Good Morning! Stashbuster Poncho

IMG_8367, originally uploaded by myfinn.

I recently worked out an arrangement with a jeweler who is melting down a bunch of my old gold to make me a custom mother’s ring. She asked for a woven poncho in exchange for labor. The one I made for her was my first, and I really loved the way it turned out. So much so that I decided that I wanted to make my own. And it was the perfect way to use up a bunch of odd balls of handspun multicolored yarn from my stash! The warp is mostly my own handpainted yarn in a pink, turquoise and purple colorway.

Merry Christmas all!

Hitting my Stride. And Craving Chocolate.

I began yarn painting (dyeing) this past week. SOOOOO much fun! A bit messy, and imperfect (for now) but I am absolutely loving the way the painted warp looks woven up! Here are a few pictures of my first (I call this one "Embers").

Ahhhhhhhhhh

Much better.

This is what I have been going for: chunky, over-sized, undulating twill patterns. And finding the sett that would achieve a balanced weave was eluding me. Through trial and error I finally figured out how to make it "work".

DH tells me that I will look back on this some day and laugh. He seems to think that I have a lot of evolving to do.

Water, water, everywhere...

Here I am enjoying some delicious pan dulce that I managed to track down yesterday in an effort to satisfy my craving. A very absurd contrast to how I am feeling at the moment.

I have reached a very unwelcome artists block. What? You ask? Didn't I just become the owner of a 4 shaft floor loom that would open a whole world of possibilities to me???

I did my friends. And that is the problem.

When I got into rigid heddle weaving it was a new and novel craft. Everything I made was amazing! After a while I got a sense of what I liked and what I didn't like about it and had a few dead-end thread-ups; all part of the learning process. And with my rigid heddle I feel as though I have entered a realm where I am no longer figuring out what I am doing with it. On the contrary, I feel as though I have complete creative control and can conceptualize projects long before my yarn touches the loom. And now add this new machine to the mix...

I feel like I should just get it! And to an extent I do. I know how to thread patterns, I get the treadling, but the past few projects I completed were only half-length because I didn't realize that twill could take up so much yarn! And then, combining yarns of different gauges just doesn't work the same in twill/patterns as it did in tabby on my rigid heddle. And worse! I think that to achieve the "look" I am going for I may have to invest in a new reed which isn't cheap.

The past week I have made out like a bandit! I have swapped for so much amazing yarn! I have even bought quite a bit expecting it to work for me, but have threaded and unwoven, started and restarted so many times I am afraid that it might never work for me.

Perhaps I was putting the cart before the horse. But who can blame me when I have churned out nearly 100 FOs, handwoven, already?! I should be able to sit down in front of this thing and write jazz! Alas, I think maybe I need to take a break. At the very least I need to stop buying yarn. And somehow, some way, this needs to come together for me. Help me, Oprah, I need my "Aha" moment...

Pan Dulce!

Pan Dulce!, originally uploaded by Decayla.

Christmas time makes me think of the sweet breads we would have for breakfast before a day of tamale making. I miss tamales. I miss pan dulce.