sure yet what color or pattern I'll do the lattice but that's a long way off.  I do have some leftover variegated with these colors in it but I'm not sure I have enough so we'll see.

I guess you can see I'm sometimes not very neat when I put my work aside for the day...it's very wrinkled but that will smooth out.  The pattern is complete on one side and barely started on the other side (pattern will be done vertically instead of horizontally) and I also have one row of the pattern started in the center.  I'm still deciding how much of the pattern and how much of the lattice I'll do, though.  There is already fringe on each side so I'm pretty sure I'll fringe each end, too.

I'll post a photo when it's finished...I think it will be lovely!

Christmas Runner Done

I finished this runner, measuring 48" long x 19" wide and am as pleased as I can be considering the difficulty using the yarn I did.  I used Caron's Simply Soft Party which has a silver thread running through it and it wasn't easy to keep together.

It helped to cut extra long strands of yarn so I wouldn't run a little short at each end because that is where the silver thread was most likely to unravel.  All in all, I will use the yarn I have for other projects but I would never buy it again.  I've heard from other weavers that they didn't like it, either, so I'm not alone in my opinion.

I haven't hemmed the ends yet but won't leave a fringe for the simple reason that I feel I need to fold the ends over and double stitch to keep the silver thread from coming loose.  You shouldn't have to do that to secure your yarn...you should be able to leave a fringe but, in this case, I'm not sure that would hold well.

Anyway, it's done, it's pretty, and I've learned a lesson.  That's success as far as I'm concerned!

Christmas Runner

I like to prepare my fabric pieces all at the same time.  For instance, if I have various sizes of white monks cloth, I'll machine stitch the ends of each piece and then wash and dry together.  In this instance, because I was doing so many pieces, I neglected to machine stitch one end and now have loads of lint on each piece of fabric.  Note to self...double check!!!

Most of the pieces from this lot will be table runners and I'll just have to use my little lint remover plus individually pluck off any remaining lint by hand.  A little time consuming but I really should have been more careful when I was preparing the cloth.

I've started one Christmas table runner and am using the Caron Simply Soft Party which has a glitter thread running through it.  Something I've learned is that you must use an extra long piece of yarn for each row because the glitter strand will begin to unravel on the end.  Other than that, it's very nice to work with.

I've barely started the runner but wanted to warn of the unraveling.  I'll post a photo of the finished project. 

Done

It's finally finished and I think it turned out kind of pretty.  I believe any patterns on this beautiful turquoise fabric would look nice, though.  This isn't a project I'm particularly proud of but I am glad I completed it the best way I could and that someone will enjoy owning it.

Now on to the next project!

CSW Afghan Almost Done

I've finished the "crazy Swedish weaving" afghan except for the hemming and I really like it.  The patterns I used are nothing I'd normally use but, when you run low on yarn, you do the best you can.  Most of the patterns came out of  my imagination as I tried to deal with the mess I'd created at the start and make it look halfway nice.  I'll post a photo of the completely finished afghan soon!  

My next project will be some Christmas table runners using the Simply Soft Party yarn.  It has a glitter that I'm looking forward to seeing on the finished items.

Finding a Group

I got a message from a lady in Tampa who is looking for a Swedish weaving group to get together with.  I suggested googling to find one but it would be nice if one of my Tampa readers could send me information.  I told the lady that it isn't necessary to be in a group to learn and improve our craft but it certainly is a lot more fun being with people who love it.

When I first started Swedish weaving I thought I didn't need hands on instructions and that was true but it took me longer to learn.  I was lucky to have a neighbor in my Florida park who took the time to speed me up.  Even with my fumbling start I loved the craft from the very beginning, though.

There are a few Swedish weaving pages on Facebook that I follow, too.  People post photos of their work and ask for advice so it's very informative.  Swedish weaving is much more popular in the States than Canada simply because of the cost of supplies.  Our costs in Canada can easily be double what they are in the States.  If a Canadian visits the States they can use the opportunity to buy their supplies at a better cost to them and that's what I've done.  Right now our dollar is not good against the U.S. dollar so it's possible it's cheaper today to do our buying in Canada.

Here are a couple of Facebook pages on Swedish weaving: "Swedish Weavers Around the World" and "Christine's Swedish Weaving"....there are probably lots more but so far I only follow these two.