Finished Weaving with the Kids & Thornley KAL progress

 Me and the ten kids who wove this banner at Casa Picasso Art Camp.

 The banner hanging in the camp gallery.  The kids loved the idea of making something that would help people, so the banner is for sale. $85. Every penny will be donated to Doctors Without Borders.

 This is my favorite section of the banner.

 In addition to weaving on the Saori loom, the kids created a small piece on a Harrisville Friendly Lap Loom.

Progress on the Jane Thornley Little Vest Knit-Along
(That's the link to Jane's main page, her knit-alongs are on the drop-down menu under Blog)

Lots of the others (in the Jane Thornley Ravelry group)  have named their vests and I have, too.  As I knitted, I kept thinking of rainbows you see in street puddles - the rainbows from the oil.  I tried to think of dragonflies and other iridescent things: beetles, abalone.  But kept coming back to the oily puddles. Joni Mitchell has a lovely image in her song "Michael From Mountains" and I also kept hearing those lyrics, '...there's oil in the puddles / in taffeta patterns/ that run down the drain / in colored arrangements / that Michael will stir with a stick that he's found...'  I thought about just calling this Michael from Mountains, but have chosen the equally alliterative and less obscure: Rainbow on the Road.

 A back panel was knit first, then some rows added to either side to make it be the width I need. Side panels will come later.

 

The fronts are picked up from the shoulders. With the first,  I was doing such improvisational knitting and color combining that I knew it would frustrating and unpleasant trying to knit the second one identically. So I decided to have them be different. With the addition of the side panels and a front opening bands, this should come together coherently.  We shall see!

 I felt like making a little visual collage of strands of all the different yarns I'm using, in order of their weight.
From the left: Interlacements Carolina (?? it's cotton), Noro Blossom No. 20, Rowan Summer Tweed, dark violet, orange, Itata in orange and green, Robin Edmunson Cotton/Rayon in blue and shimmery purple.

 I also wanted to highlight the cast off that I did on the back panel.  I've been casting off this way lately: rather than knitting every stitch, I alternate a knit with a purl. This balances the knitting so these loops sit right on the top of the edge, rather than leaning over on one side or other of the fabric. That always annoyed me. I think of this as 'seed stitch cast-off' but use whether or not I've been working in seed stitch. In this case, it was garter stitch.

Also, I really wanted to get this orange in the back add-ons, but doing another row and then the cast off on each side would have made this too wide.  So, I change to the orange just for the cast off. I've never done that before and I like the effect. When I pick up to add the side panels, I will just pick up the WS half of the loop, and I should have a nice thin line of the color.

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Tomorrow is a balloon release held by our  Compassionate Friends chapter,  for bereaved parents.  I'll be there to send off one with Patrick's name on it....sigh.

Casa Picasso Art Camp

This week, I'm bringing weaving experiences to the art camp at my UU church.

 I have a separate, quiet room in which I've set up the loom and the children come to me during the afternoon 'Open Studio' time when they rotate between weaving,  a woodworking project and other projects, including making pinatas. Hanging on the door are the sampler I wove at my Saori intensive and the banner woven by my granddaughter Sophia's kindergarten class at Ouabache Elementary.

 I set the loom up by the green-filled window view.

We've probably woven about 3 feet so far, with two days left to go.  I've had a learning experience in free-weaving myself during this time -- the children liked making inlays that are all twisted and bunched up, instead of just laying the inclusion yarns out straight.  I am loving the look of this and will be experimenting with this technique with my own work.

Today and Jane Thornley Vest Knit Along

I have so many things I'd love to write about, my trip to Boston, the intensive Saori workshop, but it always seems daunting to play catch-up.  So today I'm just going to write about....today.

Today Clover is still doing well, in month four since her diagnosis of bone cancer. The lump on her leg has grown, but her life quality is good. She's eating well and maintaining her normal weight, she loves her outdoor time defending her yard from squirrels and wandering felines, letting the birds know she's still in charge of this little bit of Mother Earth. At her last vet check-up, her heart and lungs were sounding good.  Still taking it a day at a time and today's a good day.

Today, when I finish this, I'll be headed over to my church (First Unitarian Universalist of Terre Haute) to hold open studio weaving for a dozen kids at a week-long art camp. We'll be working on Earthpeace Banner No. 4, my final commitment for the grant  project which bought me my adored Saori loom.

Today, I'm very excited to be working on a vest in free-range knitting, in a knit-along (KAL) guided by the brilliant Jane Thornley. I've had a difficult time finishing free-range knitting projects, but this one is going to be different, I just know it.  I am hoping that doing this project will break the resistance I've had for follow-through, and that I will be able to work on freestyle knitting without the handholding!  It's certainly fun, though, to be part of the group on Ravelry that is participating and see everyone else's color choices and stitch variations.

So here's a picture of my progress so far:

The yarns, clockwise, starting with the green: Araucania Itata, Interlacements Carolina (?), Robin Edmundson cotton/rayon boucle, Elsbeth Lavold Hempathy, Noro Blossom, Araucania Itata.

Great fun so far, and Jane promises that the fun is just beginning with the back panel done!
That's today!