My son and his GF are arriving today from Vancouver. We are a short stopover on their drive to Ontario so that his GF can leave her car and belongings at her parents as she is on her way to Afghanistan. She will be working for Services Canada at our base in Kandahar, so this is a bittersweet day for us as it may be a while till we see her again. Here's the gamp so far....
M&W treadled Rosepath is not very remarkable.
Snowflake treadled Rosepath has a bit more potential.
Rosepath as drawn in is simply lovely!
Herringbone treadled Rosepath, hmmm not so much.
M&W treadled Broken Twill is a firm twill.
Snowflake treadled Broken Twill is not very much to look at.
Rosepath treadled Broken Twill is interesting.
Herringbone treadled Broken Twill is surprisingly pretty.
I received this beautifully woven sample in the mail on Monday. I sent this 4 shaft draft to Dorothy at Christmas as she had expressed an interest in my 4 shaft shadow weave draft and knowing that Dorothy likes complicated twill patterns I popped this in a card and …Wow, it really paid off in spades! I now have this wonderful piece to add to my Sample binder. I love that this blog has put me in touch with some wonderful people and I truly appreciate it.
Jane the table loom got loaded with a warp made from 4/8 Natural Linen; my intention is to work on a few ‘Weaver manipulated Rug’ samples for the GCW test. So far all I have done is 4 rows of weft twining as an edge protector…..not my favourite type of weaving and I’ll be waffling around with this for some time, but at least I have the warp ready and waiting.
Lily got loaded with 2/22 Cottolin for another test piece, the Eight Shaft Twill Gamp. It must be in defined blocks showing 4 or more twill threadings, with 8 or more twill treadlings. I chose to use white cottolin for the piece with 4 picks of lilac for my separators.
I’m using celery green for the weft and it’s coming out very fresh and spring like. The colours really make me happy and I must admit that the patterns are pretty nice too. Unfortunately my photos don’t capture the colour at all well.
For my first treadling block I have separate leg M & W threading, treadled as drawn in.
This is a Snowflake twill treadled M & W.
This is a modified Rosepath treadled M & W.
And finally Herringbone treadled M & W. The whole piece is just a joy to do, easy; relaxing weaving that is only spoilt by my having to measure every ½ inch to ensure that my ppi are the same as my epi. So far so good! 
I’ve been knitting in the evenings and have just finished these socks for my sister’s birthday on February 14th! Yup she’s a Valentines baby….as a matter of fact everyone of my siblings were born on a ‘special’ day and my parents were married on Christmas Eve – quite spooky isn’t it?
I’ve also knitted these wrist warmers for Ngaire. These are made from handspun baby alpaca that I space dyed with Kool Aid in the microwave….They have half thumbs to keep them in place and are a great idea for when full mitts are just too warm.
The pattern that I chose for the inlay blocks was based on an X of the coral silk with the centre square of the green. I wanted to achieve a strong graphic pattern that really showcased the inlay blocks and I think I succeeded. The colours I chose all have the same value, so it’s the shape that really stands front and centre.
When the scarf is shown with the full pattern, the pattern looks more like diamonds than an x cross; although not what I had envisioned I’m more than happy with the graphic look.
The scarf has a very unique drape. The blocks of plain weave are very firm and have little movement, but there is plenty of movement in the unwoven blocks and the open work. The overall feel is very soft and silky; the stainless steel doesn’t seem to be affecting the drape at all and adds so much shine!
The edges of blocks are a little loose, but the stainless steel and the inlay really hold the warp threads in place nicely, so there isn’t much migration between blocks at all.
It is a very different style of scarf to what I have done before and I’m completely taken with the bold blocks of colour.
The session began with the tools needed to make a card insert. For each card, you will need 2 screens the same size as the card. Generic fly screen is used in this case, but toile or other fine mesh fabric can also be used. 
Silk fibre is a given. It’s a great use of those wee bits of very special silk roving.
Acrylic medium to set the fusion is important and can be found 
On a large stack of towels, (this is a messy business!) you lay your first screen down and using a very fine film of silk fibre, you cover the screen horizontally. Leave the overhangs in place as you will need them later in the process.
Here the screen is covered with the first layer.
Gently pulling the fibre vertically you again cover the screen – remembering ‘less is more’. You can do another horizontal layer if you like at this time. 
JoAnne uses these purchased embellishment bags to garner small amounts of ribbons and yarns for the decorations. A few sequins are added too.
Placed in a random pattern, it’s very pretty. If you like additional wisps of fibre can be laid over the embellishment. 
An old card is placed over the finished product to ensure that the placement is in exactly the right place visually. 
The second screen is placed on top of the silk.
Using a 2” brush and some water with a splash of soft soap, you drench the silk completely. You will have to apply lots of water and turn the silk over a couple of times. 
Now with a mixture of half water and half Acrylic medium you again drench to silk on both sides.
Amazingly it’s done! Now with a couple of clothes pins you hang the screens to dry. The next day you carefully pull the screens away (the overhanging wisps help here); now trim away the excess. 
The card stock is from 
In my case I am using 2/20 silk that has been hand dyed a variegated royal blue for the structure threads. For the fine thread I was going to use sewing thread in a slightly darker blue, but lucky for me it ran out, before my warp was finished. So instead I am using a stainless steel thread encased in black merino wool, it is very shiny and makes me very happy! Thanks to 
For the spaced and crammed part of the scarf, there are five warp blocks 1” across and ½” space between them. So I put 3 threads per dent in a 12 dent reed that equals 1” and left 6 dents empty.
The main weft I am used is the same blue silk as the warp and for the Theo Moorman inlay squares I am using 2 ply green silk with soft slubs and purple 2/20 silk. 1” squares are woven then a 1” space is left, I’m using Venetian blind slats for the spaces. To add even more interest to the scarf, I’m only adding inlay on specific blocks to make a larger design.
Theo Moorman inlay is a very simple technique yet it has such a great impact. First step is to do one pick in plain weave with the main weft, in my case the blue silk. It goes all the way across and where there is no inlay, it weaves a block made up of plain weave.
Second step is to open a shed that only has the stainless steel and throw a pick of the supplemental weft, green silk. 
Here is a close up of one of the inlay squares. The blue weft can barely be seen, further away it can’t be seen at all. The inlay is done in a brick method; it can also be done as perfectly straight rows, called the Dukagang method. Beside is a block of just plain weave however with variegation of warp and weft with the shine of the stainless steel it is also very special. 
A cool thing about Theo Moorman technique is that the back of the cloth doesn’t show any of the inlay weft. It is truly a surface design. 
Here is the sample so far, exciting isn’t it, and yet another addition to Mum's workshop!
After vigorous washing, my piece had only 22 ppi. – not enough picks per inch……so back to the loom. 
I had a good look at what warp was left on the loom and with only 32 inches left I decided that I had better look at re treadling the piece. The pattern I had originally chosen had a 7” repeat, much too long for the warp that remained, so I shortened the treadling to a 4” repeat. 
I then resleyed to 20 epi since there wasn't enough warp to do my regular tie on, I lashed the warp to the front beam. I then proceeded to weave a perfectly balance piece – but only just had enough warp to weave it 24”. 
I haven't even washed the piece and I know it's too short. This bummed me out….I know there will be 20% shrinkage and I need to hem the piece, so 18” just won’t be there. 
Today I pulled another warp of 3 yards – sett at 20 epi and using the same small pattern, third time lucky! 
The scarf is beautiful, but as I looked at it and started to figure out the cost, I became weak in the knees and felt somewhat faint…..if I pay myself just $10.00 per hour, this scarf, lovely though it is, came in at around $300.00 to make! Frankly I don't think that the silk shows up at all well, what a mistaka to maka!
I thought I’d share my cost breakdown with you…so you can share my pain!
This is the fringe twisted once on the right - way too much variation and it tended to bridge and clump. On the left it is cabled and now it looks much better, but what a waste of time!
Now onto something that makes me happy…..my Singer Steam Press. It’s wonderful! I’m finally getting that lovely hard pressed finish I wanted and McSteamy (his new name) is so easy to use!
I must admit to getting all carried away and pressing my guest room pillowcases, and then standing back and feeling very Martha Stewart!
