Finished: The Patch Work Blanket

As I mentioned in my previous post - I saved a lot of pictures of blog ideas to trigger future posts.  It is going to take some time to get caught up.  Each deserves it own time in the spot light.  If you missed the last post - be sure to check it out.  There is one very very cute bull dog featured there.  And he has almost entirely left the puppy stage.

During the blog break I did finish the weave-it square blanket that I started about 15 years ago.  

Weave-it squares are done on a special 4 inch square loom and the pins or nails are arranged in groupings of 3.  All the squares are sewn together just as you would sew together a granny square blanket.  Pictured above are 3 weave-it style looms.  The wooden one on the left was the first loom I purchased.  It took me a bit a research before I found someone who would make one.  There were original versions available on the secondary market but they often were expensive as they also qualified as antiques.  These looms were popularized in the 1930s through the 1950s.  Recently they are are experiencing a resurgence in popularity. The white loom on the right is a Zoom loom (a weave-it loom by another name) manufactured currently and has some comfort design elements.  But it works the same as the wood loom.  The clear loom on the bottom is also a weave-it style loom - only it is 8 inches square, but the nail placement is the same - groups of three.  

You might remember this picture from a previous post.  A collection of squares - some sewn together and some not.  And many not even made yet.

Here it is finished and folded up.  It makes a perfect square.  I decided to put a border on this blanket using some of the colors to pull it all together.  At first I was going to make it with a one color border, but I couldn’t settle on the one color.

I finally decided that 4 colors from the blanket - one for each side would look the best.

All for corners and colors.

As I was sewing the blanket together, I was not entirely satisfied with my seams.  Some of them looked very uneven and almost amateurish.  But try as I might, the seams were sometimes just messy to my eye. The pictures below show what I mean.  

But despite the rough look of the finishing I couldn’t help liking it.  There was something about the finishing that was appealing and I couldn’t put my finger on it.  And then I remembered what the true meaning of “patchwork” was.

United States[edit]

Patchwork enjoyed a widespread revival during the Great Depression as a way to recycle worn clothing into warm quilts. Even very small and worn pieces of material are suitable for use in patchwork, although crafters today more often use new 100% cotton fabrics as the basis for their designs. In the US, patchwork declined after World War II but was again revived during the American bicentennial.

The picture above shows that patchwork items were not entirely perfect and often the fabrics and colors used were not necessarily planned to coordinate perfectly.  And that was the feeling that my own weave-it blanket was echoing in my mind.  Not perfect but as a fully finished item - very appealing.

The weaknesses of this blanket in my mind are:

• This blanket has many types of fiber contents and as a result will never be machine washable and dry-able.  Yarn was picked on color primarily. 
• Because of the various types of yarns and the various colors - the seams would never look entire finished to a perfectionist eye - which sadly I seem to have.
• It has a ton of ends.  The problem in my mind is that each end represents a break in the fabric of the blanket - a weak point!  There are tons of weak points.

But despite those weakness - I LOVE it.  I learned a whole lot about what yarns work with this weaving and what don’t. I LOVE that this used scrap yarn. It was yarn I loved from previous projects and couldn’t throw away the left overs - and finally, finally I got a chance to put them to good use.

Perfection!!

And already grabbed and used!!  

Weaving - I’ll be back!

I wish it wasn’t so, but I occasionally have projects that are started, not completed and are either given away or frogged. 

One of these 'not completed' projects is a weave-it blanket.  I will say this project has “staying power” because it has survived multiple downsizing events.  Every time I came across the bag filled with woven squares I said “I’ll be back” ... It never occurred to me even once that maybe I should just give up on this project

Well, now I am back!  And here is the story.

Here are all the squares of this partially started blanket.
Yes, it is a lot of pieces,
and yes, it has a lot of ends to weave in! (Gobs and gobs of ends!)  And as you can see - some of the 
sewing has been done - but honestly, this has a ton of work left to do 
before it is complete.

But seen up close the woven squares are so appealing to me, and different yarns
produce different effects.  The plaid ones above are made with a single multi color skein of yarn.  
It is fun to watch it develop.  
Each plaid is different and there is no cutting the yarn to change colors.

This weave-it blanket was started around 2009 - 2010 soon after I learned to make these little squares from Karen, (Happy One) of the Life is Good blog.  Karen introduced me to this weaving technique that she learned from her grandmother. At the time it wasn’t all that common a technique but in the 1930s and 1940s it was very popular.  When I started with this project you could buy weave-it looms on the secondary market - and with a little searching - I found someone who would make them “new.”  As the interest in weaving grew over the years, these little looms were “rediscovered” and have gained popularity among weavers, knitters, crocheters alike.

The white loom is the Zoom Loom and the wooden loom is the one
I purchased off of Etsy. Both are weave-it style looms.

On weave-it looms, the pins are in groupings of 3.

At about the same time, I discovered the pin weaving looms made by Hazel Rose - looms where the pins are equally spaced and the weaving is done corner to corner. They come in various sizes (squares, rectangles, triangles, etc.) and fall under the umbrella term of continuous strand weaving - meaning that you create the warp of the project at the same time as you weave the project.  Very ingenious and half the work.

Here are 6 squares made on a 12” Hazel Rose pin loom using the 
continuous strand weaving method.  They are not yet sewn together and many more 
are needed to complete the project - but with 12” squares there are many fewer ends to
weave in and the sewing is much easier.  I am still experimenting with this project on patterns and
if I will introduce a 3rd color.  I have researched weaving patterns that can be done on this loom as well.  So this project is still in its infancy.

I once made a shawl for my mom using this 12 inch bias corner to corner loom.  It was pretty easy to sew 10-12 squares together and have a lovely shawl. A close up of that shawl can be seen in the center picture of the header of my blog. Unfortunately that shawl is no more and finding pictures of the shawl have proved unsuccessful.  My mom was in assisted living at that time and the shawl was snatched up by the center staff and put in the laundry - washed and dried in commercial sized washers and driers - and because it was 100% wool, it shrunk to the size of a placemat.  ☹️

Weaving and I parted company for a few years, but I held on to most of the equipment and yarn.  Then my thumb started giving me problems and I was searching around for things to do with yarn that didn’t aggravate my hands!  Weaving started to pull me in once again, but only for the smaller simplistic looms - like the weaving-it and the Hazel Rose looms - that didn’t involved tons of preplanning and warping as a precursor to the fun part - which was the actual weaving.

So weaving is back in my life again and it has been most gratifying to discover that these smaller pin looms have a dedicated following.  They can be found in Facebook groups, Ravelry groups, websites, and several dedicated blogs that focus on small hand held looms - and even books and patterns that are dedicated to wearable projects created using these cute little blocks.  In fact, it is very easy now to get a weave-it style loom that is not a 1930s antique.  The Zoom Loom has several wonderful little features that the antique style loom does not.

Returning to the weave-it loom blanket (that I am now calling The Patch Work Blanket) - here is the first photo once again followed by the most recent photo that shows the current progress.

Here are the squares that I found packed away in a bag from years ago.
Only the far left column of squares have been completely sewn together.  
Tons of strings still hang from all pieces of the work.
And, yes, all those strings are a bit overwhelming.  But I have
a plan for future weave-it projects to get passed the strings.  

Almost all the squares have been sewn together and the strings for 
most of it have been woven into the piece.  I suspect this blanket is more than half done,
but how much more needs to be done - I don’t know yet.

I will return to this blanket and the pluses and minuses of doing a project like this in a future post.  I will also share some of the books and patterns that I have discovered that use this technique.  

Pulling out of a fiber funk!

This year it seems I took a bit of a hiatus from knitting. It wasn't planned. I actually had a very long list of knitting goals back in January 2010 - mostly knitting - because that was what I was into last year.

You see, 2009 was "The Year of Me". Everything I planned to make was going to be for me only. My knitting group friends were also invited to knit things for me (of course, that got a laugh but ... you never know! :-) ) In all my prior knitting years, I made stuff for others, but 2009 was going to be about me. And so I knitted like a mad-woman for the whole year. Big projects. Sweaters mostly, but other stuff as well. I even finished a scarf that I started in 2000 - yes, it took 9 years to complete (don't ask). At the end of 2009 I fell apart on the selfishness vow and knitted a hoodie sweater for my daughter. But other than that, it was me, me, me.

This year the "knitting tsunami" came to a crashing halt. I don't know why but I couldn't get enthused to knit much of anything. I finally made a sweater, that I gave to mom because it was just too warm for me. And I made a hoodie for me, but it is sitting downstairs waiting for buttons. In May signed up for a Knit-a-Long on the web site Ravelry. The sweater was one I have looked forward to making, but I am not very far along (pictured above).

There were a few spikes of new interests this year, however. I bought a spinning wheel, but I am waiting for more time with my cousin to help me get my spinning "legs". I have done some spinning on a spindle but that has been sitting idle recently. I am still very interested in spinning, but I haven't got much time or energy right now for such a big new thing.

A smaller new thing was weaving on hand looms: the Weave-It loom and the Hazel Rose Looms. They have been very easy to learn, and very easy to pick up and put down. They seem to fit very well into the ADD that has been my hobby life this year.

I have begun a new project - a sweater for Milo that will match the matching sweaters my daughter and I have. As far as knitting goes, that is what I am knitting on mostly. It is getting cold outside so that is my main focus.

BUT ... for November 2

Despite my distractions this year, I am very, very thankful for these hobbies, for my large stash of yarn and fiber, for the tools I use to support these hobbies, for the friends and family who join me in these wonderful past times, for my knitting group filled with friends who encourage each other weekly. I am so very lucky.

My interest in these hobbies is still strong. The funk that has been 2010 is fading. I am eager to pick up my needles, my looms, my spinning wheel and spindles ... and I am so grateful for them.

Knitting and Weaving Day

A normal knitting day? Not!

Yes, mostly knitting was present, but "weaving new comers" to the table were very evident.

The Hazel Rose Looms made their first appearance! I managed to complete a 7" square and a 12" square prior to the meeting. In the foreground is the 12" completed weaving piece. Another 12" piece was started to demonstrate the difference in weaving techniques between the Hazel Rose Loom and the weave-it loom. Two members of the group tried out the weaving and were very pleased with the process and the result.

We had so much fun.

But knitting wasn't about to be upstaged! One member of the group had completed a darling child's sweater and adorable bunny slippers. There is so much talent in the group.

It was another great Tuesday with this talented group of women.

Today I "caved"!

I am sooo tired today. I caved.

It is rainy - all day rainy. This is the view from my front step. Rain. I usually like a rainy day. Today it makes me tired.

I walked. I usually get a "second wind" from walking. Today it made me tired.

I have Tai Chi practice on Mondays. Instead I sat on the couch and watched "Monk". I felt bad missing practice, but the rain, and the tired ... Today - no Tai Chi.

I want to take a nap. I don't nap well. I can't sleep in the middle of the day and if I do (rare), I feel terrible when I wake up. I feel bad for hours after. Today ... napping is the last thing I would do.

I have $75 in gift cards for Borders Book Store. I could get $75 of whatever I want for noth'en. But that would mean leaving my couch. Today ... no free stuff for me.

The only thing I didn't cave in on was ... walking. I am proud of myself for walking. The rest will just have to wait until I feel better.

And I did weave-it weaving today while sitting on the couch. And through the magic of the Internet and on line shopping while sitting on the couch, I ordered some new hand held looms. And tonight is "Dancing With The Stars" so I will be watching that. I can do that from my couch, dressed in my PJ's with knitting in my hands and a glass of wine. I think by tonight I will have sprouted roots in this couch.

Tomorrow is knitting and dog day! I should be better tomorrow.

Post Note: Yes, I watch Dancing With The Stars. I love it. I love the dancing, the costumes, the improvements some stars make, the guest entertainers, the comments of the judges (they can be so funny), the music, the unexpected stuff that happens (it is live) ... I love it all. It is something that mom and I can share - she loves it too.

Knitting with friends.

I love Tuesdays. Every Tuesday I am amazed at how congenial our Knitting group is. This is a drop-in group that is open to all, but there are regulars who usually attend, and today we had 7 participants. Seven is a small group for us, as we usually 15 to 20. But since the group was small we had the most interesting conversations - a sharing of life experiences that made us the people that we are today. It was wonderful.

Happy One also brought her weave it blanket with her ... it is a blanket in development but oh so beautiful. The pictures show her working on the Weave It loom.

Tuesday is the best day of the week!

# 8 Be passionate about your passions

I am enthusiastic about my pasttimes. Passionate is a good word for it. Passionate about my passions. Something catches my eye and I just need to do it. I think having hobbies and/or interests keeps you young in spirit, engaged with life and people, mentally sharp - all the things we start out life doing without thinking.

But hobbies are not part of all lives. Some are so focused on their careers that there isn't time for anything else. I did that crazy behavior for 5 years before I realized that I didn't like the person I had become. I quit making the job the focus of my life and took up knitting. Knitting will never be far from my side because it made me sane when I needed help. For some, interests slip away as they age. That has happened to my mother. Other than reading, she shows little interest in filling her time with anything besides TV game shows and tracking the weather.

Until this year I can say that knitting and my beloved grand-dogs have filled my life. But this year I got restless. I needed something new. So, in keeping with my passionate response to things, in the last 6 months I added 5 new interests to my life (keeping the first two, of course). The pictures reflect activities that I haven't pictured in this blog yet.

• iPad and game addiction. There are adventure games with characters that you play and stats that you improve, dragons that you kill, treasures that you find, goals that you achieve. Come on ... you haven't lived until you have killed at level 30 Demon Seed with massive fangs dripping with blood and one burning eye that sees into your soul, and stands 20 feet tall with massive armour ... beat him single handedly in an awsome battle of wits and skill and lots of healing potions!! Of course, if that is not your style, some games are strange but satisfying - like We Rule and We Farm. In both you create your own little world, buy buildings and farm land, plant and harvest crops, collect rents, increase fortunes, and expand your dwelling, your lands, your businesses. There are no Demon Seeds there! Really, if anyone had told me a year ago that I would be playing this kind of game I would have asked you what you were smoking. IPad apps should come with a warning label as being hazardous to the rest of your life. Steve Jobs - shame on you!

Weave-Its: I was introduced to this little loom by my friend HappyOne and I blogged about it a few days ago. I have a fascination with weaving ever since I saw a full size loom in use on a visit to Maine several years ago. The loom filled a small bedroom-size space. I decided that I couldn't house such a large hobby, but when I saw this hand held loom and the beautiful fabric it produced, I was hooked. And I have this failing - if the item is rare or hard to get, the challenge to get one becomes part of the appeal. They stopped making these looms in the 1950s. I was not detered. I am happily making these little squares and look forward to having my own blanket made out of left over yarn - of which I have a ton (another failing).

• Walking: I have a long history of walking, but stopped 2 years ago because of my stupid feet. They are better now, but gettng back to walking seemed like a chore. Thanks to HappyOne, I was able to see my walks through different eyes and have returned to the enjoyment of this simple activity.

Spinning: My cousin introduced me to spinning. Seeing her beautiful yarn creations finally roped me into buying a spinning wheel. Although I haven't been active doing this now, the desire is still there. I have the wheel, I have the desire and I have the roving - now I need the time.

Blogging. OK, it's HappyOne again!! Yes, I discovered her blog and decided that I should try that too. I love writing and was paid to write in the past. Now I do it for the pure joy of writing. HappyOne, if you do any other activites that I don't know about yet, please keep them a secret until 2011. I am full up right now. :-)

And I am still knitting. I can't stop that because I have the equivalent of a small yarn store in my yarn stash. I may even need to add that stash into my will. And besides, knitting is my soul mate. When I can manage it, I read. That and my granddogs who when they are here demand my full attention!

It is a busy, busy life. I love it.

Now, when I can get God to take me seriously about extending the day from 24 to 36 hours, I would like to add 2 more things to my list. As a young person, I discovered that I have a talent for drawing. Certainly the artist in me is not anywhere near as strong or as developed as it is for my cousins. But it is gift that I never developed (which I am sure I will hear about when I reach the Pearly Gates). I just might be able to squeeze this activity into my next 20 years, but NOT in 2010.

And a friend suggested that I might like Genealogy. That idea does intrigue me, but I also know it is a "hobby" that can suck all the oxygen and hours out of your day and then some. But my son did start the process going several years ago on an on-line family tree site. We'll see.

So, those are my passions - and it is a major 20 year goal to keep them all juggled without dropping one!

You know, I didn't "work" this hard when I had a job!! ;-)

Weave-Its

Today I learned to weave-it on a Weave-It Loom!

I am hoping that I am not the only person east of the Grand Canyon who didn't know what a Weave-It loom was before this month. At 63 I kind of thought I knew everything, so finding out about this little gizmo and then finding out that I was pretty much the last person in my knitting group who was clueless about a Weave-It was stunning to me! Apparently everyone (except me) played with this little loom as a child. I think I must have been deprived!

Anyway, one of my friends, Happy One, was working on this little loom and recently showed off a beautiful blanket made from the little squares the loom makes. She was making it from left over yarn. And then I found an article in a magazine that featured the loom, the history and value of items made from a Weave-It. I had to have one - and the fact they aren't making them anymore didn't deter me one bit. I just had to have one now!! Turns out original ones from the 50s can be found on the secondary market, but eBay had a seller who made them - on a "Buy it now" purchase! Click! And it was mine. "Buy it now" was just made for me.

I made my first square today - 1 down, 199 more to go

Thank you HappyOne for teaching me this!!

Ending the day with a seizure

Some days you just can't pack one more thing into it.

The day started out pretty nice. I had a full night's sleep (not always the case). Today was knitting day with friends and some great projects were shared. The first picture shows the hem of the project I am working on - Sommelier Sweater by Mary Scott Huff. It has been slow going because so many other things have gotten in the way, but it is turning out pretty good.

The second picture is a beautiful sweater being created by one of my friends. It is a work of art.

I also received a gift of a knitted green book mark with my name on it from one of my knitting buddies. It is a lovely and thoughtful gift. I tried to take a picture of it, but I probably need natural light for the best shot.

A beautiful afghan made on a Weave-It loom was displayed. I neglected to get any pictures of this wonderful item, but I didn't neglect to come right home and order myself a Weave-It style loom. It is a great way to use up all those partial balls of yarn. The picture belows show an article from PieceWork - a magazine whose focus is fiber arts and the historical aspects. Weave-It looms stopped being produced in the 1950s, but it is possible to get them on the secondary market or Weave-It style looms - which is what I purchased.

After knitting, I went home, washed mom's hair, then I got her lunch. While she was resting, I took my walk for an hour. It was a cool day and it felt pretty good to walk in the middle of the day. Then mom needed a meds refill so we went to the pharmacy followed by a trip to my son's house to get Meaty and Grimace. The day was still cool and gray so I took the dogs for a long walk. Then dinner for everyone, and then we took another long walk.

Finally, finally, finally ... we sat down to enjoy an evening of TV, knitting, and dog petting, when Meaty had a grand mal seizure at 7:45. While he is treated for epilepsy and we are experienced at handling this condition, each seizure is upsetting and very hard to watch. As he was coming out of the seizure, I gave him his rectal Valium (needed to prevent cluster seizures). Once he was on his feet, the aftermath of a seizure results in about 1 1/2 hours of confused pacing around and panting. We block all the stairs and doorways so he can't hurt himself while he is in this disoriented state, and I sort of follow him around to be sure he is OK (a grandma would do that). At 9:30 pm he finally fell asleep at my feet. Poor baby! Then we made the trip home to his papa (who informed me that Meaty had a seizure last night too). On the way I almost ran into a full size buck (with a full rack) as I was merging onto the highway. I managed to miss him and his mate who was nearby, but I couldn't help but think that it was all part of the craziness that was today!

So it is now 11:15 pm and I am getting my blog posting out. And then it is up the stairs to give Max his fluids for his kidneys - probably around mid-night. On balance - some good stuff and some bad stuff. Pretty much a typical unpredictable day for me. Hope your day was more unbalanced - toward good stuff!

PS - I signed up for a competition on Walker Tracker. Last time I checked I was around 64th place. Today I checked and I am 25th place! Yeah! But it is possible that not everyone has logged their steps. I'll check again tomorrow morning and try not to be too discouraged when I drop to a lower position. I need to find out how many people are participating as well. Stats below.

A stroll through Cornwall

Distance: 198,600 steps / ~99 miles
Days allotted for this walk: 21 days
You're currently walking at a pace of 9,286/day
Steps needed to make it to your destination on time: 9,497/day