Free form crochet

Crochet has been creeping back into my life of late in the form of Tunisian crochet (something I've not tried before) and free form (something I tried once before and abandoned).

This time I'm feeling more at ease with the free form approach, perhaps because I can picture exactly what I want my finished article to look like, or perhaps because I find the colours enticing. Anyway, I have a seat requiring a cushion and I want this cushion to be colourful, exuberant and with just a hint of the ethnic about it.

So far, so good.  Having started off with an amorphous scrap (aka 'scrumble') I've even managed to work in a corner section. There is every chance this piece might actually end up cushion-shaped.

Eagle-eyed, Prudence followers will notice that there is not a bullion stitch anywhere to be seen. Why haven't I included this essential stitch so beloved of free formers the world over? Because I can't do the bloomin' thing, that's why! I really must try and find that YouTube video again that shows you how to put a little sleeve over your crochet hook to help pull the hook through all those pesky yarn overs.

As for Tunisian crochet, I found that fun to do, but I'm not sure how I'd use it and what, if any, advantage it has over plain old crochet or knitting.

In order to try Tunisian crochet I needed a Tunisian crochet hook, or two. In the end, instead of going for a number of individual hooks, I plumped for a set of Denise interchangeable crochet hooks. This just has to be good value - a whole new set of crochet hooks which can be converted to Tunisian crochet hooks at the twist of a cord.

Some time ago I compared the Denise's interchangeable knitting needles with the Addi's Turbo interchangeable needles and came down in favour of the Addi product. Whilst I still love Addi Turbo needles, I have to say I have found that the interchangeable needle tips have an exceedingly annoying habit of parting company with the cords in the middle of a row. This is not something I've ever experienced with the Denise needles - and that is one huge plus in their favour.

Just look at all those extras. Whilst the smallest size hook is a little bendy, the bigger sizes feel solid and comfortable. And  What's more all those crochet cords and end stoppers are interchangeable with knitting needles and vice versa.

I got my set from Scarlet Dash, a knitting/crochet/haberdashery outfit, based in Hayes, Middlesex, I hadn't heard of before, but the price seemed right and they delivered really quickly, so I was happy and would use them again.

Not the video I was originally thinking of, but still a nifty way of creating the bullion stitch. Must try this one.

 

Just one more waistcoat...

I just love waistcoats. They're quick to knit and easy to wear. This one, using yarns from the stash, (it's been getting to epic proportions of late) took just two days over the Easter holidays. The problem, however, is that it's taking forever to finish - weaving in all those ends is a job I really, REALLY dislike doing.

For the record, here's how I made this.

The yarns are all 100% wool including some of my homespun in a variety of weights from double knitting to chunky.

I used 6.5mm knitting needles.

The garment is knit from side to side and made all in one piece, the only seaming being at the shoulder seams.

 I used mostly garter stitch, changing colour every 2 or 4 rows (to keep the yarn ends all together at the lower edge) throwing in the occasional purl row or a few rows of moss stitch for interest. I also did quite a few 'yarn over, knit two together' rows for the holey effect.

I knit for 30 cm straight (this gives quite a bit of overlap - could be shortened a bit) then decreased for the shoulder (1 stitch every 4 rows, 4 times) - 64 stitches on needle. I then cast off 30 stitches and shaped the armhole by decreasing another 2 stitches, 1 every alternate row - 32 stitches on needle. I then knit on these 32 sts for 10 cm before completing the armhole by increasing instead of decreasing and casting on instead of casting off. Continue knitting across the back to fit and then complete the other armhole reversing the instructions above. Finish by knitting 30 cm straight and casting off.

When knitting in garter stitch I always like to do selvedges as follows:
Slip the first stitch of every row knitwise.
Purl the last stitch of every row.

Starting a row with a slip stitch causes problems when trying to join in a new yarn, so I actually join the new colour on the last purl stitch of the previous row. I leave a 7.5 cm tail and knit this with the main yarn to save having to weave it in at the end. (Great tip - shame I didn't use it on this waistcoat. I only thought of it after I'd finished!)

I then crocheted a double crochet edging around the neck edge and armholes, something which is easy to do with the selvedge stitch described above.

When I've finally get round to finish weaving in all those ends, I'll probably crochet around the bottom edge as well to neaten it up.

Next time I'm going to incorporate a fringe or leaves all those ends as 'design elements'.

English wool combs

A fab new toy! This is a set of mini English wool combs from Wingham Wool Work.
When I started preparing my own fleece last year I found I much preferred combing to carding and bought a pair of handheld Louet mini combs. These work just fine but I don't think they're rugged enough for me as I've been bending and losing tines at an alarming rate. So, I decided to get some English combs, the difference being that they are much bigger and one comb gets clamped to a table while the other works the fleece.

I slightly baulked at £225 for the standard set, so got the mini set instead. They're still quite a bit bigger and sturdier than the Louets as you can see from the photo on the right, but a more affordable £145. The set comes with a tine straightener (which, so far, I haven't had to use) and a diz. They come with either a right or left-handed option - mine are left-handed.

They've really helped to speed up my fleece preparation and this week I finally finished spinning the 2.5Kg Lleyn fleece that I bought last September. The trouble is now I feel quite bereft - no fleece left to spin and a few months to wait until sheep shearing.

Direct warping on a rigid heddle loom

This summer I traded in my old Ashford 24" (60cm) rigid heddle loom for a 20" (50cm) knitter's loom. The knitter's loom is still a rigid heddle design but has the advantage of being foldable and therefore easier to store when not in use.

So far, I'm pretty happy with it. Rigid heddle looms are great for freeform or saori-style weaving, which is what I like doing, and are very easy to set up and use, particularly if using the direct warping method.

Now, I'm perfectly happy with the direct warping method - it's quick, it's straightforward and great for shorter warps, but I've had a few problems when working with longer warps.

In their 'Learn to Weave' booklet, Ashford suggest taking the warp around a strategically placed chair. Other options include clamping the warping peg to a distant surface, such as a shelf or another table top. However, longer warps mean extra weight and can cause a chair to shift and move; clamping the warping peg to a distant surface can cause the yarn to sag. I even had one fiasco when the warping peg came adrift from the shelf, just as I'd finished warping up, and the whole lot collapsed in an irretrievably tangled mess. I was not a happy bunny!

What I needed was a way of warping up longer lengths which was secure and didn't involve trailing yarn all over the house. So, I thought, why not use additional warping pegs across the width of the table top and use it rather like a warping frame? Unfortunately Ashford don't seem to make extra warping pegs available as weaving accessories - you get the one that comes with the loom as standard and that's it! However, they're not difficult to make and MDH kindly knocked up a few for me out of some dowel and strips of wood which can be secured to the table with regular C clamps. It works a treat - just add as many pegs as you need to get the length you require.

Simple and secure!

More rainbow yarn

Yet more experimentation with rainbow dyeing, using my own handspun yarns and a range of different colours. Some have worked out better than others. This skein on the left I particularly like as the colours seem to merge together quite well and I like the secondary colours that have been produced.

I chose three colours from the Ashford Dye range: Rust, Hot Pink and Navy Blue. I used just one quarter of a level teaspoon of each colour mixed to a paste with a little hot water and then added each to an empty 350ml jam jar, so the colours are on the lighter side. I added 4 tablespoons of white vinegar per jar and then topped up with warm water to fill the jar. Hopefully, by careful measuring, I can replicate the colours in future.

The actual dyeing was done by laying the yarn on some cling film on the kitchen worktop, donning the Marigolds and squirting the dye onto the yarn by means of a syringe and squishing it around.  Just remember to keep a separate syringe for each colour and to rinse the Marigolds between squishes otherwise the colours will muddy up. Any excess dye was mopped up with some kitchen towel before adding another layer of cling film, rolling it up into a sausage and steaming for about 30 minutes.

The colours merge to give a range of purples, pinks, blues and oranges as well as some more muted greyish/browns where the blue and orange have mingled. I love it!

Cat blanket

So, having spun and plyed about 150g of Lleyn fleece, I rainbow dyed the lot and turned it into a fabric on my new rigid heddle loom ( a 20" / 50cm Ashford Knitter's Loom). Not enough fabric to do too much with, so the cats are going to get another new blanket.

I had three skeins which were rainbow dyed using Ashford Dyes in navy blue, pink and yellow, chosen because I wanted to experiment obtaining secondary colours where the two primaries overlapped. I dyed the skeins in different batches. The first skein had the most saturated colours (on the left of the picture), the dyes being diluted for the second  and third skeins. I also 'painted' smaller bands of colour on the last skein, resulting in a more yellowy look overall.

I used a green 4-ply wool for the warp and a 5 dpi heddle, which resulted in a more weft-faced fabric. I had problems with pooling of colour with all three skeins which meant having to cut the weft every so often to break up the colour repeating in the same place all the time.

It was an interesting experiment and a first for me as it's the first time I've ever used any homespun to create something, even if it's only ever going to be a cat blanket!!

Andean Plying

Well, I think I got lucky with my £6 bag of Lleyn lamb's fleece. It really is a joy to work with.

Fortunately, the fleece was fairly clean to start with, but, after a wash, it combed up really smoothly. To me, the staple length seems the longest of any fleece that I've worked with so far, including the Bluefaced Leicester. I don't know whether this is a feature of this particular animal or the breed as a whole.

I spun the rovings on my Turkish drop spindle, then I tried out some Andean plying with the help of Shiela's very useful video, followed by some experimentation with rainbow dyeing.  I ended up with two very psychedelic skeins of wool. The first was very bright indeed. The one pictured here is the second skein, dyed after I had diluted the dyebath slightly. I started off using 1 whole teaspoon of dye to one 250ml jam jar of water and vinegar solution which is way too deep for what I wanted to achieve. Next time, I'll try just one quarter of a teaspoon, maybe even less. I'm using Ashford wool dyes and I notice on the page about microwave dyeing on their website that they suggest one eighth of a teaspoon of dye per jam jar with two tablespoons of vinegar.

I'm so enamoured with my Lleyn spinning experience, though, that the breed has just shot to the top of my shortlist for sheep to keep on the field.