Weaverly

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. 

Excessive Weaving on the Straight

While watching today's Formula 1 race from Sao Paulo, I noted that in lap 59, due to some excessive weaving on the straight, driver Max Verstappen was shown the black and white flag for unsportsmanlike behavior.The amazing Lewis Hamilton won the race. I wager that not many of you watched the race, because you were weaving, as you should have been, but Formula 1 is de rigueur around here, and I am here to tell you that it was an amazing race. We are still celebrating.

What strikes me as hilariously funny, however, is that "excessive weaving" earns a penalty! If I had to pay a penalty every time I engaged in excessive weaving, I'd be out of luck!

I'm still looking to replace an old bumper sticker that says "I'd rather be weaving." Anyone know where I can find one? Short of printing it myself?

OK, with with all the racing & such, I have no weaving to show you this week. I'll show you a few snapshots of my untidy studio however. Enjoy.

And there's always the call of the great outdoors at this time of year.

Have a good week! And enjoy some excessive weaving, if you can.

Making Space

There is now a certain opening up of the visual space as more leaves fall from the trees.

You can see farther into the woods.

And miracle of miracles, I am finally making a measurable dent in the yarn stash. Voilà, an empty bin!

We are now on the fourth warp of the four-strip blanket. It's going faster than I could have imagined.

By coincidence, I just noticed this beautiful example of strip weaving on one of my favorite sites. I don't know how long it will be there, so best take a look right away.

 

Ashmore Heritage Preserve

A group of Woodlands folk went hiking this morning at Ashmore Heritage Preserve and found that it was a perfect day for a hike: cool but not too cold, slightly overcast, and a rapidly clearing fog cover.

Meanwhile, back in the studio, the third section of the 4-section blanket is nearly finished. 

I'll cut it off tomorrow and wash it. Then the final section will be beamed. Perhaps it will be finished before Thanksgiving. I'll have one more thing (among many) to be thankful for.

Red Sky…

Red sky at night, sailors' delight. Red sky at morning, sailors take warning.

There are many versions of this rhyme, some biblical, some folkloric. I used to hear it from the fishermen in my family. I thought of it this morning when I looked out the front door and saw this astonishing sight.

If I were a sailor, I would definitely take warning, but as I am a weaver, I proceeded directly to my loom and finished winding on the second of the four blanket warps.

Threading was quick at 8 epi. 

And now we're ready to go. Take warning!


Finished reading "The Cadence of Grass" by Thomas McGuane.

Blanket, Phase Two

Wove as close to the heddles as I dared, and cut off strip one of the 4-strip blanket. Here is is lying in a heap on the floor just after cutoff. No one was around at the time, so I didn't bother with the champagne. 

It went straight to the sewing machine to secure the ends, and then into the tub for a nice warm bath. It's now hanging on a rack in the garage to dry.

The next strip has been beamed, and the threading has begun. It's going quickly at 8 epi.

Time for a break. Who can resist an autumn sky?

The End of the Beginning

This blanket project consists of four warps. We are now coming to the end of the first warp.

The finished weaving is winding on the cloth beam. Every time I pass the loom I give the cloth a friendly pat. So does everyone else who passes by. There's something about wool that makes people want to touch it. 

Stashbusting With a Vengeance

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.

WIP or UFO?

Do you call these WIPs or UFOs? I'm not sure. I started the lavender neck scarf over three years ago as a project to tide me over the rough spots during our move to smaller quarters. I finished knitting it last year and it languished in a box in my closet until this week, when I washed it and blocked it. It's one of those asymmetric thingies. All it needs now is a darning in of the ends, and it will be ready to wear on these nice fall days.

The hat is my go-to project for handspun, a simple watch cap with a roll-up brim. It's great for variegated yarns. I've knit dozens of these. I think I can knit it in the dark.

And speaking of fall days, the Sustainability Center is a fall haven for walkers. Every turn of the path reveals more wonders, especially in the slanting early morning light.

There are a few late Black-eyed Susans.

A new crop of chard - how about those juicy red stems?

And in front of the Student Center, a yarn bomb! My walk is complete.

Back in the studio, I have finished the halvdräll towels in linen and hemp, and they are now hemmed and washed. They softened up beautifully in the washer. 

Here's a closer look. The tabby weft is a different color in each one, otherwise they are identical. 

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.