Woven Poinsettia and English Garden

Do you detect a theme here?? Maybe it's all the rain we're getting, or the unseasonably cold temperatures, but my mind is seeing these scarves in terms of plant coloration.  It's probably just wishful thinking!

The "Secret" scarf wove up even better than I thought!  It still needs fringe twisting, so no finished photo yet, but I can't help but love the gentle pooling of color along this warp.  It reminds me of an English garden, yes but more like a watercolor of an English garden.

Those reed marks should lessen in the laundry.  I plan to twist the fringe this afternoon.

The Poinsettia scarf encountered all manner of problems, mostly from the sectional warping process. One section ended up shorter than the others, plus the scarf is more narrow because I ran out of yarn before I could wind the final 2 inch section.  Thus this scarf is more narrow than I usually like to weave.  Setting up the Glimakra totally flummoxed me (again!), so I had to haul out the books and redo everything, which took the better part of yesterday.  This morning I finally got to begin weaving, and that went quickly - that loom may be a bear to prep, but it is a dream to weave on.  Right up until one of my section "cords"came untied from the rod on the warp beam.  I tried to retie it, but could not attain the correct tension.  Luckily that happened close to the end, so with every pick I had to put the shuttle down, reach over the reed and tension that section by hand.  It worked, for the most part, but there will be a few wonky slevedges, I'm sure.

I plan on hemming this today, then into the wash they both will go!  Finished photos next time.

I've also finally gotten back to my hand spun sock knitting. Last summer I spun this Panda fiber (merino wool/bamboo/nylon) from Fat Cat Knits, entitled "Moxie."

It became these 3 ply skeins;

It always amazes me how different the yarn and the fiber can look!

I then started my sock and got this far

before life got in the way.  A month or so ago I decided that I really should get back to knitting the sock, so I picked away at it, never very happy about the project.  I think it was because the yarn felt a bit hard, which hopefully will mean it will last, but it took a lot of the enjoyment away.  As always, I used mill spun for the heels.  Last night I completed the first sock!

Isn't it funny how the beginning and end (toe and cuff) are the same color?  The abrupt change for the cuff was unplanned - it is just the way the colors mixed in the spinning.  I would have preferred a more subtle change, but it is what it is.

Here's hoping for a break in this gray, drab, cold weather!