Color Study

Equipment: 15″ wide rigid heddle loom and 10 dent rigid heddle.

Yarns; warp and weft: 10 skeins Handwerks So-Soft Sock, 80% superwash merino/10% cashmere/ 10% nylon, 435 yds/100 gram skein. Colors used are listed below in warping order.

Warp length: 3 yards, allowing for 12″ loom waste and 12″for fringe. Warp the loom with 14 ends of each color in the following order: Desert Sands, Peach Blush, Pyracantha, Heirloom Tomato, Lavender, Twilight Dance, Sage, Bodega Bay, Winged Teal and Bay Blues.

Tie the warp on, leaving 6″ for fringe at the beginning of your weaving. Spread the warp with 4 picks of a smooth fingering weight waste yarn. Begin weaving with weft yarns.

Weave a total of 80″ as measured on the loom, end with 4 picks of waste yarn, cut off leaving 6″ for fringe. Finish fringe by twisting or knotting. Wash by hand to lightly full and hand to dry.

Weaving Suggestions:

1. Weave 8″ of each color in the same order as the warp colors.

2. Weave 2″ of each color in warp color sequence and repeat 4 times.

3. Weave 2″ of each color in the warp color sequence then repeat the sequence but in reverse order. Repeat again.

4. Weave 2″ of each color in the warp color sequence and then experiment with color sequences and size of stripes, leaving enough warp to finish with 2″ of each color at the end. Use the Fibonacci series to design the size of stripes, playing with wide and narrow stripes next to each other, reversing the color order.

5. Play with color sequences to see what patterns can be created by varying color order. Notice how the stripes stand out as well as blend because of the value of the color, i.e. how light or dark they are. Look at the grey scale scan of the yarns used to see the value of the colors. Try weaving the colors from lightest to darkest or vice versa.

6. Try weaving a few picks of fingering weight yarns that are in the same color families as the warp yarns. For example, weave Tide Pools adjacent to Winged Teal, Violet Asters next to Bay Blues and Fir before Sage.

7. Experiment!

 

Here is a grey scale scan of the yarns I used:

And the finished scarf/wrap:

………Sock Scarves (part 2)

6.  After you have knitted a series of heels and toes end with knitting a toe.  Knit a few rows of waste yarn and remove it from the sock machine.  You will have something that looks like this:

7. I turn the whole thing inside out so that I can weave in ends as well as close the foot by grafting on the wrong side. Here:

For handknitting I close the foot from the right side of the fabric with the knitting still on the needles. With most traditional sock patterns  you  close the toe at the tip of the toe. Since I’m doing short row toes I close the toe at the ball of the foot instead. You graft it the same way but you have more stitches and the grafting is under your foot when you are done. It looks like this on the needles:

8. I usually steam block my scarves to straighten them out and make all the heels and toes lie flat.

That’s it! Its fun to dress up your sock scarves with beads on the picot hem or change colors randomly or at the heels and toes. You can make them wider by using a larger csm cylinder, and longer or shorter by changing your row count. Its fun to experiment with the way the heels and toes create curves in the scarf.  Instructions will be on my website under Patterns. Here’s a few  from my collection:

Designer Interview with Fiberdev

With 2012 right around the corner and plans for the One Skein Club in the works I thought it would be fun to get to know the designer behind the patterns. I’ve had the pleasure of working with Jocelyn Blair, a prolific knitter and designer, over the past couple of years. Here in her own words:

Did you like crafts as a kid? What was your favorite toy?

Yes!  I loved the gadgets. I learned to tat with shuttles.  I adored my little plastic sewing machine.  I made tons of potholders using those loops and I had a Barbie knitting machine (maybe that’s why I like sock machines so much).

How did you get started as a designer?

Well it was mostly an accident, but I suppose it really was a natural transition from knitting other designs.  I was always intrigued at how things came together.  I have quite a collection of stitch pattern books and always want to try some stitch patterns out on socks.  Socks are the most satisfying things to try out stitch patterns.  I love knitting socks!

Do you do other crafts/arts besides knitting?

I can sew, my Mom was a seamstress so I learned that first.  I’ve made some quilts and I’ve done embroidery, I still have a sampler to complete from when I first got married!  I learned to spin and weave after I learned to knit.  And then there’s the sock and flatbed machines.

Are you ever surprised at what you are doing now?

I’m always surprise at what I’m doing!  Especially when I actually finish a project!

Do you have a favorite pattern/design? Why is it your favorite? What is your favorite item to design?

The last one, which was Mesquite Flat, but it’s always the most recent.  My most favorite item to design would probably be socks, but a close second is triangle shawlettes – I want to do more of those!!!

What is your approach to design? What comes first: pattern stitch, idea of an item,…?

A theme.  I find you have to limit your stimulus.  Kinda like having a big box of crayons, if you have too many options it’s harder to settle on something.  For the club I usually wait until I know the yarn, the color and the destination.  For the 2012 club I’ll have to decide the item first and that’s going to depend a lot on the yarn itself. 

What is your biggest challenge?

Once I have the item then I try to find a pattern stitch – that’s the hardest part I think.  For socks it’s a matter of working the stitch into the sock.  The same is true for non-sock patterns as well.  But some things will be more important than others .  Repeatability is very important for socks both in row count and stitch count.  For cowls,  scarves and shawls you have to figure in the shape and which way the pattern will repeat.

What is next for you and your work?

Handwerks 2012 One Skein Yarn Travel Club!

Do you have any advice for new designers?

Go for it.  You’ll be amazed at what you can come up with.  It really helps you become a better knitter and observer of all things.

Where can we find more of your designs and hear about what you do?

Ravelry is the best place to find all my designs.  My RavID is “fiberdev” you can also get to my blog from my profile.

Cashmere Give-Away in honor of Knitcircus Podcast

You can’t imagine how pleased I was to learn that Jaala Spiro and Amy Detjen reviewed Handwerks Luxury Sock on their recent Knitcircus Podcast (episode 5).  I had actually forgotten that I had sent Jaala a skein of the Luxury Sock several months ago. At this time of year, so many parcels of yarn are coming and going I lose track of what was sent when and where. I really do keep records – both online and in my vertical, chronological filing pile in a Rubbermaid box in the corner by my desk! My records are really complete, waiting for tax time but once I’ve sent something out I move on to the next shipment waiting for me.

Luxury Sock was a limited edition 100% cashmere, fingering weight yarn. I bought all that I could but unfortunately like many yarns recently, it is no longer available. As you may or may not know I have a serious cashmere addiction. I’ve loved cashmere for what seems like my entire life. I’ve taken classes about it, read every article I could about it, learned to spin it, carded it, tried dehairing it, dyed it , woven with it, knit with it, stashed it, worn it, sold it and now I’m giving it away!

Two – 50 gram skeins of a nice soft grey are waiting for a new home.

 

 

To enter the Give-Away, please leave a comment telling me why you like cashmere by midnight (PST) Wed, Dec 21 . Please make sure to let me know your Ravelry/Twitter and/or email so I can let you know if you win! The winner will be drawn at random and posted Thursday, December 22.

If you don’t win and still want some of this lovely yarn, contact one of these Handwerks retailers: Uncommon Threads, The Golden Fleece or Piedmont Yarn & Apparel , they might have a bit left!

Ready for a roadtrip?

Knit Together, a new yarn and fiber shop has just opened in Exeter, California.  It caters to knitters, crocheters, spinners and weavers alike. They have a wonderful selection of yarns from both big companies and small indie dyers (yes, me! ). The spinning corner looks so inviting with its baskets of fiber and  large mural tree. I’m torn between wanting to sit under its “shade” and spend an afternoon with the rovings or plan my next warp in front of the beautiful cones of weaving yarns on the wall. The owner has included something for all my favorite crafts in her new shop. I’m so glad I found Knit Together and thrilled she found Handwerks yarns!

I’m ready for a roadtrip!

Honeysuckle Project

If you were at Sock Summit then you already know about the new charity to raise awareness for breast cancer, The Honeysuckle Project, knitting for a cure.

What you might not know is the single sock , Montara, on the edge of the table in the middle looks like this:

and the yarn looks like this:

Patterns and yarn are available directly from The Honeysuckle Project. Individual patterns may also be available from the designers who participated in this initial launch.  I’ll be offering Montara through Ravelry and Handwerkstextiles.com with a portion of the proceeds being donated to breast cancer research.

dyelots and batch dates

Lately, I’ve been getting more requests from customers for an additional skein to match a yarn that they purchased previously from me or from one of my retail vendors. This has happened to me too.  I completely understand this dilemma; you buy one skein that you love with no intended purpose, later you decide what you want to knit only to find that you really needed 2 skeins! Then comes the mad search for another skein with the same dyelot and the worry that the skeins won’t match and your projected will be ruined forever!

Up until now I have not been putting dyelots on my yarns. I generally dye in small batches of 5-10 skeins per colorway. However, as my business has grown I am doing more lots of 10 and some lots of 20 of my most popular colorways. I’m keeping more dyed yarns in stock, at the ready, to send out on a moments notice.  This is all good!

So, I’ve decided to start writing “dye date lots” or “dye lots” on my labels. They will be in a “monthdayyear” format. I hope it will help with
identifying and locating similar skeins.  (I don’t want anyone to confuse the date with an “expiration date”, luckily I have found my yarns never “expire”!)

The dye techniques I use create variations between skeins even in the same pan, so the dye date is not a guarantee that the skeins are identical, just that they came out of the same batch. It has never been my goal to mass produce large numbers of identical skeins. I instead love the subtle nuances of each skein as it comes out of the dye bath.  Overall, my colorways are consistent as I create my own color formulas and dye to the same formula each time I dye a new batch of yarn.  I keep careful records of my process so that I can recreate the look of the original batch.  Some of the yarns with multiple colors can have more variation between skeins as they depend on the movement of the dyes in the water to create tertiary tones. As always,  if you know you will need more than one skein for a project ahead of time it is best to let me know when you order and I will do my best to send out similar skeins.

Thank you to all my wonderful customers for helping me come to this decision. I love the feedback and I truly appreciate your business.

Stashbusting time

I’m cleaning up … always seems to be an ongoing project around here. It’s the end of the year and I have to do a physical inventory of my business yarns as well as an accounting of what I bought from myself for personal use. It’s a BIG project!

I’m pretty good about keeping the business yarn separate from the personal stuff but …. sometimes the two piles get pretty close together and there is some skein jumping that goes on. Gotta get that all under control today! ( or at least by Jan 1)

I went through a pile of papers sorting out teaching notes, patterns, stitch ideas and project notes as well as a few random receipts. Here is my cowls class notes as a freebie for all of you trying to tame your sock yarn stash. 

Sock Yarn Stashbuster Cowls  look in the patterns section of my website for the download link.

Simple projects simple joy

I’m so enjoying my current project, a simple 4 shaft weave with handyed Classic Sock weft and undyed Classic Sock warp. I’d almost forgotten how satisfying it is to work on a simple project with simple tools in simple yarns. Nothing complicated going on here  but the results and experience is wonderful.  Seems like the perfect project to be working on during the holiday season.  Happy Holidays

2011 Sock Yarn Club

Club YARN !! details for the 2011 Handwerks Sock Yarn Club are now up and open for sign up here. The 2011 club is inspired by 4 California destinations. I’m hitting all the high points – mountains of Lake Tahoe basin; northern rugged coastline of Bodega Bay;  inland central Death Valley; and fun in the sun Santa Monica, southern California beach living.  I’ll be dyeing and shipping yarns in Feb, May, Aug and November, giving you enough time to knit the wonderful sock pattern that will come in each mailing.

Four seems just right, not too many so you are always behind… I hate that… and not so few that you are bored twiddling your thumbs in between. 

Come join the fun, sign ups are open.