Not really knitting.

Right after I posted last week, I got sick.  So sick that I didn't knit, play with the new loom, or even read the Spin Off magazine that arrived.  Now, that's really sick.

I was too sick to knit, but that didn't keep me from being busy doing knitting related things, though.  I"ve accepted the position for Superintendent of Textiles for the Washington County Fair.  The entries for the Fair have fallen off in recent years and interest was waning, especially in the Textiles Division.  Since the previous Superintendent is bowing out, the Fair organizers decided this is the year to shake things up.  If you know me, you know if there are two things I do well, it's shake things up and tell people what to do!  

The Textile Division classes have been added to over the years, but unfortunately none were removed.  Some were very outdated; I mean, really, when was the last time you heard anybody say, "Wow, look at all the patterns for an embroidered toaster cover!" or "I'm happy to see some many designs for macrame' plant hangers!"  Severe editing was called for.  I culled and combined and eliminated and added; what was a 23 page, single spaced list of classes and lots is now down to 11 pages, including all the new rules.  

My next step on the Fair is to wrangle judges.  I think I might have a Master Knitter roped, um, coerced, er, convinced to judge the knitting, and I'm hoping I can talk her into doing some of the other classes.  I have the card for the past president of the local quilters guild (that's the only class I didn't mess with), so I plan on enlisting her to judge as well.  I think one more judge would be good, hopefully I can find a Master Crocheter to help out.  After that comes strong-arming volunteers for entry day, judging day, and watching the exhibits during the Fair.

I did gets nearly every weaving book the Library offered and have been pouring over all of them.  And Ravelry and YouTube have proved to offer up tons of information about weaving and this loom.  I did finally feel well enough on Friday measure a warp for the loom; just a short one of 2 yards, but in two colors for a sampler.  Since I don't have a warping board (that's on ToolMan's list), I turned the dining room chairs on their sides on top of the table and used the legs.  

I got part way through warping the loom the first time and then got hopelessly tangled and lost between going front to back and back to front.  So, out went that warp (I'm sure the birdies building nests will love the cotton and wool yarns, though), and I started all over on Saturday.

The next warping went better than the first, but by no means smoothly.  Probably because I was tired, still a little sick, and it was late, and I don't know what the hell I am doing.  I found this tutorial, which was actually more helpful than most of the videos on YouTube.  After nearly 4 hours, during which I had to re-thread missed reeds, re-thread missed heddles, tie and re-tie knots, and cry, I managed to get nearly all 200 threads where they were supposed to be.

This afternoon, I wound a couple of bobbins and sat down to try this baby out.  

And discovered that my sampler in no way even remotely resembles what the picture in the book looks like. Possibly because I discovered that I have several threads in the 3rd harness when I was supposed to be using only the first 2.  And probably because the yarns I have on hand are a bit thin for the 8-dent reed, and probably a lot because of what tech people refer to as a "PICNIC".*  Well, I've go no where to go but up, as they say.  

On the "almost knitting" front, I haven't worked on the Masters Project at all this week; I just wasn't up to  being hyper-focused this week.  I did meet with Sandy, from Shibui Knits today and took on a Secret Knitting Project.  I can't tell you about the pattern or show you what I'm knitting, but I can let you drool over the yarn!

She entrusted 10 hanks of the above to me; Staccato is a fabulous superwash merino and silk blend (70% merino, 30% silk) in fingering weight in a lovely dark gray/green called "Field".  It was so delicious feeling when I wound it into cakes, that I can hardly wait to swatch and get started!

*  PICNIC = Problem In Chair, Not In Computer