Weaverly

Possibilities

The sky this morning, just after the rain stopped. Lots of possibilities.

Into the woods. I spotted these little beauties again, off to one side. You really have to be paying attention. 

Carolyn says they are Helleborus. Such a grand name for a shy little thing.

On what remains of the linen warp, I'm trying a little experiment with energized yarn. The larger segments are amalgamations with a linen weft, and the narrow stripes are a basket weave variation with multiple strands of overspun wool singles.

I'm hoping that the real drama will come about in the wash, as the wool singles release their energy and shrink up. 

Just finished reading The Charleston Gambit by Stuart Bennett, an excellent historical novel about the Revolutionary War in the South Carolina backcountry.

Lacey

I am so freaking tired of this weather! 

End of rant.

On my 8-shaft loom I am weaving a couple linen scarves in a lacey sett, in the hopes that they will soften up in the washing and be a nice drapey accessory for summer. 

The weave is an amalgamated twill. Warp: 30/2 linen @ 24 epi; weft, singles 16/1 linen @ 22 ppi. Yarns from LoftyFiber, my local go-to yarn store.

It was easy to warp and is proving to be easy to weave. I'm using floating selvedges.

Finished reading Gods of the Upper Air: How a Circle of Renegade Anthropologists Reinvented Race, Sex, and Gender in the Twentieth Century by Charles King. If you have time to read only one book this year, make it this one!

 

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. 

Dreaming of Red Devil Chocolate Cake

The weather's been a little flippy lately. I try to get out on the trail between the raindrops. Yesterday looked like this, but this morning was way too wet for walking.

So I continued working on this loom:

The warp is a combination of brown cotton and burgundy cottolin, end-and-end, and the effect is just like Red Devil chocolate cake. A warm, gooey brown. I wouldn't mind a piece of it right now. If you've never had it, look it up on the interweb. You'll find a million recipes.

The structure is halvdräll, a 4-shaft weave. I'm taking the opportunity of using up some stash. Tabby weft is red cottolin, and adds to the red devil effect. The pattern weft is 2-ply hemp, which had been languishing on the back of a shelf. 

The denting (3 per dent in a 10-dent reed) creates some strange effects that look like threading errors, but I expect these will come out in the wash. Click to enlarge. After a couple of washings I think this fabric will soften up and become a very nice bath towel.

 

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.

 

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. 

Straight and Narrow

The 16/1 linen is remarkable easy to handle. No tangles and no breakage (yet).

I'm weaving a scarf 9" wide in a crepe weave on 4 shafts. It's somewhere between plain weave and twill in its density, with no floats longer than 2. Click to enlarge.

It's my original draft, although I'm sure somewhere in the world, at some point in history, someone else has invented it.

Rain threatened around midday, but I had an urge to get out into the woods, and we drove to one of the trailheads of the Foothills Trail, where we ate our picnic lunch.

Then home in time for tea.

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.

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