On a whim I ordered a kit of naturally dyed yarns from Cotton Clouds. I was blown away by the colors. I was also attracted by the community service aspect of the yarns. The final product is to be a simple vest of four rectangular panels. Instructions are for a rigid heddle loom, but I thought it would be an easy thing to adapt for a table loom with shafts. As it happens, it was not so easy. The warps are double (two strands acting as one), which is easy to accomplish on a RH, but a bit fiddly for a shaft loom. But I persevered.
Once the loom is warped, the weaving is straightforward. Plain weave. There is a pattern suggestion of bands of pickup and other texture weaves, but I decided to stick with plain weave, and perhaps add fancy button loops as an embellishment post-weaving.
The colors are indeed wonderful. More about the dyers of San Rafael, Guatemala, here.
In the Department of Books, I have just finished reading the new English translation of Alessandro Manzoni's I Promessi Sposi, or The Betrothed. I don't intentionally go seeking out novels about the Plague, but they seem to find me. This one was wonderful and I'm glad I stuck with it. Lot's of interesting Italian history here. And it apparently inspired Verdi to write his famous Requiem Mass.