Weaverly

Sunday Morning

Two parts of my life converged this morning in harmony. At the loom I am finishing up the end of a warp with odds & ends left on bobbins, always a happy and non-demanding task. The surprises are many, the stresses are few.

At the other end of the room the Spanish Grand Prix is running. Golly, that Hamilton. What a marvel.

And after the race, a bit of random drafting for eight shafts. This draft appears at first to be orderly, but as the eye follows it around, it drifts in and out of regularity, and then back again. It is always reined in at the last minute, never going over max float 5. My, this is fun.

Almost time for lunch! I hope your Sunday is going well too.

New Amalgamation, New Colorway

First an April sky. It suggests new adventures, more mingling with the outside world, hopeful changes ahead. 

Now a new warp for the 16-shaft Dobby. This time I wanted a monochromatic amalgamation. My stash being what it is, I went for an almost-monochrome, a pale yellow warp in 6/2 unmercerized cotton and a natural weft of 5/2 mercerized. 

This is an amalgamated, networked twill on 12 shafts, with the rear four shafts reserved for a basketweave selvedge in red. 

The yarns play nicely together at 20 epi and ppi. Click to enlarge. 

For more information on amalgamation, see Monographs in sidebar.

Another Amalgamation Adventure

The starting point for this little experiment is a broken twill on 8 shafts. First there is a straight threading on 4 shafts, then a reverse of same on shafts 5—8, except that the starting point for the reverse is shaft 7, not shaft 8, in order to preserve the odd-even alternation, which I like to do. With me so far? I repeated this 8-end motif four times. Then I performed an amalgamation to obtain the second part of the threading. Finally, I tromped as writ and applied a twill tieup. 

I was astonished to discover that the weaves produced are very different when you wrap the tieup. Here are eight possible variations of this wrapping. Click to enlarge.

For more information about amalgamation, see the link in the sidebar, under Monographs.

Now a bit of entertainment. May I present my granddog, Maggie, who is observing correct visiting protocols. She's sitting in the lap of Willy, who is taking a break from boatbuilding.

A Day for Quiet

The changeable weather is imparting a closed-in feeling and I don't have the energy for a very long walk today. Second best is to check on my houseplants. This one does stripes, and she is very good at it. She doesn't ask very much of me, either. 

A surprisingly pleasant indoor activity is mending. I never used to do much of that, except on sheets and pillowcases, and those I tended to mend with the sewing machine. But my favorite linen blouse, many years old and survivor of numerous washings, developed a hole and I thought, this is the time to learn proper mending. You know, the kind that's like weaving. The trick is to anchor your warp and weft on the margins of the hole, and do your weaving in the middle. I don't think this mend would get any prizes at the county fair, but I plan to improve.

Designing amalgamated drafts is a little like doodling. I may get around to weaving this one. Or maybe not.

In the book department, I read two really good ones this week, very different from each other but both about strong women: The Sheep Stell, by Janet White, and Ellen Foster, by Kaye Gibbons. 

On the Trail

Yes, I did stop and read this. But so far they haven't started renovations, and I continue to walk the trail with no interruptions from heavy machinery. Yesterday I was shocked (but not surprised) to see an entire camellia bush in bloom along the side.


And a tree just bursting into bloom near the baseball stadium. Tomorrow it will certainly be covered with blossoms.

At another part of the trail, this time nearer to Travelers Rest, was this curious ghost bicycle. Click to enlarge. Cycling is a risky business around here. So is being a pedestrian. One must be mindful. No cel phones!

And if you're looking for weaving content, no worries. Here's an odd little 8-shaft draft with amalgamation. I may even try to weave this one. But not quite yet.

Max float 4. Four repeats shown.

Two More Towels, More Bast Fibers

On the towel warp, two more bast towels, in slightly different amalgamated weaves. 

These have already been washed, and shrank dramatically. The first has a 100% hemp weft, and the second a cotton/linen plied yarn from Gist. Both towels are wonderfully squishy and absorbent.

Both drafts incorporate amalgamation. 

I added hanging loops (from the lucet, of course!). The resident dish washer says he prefers loops, and he likes these towels so much that he has requested that we keep these. Done.

Meanwhile, in other kitchen news, there is preparation for a big pot of beef stew. 

That's all the news from high fiber country.

Laundry Report

The towels cut off and washed yesterday are posing for a picture. The one on the left, with the hemp weft, I will keep. The other one is a birthday gift (shh! it's a secret). I was very surprised to discover little blue arrowheads in the wider stripes, not apparent before washing. Click to enlarge.

The next set is now being woven. This is another design, with another type of hemp for weft. This weft is behaving badly, somewhat like linen. I think I will have to dampen the bobbins overnight to tame it.

But the pattern is showing up well. Feathers, if you use your imagination. Click to enlarge.

This is another one that will improve greatly with washing.

In the Department of Books, I just finished reading Douglas Preston's In Search of the Monkey God. Not to be missed! Published before the current pandemic, but very prescient. It's also a darn good yarn. Beware -- if you are afraid of snakes, this might not be the book for you.

My Year So Far

Early days, I know, but here is a report. My year so far.

The weather is as depressing as possible. Rain, rain, rain.

On the other hand, in the studio the lights burn brightly. I'm almost finished weaving the second towel on the amalgamated warp. This one has a blue weft.

It's interesting to see two different points of view, according to the focus. Here the camera focuses on the face of the cloth, the one the weaver sees as she sits at the loom. 

And here the camera focuses on the reverse side of the cloth, as the web makes its way to the cloth beam. As it happens, I happen to like the reverse side better, a fact I discovered after I cut the cloth off the loom.

The first two towels have been cut off and I'll hem them as I watch a football game tonight. 

In The Department of Books -- I finished reading "Less" by Andrew Sean Greer. Hilarious, yes, but also quite moving. I'll be reading more by this author.

Studies in Gray

My morning walk was getting a little stale and I felt it was time to make changes. Today the weather is dark and cold, but I donned a few extra layers and ventured out onto the Swamp Rabbit Trail. There were very few cyclists and even fewer pedestrians. 

Through the bare trees you can now see Swan Lake. We're not allowed there during the pandemic, but it's nice to glimpse it anyway.

Or you can look down, and see this:

Back in the studio, work on the striped amalgamated warp proceeds slowly. There was a minor hiccup with the loom, which has now been fixed. 

For a really good look, click on the following:

In another corner of the studio, I was going though my scrap bag, getting ready to throw things out and make room for more scraps, when I started doing this:

Aha! Opportunities for hand stitching here. Slow. Meditative. Perfect for a gray day.

A Warping Week

 

 

 

10/2 cotton warp, various shades of gray & natural, yellow, and a bit of red 5/2. 16/2 cottolin weft, natural, 28 epi. Original amalgamated draft. Click on any of these to enlarge.

Happy Holidays, all.