Thursday, March 12, 2009

A Big Bag of Happy

I just pulled my warp for my next project and had decided on 2/10 mercerized cotton in this fabulous celery. It makes my heart happy to see such a fresh vibrant colour, and I had this seemingly huge tube of it. The plan was for the warp and weft to be the same colour, but by the time I’d pulled the warp all I had left was a piddly amount…..so off to my local yarn shop. I’m fortunate to have a fellow weaver own a shop in her home called “Homespun Haven” some 25 km away and she was home today!

I took my remaining warp yarn with me, so I could colour coordinate….I was only going for one wee item!
Look at my Big Bag of Happy!

I was so taken with these lovely spring colours that I just kept on putting them on the table. The tall orange tube is 2 ply linen made in Scotland and the fat coral tube is 2/10 mercerized cotton. All the rest are 2/8 or 2/4 cotton. Don’t they just make you think spring!

Never one to leave with only what I need……I found these two beginners Hamanaka Kumihimo packages. I had purchased a Kumihimo book some time ago, but was thinking hard about investing in the stand and weighted tamas and these seemed to be a great way to see if I like to braid for $15.99 each.
The round disk is for round braids and is made from thick dense sponge like material; thankfully there are photos of each style of round braid and pictograph instructions. You just choose your colours and move the yarn in the order given and you’re off to the races.

The square plate is for flat braids, seems that everything else is the same. Now which one to try first?

Weaving Words
The French peasant wore frocks of frocs, a coarse woolen twill.

11 comments:

Deanna said...

Love those sparkly spring colors. And you are going to LOVE kumihimo. Check out the marudai at Braidershand. Janis and Dave Saunders are the proprietors - I still think my takadai that he made is about the most lovely piece of equipment I own!

FWIW, my first marudai was made with a nine track tape reel duct-taped to a saltines tin. :-)

Geodyne said...

That is most definitely a big bag of happy. How could you not smile around those colours?

Theresa said...

Yummy all of them! I would have done exactly the same thing. Please let us know how the kumihimo
works out. I've been eyeing these myself online.
On another note, does anyone make up meanings for some of the word verifications when you post a comment. Today's is "bovitino" maybe a martini with milk or a cocktail for a cow!

GABY said...

Oh , wonderful colors!! I wish there was a "real" store close to me where i could go and actually touch the yarn,also that would drastically cut down on shipping costs.Please share pics with us when youre finished with your project.

bspinner said...

These yarns sure are "Happy". Love them.
I can't wait to see how you like the kumihimo disks. I've been thinking about getting one myself but didn't know if I would like them or what I would use them for.

Sunrise Lodge Fiber Studio said...

Spring is in the air!!! Great colors;) I can't wait to see what you do with the discs!!!

Life Looms Large said...

You can't just buy 1 thing in a yarn store!!

Those are great colors!!! Looking forward to what you'll create with them!!

Have fun with kumihimo! I can't pronounce it, spell it, or do it!! (Although some day.....) It is a great way to make trims to complement your handwovens.

Enjoy!!

Sue

Anonymous said...

Now that's what I call shopping! I love that lilac shade...

Dorothy said...

Makes me happy just sitting here looking at those colours - maybe I should go and look at my own stash now and plan something!

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