Why was rayon chenille calling to me during a warm spell in late May? There are, in fact, good reasons.
- I’d purchased many cones of the luscious stuff over a year ago when it was on sale. I couldn’t do anything about it when I was weaving baby wraps pretty much full time.
- Almost all my yarn is stored in clear plastic bins. The colors of this chenille are so saturated, so rich, that looking at them for more than 12 months was almost torture. Now that I have time to do something with them, I just had to.
- I am committed to stash busting. I’ve been doing a pretty good job of it, emptying some shelves and/or bins so that I can see what’s there and use it up. I’ve been exercising my will power not buying more to, for instance, do more rep weave with that filler I did buy recently, even though I was really tempted.
- Although I do have some rayon chenille shawls in my stash, they’ve been here for a while and aren’t calling to either me or my customers. I have a few shows in the offing where I think I can sell shawls, even though it’ll be summer, if they’re stunningly beautiful. At least that’s what I’m hoping.
So I warped for three shawls and wove them all. Each a bit different, as is my custom. I’d love to do three more, but I’m trying something else now. More on these later….
Meanwhile, I felt better about those braided twill scarves when I realized that I dyed them in the first class, when I didn’t really know what I was doing in terms of color choices or length of the colors. I’m hoping they appeal to someone, although they are not my best work.
I’ve also been enjoying my garden. My veggies now include potatoes (less than 1/3 sprouted), peas (first flowers now appearing), kale (recently thinned well), carrots (thinned yesterday, but poorly), yellow beans and green beans (one of which the bunnies nipped already), tomatoes & peppers, yellow straightneck squash, sugar cube melon, and latest planting – Brussels sprouts! Never grew many of these veggies before, so am excited to see how they do this year.
Gave Jack a short haircut, which I think he really likes, am figuring out how to keep him and my house cool without using the air conditioning, loving doing laundry and hanging it on the line, watching/playing with my grandkids, and generally living the good life. And you???
Gorgeous, she echoes. The blue stuns my wee hours of the night eyeballs with delight. The green is beautiful-I like the weave pattern very much and the dyeing looks great-very earthy and natural.
Speaking of temps-Tuesday I leave the relative comfort of northern California for the southern tip of the humidity capital of the country-Florida where my soulmate and I will embark on our cross country driving trip back to the Bay Area where she has decided to live with us. I am Over the Moon with excitement.
Thanks, Theresa. It’s a good thing I love the finished product of rayon chenille so much, since it’s a challenge for sure. I don’t like mid-80s for temps, so can’t imagine triple digits. Stay safe and cool.
Alma – you are correct about the color choice of the green. 🙂
Marlene – I’ll include the draft for the green scarf in the next post. I assume that’s what you meant; if you wanted a different one, just let me know.
What was your threading for the shawl in the last photo, it is beautiful!
The blue chenille is a VERY rich color!
I really like the diamond weave pattern on the green one, and figure the color is reflective of your playing in the garden!
Oh that scarf came out better than I thought it would and I KNEW it was going to be lovely looking at the warp!
First heat wave due here tomorrow. Going into triple digits and heat advisory in effect. Fire season has been officially called today. Welcome summer.