Very interesting - using S and Z spun singles for #weaving.
So many ideas to explore. #fibercraft has endless potential of going down rabbit holes and side rabbit holes of rabbit holes. And then side side holes ...
The prompt is #Yarnuary for how we got started in #FiberCraft stuff... I believe we have @njeanneburns to thank for this? Thank you! Well here goes...
I came from the loins of a very not-crafty mother, so much of what I learned in the way of handicrafts was from those little kits they made for kids, and from Girl Scouts. We also had a set of fun books called Child Crafts that my siblings and I used to tap a lot...
My mom taught me when I was 6 or 7 or so. I remember not understanding how to turn a round, so my mom had to flip my coaster for me. 😂 Then I dropped it for years.
I didn't really start knitting seriously until college. That was before I was diagnosed with #ADHD, so all I knew was I concentrated better in class when I had my hands busy working on hats. Been knitting ever since!
My mum taught me to knit when I was in my late teens after I got sick. I saw all the cool patterns like basket weave and cables in a fiber arts book of hers, and was excited enough that I started learning with chopsticks and string before we could go out and buy supplies. 1/3
When I think back I seem to "always" have done fibercrafts. I'm not even sure, which I learned first. My grandma and my mom always worked on some project, I've spent probably half of my toddlerhood in something crafted by my mother.
I definitely learned before the age of 6, either simple embroidery or crocheting, from my mom. When I started school I also could knit, had even done my first pair of socks.
There've been a few very severe health crisis for people that are very near and dear to me. A few neighbors helped out a great deal when I couldn't be present because I'm across the country.
They are now getting socks because I know they love and cherish them a lot.
Another project finished - a pair of socks I started in May, I think. No fancy sock blockers for the picture as I'm away from home.
They're mostly plain vanilla socks in a rather large men's size. The fancy thing is that I added a simple knit-purl-pattern on top outside quarter and mirrored it to create matching socks. Just enough to keep me a bit entertained. No effort to match the colors was made.
I've been knitting in the 1980ies, the decade of intarsia knitting. I've done quite a few of those patterns back then. But I don't think I ever went beyond maybe 15 different colors in any one project.
Tried dying some heavy linen canvas this week. The dye was named "ivy green", but I wanted something lighter than the sample on the box. On the left is the result I got with only about half the recommended amount of dye (about 100 g with 600 g of fabric), and was astonished how dark it still was! 🤯
So for the second run on the right I only used one teaspoon with another 600 g of canvas. And the water in the washing machine was still dark as night…
(White bedsheets for comparison)
After ironing the dyed canvas, I decided to wax it.
First I melted paraffin and beeswax in equal parts by weight in a double boiler, and applied it very thick with a brush.
Then I used an old electric iron and baking paper to re-melt the wax into the canvas. (The baking paper didn't help much, there was still some wax on the iron afterwards… 😬) On the picture you can see where there was too many wax in some places, but the ironing helped to distribute it evenly. 🧵 #making#fibercraft#sewing
There are about 9 g yarn left and I need to knit about 40 more rounds until the toe starts.
But considering how much I already knit (the leg alone is about 170 rounds), that should work out. I'm still a bit nervous and don't want to work on that ...