Weaverly

Another Cutting Off

On a morning walk at Bunched Arrowhead Preserve, we were surprised to see the meadow areas burned off. The burn was recent, as there were barely signs of green shoots emerging from the affected places and the smell of smoke was strong.

We plan to check again in a week or two, and by then the picture will be totally changed. 

Down at the lake the usual complement of strollers was multiplied fourfold. I don't know if it was a special meeting, or if the moms & children were just taking advantage of the good weather. I guess you could call it a Parliament of Strollers.

Back in the studio, the double woven blanket warp is finally approaching its end.

Yup. Time to cut off.

There was enough for two blankets, so I just cut it in half and hemmed both pieces. No fringe. Surprisingly there was only small area that needed mending. No other blips. No broken warps in the entire project. Warp 100% handspun wool and wool blends. Weft is Harrisville shetland yarn, purchased. Here is a back porch snapshot after washing.

Take-up & shrinkage warpwise and weftwise 8%. Finished size of each blanket 58"x50".

I love seeing yarn pictures blown up really big, so here are a couple of pictures from my scanner, at 1200% of actual size.

Don't you just love wool?

And by pure chance, I promise, I have just finished reading Peggy Orenstein's Unraveling: What I learned About Life While Shearing Sheep, Dyeing Wool and Making the World's Ugliest Sweater.

Round & Round She Goes

Still working on making a dent in the stash. These are all handspun yarns. Four chains, six yards long.

At one end is a raddle cross and at the other end is a threading cross.

Round & round she goes.

Somewhere in the middle are a few choke ties.

And then the fun begins. At the top of the following picture, where you can't see it, is a raddle, clamped to the back beam. After the warp is all wound onto the warp beam, the warp will be flipped over the back beam in the proper direction. The following view is from the inside of the loom, looking toward the back.

This is still the back of the loom, now seen from the outside. Rear-hinged treadles. The lease sticks are in place behind the shafts, ready for threading. The plan is for two doublewoven blankets. We'll see what happens. I am always open to course correction. :-)

After a few errors I am too embarrassed to tell you about, here is the front of the loom, finally threaded, sleyed, and ready for weaving. Whew! Time for a cup of tea.

In the Department of Books, I have just finished reading The Pages by Hugo Hamilton.

Tidying Up

On this last day of 2022, this very gray and drizzly day, a good thing to do is organize my huge trove of handspun.

I have what you might call a spinning addiction.

The double width samples I wove last week have been finished. 

I asked my resident critic what he thought: 8 epi or 10 epi? He thought 8 epi would make a good hat. So much for him.

I decided on 10 epi.

But today is such a lazy day that I put all the yarn aside, did a few drafts to exercise my brain...

...then curled up with a good book.

And speaking of books, I just finished reading Jane Gardam's Crusoe's Daughter. 

And just in case I don't pass you on the Trail, Happy New Year everyone. 

Lin, Jin, Win.

Our local study group is taking a look at jin this year, so I thought I'd try a combination of jin and double weave in one cloth. I'm using 30/2 linen from LoftyFiber. Here are some warping snapshots. 36 epi.

The narrow black stripes are double weave, and the red and orange stripes are jin. The double weave places pouf up a bit, which I expected. It's a fun effect. I'm wondering how they will  change after wet finishing. 

Another point of interest is that the double weave stripes take up less than the jin areas. I may have to add a tensioning modification for these. Perhaps extra weights at the back beam. We shall see.

This is all a riff on double weave selvedges. I'm enjoying this project.

In the Department of Books, I've just finished reading After Lives by Abdulrazak Gurnah. Highly recommended.

Jin on 16

More fun and games with jin, aka warp-faced compound tabby, this time on 16 shafts. I did a little experimenting with 3-color jin, with 3 colors rotating in the warp, so that in a single block you can have one color on top or 2 colors on top, and of course the reverse on the other side. Here are the six possible combinations with six shafts for each block, and the remaining 4 shafts just perfect for a double weave selvedge. 

As always, the colors change character depending on the viewing angle and the lighting conditions.

An oddity about having two colors sharing the same space in the reed is that occasionally they change places, as you can plainly see in the following picture. Click to enlarge. This give a slightly streaked effect. It will be interesting to see what happens with this after cutting off and washing.

Is this an error? Do we have to figure out how to deal with it, or just embrace it as a fact of life? The jury is still out. 

Meanwhile, many thanks to Pat for providing me with the perfect yellow. I wanted a "nasty yellow" and this is certainly it. Aggressive, not too warm. Pat is also the one who pointed me in the direction of the double weave selvedge. Beautiful, dependable, and an elegant method of doing away with the unlovable floating selvedge. The only downside is that it consumes four of your shafts. 

New Perspective

Yesterday on the Swamp Rabbit Trail I started to see all the creeping vines. I know they have been there all along, but perhaps I was not as alert to them before. This makes me think it's time for a new warp.

It is very unusual to see the trail this deserted. The cyclists won't be out until later in the day.

The crinkle scarf is cut off, washed, and hung out to dry. The narrow sections of handspun wool singles shrunk nicely. The rest of the scarf is linen.

Another linen scarf, this time without crinkles. This one's 100% linen, with an amalgamated twill draft.

And a little something extra today. A jacquard sighting in a waiting room. I can't really see the structure, but I can envision it being woven in doubleweave.

Finished reading The New Land by David Stewart.

New Linen Table Runners

It has been a pleasure to work with the beautiful Euroflax linens provided by LoftyFiber. I am particularly smitten with the 30/2 size, which weaves up perfectly for table linens and comes in some gorgeous colors. Some of my designs are now available as kits from LoftyFiber, with drafts and instructions, and sufficient linen yarns for completion. 

The following table runner kits are for 8-shaft looms. The first one is called Tabula Rasa.

The structure is double weave.

The following design, called Diamond Dazzle, is also available as a kit in three different colorways. This is doubleweave as well.

This yarn is very easy to work with and I have not experienced a single broken warp end. True love.

 

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. 

Some Observations on Pattern and Color

It's never just one thing that influences a design choice. My daily visits to the farm are a rich source of patterns. These new furrows are starkly outlined in the early morning light.

The last few days I've spent a lot of time following the black swans around, and the patterns made by their long curved necks are compelling.

And then there are the colors. Oddly for this time of year, I've been noticing more green.

So I tied on a new warp to the interleaved threading on the 16-shaft loom, and it is half green, half eggplant, and all linen. I love the scary-looking birds' nests that arise during the tying-on. It's like a magic trick when you pull the knots through and wind the whole thing on. 

Here's the loom all tidy and ready to go. 

Laundry Art. Here's the first sample off the loom and just washed, waiting to dry. The wefts in these swatches are all linen of different types and colors. 

I've selected forest green and yellow linen wefts for the first runner. Definitely a green vibe. Amazing to see all the shades of green that emerge.

If you turn around and look at this from a different angle, the color relationships change. 

And if I get tired of monotone, I can always go to the bakery and get more inspiration.

The New Moon, and Steps Forward

Yesterday evening, I saw the new moon. Actually I didn't know if it was the old moon or the new one. I've not been paying enough attention. I had to look it up. But I think it's the new one.

In the studio, I cut this linen runner off the loom. It was tied onto the old cotton warp. In linen it's so much better. I washed & ironed it this morning. There is an unexpected iridescence. 

But there is also a naked loom. Dear me.

Choices to make. Alternatives to consider.

I think I've got it sorted out. Now to take some steps forward.

________

In the Department of Books, I just finished reading Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano.