I Broked It

My commitment to Knit From Your Stash 2007, that is.

OK, maybe I really didn't break the commitment, because the yarn in question will never see a knitting needle (only a loom). It just feels that way.

Yesterday, I went to my LYS. I was on a mission. Mission Accomplished. I returned home with 18 balls of yarn. All of them are different. I spent over $200.

Why would I do this, you ask?

Well... the Black Swamp Market Day is coming up at the end of the month, and my weaver's guild is hosting a booth. I'll be manning the booth with some other members for a few hours, and that means I can sell stuff. Stuff of my own. Woven stuff.

At our last guild meeting, one of the members drooled for the third time over the scarf I'd woven during the two-day weaving workshop I took in October. It's just a simple Basketweave pattern, but I guess my color choices helped. The droolee loves the way they form a sort of checkerboard effect he's never seen before (and he's seen plenty of these scarves, it's the pattern used in every one of the beginning weaving workshops). Well, that got me thinking.

If nobody else is putting together yarn combos this way, and it's striking enough to be droolworthy... maybe I should try a few more, eh? All it takes for a scarf is one skein of Brown Sheep Nature Spun, one ball of GGH Amelie (or similar), and one skein if desired of mohair.*

I'm now armed with enough to make about a dozen scarves. I'll be smart about it, though. There are three warp colors. I'll make two or more scarves per warp (production weaving!). For the Roasted Coffee (brown) warp, I have four or five potential weft combinations in mind. So, I'll warp enough for four or five scarves, then weave one, add some sheeting to separate, weave another, add sheeting, etc. Much faster than warping for each individual scarf.

If it's nice tomorrow, I'll do a photo shoot. I'm pooped now, after spending the day finishing my other mission. Since I'm Master of the house now, it seems fitting (as well as a necessary rite of passage) that I occupy what was my parents' bedroom and move out of my childhood bedroom. After two days of emptying the closet, sorting, organizing, washing the clothes (dust—OMG the dust!), packing them in bins, moving the bins to the storage unit, vacuuming, wiping down the woodwork, and mopping the parquet tiles with a good hot dose of Murphy's... THEN singlehandedly moving the box spring and mattress from my old metal frame to the green French Provincial I inherited from Mother (yes, I moved them All. By. My. Self)... it's official. I've "moved". The last bit of my parents' stuff has been packed away (the noticeable important stuff, that is; the stuff that declared them as "here").

My loom now occupies the spot where I slept for the better part of 35 years. It's behind me right now. My old bedroom becomes my fibers workroom.

There is no guest room. I somehow left out the guest room in favor of a fibers room, a bedroom, and a TV/guitar/knitting hideaway in the 3rd bedroom. Tough on ya, "guests". (Nobody visits anyway except the Phamily. Who knows if they'll visit now that Mom & Dad are gone? Besides, they took all the extra sleeping furniture.)

My Dad was right. Jobs like this go better after a beer (or two). All Hail Corona. I'd forgotten how nice it feels to sit outside on the deck on a warmish spring afternoon with a beer in hand. Oh, I saw one tiny yellow crocus that has bloomed. Spring is finally here.

Well, I'm pooped. Y'all can go ahead and Spring Forward all ya want. Me, I'm going to shower and Fall Back into my "new" bed. G'night!


*Note: these are my personal opinions, not paid-for endorsements. Just so ya know.

---

Labels: boring household crap, loom, stash enhancement

posted by Jeanne @ 9:25 PM