Weaving to Keep from Knitting

So I showed this to HWWV yesterday and he said, "didn't you take up a new craft right around the last time you wrote a book, too?"

Now that I think of it, yes, I did. I took up Temari. I used Temari as a way to avoid knitting and I suppose, in part, that this here new thing, the weaving, is a way to sort of ward off stress during the time when I write and design.

Some of you may think that it is oh so creative to design patterns and write a book. The thing is, it isn't.

It isn't at all. There are so many ins and outs and what shoulds and would haves and worries about body types and colors and what the hecks that there is no way to just be free and be done with it.

I guess I could liken it to the sex scenes they do in movies. The interviewers always ask how it was like to "make love" to, oh, Brad Pitt or maybe Frank Langella or maybe oh, Chris Farely on video. The actors always say the same thing. They say, "nope, it wasn't sexy at all. There were so many people in the room. So many factors affecting how we were to move or to be in front of the camera. We weren't feeling anything at all." (Except for, maybe, uhm, the Pitt-Jolie thing . . . just mentioning it for kicks.)

So now I will write a book and design and knit a lot of patterns. And I will weave on my "free" time. I hope you don't mind.

All fibers are Misti Alpaca. The warp (the up and down threads) are Misti Alpaca in the three colors you see there in the braids. The weft (the left to right threads) is the Misti Alpaca hand paints in a colorway called "Orchard."

HWWV said it looked like a kitchen towel.

But hours later, he asked me if he could have one, too. Good news is, after you warp the loom and get going the thing takes only two or three hours to finish. Plus, there's no seaming! Yahoo!

Comments

[Jennifer (Liscat)]

Its me of the smart @$$ comments about beautiful yarn...that said I apolgize to all the knitters out there that were offended. Right now I am making that face the girls on "The Hills" make. I really enjoyed knitting with you last weekend. Tink is such a nice beautiful little girl and so polite and independent. HWWV totally cool. Now about the latest weaving wooooow that is beautiful. I may absolutely have to do that when I get some extra $$$$. Love and Peace

[Heather]

Lovely! Beautiful! At first I was thinking, "if I started weaving, I would actually use up some of my stash." Then I realized that I would most likely acquire more stash instead... at least weaving and knitting stashes are interchangeable. (I know from experience.)

[Walden]

The scarf looks great!

[Wendy]

Was it you, Jenn? Really? I just remember looking at the yarn and hearing the comment but don't recall who said it.

Now that I know, you are officially on my "list."

ha ha. Just kidding.

[Dawna]

Wendy,
I am just starting Mina's Tuxedo Vest. Is there supposed to be negative with this pattern? I measure 35 1/2 at the bust, should I go with the Medium (36 1/4)?
Thanks,
Dawna

[Wendy]

go smaller!

[Laura]

I'm a horrible lurker and rarely feel the urge to comment, but I have been battling my urge to learn weaving for a while now and this scarf might have just put me over the edge. Absolutely gorgeous.

[Marnie]

Wow, that's really beautiful. I love the colors, they really pop but look cohesive.

[Tammy]

It really is beautiful! And sounds perfect for a quick fix!

[Emy]

The scarf is lovely but I am getting worried that I may get tempted into a new hobby!

[Disco]

Another lurker coming out to say - GREAT scarf. Will you be showing us pics of your loom and 'how to do it'?
Good luck writing your next book - I just bought Custom Knits and love it.

[2BKnitting]

Beautiful scarf! Love the colors. :)

[Liz T.]

Pretty darn gorgeous kitchen towel if you ask me!

I *so* want to have a go at weaving.

[Martha]

Love it! The colors are beautiful.
♥

[Susan - Knitters Delight]

That came out great!

[elizabeth m]

You seriously need to stop posting about this! Because it's getting to me. The temari thing? Well, that one I could just admire as a cool thing that other people do. But the weaving is seriously calling out to me. ENOUGH! It has to stop now. Before I give in.

[Jaime]

Wait...can we talk about your new hair color?! Did you go darker or is it just the photograph?

[Wendy]

it's the photograph; my hair is still the same.

[darlene]

wendy, this is so lovely. i have a loom thinking that i would one day whip it out and make scarves and other woven items. still waiting for that one day to come. the loom is still in the original box, unopened in the craft room.

[Diane]

Not looking at the scarf, not looking I tell you. I will NOT learn a new hobby. WILL NOT!

Verra pretty anyway...

[LittleWit]

You're making me want to find a loom more and more. Perhaps I will hunt for one at Maryland Sheep and Wool. :)

[Miz Booshay]

That is totally absolutely amazingly gorgeous!!!

[Dris]

O.K. - I'm hooked - no,actually I'm woven or whatever ... I just purchased the weaving loom thingy, too - am planning on making a table runner with the 20" wide version. Thanks for the inspiration.

Have you taken a look at the "Weavettes"? They were featured in Martha Stewart Living a few years back (apparently they are quite vintage), and I purchased some at Purl in NYC - quite fun mini-weaving, but not the same as what's coming my way. Thank you!

[Wendy]

must check that out, Dris!

[Lizbon]

I see the kitchen towel resemblance, but they're still beautiful. Maybe they look like really really beautiful kitchen towels. You know, the movie star versions of kitchen towels.