Weaverly

If a Tree Falls in the Forest

Yesterday I got almost this far...

...and this lay across my path and I had to turn back. 

I am such a creature of routine that I found it difficult to backtrack and take another path. But I don't clamber over downed trees any more. Crawling around under my loom to repair broken cables is about my limit now. 

Here's the first sample on my new striped warp. 

Not quite what I had in mind. I like it better with a black weft. It has a cottolin warp and I'm using odds & ends of cotton in the weft. Sixteen shafts.

Meanwhile, the 30/2 linen warp which had languished for weeks on the Jane (8 shafts) was finally finished and cut off. And not a drop of champagne in the house! Too bad. I braided the fringes, then into the washing machine it went. 

I hung it from the shower rod to dry. It was still stiff as a board, so I repeated the washing two more times. It's starting to soften up. I think after a steam pressing it will be the texture I was looking for. Warp 30 epi, weft 15 ppi. 


A closer look.

Here's the draft. It's a crepe weave on a straight draw.

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Just finished reading Whereabouts by Jhumpa Lahiri. 

Snowed In

Snowed in is not such a bad thing IF you don't lose power and you have plenty of food. That's a big if. We are so-o-o lucky. Thanks everyone for checking in.

This is the view out my kitchen window early this morning. The hydrangea bushes are knee deep in snow. The wind howled yesterday. Today the sun is shining. I hear that cars are stranded around the main entrance. I do see a few cars on the road now and then. For the time being we are staying put.

There is always this. And knitting.

There is also reading. Just finished Lauren Groff's Matrix. If you like reading about strong women and if you have a taste for historical fiction (yes! yes!), this one's for you.

Out of the Usual Groove

Everything is askew. The swans are walking around on land. They are ungainly out of their element. They waddle, in fact.

Thoreau's cabin is uninhabited. He has never, in fact, inhabited this particular cabin. On the other hand, it suggests a homeyness to me. Perhaps it's the pitch of the roof.

Some of you have asked to see the finished blanket. Here it is, as best I can photograph it. The room is small and the bed is large. 

All plain weave. A glancing ray of sunlight.

Now it's time for another warp. This time for the dobby. The beaming operation begins here. If you look hard you can see Uncle Potch on the wall.

It's ready for threading. When I get around to it.

Just finished reading: There Is Nothing for You Here by Fiona Hill. Remarkable history.

Here We Go Again

Time to wind on another one.

Just finished reading Ben Macintyre's Agent Sonya. Great read! Recommended. 

Fast Driving and Slow Cloth

Last Sunday was the final Formula 1 race of the season, and all other work came to a halt. 

I tell myself that I can knit without watching my needles, but this is not always the case. While the drivers were circling the track in Abu Dhabi, I was doing more frogging than knitting, and finally quit knitting.

OK, Formula 1 is over for the year. Back to the great outdoors. Progress is slower than 200 mph, but every step counts. 

Rhododendron everywhere.

Here's where you must pay attention. If you don't turn right at this gate, you have to go through a swampy area where Carolyn has seen copperheads.

And the final turn to the homeward stretch is just after this birdhouse. It's easy to miss because it blends in with all the grays and browns of the woods in winter.

Back in the studio, I am still working on the 16-shaft amalgamation warp. At this point I am close to the end, and trying to use up some of the full bobbins.

Here's a monochrome version, a different way of combining tonal values: light with light, dark with dark. 

And in desperation, I wove each repeat in a different color weft. 

At the bitter end, I tried just treadled a point twill until I ran out of warp, using the same yarn as in the warp. The texture is nice, if you look at it with sidelighting.

And then I could finally cut the darn thing off. 

After hemming, washing & ironing, we have this, in part:

Now for my 4-shaft loom, I'm looking at another stash-busting project. I've got several pounds of bleached and natural white 10/2 cotton, which I'm combining randomly in a dishtowel warp. 

In this view you can get an idea of the very subtle stripe effect.

Ready to raddle & beam. Maybe tomorrow.

But wait! There's more!

The infamous ski slope profile, but a very tasty loaf. It's an experiment. Molasses & cocoa, with rye and six other grains. 

In the Night Studio

The lights in my studio gave out last night. I had just finished beaming this warp, which was tied onto the previous warp. The picture is taken with flash. Unfortunately I can't weave by flashlight, so will have to wait until daylight to weave. 

What do you think about when you can't sleep at 4 a.m.? This is what I think about. It has a few float issues, but I think they are fixable. It's a combination of 11-shaft amalgamated twill and 5-shaft satin. 

There are some things you just can't untangle.

Multitasking Lite

There was actually a sneak peek at my most recent warp in the last post -- it was a coiled-up warp chain. Said warp has now made it onto the dobby loom. A view yesterday from behind the heddles:

...and here it is in front, ready for action.

And as of this afternoon, some progress is being made. Amalgamation on 16 shafts. I'm sampling various colorways, and so far this is one I like:

Did I tell you about Friday's hike at Raven Cliff Falls? It was a winner. We didn't get close enough to the falls for a fancy picture, but trust me, it was a beautiful hike and a gorgeous day in the woods.

At this time of the year I feel especially lucky to be living in South Carolina. 

Back in the studio, taking a break from weaving, I spent some time on the computer, messing about with non-parallel interleaved threadings. This one needs work, as it has several overly long floats, but I think it has promise. 16 shafts.

Now for the Department of Books. Recently finished reading Fates and Furies, by Lauren Groff; All the Frequent Troubles of Our Days, by Rebecca Donner; and The Narrow Road to the Deep North, by Richard Flanagan. 

Bits & Bobs

Doodling around at the computer, I came up with this 16-shaft draft with amalgamation. I'm still tinkering with it, but will probably use something similar as my next warp on the dobby loom. Click to enlarge.

Meanwhile, I've been enjoying hiking. These pictures are from yesterday at the Carrick Creek Trail at Table Rock State Park.

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Just finished reading Bitter Orange by Claire Fuller. Gorgeous.

 

New Warp, Old Warp

I pass this loom a dozen times a day; it's impossible to ignore it, especially when it is bare. Took care of that issue over the weekend by winding a new linen warp, with lots of red, gold, lavender, and eggplant. Here it is beamed and partially threaded.

And after a lovely walk in the woods, it's now ready to weave. Thank you, Rumpelstiltskin (I wish). 

In the picture below I'm trying out various weft colors and weaves.

I finally settled on this crepe structure. 

And I'm weaving it with a bright blue weft. 

In these glorious early autumn days I try not to neglect the outdoors, even though weaving is pulling me equally hard in the other direction. I tried a different route in my morning walk, and was rewarded with this intriguing little hidden space over a stream. I'd never seen it before.

The seasonal color is just starting to appear hereabouts.  How is it where you are?

Back in the studio I shifted my attention to an old 4-shaft project on the floor loom. It was a longish mixed warp, and I had originally done some pattern weaving on it, but I got bored and then realized that this was a perfect opportunity for stashbusting. I got out a box of partially wound bobbins which needed to be emptied, and just randomly wove then off in plain weave, hit-or-miss fashion. I got to the end of the warp with most of the bobbins emptied, and cut off this 3-yard length of plain weave rainbow cloth. There is enough here for a garment of some sort. The weight is perfect for this climate. So there's a sewing project for some long winter's evening...

Green and Yellow into Red

Happy Autumn Equinox, everyone. It's officially when green turns to yellow and red, although that's a little slow here. The last few days have been rainy and super-saturated with color. 

Red has been creeping into my weaving as well. The scarf in singles linen advances slowly because I have to take special care with the selvedges. 

But I love the yarn and do not mind the slow, meditative weaving. I am hoping that this will change into a soft and drapey fabric after washing.


On the dobby loom there is also some red, but in this case the weaving is faster. Clack clack and repeat.

This runner was cut off yesterday. I usually hem these things immediately and wash them, but in this case I couldn't decide which side is the "right" side. So I let it sit overnight. The warp is still the Eggplant and Wasabi Euroflax 30/2 linen and the wefts in this case are red and beige. 

In the Department of Books, I just finished reading Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín.