cirrus in a sugar bowl

Behind the scenes here at the house of the Daily Purl are family and friends that have come to know and live with one knitting fanatic. When I say one more row my husband knows the sounds and movements when I start another and calls me on it and he treks to yarn stores with me when I know one is in walking distance. A few weeks ago we were in the city I dragged him to Purl where I purchased a skein of Andy’s Yarn and one skein of Manos del Uruguay in Cirrus. He was surprised that I only wanted the two skeins. (I think I need to bring him with me more often because I found myself easily fulfilled by the bright orange and light blue skein. By myself I have no restraint and am ravenous for yarn.) We left the store and started walking to a café for lunch. On the way a couple was walking ahead of us and across the street on our left was The Point. I said to him – maybe too loudly, another yarn store! – then the weirdest thing happened, the woman with the man suddenly crossed the street and started making her way towards The Point. The man kept on walking and a few seconds later he turned around with a puzzled look on his face. We pointed to the woman darting across the street. Laughter filled the air as he trailed his companion and we continued on our way to lunch.

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I wanted to learn to weave because I had a clear picture in my mind of how I would use the woven fabrics. I thought of our minimalist living room: two walls had windows, the third a fireplace and door and the fourth - a large blank wall. I wanted to keep the minimalist feel, but at the same time add something to the wall space that would give warmth, texture and interest to the room. Inspiration came from reading about the work of Claudy Jongstra, who designs and produces felt fabrics for residential and commercial spaces. Visits to Habu sparked my curiosity – the big silvery door propped open, leading you into a space with beautiful woven fabrics hanging on the walls. I envisioned my wall with similar textural hangings (and maybe a chunky hand spun hand woven throw on the couch as well) creating a modern yet cozy interior. I had to learn how to weave. And so this is where I find myself, creating and still very much in the learning phase of the art. Although my last two projects focused on hand-controlled weaves like leno weave and Danish medallion, I decided to use plain weave for my next project. I want to let the beauty of the materials do the work while I practice the basic weaving techniques.

I started warping late Saturday using Habu token viscose silk (A-165-26, above left). Warping the loom took me about 2-3 hours. The back of my Kromski Harp Rigid Heddle Loom functions as a warping board – it’s actually a very meditative process of gently taking yarn from the cone and wrapping it around the pegs, crossing at the top and returning to the starting point to repeat the process. I also needed the help of my husband who winds the warp at the back of the loom while I hold and clean the warp at the front to achieve proper tension.

I’m using Habu cashmere (A-34-7405, above right) for the weft – figure-8 wrapped on the stick shuttle. Eventually I would like to get a Swedish boat shuttle that holds bobbins of fine yarn and a bobbin winder.

shuttle full of cashmere

warp tied at the front (cloth beam) of the loom

warp beam

The light was really beautiful this morning, pouring into the living room where I keep the loom. It’s just the beginning but I’m really excited about this project. On the knitting front, I’m still working on the hats and added some yarn to the stash. After seeing this gorgeous golden skein of Andy’s Yarn, I knew I had to try some. I was at Purl recently and this skein just jumped right out at me – Farmhouse Yarns Andy’s Merino in Tangerine.

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In March I took a weaving class from Linda LaBelle at The Yarn Tree in Brooklyn. Friday evening a reception was held at Habu to showcase the finished hand woven works from the Spring and Fall classes. It was also a party to celebrate the publication of Linda LaBelle’s new book The Yarn Lover's Guide to Hand Dyeing - Beautiful Color and Simple Knits. It was quite a large crowd and everyone circulated the gallery, examining and enjoying the hand woven techniques and materials used in each piece. The highlight of the evening was when Linda read an excerpt from her book. She traveled the country interviewing seven hand dyers, collecting stories of their excitement and passion for dyeing yarn. The book contains a wealth of information on hand dyeing (from Kool-Aid to Jacquard Acid to PRO One Shot) and step-by-step instructions on how to hand dye accompanied by clear how-to photos. Each process is followed by a pattern. The behind-the-scenes look at the seven professional hand dyers (Hand Jive Knits, Schaefer Yarn to name a few) is fascinating – you get to see them at work in their studios and outside in the rich landscape and lush gardens that inspire them (often accompanied by their dogs).

And I must share with you the color and texture of the hand woven works. Enjoy!

Posted by brooke at 02:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

I’ve started my holiday knitting and this year I’m knitting hats. I’m using Manos Del Uruguay and the hat patterns from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. Rolled brims, ribbed brims, garter stitch ear flaps in an assortment of colors.

The first hat is finished (most of the recipients don’t read here so I’m free to share the pretty stitches) in English E.

What is your opinion of Manos? I think most knitters either love it or hate it. I love it. Here’s my favorite skein from my collection – Wheat

Strategy to finish hand knits by Christmas – stick to hats knit in the recipient’s favorite color

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