A Fiber Arts Studio | Weaving & Knitting | Teacher & Purveyor
I have knit a couple pairs of these Slip-Stitch Fingerless Mitts now, and I think I have my pattern perfected. I am going to send the pattern off to a test knitter or two and see if they can follow my instructions. Hopefully it will be ready for sale soon.
I have woven a new style of scarf/cowl that I saw recently other places on the internet. I cobbled together some hints and tips and was very successful weaving it. You leave some unwoven warp at the beginning of the warp, weave for the desired length minus the width, then unwind and untie the beginning and weave the fringe in as the weft at the end. I hemstitched up the side as I wove in the fringe and across the end when I was finished. I can wrap it twice around my neck and I like to wear it with the fringe off the 
shoulder.
In my opinion, a nice aran or light bulky weight variegated yarn makes a lovely cowl. I think a plain solid, heather or semisolid would look great too. I don’t care for the plaid you get if you use a striped warp. The rigid heddle loom is the ideal tool for this. I think it would be trickier on a table or floor loom. I call it a V-cowl and I plan on teaching a class on how to make it at the Weavers Guild after the first of the year. Check back in a couple weeks to see the detail.
I have been teaching a bit this summer along with caring for kids, my own son and nieces and nephews. As summer draws to a close, I will miss them all when they go back to school, but happy to have some of my time back. I taught a private weaving lesson, an continental knitting lesson and a stripes and floats scarf in May. June was a little quieter on the teaching front, but I had a beginner rigid heddle and a a second private weaving lesson in July.
Before school starts, though, we have a family vacation planned to Savannah and Tybee Island in Georgia. My great-uncle is turning 80 in early August and lives in Savannah. We will visit while we are there, so I thought a warm pair of slippers would make a great gift. I think I will use three colors. A medium brown for the outer sole, a light brown for the upper, and a a paprika for the inner sole to add a little “wow” to them. My plan it to knit them this week and felt them to custom fit after we arrive.
I finally sat down to finish the last three towels on the warp I put on my loom over a year ago.
The first three were cut off and submitted to the towel exchange we had at the Weavers Guild of Greater Cincinnati. Then, these three languished while I worked on lots of knitting and rigid heddle weaving.
Here is a picture of the finished towels before washing, cutting and hemming.
Might crafts such as knitting offer long-term health benefits? – The Washington Post. Knitters will tell you this article is true. I think many other hobbies give the same benefits as well, but I am partial to working with yarn, and I think that adds an element that other hobbies may be missing.