It's been a month

October was quite a month here. Some great stuff, some regular life stuff, nothing too horrible, just too much of everything. I haven't had much time to spend on my fiber hobbies and that makes for a Grumpy McGrumpster! I see that my last blog post was exactly a month ago, so there you go. I have a relatively unscheduled weekend this weekend so I'm hoping to catch up on a few things, chill a lot, mess with all my fiber projects, and also fit in a nap. Oh, and it's time to make applesauce for the freezer. I never wait until this late to start. Today's the day!

Let's make this post about weaving. When last we checked in, I had put a "mixed warp" on the Flip loom - enough for 3 towels woven with different wefts. I started weaving with the navy blue yarn (a smooth, unmercerized 8/4 cotton). As I moved along, I noticed something troubling in my warp:

I initially thought that the light green threads were fraying, which is very bad indeed in a warp. This is the slubby, 2-ply laceweight cotton yarn called "Mallo." I put it on Instagram and Yarnworker Liz said it wasn't the base yarn itself, but the cotton slub. That's when I realized that the slub isn't part of the structure of the base yarn - which is good in this case. She advised me to advance often, like every 3 inches, so that less stress is put on the threads in the holes. I thought I had been doing that but I became even more vigilant. I also focused on keeping the heddle as vertical as possible, which eliminates drag on the threads in the holes. But the threads that were already misbehaving were too far gone. Once that slub fiber separates, it's impossible to beat. This is the kind of snarled mess I got:

Sorry that is so fuzzy. It turns out it's really hard to get a camera to auto focus on the threads you want to highlight. Weaving confuses my camera in some situations!

I decided that two warp threads needed to be replaced, so I got busy doing that. I made nice butterfly bobbins that will unwind without fuss, and weighted the new threads with my trusty S-hooks.

And with that, I was back to weaving. I've finished the first towel (navy weft) and I'm nearly done with the second one (frost green weft). The third one is supposed to have stripes - I need to assess my yardage to see if I have enough for that. Here's a shot of towel #2 on the loom:

One thing I like about weaving is that once the loom is set up, it's really easy to sit down for even a few minutes and weave an inch or two. I guess it seems more friendly to start-and-stop than knitting, because a pick takes so much less time than a row? I hope the loom always has something on it.

Speaking of warping up looms, I've also been thinking about how I can participate in the current Yarnworker Weavealong that focuses on variegated warps. The yarn she uses in the demo is DK weight, but I don't have hardly any of that in stash. I decided to challenge myself to use yarn I have. I came up with this skein of sock yarn. I think it's on the heavier side of fingering and has beautiful autumn colors. I like it best with the blue weft:

I've been checking WPI (wraps per inch) and sett to get a sense of what will work. For plain weave, I definitely would go for a sett of 12. But I also want to double the yarn and see if it will work for clasped warp:

This is a scarf project, so I can use my little Cricket for it. Wow - two weaving projects on two different looms at the same time. Now that's warped! We'll see if I can get that off the ground this weekend...