Weaverly

Yarn? Thread?

I was bored the other day & went shopping (it always works). I picked up some embroidery floss, sewing thread, & a ball of baby yarn.

Here is a new sample on the orange warp. For the fine background weft I chose something really fine: lilac sewing thread; and for the brocade weft, I used the baby knitting yarn in mint green. 

Interestingly, the lilac thread reads as the same tonal value as the orange warp, and practically disappears in the cloth. The green, on the other hand, is a very much lighter tone than the warp, and the contrast is good. If you photograph these yarns in black & white, the tonal similarities and contrasts are more evident.

Here's a bit of weaving:

The reverse side is interesting. If you zoom in, you can just catch the little lavender ground wefts in the areas where the brocade wefts float on the face.

Conclusion: this is a good choice of weft yarns for this technique. You will recall that the warp is 8/4 cotton used double at 12 epi.

Something Fishy

First a couple of birds. 

Then I tried to make my own design. A fish. Or two.

Or three.

The problem is -- I think they look more like airplanes.

Whatever.

Celebration in the Gazebo

Yesterday the spinners celebrated National Spinning & Weaving Week at the Gazebo in Travelers Rest. What a great time we had! The weather was perfect, and lots of folks stopped by to see what we were up to. The Gazebo is just adjacent to the Swamp Rabbit Trail, so there was plenty of bicycle traffic.

Orange, and More

New week, new warp. I wanted to weave more samples of the Tejido Huave technique described in this post. A little more spontaneous, this time. First a diamond.

What's better than a diamond? Three diamonds!

Then I tried something asymmetric, but graphed it out first. The challenge was to avoid any floats longer than 3. Done.

Winding onto the cloth beam.

A closeup. This might be the last warp I put on the rigid heddle loom before moving day. Maybe.

Jacquard sighting! This was while I waited for the elevator. Click to enlarge. 

Meanwhile, the outdoors beckons. On this morning's walk I spent a little extra time in the rose garden. 

And the waterfowl are always composing and recomposing themselves into elegant compositions. I thought this one looked better in black & white.

I love my daily walk around the lake. Now that it's a little cooler, I don't have to start out quite so early.

Now may I change the subject? Here's a bumper sticker I saw this morning: "Elect a clown, expect a circus." Yup.

Three-Run Home Run

It was that kind of day. First there was a black swan who followed me part of the way around the lake this morning. 

Then this wonderful book arrived in my mailbox. It was actually stuck in the mailbox, and I had to exercise great restraint in prying it loose. No damage done. I have no idea how the mail person got it in there in the first place. 

I am sorry Erica de Ruiter is no longer with us. What genius! 

Many of these techniques will adapt easily to rigid heddle weaving. I can't wait to try some of them.

The third home run is that I finished weaving this scarf, cut it off, twisted the fringes, washed & dried it, and wore it to dinner this evening. Cotton & linen. Plain weave with a little bit of leno.

I probably could have made it longer, but at least it won't drag in my soup.

Cut Off and Tidied Up

Cut off day before yesterday and tidied up. You know the drill, snip off loose tails, twist the fringes, etc. Here's the whole Theo Moorman sample laid out on the bed. If I weren't so lazy, I'd have gone down three flights of stairs and photographed this on the grass, but...

As I can't stand to look at a naked loom, I warped this little fellow up again yesterday. I have a limited stock of colors with me now (you may have noticed), so I used the same yarns in a striped configuration, and went for a little leno this time. I tried setting it up with string heddles, but that was a dismal failure. So this is one twist at a time. Pretty fast, actually, once you get in the rhythm. 

After it's washed, I expect it will be a drapey little scarf. Cotton & linen.

Ducks and Mosquitos

How lucky I am to have this beautiful lake to encircle every day on my walk. It's almost two miles according to MapMyRide.

The scenery is ever changing, and there is plenty of wildlife.

Meanwhile, back at the loom, we now have mosquitos. Yes, that's what they're called. You can complete a mosquito in three picks (well, six picks including the ground weave). Click to enlarge.

And more than one mosquito equals a scourge. Other collective nouns I have found for mosquitoes are swarm and cloud. I believe I prefer scourge, actually. 

Check

Getting better at the diagonals. Check.

Speed Weaving – Not

In the afternoons, the window light here is wonderful. And there is a view of Paris Mountain, should I chance to look up from the loom. Here is today's progress on the brocade sampler. Theo Moorman, pick up stick, string heddles, design as you go, loving it all.

Click to enlarge.

And On and On

The sampler on the rigid heddle loom goes on and on. How long is this warp anyway? No matter. I'm happy enough to have a loom to weave on while I wait for the next chapter in my weaving life.

A rectangle within another rectangle. Check.

I'm becoming very agile with the string heddles. Once I get in the zone, this technique is intoxicating.