Rambling Warps

NaDoWhat part 2

I'm trying to make it feel okay NOT to join the NaDoWhat movement, lol... but somehow I WANT to do SOMETHING for it & I'm not quite sure how to apply tapestry weaving to it since I don't have a good idea how long it takes to do stuff...
I suppose I could plan on just concentrating on it & make a commitment to a certain amount of time each day to weaving (or do "everyday in November, which some folks in the Everyday Matters" group do, not just November, but whatever month they pick...like "every day in May")...

I may plan to go through Nancy Harvey's extra projects in the book "Tapestry Weaving" (where she more or less takes folks step by step)... so I can get the techniques down pat, and not worry about whether or not the designs are original (OR I could make a point to make up my own designs but use similar features in the pieces or something like that)..

Like I said in my last blog entry, my loom is ready & the header & spacer parts are already woven in... worst case, I won't start til a day or two later so I can at least plan the first piece... blah blah blah, lol..

I may even decide to try nanowrimo, but if I do, it'll be AFTER I've done my daily tapestry!

So much for that... time to get ready to take the kids to meet up with the homeschoolers!

Have a spooky day!

NaDoWhat?

For November, the writers have NaNoWriMo (national novel writing month) and knitters have NaKnitSweMo (national knit sweater month) & the bloggers have NaPoBlogMo (national post blog month: a daily post) & I'm sure there are other people concentrating on something specific for November... the crocheters have the month of March set aside for national crochet month...

What about weavers? I'm thinking of doing NaWeavTapMo but I haven't come up with what parameters to aim for... since I don't quite know how long it takes me to do a certain amount of weaving, I'm thinking I can go through some of Nancy Harvey's extra projects and really get some of the techniques nailed down for once and for all.

Something to think about for the next few days, maybe set some goals... my copper pipe loom is ready:

The plan is to do a replica of the rug that I saw at the 2nd Monday flea market earlier this month...

Tapestry Weaving project updates

I've been struggling with a couple of pieces & neither of them are working out quite well because I'm missing some technique info & the shapes look squashed..

The other one doesn't have enough on it to show... but I am trying to weave the design sideways on this one.

Knitting a hat

In addition to various footwear projects I have in progress, I started a hat. The band is called Coronet (it's in Knitty Winter 2003) and since I do NOT want to do all stockinette stitching for the body of the hat, I will probably do The Greenery pattern for the upper portion which is shown here or I may come up with some other textured or cable pattern for the upper part as I'm not sure whether or not I'd be up to doing the math for the greenery on the # of stitches I'll be doing. I'm not afraid of math, just don't know if I want to figure out how to make this work!

Here's the start of my coronet band:

The color for this is not quite accurate. The yarn is Briggs & Little Heritage in Peacock & in real life it is a gorgeous color. I tried. I really REALLY tried to get a good picture of this color... guess you'd have to see it in person!

Watch out don't fall.... backwards...yet

Now y'all remembered NOT to set your clocks back for Standard time, right? That doesn't start until November 4th (next weekend)... only a week's difference, which is weird, but I guess it gives folks an extra hour for Halloween celebration!

Toe up projects: part 2: Sarah's socks

I've done a few pairs of socks, toe up & cuff down and ball of foot up (for growing kids, this is WISE!) but these socks are plain toe up & I figure they'll be done in a few days & the little girl they are for won't grow out of them before they are done.

My last socks were toe up (short row toes, which are executed the same as heels) and I followed instrux a friend gave me & her heel did not require wraps on the way up, just on the way down...

I'm using US 1-1/2 (2.5mm) needle for the foot ... I did the toe on 0 (2mm) and plan to do the heel on that needle as well... I may experiment with a slip stitch short row heel or something to give the yarn a bit more stability, haven't decided yet!

October 7 Update:
Having problems with the toes: I had 2 finished but they were not the same size... need to just pay attention and keep track!! I probably ended the toes with more live stitches on one toe than the other...so need to restart...and I will!

October 12 update: got the toes finished last night (this time I got smart & did them at the same time/side by side, slipping the slip stitches so I could work on the other toe) and am now working on the foot portion of the sock using magic loop. I'm using a knit 3 purl 2 ribbing for these. A movie or two or 10 or car rides with Gary driving & they should be done...

I'd post a picture of the latest update, but someone (we think Goldie) chewed my camera cable in 2 and we can only find one half of it... if we can't put this one back together with electrical tape, I'll have to wait before I can upload pix... meanwhile, here's the start before I redid the toes:

Toe up sock projects: baby socks

I realized today that it's not a great idea to post HUGE amounts of text in the Ravelry project comment boxes, which is why they have links available to blog entries... so I'm moving that info here & will post a LITTLE bit of info in the comment boxes, LOL!

I'll do a separate entry for his sister's socks...

Sam's Socks:

My friend gave me this sock recipe to test & it was pretty well written. I didn't use her toe method since I love doing short row toes... her instructions included a short row heel, which worked out nicely.

I am now (9/29) working my way up the leg & should be starting the ribbing soon!

I plan to do another pair for Sam's older sister in a child size (same yarn): toe up based on Soxie's child socks on the Opal PTyarn website... and I plan to do a pair in a newborn size for Sam & Sarah's cousin, who will be born this winter (but may have to do a different yarn since I only have one skein of this one, wahhh, may be a different colorway of this yarn though!).

10/1/07: I finished this pair of socks last night while yakking with one of my sons who was up late... I still need to tuck in the ends & give a little wash & block (will try making coat hanger blockers!), but will wait until I get his sisters socks done!