Last new pieces

This is a test. This is only a test. If this were a real emergency I’d have links to purchasing this wrap immediately. Seriously, I’d never taken a video of one of my pieces before, and I had no idea how this would work in my blog. My preview shows me that it works fine, although you can tell I need more practice moving the camera.

Anyway, this is one of two of the last pieces to come off my loom before my show this weekend. All yarn is 8/2 tencel. The warp is a gradient from solid black to solid white. For this mobi wrap, the weft is a very pale silver-gray. The weave structure is a lace pattern I designed.

The second piece is a long vest. Because of the gradient in the warp, this isn’t my favorite piece...I’d prefer that both front pieces were the same. I do think that difference will really appeal to someone, though.

Because of the gradient, I had to do a few things differently than my previous long vest. I had to split the width for the front, of course, but couldn’t use the selvedges for the opening. In order to match the back, the selvedges had to be ‘wasted’ by sewing them into the side seams. That meant I had to find another way to finish the front.

After much pondering, I decided on double-fold bias tape. I chose a tape that’s 1/2′′ wide, thinking it would look better than the tiny 1/4′′ tape. I used a stitch in the ditch technique to avoid as much visible machine work as possible. Of course, despite my extensive pinning and slow stitching, there were some spots where the machine didn’t catch the back tape and I had to do some tiny hand stitches to secure it.

This vest actually required LOTS of hand work. After the shoulder and side seams were machine stitched, I hand hemmed all seam allowances down for a nice smooth finish. Then the stitching around the bias tape. Then the hand hemming. And all this came AFTER I had done the necessary needle weaving after the fabric came off the loom. I spent more time on this piece than will be able to recoup in sale price. Sigh.

I’m off to pick up the rental van so I can load it up. Wish me luck this weekend!

August 23rd, 2019 | 

A few more pieces

I only have a few more days before my first show, so I’m finishing my last few items. I wove them on a warp I hand painted.

Here’s the thing...I obviously can’t reliably predict how the color will look from wet to dry yarn. My inspiration was Design Seeds sugared tones.

Nice summery pastels, right? HAH! Here’s what I ended up with.

We can all agree – Not. Even. Close.
So, how would I proceed? Well, if I wanted to tone it all down, I’d use a white weft. That’s what I did for the first scarf.

Much closer to the intent. And I like the random switching of the treadling pattern.
However, since I’d dyed some weft yarn to coordinate, I wanted to use it. I’m calling this one sugar & grapes.

Then, because I was clearly barely sufficient with the number of my cowls, I wove the last two into short-ish cowls instead of one fringed scarf. First I used a gold weft. Also reminiscent of the original intent.

Finally I used a grayed-blue yarn, giving the cowl a denim-like appearance.

On to the many off-loom and/or administrative tasks that need to be done before the show.

July 7th, 2019 | 

4 + 79 = ??

Of course we know that 4+79=83, but not in my world. Nope. 4 finished pieces + 79 bags = um...you can’t add those things together. But I did sew and string 79 bags in a few different sizes for packaging at my shows this year. Used about 60 yards of ribbon. Yes, 60 yards of ribbon.

I got four more pieces woven and finished so far this month. All on the last handpainted warp I had. Again, this is living coral and turquoise in 8/2 tencel, but this time the yarn was all painted in skeins, not warps. This type of dyeing has its own beauty, although I think I prefer painted warps over painted skeins.

That being said, I’m happy with all four pieces. First up is a jacket woven with an 8/2 black tencel weft. I threaded the loom with point twill, and used an M & W treadling. The weather has been so beautiful that I brought Lady Jane and Dolly both out in the evening for photos.

Then I used some 16/2 (or maybe even 20/2) rayon in a lovely peacock color. I tried tripling the weft but that was too much, so used it doubled. I also decided I needed more just plain shawls, no sewing involved.

I decided to weave 2 shortish and wideish cowls with the remainder of the warp. I changed the tie up and treadling, and used th doubled peacock yarn for the first piece.

Then back to the black tencel for the last piece. I also decided for a closer shot so you can see more detail in this piece.

So I have a total of 7 finished pieces, and 3 more off the loom awaiting my finishing. That’s why I decided to follow my wishes and put a warp for 8 more polka dot towels on the loom. This time in various blues. No sneak peeks!

June 23rd, 2019 | 

Starting May strong

It’s May 7th and I have 6 scarves woven, wet finished, and complete! First up, I started with some hand painted 20/2 silk. I dyed this yarn in late April, using a photo I found online from Blue Brick Dyeworks, as inspiration. They called it Prairie Storm, which works for me.

Here’s the yarn I ended up with from that inspiration image.

I chose a weave structure I’ve used many times and really like, and wove the first scarf with a 20/2 gold weft. Looks like that storm at dawn.

Then I used 2 strands of a textured green & white silk singles I’ve had for a long time. I also changed the treadling, turning the pattern into leaves. So different! The colors are more spring-like, and the texture adds a strong element.

Here’s a close up so you can see both weave structure and texture.

For the last scarf I wanted a strong color, so used 2 strands of 60/2 chocolate silk. Now that prairie storm is really threatening.

I went back to the treadling of the gold scarf, which you can’t really see there, but you can in this close up.

Then, sticking with my must-use-stash mantra, I pulled out a rayon seed yarn, something I’ve never used before. Sett at only 15 ends per inch, I had to remove my go-to 12-dent reed and go up to the attic to get my 6-dent to accommodate this ‘lumpy’ yarn. wasn’t at all sure how I’d like it. Turns out I love it! I used a different supplemental weft for each of the 3 scarves.

First is a wide ribbon with a gold metallic center. This one, like the other 2, has a regular old 8/2 rayon weft.

You can’t really appreciate that ribbon or the texture at that distance, so here’s a close up.

That wide ribbon didn’t look at all good on the loom, and I wasn’t at all sure how the whole thing would wet finish, so I cut it off and wet finished scarf number 1 before proceeding. Decided I didn’t want to use such a wide supplement, so re-threaded the reed for the next 2 scarves.

This one is uses a soy silk flat ribbon-like yarn in purples and pinks.

And the last one has a hand painted rayon yarn in greens and blues.

The only downside to these scarves is that there was no way I could twist that fringe, nor did I think they would make a nice hem So I tried a few different simple knotting techniques, but neither is as neat a look as I prefer.

Today I got the next scarf warp on the loom. This one is dominated by this interested rayon boucle yarn that has metallic interest Looking forward to seeing this one weave.

May 7th, 2019 | 

Telling more stories

I’m going to start this post without a story, just showing you a few pieces I forgot to post when I finished them in February. This is a mixed warp – cotton, bamboo, and rayon chenille. The weft is all rayon chenille. I particularly like this first piece, a long open vest with side slits, although it’s a tad small for me.

I intended this second piece to be a regular shawl with fringe. I twisted the fringe, and the combination of fibers turned into a rea mess during wet finishing. I untwisted and untied it all, and the piece sat there for a while waiting for me to decide if I would twist again, hem, or turn it into a mobi. Finally I decided to just hem it as is.

Okay, that turned into a story, but just a tiny one. Here’s a long one.

I wanted to do some dyeing, so went to my Pinterest page and looked at my Dyeing Inspiration board. Design Seeds is a marvelous place for color, and I was moved by their Color Spice combo.

I measured out 3 wide and 2 narrow bouts of 8/2 mercerized cotton and went down to the basement. The wide bouts were going to be the spicy colors, and the narrow a bit of turquoise to complement. I dyed the first wide bout, using a few new dyes I’d purchased, actual ‘professionally created’ colors instead of my own blended creations: golden oak, chocolate brown, and my ow terracotta blend.

I decided I needed more red in the mix, so added ‘some’ (not measured) red to my terracotta for the other 2 bouts. Then I dyed the skinny turquoise bouts. After batching and drying, it was clear that I’d been too stingy with the dyes – I had some undyed spots on my yarns. Nothing I can do about it now. So I beamed the lot.

As I was beaming I decided I wanted to use chocolate for weft for the first piece. Of course I didn’t have any yarn in anything faintly resembling that color, so I had to dye it. No sweat.

Except that in my ‘must use stash’ head I wanted to use some 8/3 mercerized cotton I’d picked up in a weaver’s sale. An odd size to be sure, but it looked nice and would work for weft. In winding it from cones to skeins for dyeing, problems arise. One of the cones looks okay, but is actually lots of shortish pieces. If I’d been planning to use it as warp I’d have thrown it away. However as weft, each of those short pieces was roughly the amount that would fit on a bobbin, so it made sense (at the time) t use it. I ended up with something like 25 mini skeins and 3 normal sized ones.

Mix up the dye bath, do the dyeing, and batching, get them out to dry. Uh oh. All those skeins ended up in a real mess! Granted don’t dye in skeins much and so probably didn’t tie them correctly, but I wanted to be sure I didn’t have white/undyed spots on this dark weft. It took me LOTS of time to untangle them and wind them into balls after everything was dry. But the color was just what I wanted.

Now to weave. Then machine sew. Then hand stitch. Here’s what I ended up with. I’m quite happy with all 3 pieces, and very pleased that I actually succeeded in creating pieces in the colors originally planned.

First up is an open front cardigan, using that chocolate weft 8/3 cotton weft. I didn’t make it as wide as my first two, and like the way this one hangs better on the body. (Neither Lady Jane nor the mannequin showed it as well as a real human does.) No nee to round the corners.

Next I used an 8/2 tencel in cayenne to weave a simple jacket. Really brightened up the look.

I finished off the warp with a sienna 8/2 tencel for a wide cowl.

Now I MUST get dressed and go walk Jack!

March 29th, 2019 | 

Bungees and dyeing

Bungee cords and dyeing are not related to each other. At least not in my life, not right now. In the future – who knows? Strange things have probably happened. To me.

Let’s start with the bungees. We had A LOT of wind earlier this week. A LOT. Like consistent 30-40 mph with 70 mph gusts. On Monday morning my little dog Jack woke me up at 4AM. Howling wind is not his favorite thing. So I decided to go lay down on the couch so he could be closer to me. Well. The wind was making the awning over my front door bang repeatedly, threatening rip off the house and surely cause damage in the process. So there I was at 4AM, in my pajamas and bathrobe, on a step stool on my tiny front porch, attaching bungee cords between the awning and the wrought iron railings. Two on each side. Adds some real class to my house, don’t you think? Anyway, this worked for the duration of the storm. I’ll have someone come and determine a permanent solution soon.

Weather related, in early February the temperatures were perfect for creating ice on the sidewalks. One morning I fell twice before I ever left the corner my house sits on. The very next morning I was walking on a nearby slanted piece of grass to avoid the icy sidewalk. Down I went, in the mud this time. Nothing beyond my pride was particularly hurt in any of those falls. A few days later I fell on the ice again. Again I wasn’t even bruised.

But a few days after that my right leg – the side I’d landed on each time – started hurting. I couldn’t figure out what it was, and didn’t connect it to the falls since it didn’t start immediately. So I continued to do my regular activities: daily walking and assorted gym classes at least 3 days/week.

When things were getting worse, not better, I decided I’d pulled a ligament behind my knee. All those activities were only aggravating the injury. And since I was walking and moving funny, I subsequently involved my sciatic nerve and piriformis muscle, and probably more. So weaving hasn’t been great on my leg. I have a chiropractor appointment on Tuesday, but meanwhile haven’t been able to weave much – only for short spurts and not a lot of those in one day. Instead I’ve been dyeing.

I started by dyeing some weft yarn to coordinate with warps I’d dyed and put on the loom.

The warp was handpainted, the weft was immersion dyed: some 8/2 tencel and some 10/2 cotton. I found it interesting that the tencel was noticeably darker in the dye bath. After drying the colors are almost identical..

Then, since we had a major snowfall, I figured I’d take advantage of the snow and did a bunch of snow dyeing. Socks and scarves, assuming I’ll get accepted into that show this summer where they will be appropriate. Here are process photos; I haven’t taken any of the finished pieces yet.

March 2nd, 2019 | 

Sticking with the color

When I painted the first warp bouts in living coral & turquoise, I had intended to combine them with the skeins I painted in the same colors. I later changed my mind, thinking it was just too much.

Then I found this great draft on handweaving.net – it’s draft #22076. If you’re not a member of handweaving.net, you should be it’s an amazing resource.

There’s no way to really look at how a draft will look with handpainted yarn, as the colors shift in ways the program can’t duplicate, but I did my best estimate, and decided I loved the way the colors interacted if I just added some black and white. Wit a black weft I got strong hits of zebra.

So I wove enough length to make another open front cardigan, planning for this to be one of my new jury photos. I’m quite happy with the overall look, and with the improvements I made from the first one, and will take it to the photographer either today or tomorrow.

Lady Jane shows more of the width nicely.

The second piece on the loom, a mobius, is probably my favorite because of the weft color. If I’d had enough of this sienna, I would have made the cardi with it. This combo strikes me as very southwest.

Finally, I had little warp length left, and used a bright blue to weave a wide, if short, cowl.

If you look at these photos, and those from the last post with similar warp colors, it’s pretty amazing how different the looks are isn’t it?!

So I still have the coral & turquoise painted skeins. You’d think I might weave with them next, wouldn’t you? But no. I painted some more skeins in new colors – they’re drying now. And while I wait I’m going to put another mixed warp on – cotton, rayon, and chenille – which I’ll weave with a chenille weft. Probably another open front cardigan and a mobius.

Unrelated, I think I forgot to show you this mobi. It’s a cotton warp – the end of the warp from that skirt (which I’m still working on) and tencel wefts. Not my fav, but I think it will float someone’s boat.

Still woefully behind.

February 14th, 2019 |