Weaverly

New Beginnings

"New beginnings" is too many words, or, as Bruce suggests, superfluous, or again, redundant. Just plain "beginnings" would be better. But Typepad doesn't charge me extra for too many words. So I"ll leave it for now.

My favorite story of the week: Fernando Alonso, at age 41, has just signed with Aston Martin in Formula 1 racing, and achieved a podium position in Sunday's race in Bahrain. It's never too late to begin again! 

Bridges can take you somewhere new. Here are two of my favorites.

I saw this fellow from the bridge. Think circles. More to come.

Back at the studio, another beginning. A new warp. A collection of 10/2 cottons from my ever-dwindling stash

My adaptation of "Conestoga," a traditional overshot draft. Four shafts. Tabby weft is brown 16/2 cotton. Pattern weft is handspun 2-ply Icelandic wool from my stash.

Circles. I never get tired of the surprise of being able to produce circles from a 4-shaft loom. Click to enlarge. The Icelandic yarn is poufing out nicely. Click to enlarge,

Complete change of topic. In the Department of Books, I just finished reading The Escape Artist by Jonathan Freedland.

Fast Driving and Slow Cloth

Last Sunday was the final Formula 1 race of the season, and all other work came to a halt. 

I tell myself that I can knit without watching my needles, but this is not always the case. While the drivers were circling the track in Abu Dhabi, I was doing more frogging than knitting, and finally quit knitting.

OK, Formula 1 is over for the year. Back to the great outdoors. Progress is slower than 200 mph, but every step counts. 

Rhododendron everywhere.

Here's where you must pay attention. If you don't turn right at this gate, you have to go through a swampy area where Carolyn has seen copperheads.

And the final turn to the homeward stretch is just after this birdhouse. It's easy to miss because it blends in with all the grays and browns of the woods in winter.

Back in the studio, I am still working on the 16-shaft amalgamation warp. At this point I am close to the end, and trying to use up some of the full bobbins.

Here's a monochrome version, a different way of combining tonal values: light with light, dark with dark. 

And in desperation, I wove each repeat in a different color weft. 

At the bitter end, I tried just treadled a point twill until I ran out of warp, using the same yarn as in the warp. The texture is nice, if you look at it with sidelighting.

And then I could finally cut the darn thing off. 

After hemming, washing & ironing, we have this, in part:

Now for my 4-shaft loom, I'm looking at another stash-busting project. I've got several pounds of bleached and natural white 10/2 cotton, which I'm combining randomly in a dishtowel warp. 

In this view you can get an idea of the very subtle stripe effect.

Ready to raddle & beam. Maybe tomorrow.

But wait! There's more!

The infamous ski slope profile, but a very tasty loaf. It's an experiment. Molasses & cocoa, with rye and six other grains. 

Sunday Morning

Two parts of my life converged this morning in harmony. At the loom I am finishing up the end of a warp with odds & ends left on bobbins, always a happy and non-demanding task. The surprises are many, the stresses are few.

At the other end of the room the Spanish Grand Prix is running. Golly, that Hamilton. What a marvel.

And after the race, a bit of random drafting for eight shafts. This draft appears at first to be orderly, but as the eye follows it around, it drifts in and out of regularity, and then back again. It is always reined in at the last minute, never going over max float 5. My, this is fun.

Almost time for lunch! I hope your Sunday is going well too.

Marking Time

Looks like we are still on schedule for move-in on Halloween. Meanwhile marking time with spinning. Just finished the pound of CVM I introduced in the last post, and gave the skeins a good washing.

Here they are all skeined up & tidy, ready for ??? Maybe a warp for some twill scarves. Soon, soon.

When not spinning, and when the weather's good, I am just a few steps away from the Swamp Rabbit Trail, and I love walking through the leafy green tunnels. I do have to keep a sharp ear out for the cyclists (the other spinners, you might say), as they come flying by at a great clip. "On your left, on your left!"

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.

Observations, and a New Warp

Many of the areas around the lake are left rough to encourage local plants and wildlife. 

Leaves like this always tempt me to apply my old Photoshop techniques, even though my TC-1 is long gone. I'll just have to find other ways to weave them. More about this later.

This morning there was en entire bush covered with butterflies. It took my breath away. Here's a blurry snapshot of one of them with my phone.

I pass this field every morning. Yesterday the men's lacrosse team was practicing. The wildflowers run rampant along the edge of the field.

The past few weeks I have been noticing an interesting yarn at my LYS. It's linen & cotton wrapped tightly around a core. I couldn't resist touching it at every visit. I finally relented and bought a few skeins. My loom was empty at the moment, so I warped up and gave it a try. Surprisingly difficult to work with, has a mind of its own. At 12 epi it's a bit stiff. I'm hoping it softens up after washing. But I do love the look of it. It's intended to be a scarf. But there is always Plan B...

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.

A New Weft, a Vote, a Nap

Each of these little towels will have a different weft. You can see the previous weft underneath, heading for the cloth beam. Today I tried a blueish pale gray.

After a most satisfactory visit from our plumber, we headed off to County Square to vote. Age hath its privileges. 

Then I washed the yarn I spun during the World Series and put it on the deck to dry. Maggie picked a nice sunny spot for her afternoon nap.

My, that looks comfy. I think I'll go take a nap now, too.

Backlit

Last night while watching the Olympics and spinning, with a very bright reading lamp in a very dark room, I noticed how this green wool roving was looking other-worldly with backlighting. 

And today we drove up the mountain to see the Tapestry Weavers South show at the Folk Art Center. Don't miss it! If you're anywhere within driving distance of Asheville NC, it's a must see. After looking at tapestries for an hour we walked in the woods. Picnic lunch. A lovely break in the weather. 

Then home to work on my own tapestry for a while, newly inspired. I will definitely be revisiting this show several times during its run (Jan. 22 through April 29).

Snow Day and Other Matters

Yes, it's snowing in South Carolina. Missed my walk to day. Too slippery. 

But that means it's a good weaving day. I'm working on the lampas piece derived from scans of ginkgo leaves. It's jacquard with handspun Herdwick wool and yellow lyocel for pattern wefts.

Just for comparison, here's a tapestry sampler I finished the other day, with a few oak leaves. Totally different feel. At 8 epi, the detail is quite coarse. But it's a very hands-on experience to weave. Right brain vs left brain. I love both. Tilt your head sideways for this one.

In the Department of Useful Information, my local sports consultant (who has been watching the Olympic channel) tells me that curling stones were originally borrowed from the weights used to tension handlooms. In Scotland. Who knew?