Weaverly

Diaries, Bands, and Boats

The diaries are finished. Here's #12 on the wall for a snapshot. I don't know what will happen to them next. They'll have to sit and age for a while.

The weather was pleasant and I reconnected with the outdoors. Lots of green out there. I'm luckier than many.

Fresh mown grass. Can you smell it?

Time to reconnect with a project begun over a year ago. This was before the move. I had acquired an interesting little loom from Chuck Jones and put a warp on it. It was my first attempt at Sami band weaving. After a year I had forgotten everything I learned first time around, and had to relearn. So there were mistakes. And inconsistencies. But I finished a band with not too many wobbles and floaters. The characteristic curved Sami shuttle is in the background. A lot of what I learned came from this wonderful book.

Here's what a typical heddle looks like. You can find one here.

But I digress. Willy, who is building a boat (a flats skiff for fly fishing in the shallows), asked me to weave a band for his fishing hat. The Sami band was perfect. I delivered the hat with newly installed band this morning. He's got a considerable way to go on the boat, but at least he has his favorite hat back.

A closer look. Click to enlarge.

More Messages From Out There

I'm so glad the Trail is still open, and I hope the county will elect to keep it open. Folks are being very cooperative about social distancing, and I think everyone realizes that it's important to get out and exercise every day.

Today there are more cairns on the Trail - or maybe I've just been paying more attention. But it's like getting a message from Out There. So I wave back. Thanks, whoever you are.

It rained hard last night. I could hear it on the roof. The trees are about to explode into leaf. 

Sometimes I work on the rigid heddle loom while watching the news. It's calming. The weaving, not the news.

This is all handspun: the warp (except for the red silk tie-down threads), the ground weft, and the pattern weft. 

The darned spell-checker keeps wanting to change the word "handspun" to "hands-on". Gr-r-r. Bad doggie.

OK out there. Stay warped. Stay wise.

On Lockdown

My activities while we're on lockdown are the same as usual, only more so. That translates to increased weaving time. Lucky, lucky, lucky.

You may recall that the fabric being woven here will eventually become a bias-cut pullover. I will be using this pattern by Sarah. I've used her patterns before, and find her to be a very dependable guide to sewing garments from narrow handwoven fabrics.

But first I had to make a muslin, to check the fit. I had no muslin on hand and a trip to the fabric store is a no-no right now. I did, however, have an old bedsheet. It's an incredible cotton/linen jacquard, too good to get rid of after its useful life was done. Over the last couple of days I made my dummy garment out of this, and it fits perfectly. In fact, it's so nice that I will be wearing the muslin, even after the handwoven version is done.

I've also been finishing up the teaching warp on my rigid heddle loom. I may want to put another warp on this loom soon, and have to be ready for action when the mood strikes.

Then there is always the daily walk. As you can see, I am maintaining social distancing.

So are they.

Be careful out there, y'all. Be mindful, be kind, and be grateful for the work of your hands.

Done and Done

An end of warp situation. This warp was tied onto four times. It's time to bring it to an end. The following two views are behind the heddles.

After cutting off the red warp, there was fabric for 2 bento bags and six smallish table napkins (I guess they're called luncheon napkins, although what luncheon means any more is up for grabs). I took the napkins immediately to the sewing machine and did up the hems.

Then I washed them and ironed them. I am now ready for my next luncheon.

The bento samplers are a little more interesting, a hodgepodge of weave structures and scraps of yarn from partially emptied bobbins. The were such fun to weave. Here they are after washing & ironing. The sewing will come later.

At OLLI we had our final rigid heddle class. So sorry to see it end! What a congenial group of weavers. At times we were the noisiest group in the building, and at other times you could have heard a pin drop, so focused were we on our work. Weaving does that to you.

Back home in the Weaverly studio, I am preparing for a sewing project. I've thrown away all my old paper tracings, because I'm not the same shape as I used to be (gravity is at fault), so I've starting making new ones. There's not a lot of worktable space, but in a pinch the floor will do.

In the department of fowl, around the lake this morning there was this:

And out in the larger world, Brian Stauffer has really nailed it on the cover of this week's New Yorker:    

Catching Up, And a Weather Report

In our OLLI class, the weavers have completed their first brocade samplers. Here are just a few of them just after cutting off.

The weather was dreadful––torrential rains on Thursday––but most of the weavers made it to class. 

And then on Friday, a bit of a surprise. Snow.

In spite of the weather, Patti & I drove up to Asheville to see the Downton Abbey show at Biltmore House. The kitchen was especially endearing.

The costumes stole the show, as you might imagine. The wedding gowns were luscious, but my fave was this woolen fabric in a suit worn by Lady Edith. It was described as a herringbone, but to my eye it was definitely a double weave, a plain layer ad a twill layer, interchanged. Click to enlarge.

Can't resist a sewing machine, any time, anywhere.

Dinner, anyone? Check out the damask tablecloth. 

Back home, in the studio, I have finished hemming the most recent batch of towels. Some of them are Huck, some are various other weaves, all highly textured.

The striped borders are a little funky, but I am enjoying their randomness.

Getting Warped

This week marked the first session of my brocade class at OLLI. These weavers are not novices. I didn't have to spend a lot of time explaining warp, weft, shed, and all the other arcana of weaving. We just dove in. All hail the rigid heddle loom.

As you can see, we share this room with the chess classes.

Each warp is a different color. That wasn't planned, it just happened.

I think collectively we walked several miles.

A very congenial group of nine.

Meanwhile, back at home, the long warp on my 16-shaft loom has been finished, cut off, washed & ironed. There are three long pieces of cloth and a few little samples at the end. I really enjoyed all this sampling on a straight threading!

A gray day on my walk. I think the tower is leaning. Some people agree with me.

In the woods a lot of brown, but it makes the little bit of green all the more startling.

The purple cabbage relatives in the Furman Garden supply a welcome jolt of intense color to the winter landscape.

I just finished reading "First You Write a Sentence." by Joe Moran. I found it entertaining and highly useful. Thanks for the recommendation, Carla.

My New Studio

Some of you have asked about my new studio. Here it is! Love & thanks to Bruce for the pictures.

Shades of Brown & Gray

Some recent observations. A walk in the woods.

A jacquard sighting in a waiting room.

A walk around the lake this past weekend.

Another walk around the lake.

A new warp.

And something to really celebrate: we have unpacked the very last carton. All books and records are shelved. We pause now for some liquid refreshment!

Slippage

There has been some slippage of the schedule. Our house is not complete, and stands in a sea of mud. Moving day was to be tomorrow, but has been forwarded to Halloween Day. Very funny.

Fortunately I have my spinning tools with me, and of course my trusty little rigid heddle loom. One more warp. This is another trial of Berroco Mykonos. Still pretty stiff at 10 epi, but I love it nevertheless. 

I finished spinning the roving I started at National Spinning & Weaving Week, and washed the skeins & hung them to dry.

Done. They started out as Malabrigo Nube.  

Next I tackled the pound or so of CVM I bought from a farmer in Maine a couple of years ago. This might keep me going until Halloween. Perfect. It will certainly be good spinning during the World Series.

 

Multitasking

No words required here, except that I look forward eagerly to moving day.

Just finished reading Great Expectations. It did not meet my expectations, but I did enjoy the delightful humor & satire, character development, and wonderful depictions of the marshes & London locations. Disappointed in the treacley ending. And Miss Havisham was a real piece of work. I did wonder how her garments could have lasted so long.

Did watch the first hour or so of the debates, and am no nearer to a decision.