Something old, something new

Yes, that is for weddings but that is what I was up to today.

I have been having a problem with my Viajante. It is rather long and I tend to sit on it. As a result, when I move my arm, the bind off sts pop. I had already darned it once, when I thought the edge had caught in a zipper and ripped. That was discovered quite a ways after it happened so there was a lot of fixing that needed to be done. Sts picked up, worked up and then a new bind off joined to the old one. Then it happened when i was wearing it. I heard the pop when the bind-off edge ripped. I promptly grabbed the sts and put them on a pin and put the shawl away.

I took it out today to repair the edge and also to do something to reinforce it. I didn't have enough yarn to do a crochet edging. If I had had that, I think a simple slip st would have worked. But since I didn't, I went through my leftover yarn and found some lovely soft superfine alpaca that I had used for a Stripe Study. A simple slip st edging just looked too wimpy in the contrast yarn so I did a scallop edging and I am very happy with the result.

It has been a long time since I did anything like this in crochet and there was a lot of edging to be done. I did a row of single crochet and then the scallops. The edge now is secured by the thicker yarn. As I was crocheting, another BO st broke so I just picked up the open sts in the single crochet border.

A close-up of the scallop edging

That was the new. New crochet and new edging. And now for the old. I found this the other day when I was decluttering. It is an apron that I embroidered and sewed in middle school in India. We had needlework every year and I must have done this one year. It looks pretty unused. So very 50's although it was the 60's when I made it. 

A giant fiber update

I really thought I'd be able to keep up with a weekly update but things got crazy after Thanksgiving and I have been delinquent. But I am on holiday now till New Year's so I am hoping to do a bit of travel blogging and of course, catch-up with the fiber stuff.

I finished the stole that I was weaving. In a week!

That is the stole laid out to dry. I wanted to show the red stripes that I added and how they were placed on the stole. 

And there it is all completed and folded. DH has accepted it as a scarf. it is light and warm.

I have since warped for tea towels and have almost finished one. Here is the edging on the one side. I've finished that towel and will be adding the same decorative edging on the other side. I have enough for 4 towels. I have warped for 3 and will do the last one separately. I plan to do a different decorative edging with the same colored yarn on all 4. A way to practice lots of different techniques.

The yarn is a linen/cotton/nylon blend from Elann called Callista. The pink and peach colored yarns are other cotton and cotton blend leftover yarns that I had. The colored stuff in the very bottom of the photo is just a header which will be removed later. The towels will be green with the colored decorative border. This one is called Danish Medallions. Next I may try one called Brooks Bouquet.

I haven't finished the sparkly white yarn yet. It is still sitting on bobbins. But I started spinning something else. I wanted to try my hand at a new drafting technique that I learned from Jacey Boggs's Craftsy class on drafting. It is the short backward draw letting the twist in. The idea is to get a shiny yarn but one with more air in it so it is lighter. I am also practicing her technique to get a more consistent yarn.

Another view of the bobbin. I was trying to get the color right. I have now gone all the way across the bobbin shaft and am working my way back.

This is the fiber. It is called Rouge-Violet-Cerulean from Fiber Optic. I had 2 braids but sold one in China. 

I am also knitting. But it is a sweater for DH and I am on the circular part of the body which is a boring tube in a dark blue so not very interesting to look at. It is longer than in this photograph. The photograph is looking at it sideways. I am doing the saddle-shouldered sweater from Knitting Without Tears. 

I really, really, really promise I will do a New Zealand travelogue this weekend. In a series of posts and try to finish it up.