Grandbaby Gift

The other day my husband casually mentioned that someone he worked with had just become a grandfather, and asked if I had something made that I could send as a gift.  Um...no, but crochet is fast!  So I quickly made this little dress.  It took only a few hours to make, and I think it turned out cute!

I know that some people think that crocheted garments pale in comparison to knitted ones, but I could NEVER have created a knit dress in so short a time.

I love to weave, crochet and knit; and there is definitely a time for each.

Correction

The tallis is coming along nicely.  The fabric is a bit more green that I anticipated, but I love the beautiful ocean hues.

I did have one problem when I found a knot in one of my warp threads.  It was small enough that I got the loom warped without noticing it, but when I started to weave, the reed would not pass easily over the know and the thread became loose.  I wasn't sure how to fix it as I'm not very good with warp repair.  In a moment of extreme luck, I was able to cut the thread and repair it using the invisible join loop method that I used for crochet.  The repair area will be slightly thicker, but I've already worked past it, and it is not visible in the final fabric. 

I really like the way the fabric is turning out, and hope that I will be able to create a beautiful and useable tallit!

For Baby Marissa

Just finished this little romper top for Baby Marissa who was born this week.  She arrived early and is only 3 pounds, so this top may need to be packed away till next year, but she is a fighter and is strong and beautiful, and I look forward to the day when she will be big enough to wear this. 

The Tallis

When I first fell in love with weaving, I decided that I wanted to weave my nephew a Tallis (prayer shawl) for his Bar-Mitzvah.   Over a year ago I purchased this beautiful Rick Rack yarn by Interlacements.

Blue is my nephew's favorite color, and I loved the tones of blue and green and the beautiful sheen of this yarn.  It was sold in a 1200 yard hank for $37 - a bargain!  This "ball" of yarn is HUGE!  It looks like a birthday cake.  It is 7 inches across by 4 inches tall!  

So, the Bar-Mitzvah will be next April, and I decided it was time to start this project.  I'm really nervous about it because this project is sentimental to me. I want it to be beautiful, and I will be crushed if I make big mistakes.  I started to calculate how much yarn I would need for the warp, and got nervous that I wouldn't have enough, so I bought a second hank.  It is from a different dye lot, but if I use one exclusively for warm, and the second for weft, I should be fine.  I also needed extra yarn in case I decide to make the corners and attarah from watching fabric and if I want to create a matching bag to hold it.  These are all decisions I have yet to make.

The second hank was actually packaged as two hanks of 600 yards each.  This is much easier to work with, but still a lot of yarn to manage! Working with such huge "cakes" of yarn made me nervous - I didn't want to end up with a big tangle as I pulled from the center of the cake.  I decided to sacrifice a pair of panty hose (who can stand to wear them anyway) to hold the yarn together as I work with it.

Looks funny, but it seems to work!  I was able to pull the yarn from the center as I warped the loom and don't think I'll have a problem with tangles.  I did have to struggle with knots though!  As I warped, I found many knots in the yarn - not knots from the manufacturer where they join two ends, but knots that were created when the yarn was wound.  I had to cut and tie on several times, but I managed to stay cool and get the loom warped.

I got 112" warped and wound.  I just finished threading the reed.  All that is left it to tie the yarn to the bar and I'm ready to weave.  I am irrationally frightened of this project, but really excited to see how it turns out.  Of course, once it is complete, there is no guarantee that my nephew will want to wear it.  If he doesn't like it now, I hope he'll appreciate it when he's older.  I love that kid, and am happy that I can make this form him.  

I'll post more as I make progress.

Final Photo

It's finished, it's blocked, it's ready to ship to a baby.

I'm really proud of this!  It's not perfect, but its my first knitted sweater and a little Marine Corps Baby will be wearing it!