Nepali Weaving

Hello! How are you this morning? I'm currently sat with a fresh mug of coffee with Harvey keeping my left leg warm. Apparently he doesn't care about my right leg. He says he can only do so much and I should be grateful for his presence. I think someone needs some cat coffee this morning...

Anyway, I've popped by this morning to chat about weaving in Nepal. It was purely by chance that I met a fellow weaver and it was halfway up a small mountain. My friends and I had the weekend free and decided to climb Sarangkot which is a nearby mountain to Pokhara, the city we stayed in. Most tourists hike up the day before and then get up to watch the sunrise at the top. Which is exactly what we did. The hike was a bit difficult mainly due to the heat of the day and the steep ascent up to the top. But with regular stops and sooo much water we made it! The views were stunning.

As was the sunrise despite the haze.

The shops opened soon after sunrise and on the way down from the viewing platform we had a browse through a few of them. One of the shops had a large loom to one side with a half finished piece of work on it.

Of course my curiosity was piqued! The woman running the shop clearly noted my interest and sat down to weave.

The loom has two shafts which you can see in the video. She used her fingers and the thread to move the warp to create the pattern. I can't figure out if she uses a clasped weft in-between the colours?

Below are two samples of a finished shawl. The main fiber in the shop was yak and it is incredibly soft. I bought two shawls to bring home with me:

One for me and one for Mum. I wore mine on the flights home and it kept me very warm!

One day to go - Great London Yarn Crawl 2017!

How is everyone? I am very excited that it’s finally Friday not just because it means it’s the weekend but also because tomorrow is the Great London Yarn Crawl!! I have mentioned the Crawl before (here and here) and am really looking forward to going to my second one. GLYC will be five this year and is a great way to explore different yarn shops in London with a group of like-minded people. Its split into different routes covering different shops and so allows you to explore different places each year. This year I’m going to be part of Team Bakerloo which will be going to Sharp Works, Loop, The Handweavers Studio and I Knit.

Sharp Works

Sharp Works is based in Herne Hill in London. I don’t know much about this shop and I’m looking forward to reviewing it after tomorrow. They have a website but it doesn’t show all their products. It appears to be a mix of yarn and haberdashery which is a nice mix. More after tomorrow!

Loop

I have been meaning to go to Loop for aaaages. Its not that far from my normal commute through London and it has been mentioned on quite a few podcasts previously. Loop sells a broad range of yarns including Brooklyn Tweed, Malabrigo, Madeline Tosh and many others including indie dyers. Loop hosts classes and a weekly knit night on Thursdays in their shop in Camden Passage, Islington. Check out their blog here.

The Handweavers Studio

Slightly different to most of the other shops in the Crawl, the Studio is aimed specifically for weavers. They sell cones rather than skeins and also have wheels and looms for sale. I have been here once before and they are really helpful and patient with new weavers! They run weaving and spinning classes and a weekly evening for general weaving with a teacher to help you. This is beyond my budget at the moment but I think would be an invaluable way to learn! The Studio is based near Finsbury Park station.

I Knit

Another new to me shop! Gerard the owner dyes yarn and also runs classes in the shop. The shop is a stone’s throw from Waterloo Station. That’s pretty much all I know except that they have a knit night on Wednesday and Thursday nights.

After the Crawl I’m hoping to give a bit more of a review of each shop and how the day went! After trailing around London there is a mini yarn market with 13 different stall holders. If you’re interested in the Crawl but haven’t got tickets this year, sign up to the Yarn in the City newsletter (here) for news about tickets for next year and their other event  - the Yarnporium. 

Have you got any plans this weekend? 

March is marching on

My first exam of the year is over! There is always a feeling of a weight off my shoulders immediately after each exam and a sudden sense of freedom before the next one. I am sticking to my resolution to keep creating even during revision time and it has certainly helped me maintain an even keel and combat any stress. 

I got my mini Ashford rigid heddle loom out again after a long time gathering dust in the corner. Ages ago I bought a random selection of fine cotton and acrylic from The Handweavers Studio in London as I happened to have a placement nearby. Unsure of sett and epi and other equally strange words, I was incredibly grateful for the lady at the shop who pulled out a few spare heddles and went around the shop with me to find the perfect spools for me. 

I chose a range of blues and a canary yellow and royal purple although it looks blue in this photo. 

For a sample project I pulled out three of the blues to make a log cabin weave.

Can you spot the mistake on the right? I was tempted to fix it but I kind of like it. I have never woven with such find thread before so I'll be interested to see how it changes once it has been washed. 

For those interested, log cabin is a very simple pattern which is created by alternating two colours in the warp and the weft. The apparent change in direction of the lines of colour in the fabric is simply done by reversing the order of the thread colours every so often: BABABABBABABABAABABABA so that you have two threads of the same colour together allowing the order to change. 

Simple but effective! 

Have a great week everyone x

Meanderings

Summer in England is a precarious thing. There is no guarantee of sunshine or nice weather and when there is, the parks are filled with us pale Brits baring as much skin as possible to try and rake in some vitamin D and that mythical thing - a sun tan. 

On the plus side it does mean we are immensely grateful for any sun we do get and also get to complain about the weather however it turns out, combining this nations two favourite past times - talking about the weather and having a little grumble. We love it!  

Personally, I have loved this summer. Its had the right mix of heat and cooler days enabling me to balance my indoor hobbies with my outdoor hobbies without feeling guilty about missing the sun. 

So what's been happening this week?

Well, I started my first ever knitting project:

So far I have a head and a body made. Two ears, two arms and two legs to go! This particular pattern even has 'easy' in the title which helped push me into actually trying a knitting pattern. Having never gone beyond a few rows of stocking stitch I thought it was time to take the plunge! So far this has been a really easy project as the pattern only uses knit, purl, kfb (knit into the front and back of a stitch) and k2tog (knit two together) and therefore is a gentle introduction into increases and decreases as well as pattern reading. I will post a photo once its done! For anyone interested, the pattern is from Let's Knit magazine, Issue 107 (July) and is Val Pierce's Easy Bunny. I've chosen slightly bolder colours than the original and as long as it doesn't look like Frankenstein's creation when its done, it will be coming to Cornwall with me to give to one of my little cousins. 

If you're a newbie knitter like myself, this is one to try.

I started making the crochet virus shawl, again great for beginner crocheters. However, I was called away halfway through a row and lost my place. So that has been frogged and will be started again once the bunny is finished. Its a great shawl to make as it looks really pretty and has a manageable pattern. Woolpedia.de have created some fantastic videos that take you through the shawl row by row in a really straightforward way. Just YouTube it or its also available on Ravelry. 

In an attempt to get rid of all the acrylic yarn that has somehow gradually appeared in my yarn stash, I have been experimenting with different techniques in rigid heddle loom weaving. Rigid heddle looms are very affordable and provide an easy way to try weaving without having to invest too much money. I currently have an 8 inch Ashford SampleIt loom, which is tiny but enables me to learn basic weaving without storage issues. If I could go back in time though, I think I would have bought a larger loom instead as the SampleIt loom is quite great to start with but is then limited in what you can make with it.  

                                          

As you can see the selvedges are a little wonky but I'm so happy I've learnt a few new techniques! The very top is a type of lace work, then I have Danish medallions, 2/2 twill with and without a line of plain weave between the rows and an attempt at pick up stick techniques on the bottom. Using pick up sticks was a little bit fiddly as I had to change them so often even for a simple pattern but I think the end result is worth it :)

                                

And finally, non craft related but I tried a new recipe this week - Thai prawn curry. Delicious! Preparation took about 15 minutes and cooking about the same. Easy to make and soooo tasty! You can find the recipe here. 

That's all for now! I will leave you with one more picture of Harvey enjoying the sun and his favourite drink.  

                                       

Have a great weekend! And feel free to share any of your current works in progress (WIPs), I would love to hear about them :)

Charlotte & Harvey x

P.S. Feel free to follow me on Twitter @parfitt_cm and Instagram @charlotte_and_harvey