The whole nine yards

Yep!  I have finished weaving the first nine yards of the cashmere coat yardage.  And cut it off, and am presently wet-finishing it in the washing machine.

I tried to line it up along the main corridor of the house to give you a sense of the length, but a passing cat decided it was her red-carpet moment:

Sweetheart, posing on the red carpet as she arrives at the Academy Awards

Sadly, the photo is a bit out of focus, but hopefully I’ll get better at this in the future.

I also took another closeup of the pattern, which is just beautiful:

Closeup of celtic knot weaving pattern for the handwoven cashmere coat

I’ll take more photos tomorrow once I get it out of the dryer.  (Yes, I did sample first!  It does not full significantly upon machine washing and tumble drying, so I can toss it to the machines.  Cashmere is tougher than you think!)

I’d like to take a shot that gives you an idea of the volume of the fabric, though it won’t capture the heft.  I’m trying to remember how much yarn I dyed – I think it was 2200g of weft and 1800g of warp, for a total of nearly 9 pounds of yarn!  Of course I won’t use all of that while weaving and not all the woven fabric will make it into the coat, but 9 yards was still pretty hefty.  After I have it steam pressed and folded neatly, I’ll take another photo.

I did eventually fall into a natural rhythm of weaving, and Laura is right – it is very much like cycling, in its meditative qualities.  Someday I will have it “down” enough that I don’t have to think about it every time.

Speaking of cycling, I think I’ve decided that I am not doing AIDS Lifecycle this year.  I would absolutely, dearly love to, but if I’m moving in the spring on top of work craziness on top of everything else, well, it just isn’t going to happen.  I’m pretty disappointed, but already looking on towards next year.

Also looking forward to the Cinderella Century – the organizers cashed my check! so my registration is confirmed.  Need to start training (and costume designing!) for that.  Might make for a good break from the coat festivities.

Off to bed!