Fiber Monday - Off the needles and other miscellany

My project this past week to clear the decks in terms of projects was pretty successful. I'll start with the finished knitting project since I had been working on it for nearly a year and it feels good to have it done.

It still needs to be blocked and that will take care of the funny waves in the fabric. I'm very happy with how it turned out, plus it fits pretty perfectly, so my adjustments were correct. It feels very good to have this done. 

I was also able to get through nearly all of that mending pile. I was correct that most of the items took just minutes to fix. Here's the list of things repaired: 3 sweaters, 1 towel, 1 pillowcase, 1 sheet, 1 weaving project hemmed, 1 pair of pants hemmed, 1 pair of trousers repaired, and handles attached to a woven bag. The only thing on that pile of mending that I didn't get to was the three pieces of clothing that I need to use my embroidery machine to add my business logo. I'm hoping I can get to that this week. (It's a process to get everything out of the top of the closet, so I've been putting it off.)

I want to mention the sheet and pillowcase. Has anyone else noticed that while the cost of bed linens has gone up, the quality is fantastically shoddy. Sometimes they don't last two years. I find it frustrating, so I have been mending these things far more often than I used to. If you have the same issue, I thought I'd show what I do. 

This is the pillowcase. What made this easier is that when I was cleaning the studio closet I found the silly little bags that the shoddy sheets now come in. I always save them, because fabric, but now I realize that if I save them they can be used to repair the inevitable rips. 

You can see the newer fabric through the old. Once I got the new fabric centered over the hole, I sewed around it with a zigzag stitch to secure it. Then using some applique scissors I cut the extra new fabric away. 

You can see it more clearly here. 

The sheet needed another repair, you can see the previous one I had done with white flannel backing the year. 

For the new year I was out of white flannel, so I used some red.

All this to say, these are things that can be repaired and you do not need to throw out something that is 90% intact and instead extend its life. 

I have a few more things to share. This is the bag I made years ago which I finally attached the handles I wove (also years ago). I'm thrilled to have another project bag to use. 

I also found a spot for my new little Singer. I have the Viking sewing machine that used to be in that spot stored underneath. 

J. also cut some holes in the counter so that the electrical cords are better managed. 

The studio is very organized, all my excess projects and tasks are out of my head, which means that... It was time to start a new one!

This is a project on one of my rigid heddle looks. Sometimes it's nice to have a very simple project. This is about three yards long out of some Noro yarn. I tried knitting with it a couple of years ago, but I really disliked knitting with it and the fabric it was making. I ripped it all out and put the yarn away. My new experiment with it is to weave cloth, then full it so that it felts a bit. Depending on how well that all works will decide what I eventually do with it. I do like the woven fabric much better than the knitted. 

One last thing. I am going to sell the scarf I shared last week. 

It's 100% Tencel, hand wash, hang to dry, press with an iron set on silk. It's soft and pliable but not super drapy. Because I have some bills I need to pay, I'm discounting it from a more typical handwoven scarf price. It's $90, shipping not included. Send me a message if you're interested.