We Interrupt the Regular Scheduled Program. . .

I've been dutifully knitting on the Tina shawl border for awhile now, enough time that It Became Necessary To Take A Break. Coincidentally, the Mountain Colors Moguls yarn that I ordered awhile back arrived at the LYS. So. . . Instant Moebius! The pattern is out of Cat Bordhi's first moebius book. The moguls works up so quickly (it's been awhile since I wrestled with yarn this thick) that the entire thing was knitted & blocked within two days. I like the way that it keeps my shoulders warm, almost like a shawl, only without tails hanging down. If I were to make this pattern again, I might use a few less stitches - it's pretty generously sized.

On the weaving front, my 8 shaft class with Sondra Rose is progressing well enough. . . would be better had my notes not disappeared at the color workshop recently, which made it necessary to redo the entire first week's notes. I know where the notes are now & I should be able to get my hands on them. Anyway, getting back to the 8 shaft class, this week the assignment was to take two four shaft drafts & combine them into a new threading which would enable the weaver to weave two different designs on the same warp, without changing threading or tie-ups. Here are a monk's belt pattern known as "Swedish Point" together with Bumperet, a structure we used in the color workshop. Bumperet is basically plain weave alternating with three-thread floats, and the design forms vertical chains along the fabric.

Weaving Workshop - Oh Boy Oh Boy Oh Boy!

Well guys, I'm heading to a weaving workshop tomorrow, with Ruby Charuby. It's supposed to be about Fifty Ways to Weave your Color. Hmmm. The warp I received is gorgeous - 8/2 tencel, which I've never worked with before. It's beautiful - silky and glowing with color. A bit of a challenge to work with, though. Knots slipped, which I hope I fixed with Fray Check, so my threading had better be correct!

Here is a photo of the slippery warp, and then, ta daaaa! a few shots of the pattern woven. This is gonna be fun!

How to Launder a Cat

Angus has had a little problem with his hiney, which I think we have resolved with a little modification in his diet, a haircut in his nether regions and a shower. This system worked for us:
1. Turn on shower to a comfortable temperature.
2. Insert cat.
3. Close shower door.
4. If necessary, apply shampoo to affected areas and use shower spray to rinse.
I am happy to say that he tolerated this procedure, considering, well, that he is a cat. He's always been curious about this Chamber of Falling Water, and it really wasn't all *that* traumatic. I think it really helped that he absolutely *loooooves* his Mommy (me) and I went in there with him. No claws. No blood. Amazing. The funny thing is that he doesn't seem to recognize his tail when it's wet. So periodically, when he notices it, he frantically attacks the strange, long rat-like thing that keeps following him around.

Annabelle continues her interest in the computer (evidenced by the bits of cat hair shed into the keyboard).


On the fiber front, the shadow weave towels are done! The loom is ready to begin my 8 shaft weaving class, which will start this week (instead of last week - we had snow). I can hardly wait!

And the Tina shawl from Fiddlesticks Knitting is progressing well. I'm about halfway around the second side (of four - it's a square) and I try to do at leasts one of the 16-row border pattern repeats every day. I usually manage more than one. I've also managed to throw an EZ ribwarmer into the knitting pile. I started this about a month ago for my Mom and it's nearing completion. Photos next time. . .