Weaverly

Things That Make Me Happy

Goodness, but it's been a rough week and guaranteed to get rougher. But lucky me, so many things have come together to make me happy today. I thought I'd share. 

A large shipment of trees has arrived overnight and is waiting for final placement. They will help soften the lines of all the recent construction around here.

While watching the World Series, I've been plying some of my previously spun singles. This is a longwool breed of some sort. There might be enough for a small rug taken all together. Yes, lots.

On the dobby loom I continue with the double weave project. This little piece makes deep furrows. One layer is warp satin, and the other is plain weave. The stripes are quite narrow and intentionally rippled (thank you, Photoshop Elements). This one actually feels more interesting than it looks. 

And my avocado! It was dormant for several months in its little glass jar of water, and suddenly it woke up. This morning I potted it and I hope it will survive the change. I think it will. 

Last night after dinner I got out my newest sewing machine, bought just for its buttonholer, and made five perfect buttonholes in this gray linen shirt. Very happy to have finished the project. I cut the shirt out in July, but just got around to stitching it up. I think it needs a pair of wildly patterned pants to go with it. Perhaps an Indian block print. Hm-m-m.

Don't you just love it when yarns group themselves into colorways, totally unplanned? I never would have combined these on my own, but I saw them sitting on the floor next to my bobbin winder, and I thought: Yes.

Bruce is thinking stripes these days, and he caught me at the breakfast table with the morning light on my face through the Venetian blinds. So here I am, all  striped up.

Catching Up - Double the Fun

Things didn't work out as planned on the dobby loom. Instead of tied weaves, I elected to weave some samples of double weave, not tied, with various structures on the separate layers: plain weave, various 4-end twills, 8-end satin & granite, and did I say plain weave? 

So here are the results so far, in no particular order.

 

 

As you can see, I'm having beaucoup fun, and there's no end in sight. All this Photoshop stuff (see Liftplan Connection in sidebar) is making me glad I have this wonderful new desk chair. It's much kinder to my body.

And then there are the evenings away from the computer & loom. That's knitting time. The following photo is courtesy of Bruce. 

The sweater is finally finished. It's this wickedly ingenious pattern from Sarah Swett:

https://www.afieldguidetoneedlework.com/store/p22/A_Sweater_--Somewhat_Slanted.html

And in the books department, I just finished reading William Boyle's Sweet Caress. Enjoyed this! Eight stars out of ten.

 

A Tree Fell in the Forest

...and I didn't hear it...

...because I was in the studio tying on a double warp to a dummy warp. 

I've just woven the first couple of inches, but it seems to be working OK. This is a deflected double weave on 8 shafts. The red is 8.2 unmercerized cotton, and the natural is a wool/silk noil blend from my stash.

The idea here was to create an asymmetrical design in deflected double weave. This will improve a lot after washing, I expect.

The other loom is naked, a sad state of affairs in my life, and so I've been doodling with a new draft. This will be tied double cloth on 16 shafts. The idea is to have warp-effect twills on both sides with opposing diagonals. Here's a screen shot of the face:

And the reverse:

There's still a lot of noodling to do, but it's a start.

And news from the Department of Quarantine: we're finally out of confinement.