Which one of these is not like the others?
Clue: the first one is halvdräll, the final towel on this particular warp.
The second one is magnolia, rather late in its blossoming cycle.
And the third one is a jacquard sighting in a waiting room.
Answer: there is no answer. I'm just trying to cool off a little at the end of a very hot day in South Carolina.
The gray warp is all woven and cut off. This morning I sat on the back porch and tied fringes.
The paperback I am using as a weight is the first one that came to hand, a weighty tome from my cookbook shelf. The New York Cookbook was recommended to me when I was researching the best recipes for a NY style Jewish rye bread, which some in the North call corn bread.
Apparently the term "corn bread" in this context is not the Southern style made with mostly corn meal, but a dense rye bread with a little corn meal, and a good sour flavor.
In her introduction to the recipe, Molly O'Neill quotes Terry Kornick, " My mother learned to make this from her brother, Izzy, who immigrated to New York from Poland, where he had been in the shoe business."
That's what I love about this cookbook. It's full of little personal gems. Out of print, you can still find plenty of used copies.
And now a closer look at the scarf.
And if that's just too much orange for you, here's a little purple from yesterday evening's jaunt to the lakeside to see the iris in bloom.
We're all over the spectrum this week. A visit to the bicycle store for a new flag gave us these zippy stripes. Must try that palette some day: shades of yellow and black and gray.
Then we visited the rose garden and boat building king, for these spectacular rose experiences:
Willy is doing some more work on the Marsh Tacky. Love that smell of paint.
Back in the studio I've started another towel on the striped warp, this time with a cotton slub in pink as the weft. I'm using the same yarn for pattern and tabby, and it gives a totally different effect.
This tabby, heavier than the usual, is forcing the pattern shots apart slightly, but at an angle, which results in a slight zig-zag effect.
Now who would have predicted that?
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And now a brief report from the outdoors.
Yes, spring is here, with a vengeance.
The area of the trail that was cleared of fallen trees is slowly being tamed, so that I can get through it without mud up past my ankles. All of this debris will be covered eventually by new growth.
This pile of old vines and branches gladdens a weaver's heart.
And here's a nod to all you Formula 1 fans out there. I didn't know there were so many of you!
A new warp is being wound on to the dobby loom. It's wool and tencel, end and end.
What would we ever do without lease sticks?
Beaming on.
Now a few weft samples.
I finally chose some peach colored soy silk from my stash. This fabric is oddly iridescent. It changes appearance as you walk around it.
I'm seeing people here! That's a surprise.
I got out pretty early yesterday, and my reward was the especially wonderful morning light. The Muhly grass at the gardens exploded with pink.
A few last coneflowers bobbed their heads.
Stripes, anyone?
Or perhaps these:
Now on the the stashbusting. My accumulation of handspun wools and wool blends has grown to alarming proportions over the past 50 years. I'm embarrassed to even show you a picture.
So here's what I did. I'm going to weave a blanket in four strips, each one composed of two 4-yard warp chains, all handspun. Here are the eight warps:
The first two chains on the left in the above picture were warped onto my Nilus II loom.
I plan to weave them off in plain weave, in random shuttles-full of handspun weft.
The weights I was using on my tarp-clip temples were too heavy, so I substituted smaller weights:
And now all is well. The clips are holding the web out to the exact width of the warp in the reed. Selvedge bliss!
So far, I haven't had any warp breakage and the actual weaving is very pleasant.
I hope your weaving is going well today. I'll be thinking of you.
With the return of good weather, we had the urge for a road trip yesterday. We drove to the University of Georgia, State Botanical Garden of Georgia, in Athens, GA. What an amazing place! There are miles of trails and multiple themed gardens. The Heritage Garden is the star, with its many regional plantings and displays.
Hanging long-necked gourds. A real show-stopper.
There were masses of this 5-ft. tall perennial in bloom: Tradescantia virginiana. For your information it's otherwise known as Common Spiderwort. I much prefer the scientific name! There is nothing common about this beauty.
Back at home the first towel on the halvdräll, the one with the red tabby, is finished.
For the second towel, I'm using the same hemp pattern weft, but this time with a gold cotton tabby. It's subtly different.
For a long time I've felt the lack of adequate lighting in this room, particularly when it comes to threading heddles. I purchased a strip lighting kit and installed lights under the castle. Here's what it looks like with the strip lights on in an otherwise dark room, kind of Halloweenish.
Saturday early bird. Sunrise. It's a much cooler time to take a walk.
In the studio, the doubleweave on 8 shafts has been cut off and washed.
Now I am tying some 30/2 linen onto the remains of the warp, in three different color areas, to do some color sampling (I first replayed to 28 epi in an 8 dent reed).
I really wanted to use a temple, but the prickly ones do not play nicely with my loom, so I have gone to the homemade variety with tarp clips and weights. It's working great. Here is the left selvedge:
And the right selvedge:
Another walk. This time a surprise! Well, life will throw you some curves. Let's see where this one leads.
Backpack, water bottles, and cell phones left under this tree. No one else is in sight. There must be a story here.
At the Sustainability Center the zinnias run rampant, even though the wildflower field has been mown down.
Hibiscus buds hoist against the sky.
Getting in a walk is a little tricky when it gets hot so early, but I did sneak in a stroll around the lake a couple of days ago. Lucky me--the lilies in the koi pond are magnificent.
Back in my studio I did some doodling with networked rose path. Do you catch that segue?
Here is the initial.
And here is the resulting draft, treadled as drawn in, with four different 16 shaft twill tieups. Click to enlarge.
Here's a closeup of a single iteration.
Now about that word iteration. What I actually mean is a single repeat, but if it's single, it's not a repeat, right? Any help here, English majors?
After 14 months of lockdown, we're finally permitted access to the Furman campus again. Hallelujah! I have really missed my almost-daily walks around Swan Lake. This morning I savored every step.
In the studio, I've been taking a hard look at this draft from Pyysalo & Merisalo. I wish there were a way to achieve a plain weave selvedge without additional shafts, but I think it's not possible. If I weave this, I'll have to use the dreaded floating selvedge.
Yesterday afternoon we took advantage of the gorgeous weather and drove up to Connemara, the home of Carl Sandburg in Flat Rock, North Carolina.
We circled the lower lake.
I took a detour and walked up to the house to enjoy the view. I was rewarded by this magnificent magnolia just coming into blossom.
Back at the lakeside trail, I spied this I spied this blue thing nestled in a bed of moss. What on earth? A lost jewel? Turns out it was a glass button someone had left in that perfect setting. When I got up closer, I saw that it reflected the trees and sky in perfect miniature. Click to enlarge.
Home at teatime. Warning: Monstera report follows. The new leaves are now fully unfurled, and are a much lighter green than the older leaves. I don't know if they will stay that way, but the contrast is pleasing. I love this plant.
In the studio, bookmaking is top dog this week. I have just completed an online class with the inimitable Ali Manning. What a wonderful teacher! I've done coptic bindings before, but not in this twin-needle fashion. Very helpful. Her cover structure is particularly interesting - just laminated paper, no boards to cut.