Weaverly

Laundry Report

The towels cut off and washed yesterday are posing for a picture. The one on the left, with the hemp weft, I will keep. The other one is a birthday gift (shh! it's a secret). I was very surprised to discover little blue arrowheads in the wider stripes, not apparent before washing. Click to enlarge.

The next set is now being woven. This is another design, with another type of hemp for weft. This weft is behaving badly, somewhat like linen. I think I will have to dampen the bobbins overnight to tame it.

But the pattern is showing up well. Feathers, if you use your imagination. Click to enlarge.

This is another one that will improve greatly with washing.

In the Department of Books, I just finished reading Douglas Preston's In Search of the Monkey God. Not to be missed! Published before the current pandemic, but very prescient. It's also a darn good yarn. Beware -- if you are afraid of snakes, this might not be the book for you.

My Year So Far

Early days, I know, but here is a report. My year so far.

The weather is as depressing as possible. Rain, rain, rain.

On the other hand, in the studio the lights burn brightly. I'm almost finished weaving the second towel on the amalgamated warp. This one has a blue weft.

It's interesting to see two different points of view, according to the focus. Here the camera focuses on the face of the cloth, the one the weaver sees as she sits at the loom. 

And here the camera focuses on the reverse side of the cloth, as the web makes its way to the cloth beam. As it happens, I happen to like the reverse side better, a fact I discovered after I cut the cloth off the loom.

The first two towels have been cut off and I'll hem them as I watch a football game tonight. 

In The Department of Books -- I finished reading "Less" by Andrew Sean Greer. Hilarious, yes, but also quite moving. I'll be reading more by this author.

Studies in Gray

My morning walk was getting a little stale and I felt it was time to make changes. Today the weather is dark and cold, but I donned a few extra layers and ventured out onto the Swamp Rabbit Trail. There were very few cyclists and even fewer pedestrians. 

Through the bare trees you can now see Swan Lake. We're not allowed there during the pandemic, but it's nice to glimpse it anyway.

Or you can look down, and see this:

Back in the studio, work on the striped amalgamated warp proceeds slowly. There was a minor hiccup with the loom, which has now been fixed. 

For a really good look, click on the following:

In another corner of the studio, I was going though my scrap bag, getting ready to throw things out and make room for more scraps, when I started doing this:

Aha! Opportunities for hand stitching here. Slow. Meditative. Perfect for a gray day.

A Warping Week

 

 

 

10/2 cotton warp, various shades of gray & natural, yellow, and a bit of red 5/2. 16/2 cottolin weft, natural, 28 epi. Original amalgamated draft. Click on any of these to enlarge.

Happy Holidays, all.

Drawstring Mania, an Audition, & a Menorah

Mania: an excessive enthusiasm or desire; an obsession.

Gosh, loan a girl a lucet and there's no telling what will happen. I seem to have developed a mania for drawstrings. But if I'm going to make drawstrings, I have to have something to draw them through. Enter my DPN's and handspun yarn stash.

An audition is a tryout for a role in a movie, orchestra, or play.

Audition is the transduction of sound waves into a neural signal that is made possible by the structures of the ear.

It seems that audition refers to the sense of hearing. But can an audition apply to the sense of sight?

An audition is trying out yarn colors for a new warp.

And shifting gears a bit,

This menorah belonged to my maternal grandparents, then to my parents. Here it is in my kitchen on the eve of the last day of Hanukah this year. As we approach the longest night of the year, I am warmed by the light.

Washed

Finished & washed. Looking good. Click to enlarge.

It shrank down to 22" wide, 2/1/2 yds in length. I think I will leave it as a shawl. It feels heavenly. It would be a shame to cut into it. I might only wear it once a year, but it will be a very special event. Maybe opening night at the opera. 

Cut Off

After many months of slow weaving, I cut off the deflected double weave piece from my 8 shaft loom. It was 26" in the reed, and is now about 24" wide. There is approximately 2 2/3 yards of fabric here. I was envisioning a generously sized shawl, but it's still way too big. We'll see how much shrinkage occurs in washing. 

The white yarn is a wool/silk noil blend from Hanry's Attic, purchased eons ago and languishing in my stash until now. The red is 6/2 unmercerised cotton. I'm separating out the two colors for a barber pole effect in the fringe. If this shawl thingie turns out to be still too big after washing, I'll cut it up and make something like a vest, and just sacrifice the fringe. We'll see.

I'm noticing some congruences in my daily life these days. Now that most of the trees are bare, it's easy to see the branching structures. 

And in my kitchen, more trees! Cauliflower for lunch.

Slow Work

Last week's jin was washed & ironed. It will make its way into something wearable. Eventually.

Hanukah this year was virtual. 

This morning we got up early to watch the final race of the Formula I season, from Abu Dhabi. 

I must keep my hands moving while I watch TV. Currently working on some drawstring pouches to contain other projects. Projects within projects within projects. That's how I roll.

On the looms there is only slow weaving. Long warps, a little weaving each day. Inch by inch. It's pleasant work, but really doesn't engage the mind.

But what should appear, just in time? This lovely tool, called a lucet. I'm learning how to use it. A new set of hand skills. Now that's a fun challenge. 

Looking Ahead

I've come nearly to the end of the jin warp and I'm thinking ahead to the next warp. It's evident that I'm a warping nerd. Maybe some day I'll make me a T-shirt that reads "I'd rather warp than weave."

I'll continue with the jin at the wider sett. The stripes in the two layers are staggered in their overlap, giving me four different color pairs of the four warp colors: red, purple, teal, and brown.

It's approximately 5 yards.

The cross again, this time in a relaxed state. In a few days I'll be ready to tie on.

Meanwhile, out of doors, the construction site is quite interesting these days. The roof is going on to the new wing. These guys stroll around up there, four stories off the ground, as if they are invincible. I love watching the acrobatics of the crane operators. 

We are starting to make plans for Chanukah, which begins this Thursday evening.  It will be by Zoom this year, of course, lighting candles and opening gifts virtually. Patience, patience.

Resleyed

I've resleyed the warp of the last few weeks, from 40 epi to 30 epi. It's now wider and less dense. The warp order and threading are the same. 

At this sett, it's possible to weave jin (familiarly known as turned taqueté). 

There are a few more yards, at least, of warp here, enough to weave a strip of fabric to be incorporated into a garment I have in mind. I'm using a fine cotton/hemp blend of approximately 16/2 size as weft. 

It's mindless weaving, just throwing a shuttle back & forth. Perfect for listening to podcasts. 

Click to enlarge.