Happy (Belated) Birthday!

Wednesday was my my baby's birthday. Well, he's not such a baby anymore. Happy Birthday T - we love you!!

Who knew there would be so much math?

It always amazes me how much math is involved in crafting. When you sew, you have to do the math to figure out sizing and how much fabric you'll need. Knitting has tons of math - from gauge to yardage to sizing and shaping. Now I have learned the importance of math in weaving. I had two hanks of a hand-dyed sock yarn, and wanted to make a scarf thingie - just a simple one. I did the math, see?
I figured out how much I needed for the warp and set it up. A few months later (I had trouble focusing on this project over the summer, I'm just saying), I realized that I was going to run out of weft way before I ran out of warp. See the empty shuttle? How did that happen?
So I have little bits of leftovers - I have no idea what I'll do with them - but I also have a beautiful scarf/wrap/neckwarmer! I love it. Here it is on my (now empty) loom.
See how pretty the colors are?
Next I'm doing a scarf for my mother for the holidays. With sparkly yarn in a burgundy color! I'll need one hank of Silk Pearl for warp and one hank of Bead Pearl and Sequins for weft. Kathy wrote out hers here. I hope I do the math right this time!! Of course I also have this pretty little scarf (and I mean little yarn, little needles) that I'm trying to do. There just isn't enough time in the day.

Busy Weekend

From work, to charity, to play - a great weekend!

Friday morning, our company participated in an event at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium called "Made in Lowell." Although we are mostly importers/distributors, I thought it would be fun to be part of this event, and we do "make" all our patterns, marketing, etc. Not everyone "got it." We had to do a lot of explaining about what a yarn company does. But overall I think it was great to participate. Next year I think we'll attend rather than exhibit; it was fun to see the companies that do manufacturing in our City. And I think I found a local printer, and a guy who does great tote bags out of recycled and organic materials. I'm calling him today!

This past Sunday the Lexington (MA) Arts and Crafts Society had a "knit in". They asked us to provide a trunk show, so Saturday I met up with my friend Cass (who is a member, and the creator of the pretty pin cushions I wrote about recently) and put up some posters and hung some sweaters. Two other yarn companies had things displayed too. I heard it was a fun day - even Wren Ross was there - but sadly I didn't make the actual event. Some amazing work was on display by the Society's members. The exhibit will be there until October 18 - if you're in the area, check it out.

I didn't make the Lexington event because on Sunday, I walked with my daughter and her family in the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer event in Boston. 38,000 walkers! It was amazing; they raised a lot of money for breast cancer research - hooray! C and her friend were troopers.


After riding in on the T, we trekked over the to Hatch Shell and the official starting line. We all made it the 3+ miles. Although the weather wasn't beautiful, it was perfect-enough for a walk. Not too hot; not too sunny; brisk is how I would describe it. After the walk, we went to brunch at a family-friendly place in Cambridge called Full Moon - really fun for the group, and great food!

Next weekend it's all about getting some knitting done...oh, and some baseball. Go Red Sox!