Two Successful Experiments

Couldn't Believe My Eyes

You know how you read things and say to yourself, "Sure that could happen." But when you sit down to replicate what you've read there's that nasty little voice that says, "Maybe someone else can do this, but that's not me."?

That happened to me while I was weaving this scarf from Bernat Baby Sport and some Pink/Red/Off-White hand-spun of mine. The original piece looked too flimsy and tacky and ugly to amount to anything. I was sure I was wasting my time. But I kept going. Once run through the washer to felt it, I got this. Now I admit, it's not going to win any national beauty contests, but when I sit down to the loom again I won't be smacked in the gut by despair. Lesson Learned: If nobody's eye is going to be put out, go ahead and run with it. It might work.

Now that I know that this technique really works and I can really do it, I'll be spinning specific yarns in felting and non-felting and feltyish versions in fun funny colors and eventually go to town with this one.

This scarf is currently not in the store ... if you're interested let me know.

From a Different Point of View

I know something is going to be fun when I immediately start thinking how to approach it from the backside or the top or the bottom ... the astrophysics of knitting. You may recognize the "blossoms" on the end of this skinny scarf. They're a different take on the modular shells from the Isis Scarf and the Isis Cuffs that are currently available at Artisan Local Gift Gallery in Janesville. Again, I'm using my hand-dyed, hand-spun yarn for this fun project. I'll be labeling it and taking it in to the Gallery next week and will post here when it's available there. Same thing goes, though .... if you're interested in this piece let me know.

ALGG
If you're like me and not always interested enough to click a link, but still wouldn't mind seeing a picture, here's the Main Street entrance of Artisan Locale Gift Gallery in Janesville.

And here's the view from the river side.

The cooperative shop is located in a historic building which has something to do with Mr. Jane, the settler for whom the city is named. I'll get more data and report next post. I realized after I downloaded the image from the camera and cropped it for inclusion here that the street address is 6. I think I need to find out if there are any apartments upstairs that are available for rent, and if they are done in kubrick-nouveau-modern-continental style. And yes. City Hall does have a dome.

Updating Prodigal Sock

I'm still in the process of updating the Website. I'm altering the "Store" and making other needed renovations to make it load a tad faster. Until next time ...

Be Seeing You!

Long Time No See

Some things are worth waiting for and some aren't.

I've been posting tutorials on Facebook instead of putting them here where they belong and learning a great deal about what I can and can't do with my life during this recession.

A real-life venue

I finally looked into a real-life way of selling my work and found it in the Artisan Local Gift Gallery on Main Street in Janesville. I'll be moving the Facebook tutorials over and will be updating here on new items I have for sale.

An online showroom

I'll be setting up pictures in the "Store" section of the main Prodigal Sock website as a showroom. Items will be labeled to let you know if they're available in case you've had a chance to handle my work before and are willing to chance buying without fondling first.

What I have at the Artisan Local Gift Gallery

Just in case you are in Janesville, here are the items I currently have at the Gallery.



Isis Collar

I read an article in "Spin-Off" about modular knitting with left-over bits and pieces of hand spun and jumped for joy. Over the years, I've made several gifts out of this "Sky Blue" Merino and have always been amazed at the luxurious feel of it against the skin. Since I will NEVER buy an uncleaned merino fleece again, this is a one of a kind item. Because it was handwashed by me before dyeing and spinning it is incredibly soft. This piece is a collar-size scarf designed to be worn with a broach either on top of a cardigan or a coat. As the piece grew on my needles it reminded me of images I've seen of Isis, and so the name. I kind of like the idea of a neck protected by a goddess.


Isis Cuffs

When I finished the collar I had four extra scallops and quite a bit of exquisite soft white hand spun left, and so decided a goddess could probably stretch herself to protect a woman's wrists and hands. These cuffs are very elastic, and can be pulled down to cover most of the hand, or be worn as I prefer, as an additional layer of insulation over a light winter or leather glove.

Wine Colored Shetland Scarf

I had quite a bit of left over roving I'd dyed a wine color for a scarf. After reading an article in "Hand Woven" about texture weaving on a rigid heddle loom I realized I'd found the perfect project. Since the "Shetland" texture weave is close to a waffle-weave, this scarf is very dense. It could easily be crossed once across the chest under a coat and keep the wearer a little bit TOO warm.



Shetland Scarf

I'll be using this particular texture weave for scarves for a couple of years because it's just such a fun way to make clothing that can stand up to bitter winters. This version is a more traditional length with the twist that the warp was space dyed turquoise and wine, while the weft is solid white.

In both of these scarves, I've braided the fringe extra long for the convenience of any obsessives who choose to purchase them. There's enough length to re-knot and trim the fringes so they are all the same length. Me, I like fringe -- well -- fringey.

That's all for this post. I'll be moving tutorials over and highlighting new finished pieces and works in progress as time allows.