It's not hard to get going on a weaving project once you have your loom set up, which is why I've been doing that even a few days before I think I'm going to have time for passing yarn over and under the stretched threads. It removes a barrier to achievement, mentally as well as physically, and makes me more likely sit down and start.
Even without that early step though, I was really motivated on this scarf project. That's partly because I
wanted to see how handspun yarn would work in the loom, and mostly because I only
had a few days left in the month and I'd committed to finish before
February was over.
I think you can tell the purple yarn is handspun, yes? Because it's so very much not a consistent size.
I had a colour plan for the scarf, which I knew would be either brilliant or a disaster. Because the yarn was dyed in an evolution, I couldn't guarantee that the scarf would end with the same colour that appeared at the start. I decided my best chance was to weave from the rose colour at one end to the apricot at the other, then start in with the second ball of yarn to add more apricot, and go as far as the loom would take me. It would mean an asymmetrical scarf, but there's nothing wrong with that even for matchy-obsessed me.
Then, at around 10:30pm on February 28th, I ran out of yarn in the first ball and decided to stop.
There just didn't seem to be a lot of point in making a join for the sake of a few more inches of scarf, even though it would make this scarf shorter than I usually make.
Very, very slightly shorter.
Close as it was to the end already, I probably couldn't have faced stopping there if I wasn't absolutely, flat out, sick of looking at apricot (remember, I've been working with this colour for a Really. Long. Time.) In the event I didn't mind wasting all those ends - I can turn them into trim for the tops of brown paper lunchbagged bags, or for tying skeined yarn before it goes into a blocking bath.
Speaking of which: I did end up having to skein and soak the remaining ball of handspun. I might knit a slim little hat with it.
But back to the scarf. I don't yet feel good at weaving, something I have faith will come eventually, but I think this one is an improvement over the last. The width stayed the same throughout the length of it, for one thing, and although the actual weave was a mess at the beginning...
... and vastly improved by the end...
... all of it came out right after the bath thanks to some pulling and snapping.
And I do like the way the colour moves along the length. Somebody else did too, because I had a taker for it before I could get it off the loom! So much for building up a supply of Christmas gift knits before summer. Still: the goal is to get the yarn used up and out the door, so I'm grateful.
Hope you have lots to be grateful for this weekend and I'll see you on Monday!
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