Nothing

   Ello folks, I have absolutely nothing to blog, zilch, nadda, not a single thing. Its been a very lazy week for me, I've not done anything yarn wise, no knitting, weaving or spinning. I did do a little gardening, transplanted and thinned some of my tobacco plants. 
  My sister is due down on Sunday so now I'm in a rush to finish weaving the scarf but the problem is I'm not very happy with the results so far so might not end up giving it to her after all. That's even if I can get it finished in time. I'll see how it turns out after its been washed but if I'm not happy I'll save it as a sample so I can see my improvements over time. I can always whip up a book mark or keythob on the inkle loom, love the inkle loom as its really quick to weave simple patterns.

  Hope you all have a great day, take care folks.

Wet and lazy week

   Ello folks, slow lazy wet week and nothing to blog about. I'm still weaving this darn scarf and having trouble with the edges on one side, I'm not sure but I think I might of messed up when I warped it. I think I warped it left to right then cut and threaded the holes right to left, not sure if that's a problem or not but the warps sort of look wrong at the back winding peg thing. The edge on one side isn't perfect but that's down to me and lack of experience, the other edge is very messy and I'm not sure why. The messy edge could be I have warped the scarf wrong, I seem to remember reading somewhere about using odd or was that even numbers of warps, maybe that's the problem. I need to read more me thinks.
   I'll keep at it until its finished and even though this one project has taken much longer than it should of done I'll jump straight back on the horse and weave another project making sure I warp, cut and thread all the same direction. Will try and find out if I need even or odd number warps too. Not sure what the next project will be, am thinking of dinner place mats for my moms birthday but will depend on what yarn I have around the house. I'd really like to weave something in a variegated yarn like my last project, that one was so much more fun than this one but that's probably because it went well with very few mistakes. Got lucky I guess.

  Hope you all have a great day, take care folks.

Love Hate

   Ello folks, hope you all had a great weekend. I got a tiny bit of knitting done and some weaving but had a small mishap. I messed the colours up on the scarf, got very frustrated and nearly took it all off the loom. Taking it off the loom would of been a waste of yarn and I hate wasting yarn. I'm not very happy with this piece really and carrying on is sort of a waste of yarn but the practise will do me good. In the end I walked away for a coffee and came back and unwove the colours and made a start reweaving. I've not caught up with where I was but am close enough, just lost a couple of days is all.

  Hope you all have a great day, take care folks.

A little knitting

   Ello folks,not much to report really. Got a little knitting done and a little weaving, I think the woven scarf will be finished sometime next week. I'll try and remember to charge the batts. so I can take some pictures and do a picture post. I'll get pics of the last piece I did and hopefully the scarf on the loom and finished off the loom too. I'm not sure if I have any knitted pieces around to take pictures of, I really should of taken pictures of my Christmas knits.

  Hope you all have a great weekend, take care folks.

Another short post

    Ello folks, another short post today because I have nothing to write about. I'm still trying to get back into the habit of blogging on a regular basis. I'm still slowly weaving the scarf, my hearts just not into this project though for some reason. I was looking at the last thing I weaved, I wasn't overly impressed when I first took it off the loom but its really grown on me. I think I'll buy some more variegated yarn for my next weaving project, what every that is.

  I've gotten a little knitting done the last couple of days, knitting the moss, seed, stitch scarf to go with the five fold aran braid cable pockets. I'm in no rush with this scarf and enjoy knitting moss stitch, doesn't require much thinking about and fills the time when I have a few mins doing nothing.

  Have a great day, take care folks.

Short and sweet

   Ello folks, still have nothing to blog about but thought I'd best check in and see if I can start blogging more often, even if I have nothing to blog about. I haven't gotten much weaving done on the scarf, I'm not 100% happy with the colours or the way its turning out. The pattern would look great in different colours, as for the way its turning out that's all my fault. I really do need to practise much more. The edges to the scarf aren't as even as I would like, the weaving in of the colour changes are pretty sloppy and the whole piece isn't as balanced as I had planned, I think that's a counting mistake on my part though. Well that's all for today, short and sweet.

  Hope you all had a great weekend, have a great day and take care folks.

Happy Easter.

   Ello folks, another short post today as I've nothing crafty to report. This weekend I'm hoping to make a real dent in the scarf that's been sat on the loom much longer than it should of. I'm not sure when my sister is due so I really need to get a move on and make sure this scarf gets finished otherwise she will not be getting a Christmas present this year.(eta for last Christmas)
  Apart from not being too happy with the way the blue and purple are going together in the scarf I'm also unhappy with the tails I weave in when joining a colour, I've made the tails too short and there not weaving in tightly enough creating little bumps. I'm not going to unweave what I've already done, I'll just make future colour join tails longer so I can weave them in better, all part of the learning process.

  Hope you all have a great weekend, take care folks and have a blessed Easter.

Lost my mojo.

   Ello folks, hope your all doing well. I've gotten very little weaving done even though I had all weekend free, kind of makes it hard to blog about crafty stuff so this will be a short post I reckon. I'm not 100% happy with the colours I'm using for the scarf I'm weaving, the light blue and purple are too close so the squares don't stand out as much as I'd of liked. I've started so I'll finish and next time pick colours that contrast more.

  The weather here is pretty wicked at the moment, high winds, cold, rain and we might get some snow over night. Tonight I really wish I had made a start on spinning, and finished and knitted the fingerless gloves I have planned. Oh well, I'm sure they will be ready for next winter.

  Hope you all have a great day, take care folks.

Lazy lazy day.

   Ello folks, seems to have been a good week for my blogging, just not sure I can keep it up. I didn't get any weaving done today as planned, I had a very lazy day sat in front of the computer catching up on tv shows. I gave up my tv in February but still like to watch the odd program on the computer, N.C.I.S, Sons of Anarchy and one I had forgotten about, The Mentalist which I caught up on today.I never really watched tv when I had it but had it on a lot as back ground noise, I don't miss it at all as it, usually, gives me more time to get on with crafty stuff.

  I'll get some weaving done tomorrow and I need to get some more knitting done on the five fold aran braid pocket scarf, I haven't knitted any since I decided it only needed to be done by Christmas. I still need to do some spinning for the fingerless gloves I want to knit, wish i had them now as the weather has really chilled the last two days and will be getting cooler next week. I have a tray of tobacco plants on the window sill that I hope are going to be ok with this cold snap.

  Hope you all have a great weekend, take care folks.

Weaving anew

   Ello folks, yep I'm posting for a third day in a row. Can't promise I'll keep it up though. I finished weaving the pattern in the sock yarn and cut it off the loom, wasted a lot of yarn which I hate to do but I really didn't like the way it was. I have saved the wasted yarn, it might come in handy for something, stuffing maybe.

  I warped a new pattern on the rigid heddle after I cut the old one from the loom, didn't really take me long which was good as warping can be a pain at times. The yarn I warped with is the acrylic stuff I got free with my old knitting magazines, its pretty soft stuff and nice colours. The pattern is a sort of check board with the solid colours forming a 4 square(purple) in the centre with solid colours coming off that into an x(Pink, lilac) shape. Not sure that makes sense, I'll try and get some pictures while its on the loom and when I've finished it. Using a pink, lilac then a purple as the main colour, wish now I had used more contrasting colours but it still looks good. I think I can finish this scarf pretty quickly, have plenty of time this weekend to have a real crack at it so should take me less than a week.

  Hope you all have a great day, take care folks.

Oh what a tangled web we weave.

   Ello folks, just because I'm posting for a second day in a row doesn't been I'm back to blogging full time but I will try and post more often again. Promise. Well I warped the rigid heddle loom and straight away I didn't like it but I started weaving to see how it would turn out. Not very well. As I said yesterday I was planing on working with sock yarn even though I knew it wouldn't be balanced because the reeds not set up for it, what I hadn't realised was that the warp patterns wouldn't show at all. I sort of corrected this by unweaving the rows I had done and re weaving them using double the yarn. With the double yarn the warps are showing better but not great. The whole thing isn't great, right from the start I wasn't happy with the warp, it just looked wrong.

  Now I have no idea what to do, I'll weave a little more of whats on the loom just to finish the pattern once through then I will cut it off and just keep it as a sample of what not to do. For the next project I could still use the sock yarn but double it through the reed for a balanced piece but I'm really not keen on this sock yarn, its full of flubs and splits easy. Probably better to weave with it than knit with it though. I might have a go at a checked pattern using double sock yarn in grey and white, or I might see what else is in my stash that I have enough of to weave a scarf. I'll keep you all informed.

  Hope you all have a great day, take care folks.

A weaving week.

   Ello folks, you may of noticed I'm still not back to blogging full time, heh. I did manage to get a lot done last week, all weaving on my main rigid heddle loom. I warped and wove a pretty wide scarf using 3 variegated yarns that resulted in a nice mix of colours. The yarns were all double knits and the scarf drapes ok, maybe a little stiff, am still undecided. The scarf has been washed and I think its come out pretty well. Its all one size, no pulling in, but the selvedges(US selvages, didn't know that) are a little wonky here and there and I've missed one warp near the beginning. I also managed to do the hem stitch and it worked out really well with a nice tidy fringe that didn't need to be knotted.

  This week, tomorrow, I'm going to start a new scarf using sock yarns. I know about working out my set and balanced weaving but still need to learn about how things feel, drape. I'm not 100% sure of the pattern I'm going to attempt, have a rough idea in my head based on MaCleod tartan but not in those colours. I'll keep you all informed, I think with the sock yarn being so thin this scarf will take me longer.

  Hope you all have a great day, take care folks.

Quick updates.

  Ello folks, I've been slacking again and not posting to the blog. There isn't really much to post about, I've had to rip out the scarf I was knitting as the pockets for it are much smaller than I thought. I had been planing on giving this scarf to my sister as a late Christmas present but feel the pockets are too small for an adult so will give it to my niece next Christmas. Which means theres no real rush for me to finish it.

  I wove a phone pouch on the inkle loom for my mom, Mothering Sunday today, but its turned into a bit of a disaster. Well its not that bad really, I did buy her a candle as well. I wove a band at 3" but when folded and sewn over inside isn't 3 inches so that's not going to work, I also folded it all wrong so the nicest part of the flap wasn't showing and I also forgot to sew the velcro tab on before I had sewn it all together. I really need to work on my hemming and sewing as well.

  Lessons learnt from trying to make the phone pouch on the inkle loom, I should of made two bands and sewn those together and I need to learn how to weave tubes and attach those instead of hemming. I was a bit rushed for time as usual, this project would of been a good one to try back strap weaving, even without doing fancy pick ups and what nots. Its her birthday in a couple of months, maybe I can get around to it before then.

  Hope you all had a good weekend, take care folks and have a great day.

Blank mind.

   Short post today, my minds blanker than usual. I've got the loom set up to finish off weaving the clothespin peg bag. I'm still not 100% on the hemming so may play it safe and fold over the edges like a normal hem. I'd also like to make a start on knitting a washcloth as well but think I'll be too busy weaving and sewing. Maybe next week I can start knitting again.

   Hope you all have a great weekend, take care folks.

Weaving again?

   I'm going to finish weaving the bottom front piece of the clothespin peg bag this afternoon, I think it only needs a couple of rows and hemming. I think I might need to watch a couple more videos of hemming first, I know how to do the stitch but am unsure about what happens when you take it off the loom. Do I need  to fold over the edges or is the hem stitch enough to hold the work together? I think if the piece kept a fringe of the warps the hem stitch would work on its own but alas the clothespin peg bag doesn't have a fringe.

   I've found a very simple pattern for knitting a washcloth, start at the corner with 3 stitches then yarn overs for each row to the middle of the washcloth then decreases. Looking at the picture it looks fragile to me but my friend assures me it isn't, I have plenty of this grey yarn so I'll give it a go over the next few days.

  The weather is still muggy here but I think is about to break either today or tomorrow with lots of rain and maybe thunder storms. I'll be glad when its cooler.

  Hope you all have a great day, take care folks.

Orange toms.

   Didn't get much done over the weekend, read some books on weaving and watched a couple of videos on hem stitching. I'm not 100% sure I get how the hem stitch works once the piece is off the loom without a fringe. I'm kind of worried because my last clothespin peg bag started to come apart in places, I think that's holding me back from finishing this piece.

  I've been chopping up my tobacco leaves and I had a smoke of them too, they were difficult to keep alight but tasted fine and weren't harsh at all as I was sort of expecting. I need to chop the leaves up finer, might be a job for the food blender.

  A couple of my tomatoes are starting to change colour, none are fully red yet but in a day or three I should get a few red ones. I was worried about them ripening because the weathers been kind of funny this year but the sun is back out and its sort of warmer so all should go well.

  Hope you all had a good weekend, have a great day and take care folks.

Finally dry

   The kitchen is finally dry apart from a spot ot two like under the washing machine but that should dry up when I move it back into place, I'll be able to move much easier around the kitchen then. The plumbing still isn't 100% leak proof but I think this is as good as its going to get, its nothing major and I'll keep an eye on things to make sure they don't get worse.

  Harvested a couple more tobacco leaves and have started cutting up the ones that have dried and changed colour. I've not smoked any yet, the stuff doesn't smell like tobacco at all, more a green smell like normal leaves would smell. For next year I might look into fermenting the leaves on a small scale or drying them differently like the regular farmers do.

  This weekend I'm going to work mainly on the clothespin peg bag and see if I can finally get it finished, it was meant to be a birthday gift back in June so I should get a move on before next June swings around.

  Hope you all have a great weekend, take care folks.

Raining.

   Its been a very wet weekend and reading the weather folks today they're saying it could rain for the next 30 days and maybe longer. It looks like St. Swithin might be right this year. I've managed to refill all my rain barrels and then some, I could really do with more storage capacity but the bigger barrels are pretty expensive.

  I made a start knitting the crossed arrow cable phone sock in a grey cotton but after about 10 rows I've decided to frog it. I'm not happy with the cotton, its kind of fluffy and I think its a dish cloth cotton. I'll have to go through my stash and see what other yarns I have, I know I don't have any suitable cottons in a nice plain colours so might have to go with a sock yarn. I have a grey sock yarn and also a nice dark forest green sock yarn I could use as well. I want a plain colour that is easy to wash.

  I didn't get any weaving done, I'll try and get the clothespin peg bag finished this week. Try. I also want to have a go at back strap weaving and finger weaving. I think the finger weaving/braiding will help me produce some nicer fringes. I really struggle to make nice ends on my inkle pieces, my hemming needs more work too.

  Hope you all had a great weekend, have a great day and take care folks.

Weekend plans

   I'm going to try and have a productive weekend and make a start on my crossed arrow cable phone sock and finish the bottom front part of the clothespin peg bag I'm weaving. Then I can make a start on weaving the top front part of the clothespin peg bag which is only a couple of inches long so shouldn't take long, then I can sew it all together.

  I bought a pdf version of Andean pebble weaving by  Laverne Waddington, its a little advanced for me at the moment as I've not tried backstrap weaving yet but would like to make a simple start on that this weekend as well. Nothing fancy but seeing as I can use the inkle loom for patterns I will just do a simple pattern to make a backstrap for my backstrap weaving.

  Its raining lots at the moment so I need to collect water to refill my barrels. I have one connector from the downspout to one barrel but I have to fill the rest from there by hand. I could do with a better system but its all I have for now so I needs to go get wet, several times. Empty the one barrel into another then wait for the downspout barrel to refill and repeat. Darn plumbers not due back until Tuesday, he let me down again yesterday.

  Hope you all have a great weekend, take care folks.

Woven keyfob done.

   I finished weaving and sewing together the key fob I wanted to make for my sisters birthday, it took two days to weave because the tension bar on my inkle loom kept coming loose so I had to glue it and wait for it to dry fully. I glued the screw not the bar, so it still moves.

   That's all I managed to do this weekend. I did play with some braiding so I can make better fringes, I need to do a lot of practising there. I also thought about the phone sock I want to knit. I want to make the phone sock pretty thin so it fits my back pocket easily and I also don't want it to muffle the phone either so was thinking about some lace knitting around the speaker. I think slip stitch colour work would still make a thin cover, I've no idea how to incorporate the lace work into it though. I don't want all over lace for the front, just around the speaker part so the cover keeps the dust and what not out of the keys and off the screen. Any ideas are welcome.

  Hope you all had a great weekend, have a great day and take care folks.