Weaving!

You guys, I am crazy for weaving! Over the past three weekends, I started and finished weaving five scarves. Now I'm working on finishing the fringe for all five (one down, four to go).

Do you want to know what's awesome about weaving? There are so many things!

You are making fabric, people...fabric! You can use this fabric as-is (scarves, placemats, towels, rugs...basically anything square/rectangular) or you can turn it into other things like bags or clothes.

You are making something completely by hand. Start to finish. No electricity, no noise. Just you, the yarn, your hands and the loom...all working together to create something beautiful.

It's a new way to use all the pretty yarns you can't decide how to use (or don't like how they look knitted/crocheted). I have a lot of sock yarn and my plan to knit, like, a million socks has not happened. Nor will it, if I'm being honest with myself. So, what to do with all my pretty yarn? Weave scarves! I love watching this yarn turn into something beautiful. I love watching the colors mix together: pooling, striping, crossing, blending. I never know quite what the fabric will look like before I start and that's part of the fun!

Weaving is fast! I can start and finish a scarf in a day. A full day...like, 10 hours...but still, ONE day! Setting up the warp can feel like it takes a long time but it really doesn't, especially after a few scarves-worth of practice. And the weaving feels slow but you look down after 20 minutes and you've woven 6". Knitting is so slow...at least for me. I'm only 10 inches into my dad's scarf and I've been knitting that thing for hours!

Weaving uses both hands equally. This might not be that important to you but it is to me. When I knit/crochet/embroider, my left hand holds the project and the right hand does the work. After a while, my right hand hurts from the repetitive movements, my left hurts from supporting and holding the work. With weaving, you pass the shuttle from one hand to the other, back and forth. You pull the heddle with both hands, forward to beat and then back in place. At the end of the day, both arms are a little tired, my back is tired...but nothing hurts.

Anyway, there's more but those are the big ones. I put the loom away last night so as not to be tempted to start another scarf before I've finished the fringe on the other four. But even that part is fun so I should be finished with those soon. Hope you're enjoying all the weaving going on here. I have a very special scarf to show you next.