A blog about fiber arts and textiles
Since I had such good luck with the Alpine colorway of Noro Tennen yarn I picked up from Hook A Frog (Madison,AL) a few weeks ago, I decided to weave another scarf from it…just in a different colorway (Smoky #2). I spaced the warp a little differently because I wanted a net like effect and a lot of drape. I’m pleased with the results and plan to weave a few more of these since I have so much of this yarn.
Fiber Content: Noro Tennen (50% Wool/25% Silk/25% Alpaca)
Other than teaching beginner-advanced yarn dyeing classes at my LYS, I haven’t dedicated much time to professional acid-fast dyeing recently. I remedied that this week by dyeing five skeins of 100% Superwash Merino wool yarn in DK weight. I hope to start selling these at the LYS where my studio is (Yarn Boutique of Decatur–Decatur, AL). When I owned my own yarn shop (In the Loop, Hartselle, AL), I had my own handdyed yarn brand: Mythos Yarn. This is the brand I plan to revive at Yarn Boutique.
For this “test” project, I decided on two colorways. The first is hand painted with fuscia, turquoise, silver, and black. The other is a violet purple blend. Names are forthcoming.
This past Friday, I spent all day on the road (7:45 am-8:15pm) participating in the Deep South Yarn Hop. My yarn shop co-worker and I visited all three Nashville area shops and then barely made it south to the Gadsden shop before it closed at 6pm. When I got home after 8pm (with my hands filled with new yarn and fiber), I was ready to go to bed. Saturday, I taught two classes at the yarn shop (an intermediate weaving class and a Yarn 101 class), which meant I didn’t get home until after 6pm when it was all said and done.
Some friends were coming over at 6:30, so I had just enough time to warp my loom before they pulled into the driveway. I ended up in bed before 10pm, so the loom would have to wait until the next morning.
Sunday, I wove off and on all day long and ended up weaving two finished scarves. The first was woven from Berroco Sesame yarn (7430 “pickled ginger” colorway), and the second was from Noro Tennen (“Alpine” colorway #25). I’ve never woven the warp and weft with only Noro before (it’s single ply and notorious for breaking), but I was successful in this attempt and I’m pleased with the results.
Fiber Content: Berroco Sesame (43% Wool/ 39% Acrylic/ 9% Cotton/ 9% Nylon); Noro Tennen (50% Wool/25% Silk/25% Alpaca)
After 11 years in a small, 3 bedroom house, my family and I finally moved into a larger house in the middle of August. Luckily, this new house has enough extra space that allows me to have a home weaving studio. The room is somewhat oddly shaped, so I’m taking it slow when it comes to figuring out how to be use the space. Because the ceilings are slanted, I’m thinking I’ll have to put shelves on the walls at some point to maximize storage space. The door to the walk-in attic space is also in this room…which is why the plastic bins are in front of it at the moment.
The closet came with the built-in shelving units, so I’m using them as-is for now, but I may end up moving them around later.
I’ve always tried to have some design-element to each room in my home, but at the moment, this room is just a purely functional space. Perhaps if I spend enough time on Pinterest, I can come up with some better storage and design ideas for this room.
Last Saturday (November 9, 2019) after I finished teaching a beginner weaving class at Yarn Boutique of Decatur (location of my weaving studio/retail space), I headed over to Hook A Frog Fiber & Fun, our neighboring yarn shop in Madison, AL. This was no typical visit, however, because this was Day 2 the 1st Annual Deep South Yarn Hop event–meaning special sales for anyone with an event passport.
I wasn’t prepared for what I found in the $5 sale baskets: Noro Tennen (50% Wool/25% Silk/25% Alpaca) and Berroco Skye yarns (37% Wool/35% Viscose/20% Yak/8% Nylon). I scooped up nine skeins of the Noro (5 skeins of Smoky colorway & 4 skeins of Alpine colorway) and six balls of Berocco Skye (Leo colorway).
As part of the yarn hop, I also received two free stitch markers…an additional perk to my already amazing score.
I came home that evening and used the Noro Tennen (Alpine colorway) as the weft of a new scarf I was weaving on my 32″ Kromski Harp rigid heddle loom.
Stay tuned for upcoming projects using these yarns! Visit my FB page to see more photos of finished projects or my main website Emily Wallace Handwoven Designs.
Diary of a Yarnophile 