Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Weaving, in green and orange

This is it, the last thing I am weaving for Christmas (this year, anyway):


It's another Malabrigo laceweight/bulky combo, this vibrant orange and red being the lace.  What I'm weaving through it is an equally vibrant green:


I am starting to wonder whether it's a bit much.  But it's intended for somebody who has a knack for over-the-top colour and I think it'll be okay.  It helps that I've seen her wearing a burnt-orange coat this winter.

And maybe it won't be quite so ZING in real life?


At least the actual weave is going to work this time.  Here's the one I finished before, in darker colours:


Shortly after I finished this scarf, which I considered to be quite attractive, I was given a scarf of woven silk that looks like fine wool, feels amazing, and is charcoal grey on one side and black on the other so that when you tie it around your neck you get both sides showing.

It looks FABULOUS.

It makes me think I am a crazy person to think that anybody would want a loosely handwoven scarf for Christmas when you can buy such gorgeous things.

On the upside, did I say handwoven?  And also: one of a kind.  (probably never doing this again though, unless I use handspun as well.)

As a public service I feel I should mention that there is a problem with this particular yarn combination, or rather with using Malabrigo's baby merino laceweight as a warping yarn, and that is durability.  Malabrigo is barely spun anyway, and in laceweight there's not a lot of fiber density to stand up to the heddle moving up and down with every beat.

With the first of these two scarves I manage to thin and stretch one strand of the warp so extremely that it took me a good two inches of weaving to secure it again before it snapped altogether.  Talk about yer breath-holding: whew

Thankfully it did come out all right because an epic failure this close to the day I have to hand these presents off for other people's trees would be too heartbreaking to bear.

Let's hope the rest of the last-minute elving goes as well, and any gifty shenanigans you are getting up to!  Take care and I'll see you again tomorrow.

3 comments:

Trish said...

I love those colours! And I know she has a lime green coat as well...

Gabriel Queiroz said...

hello! i just moved to ottawa and my wife used to weaving in brazil. where did you bought this manual weaver machine? thank you very much!

Mary Keenan said...

Gabriel - it's a rigid heddle loom from Ashford. They sell them at Wabi Sabi in Ottawa, at 1078 Wellington Street West - they come in a few different sizes. Hope it works out!