The crazy, colorful huck lace fabric is almost ready for weaving! All I have to do is tie on the warp threads to the front beam.
In fact, it would have been done already, if I could just remember how to get the cloth bar back on the loom! Actually I can’t even remember which way the bolts go in to secure the breast beam. It’s been too long since I’ve used this loom (since before I left New Jersey, two years ago). A quick search for the gigantic manual that comes with AVLs didn’t work. (Yes, I know the manual is online, but it’s so cumbersome to use.) I think I’ll wait ’til Handyman Bob returns home in a few hours.
There is plenty to do down here until that time. The place is more disorganized than it’s ever been, considering I have only lived here for two years!
Meanwhile, I can’t get my mind off the new pattern book from Jared Flood, Wool People 7. There are some gorgeous designs in this book! ….very classic, very chic. I might have escaped knowing about it, except that my knitting sister Lesley, who has such exquisite taste, couldn’t resist the urge to tell me she had seen it and is know knitting “Pente.”
I am in love with Merle…
….and with Arabella.
Wow! Right? I bought both patterns which are downloads so I had instant gratification. Then I began looking at the beautiful colors of Brooklyn Tweed “Loft” which is the yarn used for each of the Wool People 7 designs.
I am always looking for a soft wool yarn that I can wear right next to my skin. I have yet to find one. Models are always shown wearing sweaters right against their skin, and I wonder how they do it. Are these sweaters photographed in colder climates (like north of the Arctic Circle) where where everyone is so cold they can’t feel how itchy the sweaters are? I don’t know….but I’m hoping I find a good candidate for softness in “Loft.” I’m planning a trip to Harrisville in a couple of weeks so I look forward to seeing and handling “Loft” in person.
Meanwhile I might cheat and use a Phildar yarn that is 50% lambswool and 50% acrylic. Hopefully in just this color.
Which brings me to another question: Why is it so hard to find Phildar in the US these days? I used to see it all the time in the 80s and 90s. I date myself… Are Americans too in love with natural fibers these days? I know I am, but sometimes I also need just the right yarn to make a beautiful sweater that doesn’t require a turtleneck to protect me from the itchy wool.
I have so many unfinished sweaters, I’d be horrified if I counted them, so I know I am a fool to be dreaming about making Merle and Arabella right now. Still, I am the type of person who dreams about knitting while I’m weaving, and then dreams about weaving while I’m knitting. Go figure.
