Scraps of Pi (and Pie)

I'm a weaver. When I get to the end of a warp on my loom, there is a certain amount of yarn on the back of the loom that ends up as waste. Depending on the yarn, sometimes I save these yarn pieces (they are called "thrums", if you wanted a new word for the day) and sometimes I throw them out.

I have saved these wool thrums since I was a teenager. When I was 16, having woven for years on a potholder loom and a little table loom, my mom bought me a floor loom and weaving lessons.

If she meant to keep me off drugs, I have to say that fiber is just as addictive, but at least you end up with something when you are done.

The "something" in this case is a piece of double-woven cloth with stripes. If I remember correctly, I double-wove it on a twelve-harness loom, and each little rectangle is like a tiny little pillow. The back of each rectangle is different from the front. It's nice and thick, and usually sits on my loom bench as a cushion.

I knitted a little swatch using a couple of the thrums and threw the swatch in the washing machine. Twice. It felted up nicely, and after [ahem! mumble mumble] years, I finally discovered what I was saving those wool thrums for: another felted Pi bag.

Each thrum knits up to about half a round. I'm out to 144 stitches on a size 5 circular needle that I bought at a thrift store for one dollar. Instead of doing the increases as yarnovers, since this will be a bag I did them as backwards loops. The yarnover increases do disappear pretty much when the knitting is felted, but I think the backwards-loop increases will disappear even more.

And here is the last of the blackberry pie. Can you believe it?? My husband didn't eat his last piece! I found it this morning in the refrigerator! Well, that won't last -- unguarded pie?