Tootsie Gets Her Groove (Warp) On

Because I had the weekend off for that wonderful tapestry class with Tommye Scanlin, I couldn't join the rowdy group yesterday at the Center.  Just as well, since I'm not in the group showing at the Foothills show, and I probably would have had a hard time weaving in all the chaos!  I spent the days after the class in my loominaria.  I avoided a final decision on Tootsie's new threading by starting the new pair of curtains on Jenny.  I love the squares!  And the treadling just zips by.  You can see that I skipped a thread, went back to fix it and snagged another, which made it the perfect time to choose Tootsie's pattern!
And I did.  I chose an 8-shaft huck lace pattern from the Weaver's Huck Lace book, corner-set squares with lace in the middle.  It's an easy threading, and I'm almost done.  I think because I got rid of all the threads hanging off the back with fishing weights, the pattern will be a little asymmetrical, but only slightly.  The outside borders and stripes will be plain weave, on shafts 1 and 2, which I've never done.  I wonder what will happen in the ends with the pattern section woven in plain weave, since the threading has the tabby parts 1-2-2-1-1-2-2, etc.  We shall see, no?

I started by pulling the hanging stuff off, counting and grouping, then started into the threading. A little good music, some furry company and I'm almost there. I should finish tomorrow morning and start sleying the reed.  When it gets too boring or too challenging, there's always the curtain project.
 When I wasn't weaving, I was knitting the blue tencel shawl.  I was almost finished with the border, when I thought beads might set it off nicely.  I had the perfect color from a project long ago, and threaded them all onto the yarn.  I knitted them in, knitted one more row, and then bound off.  I'd show you a photo of the finished project, if only I hadn't bound off too tightly!  But I did and now must frog the bind off.  I found a loose bind off method on YouTube that I'll try.  If that works, I will show you next week.

  And in my disgust at that mistake, I started a new shawl!  It's in hand-dyed, hand-spun merino from Uruguay, in a smoky red.  The lace pattern is from Vogue Knitting, just one section of a poncho pattern.  It's fun to knit, and is already becoming familiar enough to put the pattern down once in a while.  I have 900 yards of the yarn, and want the shawl to be big enough to wrap around me very well.
  Well, it's off to work to make sweet treats!  I hope to be back at Big Bertha next Tuesday, finishing the huck lace napkins!  Until then, Happy Weaving
  Maggie