Finished shawl

[altivo]

Prayer shawl for Argos
Originally uploaded by Altivo

Here is the shawl, off the loom, fringed, and fulled. It still could use a light pressing but otherwise it's ready to go off to the show. The finished size is a little over six feet long, not counting the fringes, and 21 inches wide. It is soft, light, and warm as Shetland wool should be. I tried it myself and it will work as a prayer shawl as I planned. ;)

With a little luck, by the time it returns from the show on November 2, I'll have the Argos fursuit mostly together and can get photos of him modeling it.

Other stuff still to get done: finish knitting the cotton scarf, stitch hems on a woven towel, and ply a small skein of cashmere and silk. I'm taking Thursday morning off to make sure I get it all done in time. My deadline is 1:30 pm on Thursday.

Comments

[alaskawolf.livejournal.com]

that looks so warm and comfy :)

[altivo.livejournal.com]

It is that. I'm not sure how really practical it would be, but for a housewolf like Argos I guess it's good.

[goldenstallion.livejournal.com]

Whinnyhi.

Beautiful. I can't wait to see Argos modelling it and to give him a hug at MFF.

I will probably do Steed as a partial again only Alaskan this time (shirt, pants and whatever else I can come up with - Alaska State Flag?) and Trapper of course.

Steed

[altivo.livejournal.com]

No "Palin for VP" buttons with that photo of her biting a moose's ear? ;p

I'd say I can't wait for MFF except that I need the time to finish stuff first so I don't want to hurry it. Lots of hugs saved up for you, though.

Rider (and Argos too)

[vimsig.livejournal.com]

That is lovely; well done.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Thanks. The pattern turned out better than I'd hoped.

[herefox.livejournal.com]

That's lovely. I've always wanted to learn to weave...it looks like magic. :-)

[altivo.livejournal.com]

You'd like weaving, I think. It opens a whole realm of complex design possibilities, but the drawback is that you need some fairly hefty equipment that takes up space. Even a small floor loom needs ten or twelve square feet of floor space. (And I have four of them, but so far I've gotten away with it because my mate has power tools for woodworking and they take up more space than my tools do.)

We need to get you a spinning wheel first. ;D That way you'll be able to make yarn faster than you can knit it, and then you'll be looking for ways to use up the yarn and that's where weaving comes in. Except it takes seven full time spinners to keep one full time weaver busy, so then you end up buying yarn again...

[herefox.livejournal.com]

I've just always been fascinated by looms for some reason. Haven't a clue how it actually works (well, I know what it's DOING but I don't understand the mechanics, so to speak)

A wheel would be nice...for one thing then I could spin then when I'm not standing up so that I can get extra space for the spindle to drop. Not sure where I'd put one though, sadly, I need to leave room to be able to set up to paint. I still haven't actually knitted with any of my handspun yet, I've been on a all washcloth all the time kick at the moment so that I can make most of my x-mas presents. With the new rent finances are going to be awfully tight around here for awhile.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

There are a number of good spinning wheels currently being made that fold up into quite a small package when not in use. Lendrum, Ashford, and Majacraft all have wheels that fit into a backpack like carrying sack and can be stored in a closet or under a bed if necessary. If that's too large, then a charkha is the answer. Mine is the size of a best selling hardcover book when closed up.

Just for future planning, new wheels generally cost in the area of $500 now. Some are less, some quite a bit more. Used wheels, including used Lendrums (Lendra?) and Ashfords, are about half that. Oh, and be careful with Ashford. They've been in business for a long time, and their early models are mostly just not that great, particularly the one called the "Traditional" which was originally sold as a kit and how good it is depends partly on the skill of the person who built it. I have an Ashford Joy and I really like it very much.

[flamekist.livejournal.com]

Wow! It’s so beautiful! I find it so utterly amazing how someone can take fiber and turn it into something that can be worn.

Awesome job, Altivo!

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Thanks. Part of it is just learning skills and practicing, as I'm sure you know from your glass work, which also involves some fairly detailed and exotic skills. Design is part imagination, part artistry, and part serendipity, I'm convinced. In the small version of this photo, you can see the regular diamond shaped texture in the shawl. If you go to the largest scale version, though, the diamonds almost disappear because of an effect called "tracking" that sometimes creates a semi-random texture in fabrics woven and finished a certain way. I hadn't planned on the tracking, but fortunately I like the optical illusion effect of it. Hard ironing and blocking would erase most of the tracking, but I'm going to leave it that way.

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

Looks lovely :) *puts the shawl on over his head and pretends to be an old lady* :)

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Heh. More like a little old Jewish man going into the Synagogue.

[soanos.livejournal.com]

Very nice. I hope you have managed to complete it in time :)

Looks nice and warm. Would keep an old, jaded zebra warm nicely in the winter.

*hugs*

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Yup. Deadlines met, everything turned in this afternoon. So on to the next deadline, which I think is the fursuit.