The Knitter's Loom

I haven't had much time for posting lately because I bought one of these widely advertised, and I might add, completely overhyped table looms that you may have seen on the Ashford site and lots of other places. It's actually just a heddle loom that folds up.

It's quite a nice little loom, and I do like it now that I'm used to it, but don't for a minute fall for the ads stating that anybody - even people who know nothing about weaving- can learn to use this loom in no time and soon be making scarves in only two hours! Ha! I've been at it for three weeks and still can't begin to make a scarf in two hours. All day maybe if everything goes well, but if you're thinking of buying this thing in the hopes of being able to make scarves really fast - forget it!

They call it the Knitter's Loom because supposedly you can make a scarf on it quicker than knitting. Of course it depends on the length and width of the scarf, but I believe that if two people set out to make the same size scarf - one knitting and one using the loom - the knitter would definitely come out ahead!

It is of course very nice to have a folding loom, however, you will most likely need to also buy their bag to store or carry it in. There are various bits that are likely to get lost if they aren't kept together in the bag. That's an extra $65 most places.

Then there are the instructions that come with the loom. Well, it took me all day to figure out how to work everything, partly because of me, but mostly because the instructions tend to leave out the bits you really need to know and concentrate on the bits that you eventually find out are actually unimportant. I had to call two people for help before I finally was able to use the loom. One of those people was a distributor who admitted that she was having all the same problems I was having. I ended up buying the full size instruction book for another $30.

Since I have a wholesale account with a very nice distributor that I've been doing business with for years, I got a good price on everything, but for someone buying at the full price, I'd suggest some careful consideration. If you just like to knit as a hobby, then this loom is probably not going to save you time, be as handy to carry around with you, or produce a dramatically better looking scarf than a knitted one. Two hour woven scarves are very unlikely to happen any time soon for me, or as far as I've been hearing, for anybody else either! It takes one hour to set the darn thing up (ie. "warp" it.)

Catching up

I haven't posted a schedule this month because it's been so rainy. I'm hoping to get out to the Temescal market next Sunday though.

Here are some photos I took about three weeks ago.

They always have live music, and this time it was a a sort of jazz/soul group. They were pretty good. The guy on the keyboard did all the singing until this little cutie stepped right up and demanded the mic. She did an impromptu performance that stole the show, making up lyrics, which went something like "I love to go to the farm..." Then the musicians would back her up with "Go to the farm, go to the farm" and so on. A born performer for sure!


The stands in the background are some of the yummy bakeries that show up regularly. The crafts are to the right of the musicians. There's all kinds of prepared food, including Thai, Indian and some fantastic Afghan breads. It's a very pleasant way to spend a Sunday morning, but I usually go home with a tummy ache!



This is the vegetarian burrito stand, with James, the market manager standing to the left. The Feel Good Bakery is behind the three people standing in front of Donna's. I'm addicted to their pumpkin muffins with chocolate chunks and their jalapena bread sticks with pumpkin seeds. The rosemary chocolate chip scones aren't bad either.

They do have farm produce, too, or course - lots of it and all organic. When fruit is in season, I snack on that, but this time of year I go for the big time major carbs to stay warm. Also, since I have to get up at 5:00 to get there in time to get a good space, I'm usually starving by the time the market opens, so the prepared food is what keeps me going.

Schedule

Well the month's half gone, and I still don't have a schedule up. Partly at least because I haven't figured it out yet. It's been so freezing cold here I haven't been able to get it together to get down to the market yet. I'm trying for tomorrow though, as it's warmed up just a bit. Going to the market involves getting up at 5:30 am to get a spot, and who wants to do that when there's ice all over everything. Not me. I'm a wimp!

Will see how it goes tomorrow.

Getting Back to Normal

I'm still recovering from the holidays, but am finally starting to enjoy some relative normalcy. It was so freezing cold at the Holiday Street Fairs that I didn't get a chance to take many photos. It was all I could do to stay warm and deal with customers! Here I am bundled up in five layers including my most bulky warm ski jacket, two pairs of pants plus long johns, and of course my lumpy knit hat!

My friend, May, was out the day before when the weather was somewhat warmer, but she was pretty bundled up, too. And, yes, that's one of my lumpies she's wearing. She hand paints her baby tee shirts and draws on them free hand - something I could never do! Like many of us crafty types, she's a painter and shows in the Bay Area.





This is the customer who got the best hat deal of the day. Behind him are the booths across the street from my stand. The hat he's wearing is a lumpy knit stocking cap. I'd never tried to make one before, so since it was an experiment, I sold it for way less than I should have. It looks great, though, and he went home happy. Maybe I'll make some more if I get requests. There's an image of it still on the website that shows it with the stocking part folded over.

A Very Chilly Affair

A big thank you to everyone who braved the very cold weather on Sunday to come out to the Telegraph Ave. Holiday Street Fair. We seem to be having an especially severe cold snap here, with freezing temperatures in the S.F. Bay Area, which is very rare. Even though I had to chicken out and pack up early due to wind threatening to blow everything away, people bought a record number of hats - some probably just to try and stay warm! One woman refused to take the hat off even for the minute it would take me to remove the tag!

As of now, it looks like it may warm up just a bit by the weekend, and no rain is predicted, so I plan to set up on the sidewalk in front of Mrs. Fields on the northeast corner of Channing and Telegraph. I don't have a space in the street, but since I'll be on the corner, people should be able to find me.

Peace, Happy Holidays, and Best Wishes for your New Year!

Temescal Farmers' Market

I was back at the Oakland Temescal Farmers' Market today, where a nice customer took some photos of his grandchildren trying on hats. He emailed them to me, so I'm posting them here. Even though I have to get up at 4:30 -5AM to participate in this market, it's always fun. Nice people, fantastic food, and live music. There are always lots of kids, and they love to try on my hats!




These little girls made their selection, and then headed home with mom pulling the wagon. I plan to be there again next Sunday, then take a break for Thanksgiving.

Interesting spinning technique

I recently bought some handspun two plied yarn from Joybilee Farms (www.joybileefarms.com) for my Lumpy Knit Hats. It was spun in a way I have never seen before that creates a very interesting effect. There are two yarns plied together in the usual way except that one of them is randomly knotted. The knots look a bit like the crochet stitch known as the popcorn. So it appears that a medium fine spun dark brown yarn was plied with some hand painted red/orange, lavender, gray yarn of about the same weight. The hand painted yarn has the random knots. This is a technique I'd like to learn! I've made some pretty wild hats out of it, which you can see pictured here. They are also on my website.

The hat above is a long round cap that covers the ears or can be worn turned up. The one below is a Lumpy Knit Hat.

Schedule update

I'm going to try something new next weekend, and I'm not sure if it'll work out, but the plan as of now is to be at Telegraph Ave. on Saturday, September 2nd and the Temescal Farmer's Market in Oakland on Sunday, September 3rd. The Farmer's Market is open from 9:00 to 1:00 and is located on Claremont Ave. in the parking lot at the DMV. It's a new market and looked very nice when I visited a couple of weeks ago. However, if I can't get a space, I'll go to Telegraph as usual. There's also the possiblity that if the market is a hopeless dud, I may head on down to Telegraph after it closes and set up there by around 2:00.

This will be my first time attempting to participate in this market, so I'm not entirely sure how it'll all work out or how easy it will be to reserve a space. If there's a change of plans, I'll post an update here on Tuesday.

The following weekend - the 9th and 10th - I'll be up in the country with my family taking a short vacation from the 6th to the 14th. I may do a bit of spinning, dyeing and hat making, but mostly it's going to be a family work party for doing repairs on the house and finishing the foundation of a small cabin for my daughter and her husband. So this is not exactly a "laying around in the sun sipping lemonade" type vacation! I'll be checking my email every couple of days at the library in Ukiah, and hat purchases will be shipped as usual.

If all goes well, I'll be back out with the hats and my spinning wheel on the weekend of the 16th and 17th. I plan to be on Telegraph on Saturday and the Farmer's Market on Sunday. The same goes for the 23rd and 24th.

Anyone wanting to know for sure where I'm going to show up is always welcome to call or email me on the Friday before the weekend in question. I check my email regularly and answer calls during normal business hours. My contact information is on my home page at www.handspunhats.com.