Handwoven Tunic-style Top

December 1, 2019 Emily Wallace HandwovenLeave a comment

Last week’s weaving: tunic-style top (2-16″ wide, 60″ long panels partially sewn up back). I wove this top for a class I taught this past Saturday at Yarn Boutique of Decatur. I used Blue Heron 100% hand dyed organic cotton yarn for the weft and Knit One Crochet Too Pea Pods yarn (100% cotton) for warp. Total retail cost for the yarn was around $70. If I wove another top like this, I would either use a cotton/linen blend or a wool blend. Making it out of 100% cotton made the garment feel too heavy for my liking. Otherwise, I’m pleased enough with how it turned out. (Also, I measured incorrectly when warping my loom, so I ended up having to warp again for the second panel.)

This week’s project #3: Handspun Yarn from Lucca Dot Yarn Scarf

November 23, 2019 Emily Wallace HandwovenLeave a comment

This scarf was handwoven on my 32″ Kromski Harp loom using Lucca Dot Yarn hand blended & handspun merino wool single-ply yarn for the weft and a 100% merino dk weight yarn for the warp. Lucca Dot Yarn is owned and operated by Claire Cabe, who is also a personal friend and fiber mentor. I love using her hand dyed and hand spun art yarns for knitted, woven, or crocheted projects.

Lucca Dot Yarn handspun merino wool yarn scarf

This Week’s Project #1: From the Dyepot

November 23, 2019 Emily Wallace HandwovenLeave a comment

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.

Handpainted 100% superwash merino yarn (Mythos Yarn)

Kettle dyed 100% superwash merino wool yarn (Mythos Yarn)

Deep South Yarn Hop 2019: Yarn Haul

November 18, 2019 Emily Wallace Handwoven1 Comment

I only got to visit 6 out of 7 participating shops during the 1st Annual Deep South Yarn Hop, but I had a great time traveling to those shops…especially the ones I hadn’t been to before, bringing home some fiber goodness. Here are pictures of my haul. All the yarn I bought was discounted for the event (except for Taming of the Ewe and Bliss Yarns).

Haul from Yarn Boutique of Decatur (Decatur, AL): Madeline Tosh, Vocabulary Yarn (now Vicious Yarns), Sirdar Jewelspun, Peace Dove stitch markers, sheep measuring tape, Felted mini bag from Frabjous Fibers

Haul from Hook A Frog Fiber & Fun (Madison, AL): Noro Tennen (2 colorways), Berroco Skye (Leo colorway)

Haul from Bliss Yarns (Brentwood, TN): Farmers Daughter Fibers: Craggy Tweed (Pine Drop colorway) (Merino and Tweed)

Haul from Haus of Yarn (Nashville, TN): River Cottage Farm Fibers: Romney Worsted (Son of Chieftain) and Romney Lamb’s Wool/Mohair Fingering; two bars of Tuft Woolen Soap

Haul from Ewe & Company (Kingston Springs, TN): Frabjous Fibers BFL/Silk (8 oz) fiber for spinning

Haul from Ewe & Company (Kingston Springs, TN): Handspun BFL fingering and worsted weight yarns from local spinners

Haul from The Taming of the Ewe Yarns and Tea Room (Gadsden, AL): Mirasol Kancha Yarn (two colorways); Adagio Looseleaf Teas

Weekend Scarf Weaving:November 16-17, 2019

November 18, 2019 Emily Wallace HandwovenLeave a comment

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)

Berroco Sesame Scarf (spaced warp) (on the loom)

November 13, 2019 Weaving Project: Cotton blend Tea Towels

November 18, 2019 Emily Wallace Handwoven3 Comments

I don’t know what it is about cotton yarn, but I’ve never enjoyed working with it in any capacity–whether weaving, knitting, crocheting, etc.

However, I always find myself giving in to cotton on the loom because of kitchen or tea towels. People want them (for some reason), so in order to meet that demand, I force myself to dress my loom with cotton.

This latest cotton project is for an upcoming holiday market (Hartselle Holiday Market, December 7th, Hartselle, AL). I have a feeling that I may be weaving more of these before the market begins, but for now, I’m happy to give myself a break from cotton.

Cotton blend tea towels in white and tan stripes

Cotton blend tea towels in white and tan stripes (on the loom)

YouTube: Latest Projects and New Yarns

November 14, 2019 Emily Wallace HandwovenLeave a comment

WIP: My Home Studio Space

November 13, 2019 Emily Wallace Handwoven1 Comment

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.