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I’ve been working exclusively on custom weaving orders this month. I accepted four orders in mid-late December, telling each of the people when in January they’d have their scarves.
First on the list was a solid black rayon chenille.
I was happy to get this order. Although I’ve made lots of handwoven rayon chenille scarves, I hadn’t done any in solid black. In fact, I hadn’t used black rayon chenille at all. So I got to order some, which meant I’d get to try out some of the many ideas I had for color and pattern that have been in my mind for a long time.
It’s not efficient to set up the loom for a single scarf, so even when I’m doing custom weaving, I usually wind a warp for three scarves at a time. This was no exception.
I wove two scarves in solid black, believing that other customers would like it, too. Like every other rayon chenille scarf I’ve ever woven, these were done in plain weave. (Rayon chenille has problems with those fibers escaping, ‘worming,’ if they’re not tightly woven, usually in plain weave.)
Then I had to try something else. Su Butler, the widely-recognized expert in rayon chenille weaving, says you can weave twills with rayon chenille IF you use another, finer thread to lock the fibers together.
 So I had the first opportunity to use my new double shuttle, with rayon chenille in one opening and a fine rayon sewing thread in the other. (Actually, I used grays of each for the bottom scarf, but I used them up.) No doubt this locked in the rayon chenille as intended, and it wasn’t hard.
That being said, I’m less than excited about the twill scarf. The design is just ok. I’ll try a different technique and design next time.
Coincidentally, after I’d twisted the fringe on the three scarves, wet finished them, and while they were drying I got an order for a solid black rayon chenille scarf. Second order for this ever, and on this very day – what are the odds? However, this customer wants a wider scarf, and one without fringe, so it’s another custom weaving order. I’ll get to it as soon as I finish the other three.
Your turn: have you tried anything new this year?
It’s definitely winter in western New York!
 I arose this morning to about 6o above (Farenheit). I had to decide if I would do my usual morning walk with dog or wait until later. I decided to put Red’s leather boots on him and see what it was like out. (Anything below 15o and his feet freeze after about 15 minutes without protection.) I couldn’t see any stars, so figured we’d be lucky to see any sunshine today, and since it was very still, the walking was actually fairly pleasant, so we walked about 1 1/2 miles.
When I got back, I definitely cranked up the woodstove.
A few hours later, the snow started falling. I wasn’t able to capture it in a picture (trust me, I tried many times), but the snow that had already fallen, plus the gray sky, transmit the look of cold just fine, I think. Beautiful, but cold.
It’s a great day to stay inside and weave. And that’s just what I’m doing.
Your turn: what do you do when it’s a cold, cold wintry day? Or if you prefer, what version of the post-title song plays in your head? (For me it’s Zoey Deschanel & Leon Redbone.)
 Obviously, these aren’t the first socks I’ve owned. They are the first socks I’ve ever knit.
After all that Christmas knitting of the mug cozies and the baby things, I was in a knitting mood. So I decided I’d try my hand at making socks. I’d always heard how hard they are, but one of my fellow guild members assured me that if I just selected a simple pattern and followed the directions, I’d be fine.
After those words of encouragement, I picked up some self-striping sock yarn on sale, and I was off.
I’m quite happy with my first effort at knitting socks. They are a bit to sloppy-fitting for my tastes, and I’ll definitely make the foot at least 1/2″ shorter next time, but other than that, they’re fine.
I figured this pair would fit really fine if I could shrink them a tad. I tried washing them in hot water by hand, but that didn’t have any effect on these 3/4 wool socks. Of course – when you want something to stretch it shrinks, and when you want something to shrink, it doesn’t. Next time I have a load of clothes to wash, I’ll throw them in the washer, and we’ll see how that works. If it has no effect, I’ll pass them on to someone with larger feet.
Your turn: do you have suggestions on how to shrink my new socks?
All of you observant blog readers have surely already noticed the little logo that showed up at the bottom of my blog on Monday. I joined the 30-day post-a-day challenge at the V7N network. Click on the logo to see what others who took the challenge are writing.
I stopped making New Year’s Resolutions years ago. Mostly because I figured if I had to wait till a specific day to decide to do something, I probably didn’t really want to do it, and it therefore probably wouldn’t really happen, so it was a setup for failure. At least for me it was.
One of the weaving blogs I read, Crazy As A Loom, is written by a wise, funny, caring woman. Hilary took what I think is a great approach to the whole thing. She doesn’t make Resolutions with a big R, but rather set herself a list of things she actually wanted to do, things that would enrich her life. So this year I decided to follow her lead.
In a non-prioritized order, here’s my list of 2011 Wannas.
 1. Take off at least one half-day per week to spend exclusively on enjoyable pastimes. It might be reading a book, taking a walk, taking a nap, playing (not working) in my garden, or almost anything else that pleases me. After all, all work & no play makes Peg a dull woman.
2. Get more massages. This won’t be hard to do, since I only had 1 in 2010. I can easily double that! I know a few local massage therapists, and although they have very different styles, they both feel great. I also believe that massages can be very therapeutic.
3. Focus more on family & friends. Visit my daughter & her family more. Relish in the fact that my son is moving back to NYS after 9 years of living away, and visit him, too. Call both my sisters more often. Actually visit Margaret more — we do spend hours on the phone, but she only lives 10 minutes away. Catch up with old friends, explore new friends, build those relationships.
4. Go to at least 4 cultural events — theater, concerts, movies, and the like. I much prefer the myriad small-time opportunities that are local to the larger, more ‘professional’ possibilities in Buffalo or Rochester, so I just need to do it. I average 1-2 per year now, so this shouldn’t be too much of a stretch, and will be fun and entertaining.
5. Explore new weaving techniques. I actually put the wheels for this in motion in late 2010. Not only am I going to MAFA this year, I’ve also joined a napkin exchange (more on this later) specifically for this purpose.
 6. Try one new food or new recipe per month. It’s easy for me to get into ruts, eating what’s quick, easy, and comfortable. But since I belong to Canticle Farm, a local CSA, I have plenty of opportunities to try veggies I’ve never used before. And I have recipe books with some really interesting sounding ideas I’ve never tried. Yum!
7. Get rid of the things that don’t fit. I don’t mean just those too-small clothes taking up closet & drawer space, and those things in the cupboards I know I’ll never use, but also those habits & behaviors that aren’t who I am anymore, or at least not who I want to be. Lose some more of that snarky, sarcastic teenager lurking inside. Toss the impatience, and anxiety. This will be the most difficult one on many levels, so I’ll have to really work at it, but I’m sure it’ll be worth it.
Your turn: how are you facing 2011?
Remember back in August when I said I was having trouble with the white rayon chenille yarn? I said it twisted uncontrollably, and that it had been wound on the cone backwards. I planned to wind it into balls before I wove with it again to get it wound forward.
  Well, I had a custom weaving order for a solid white rayon chenille scarf. So I got out my yarn swift and my ball winder, and started winding the white chenille a ball. I was looking in the other direction, and in just a moment, all of a sudden the ball flew off the winder. Huh? I’d never had that happen before.
So I started winding another ball. The second ball didn’t pop off the winder, but it wouldn’t wind well, and the yarn broke early on.
What’s up with that?!
When the yarn broke on the second ball, the cone of yarn fell over. I picked it up, went to start a third ball, and suddenly had a “aha” moment.
Most of the cones of yarn I buy have a very definite top and bottom, just like a well-behaved cone ought to. This yarn came on a straight plastic cylinder, not a cone shape at all. Because this was unusual, it had never occurred to me that there would be a difference in taking the yarn off if the cone was upside down — that would not have been possible with a cone-shaped base. But it sure did make a huge difference, one that’s immediately apparent. Just look at the difference in less than a foot of yarn, one pulled off the top of the cone, one pulled off the bottom.
The strand on the bottom in the photo, taken off the bottom of the cone, already has lots of twists in it. The top strand, taken from the top of the cone looks pretty normal.
Once I figured this out, weaving with this yarn was just fine. I got that custom order solid white rayon chenille scarf woven and off to my customer in no time.
There’s a mistake I won’t make again. There are plenty of new ones, I’m sure. 😉
Your turn: have you had any aha moments lately?
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