Disappointment

Yesterday I spent the whole day trying to finish off a scarf for a competition - yes today was the deadline! - I was happy with the project and I really struggled to get it finished, i.e. fringing, washing, steaming, filling the competition entry form, finding a suitable padded envelope, etc... I got to the final point of washing it, and when on the washing line I discovered two HUGE mistakes! No comment...
I guess this should teach me a lesson : never hurry when you're handweaving.
I should know this by now, but somehow I thought I could do the trick, and I was proved completely wrong.

I needed some distraction so I went on flickr and found some awesome photos that lifted my spirits!

home alone with new skirt

It's been raining for a few days and the sky was so dark and dull...now finally it's over, a bit colder but with blue sky and lovely sunny mornings and guess what...I'm at home with flu!

I spend my time reading lovely blogs like this and this and dreaming of setting up the loom with a tweed fabric like the one of my new skirt....

on a rainy day

Some completed projects ;-) I am happy with the 3D effect - something quite tricky obtained with a semi-elastic viscose weft: the scarf retains its shape!

....and my deserved coffee in a new moka!
I wanted to post this some days ago - I just love this necklaces (link via ninainvorm) by Maria Ribeiro:

You can see them on her flickr page or on etsy. She's incredibly creative and I love the materials she uses!

a Spell

It's always like magic...first the cloth appears in all its length from the front beam of my loom, then the twisting of the fringes, the washing and the trimming of all the uneven fringe ends...now I feel it's completed.
I can't but stare amazed at the spell that occurred again.
Those long linear entities are now a bi-dimensional surface!

I remember the first day I removed the cloth from the loom...I've always been crafting in one way or another but this gave a whole new meaning to the word "create"

And then there is the usual mess I seem not to be able to get rid of! I spend so much time putting things back to their place, sometimes I wish I had 30-hour days!

I'd say I'm getting better, am I not?

New Year!

Happy 2008!
Holidays have long gone...time to get busy with some serious designing and weaving!

Blue ice photo - some artwork - a selection of suitable yarns and the patience to dress the loom properly before venturing into the actual weaving!
This warp is made of merino wool while the weft I used is kid mohair: the structure of weaving creates blocks of solid colour and there is no repeat pattern - each scarf is different.