Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Bead Leno Weave ~ Leave the Leno to Me

Update on the rose coloured twill napkins – they are making a lovely pile on the floor by the sewing machine! Meanwhile I have already started and finished another project, 8 Harness Bead Leno Scarf. This scarf is 2/8 Tencel and the colour is Blueberry.
The idea for this project came from Mum as she is developing a workshop. One of the projects is 8 Harness Bead Leno and, well, who better than me to test out the project?!

When I pull on a warp, my lashing can be a little uneven and the bar will bow a bit. To help me be more consistent I used these shower curtain rings to keep the two bars evenly spaced while I am separating the threads onto the raddle; then it holds everything nicely in place for the lashing itself. The rings are too large to keep on permanently on the warp but I am keeping my eye open for something smaller that could work. Wouldn’t that be nice – no lashing at all?
The 8 Harness Bead Leno produces 2 blocks of Bead Leno, all Bead Leno and all basket weave. So there is more variation that can be done than what I’m showing. In the picture below is just two blocks of Bead Leno. While on the loom the smaller squares of Bead Leno are circular but after the scarf is washed the small squares relax and appear blockier which is a little sad as I liked the circular affect.
The scarf was quickly woven up; I think that the longest time I spent on the scarf was the finishing. But it is so worth every moment, the beads add shine and are still light in keeping with the weight of the scarf.
The scarf has a lovely drape and shine that didn’t truly came through until the final pressing. This scarf is something special.
On a different note there are three forest fires in the area around us so we are inundated with smoke and ash. You may have heard about them on the news, two are the fires in West Kelowna and one is much closer to us in Fintry. We are about 50+ km away from the fires so we should be OK, but the smoke is horrid. Two of the fires are almost fully contained, thankfully as they are the ones that are burning close to homes, and only 3 were lost. The big fire called the Terrace Mountain fire, at 1500 hectares and growing, is the one that is mainly responsible for the smoke and ash. This photo was taken last night and the hills that you can’t see clearly are less than a km away.
This photo is of the ash that is coming down like snow at Christmas!
This is the sunset through the smoke and ash.

10 comments:

Woven Spun said...

another work of art. Sure wish I could take the workshop.

And I sure hope the fires are out soon.

Delighted Hands said...

We experience fires in the summer, too. Sobering. Your scarf is a work of art. I have knit with the tencel but need to try it in my weaving now!

Deanna said...

Love the leno scarf!!!

Scary things - those fires. Here in San Diego, we're especially sympathetic to folks dealing with fires in their area! A good air cleaner helps a lot.

bspinner said...

BEAUTIFUL!!!!!

Those fire must be so scarey. Hope they are out soon and you're safe and sound.

Sharon said...

I didn't realize you had forest fires back there - so sorry. They are dreadful plague in the West.

Thanks for sharing your leno scarf. I didn't know such a thing existed. I weave in such a vacuum.

Susan said...

It looks like you are having a lot of fun with this! Gorgeous scarf!

Seeing the smoke and cinders takes me back to 2003 when we lived there and experienced the fires. Heck if we still lived there, we'd be homeless right now with the Terrace mtn fire. Can you imagine leaving home and your loom is left behind to possibly burn ? *gasp!*
Too horrible....

Susan

Life Looms Large said...

I love anything blueberry....especially that scarf! That's a great use of contrasting blocks of leno and basketweave. Plus the beads are a great addition to the fringe!

From the news it looks like there are still some fires in your area (well, what I can figure out from place names in the articles I found online). I hope that they're contained soon and that you and your family and friends continue to be safe.

Sue

Lynnette said...

Thanks everyone for your well wishes, of the three fires in our area, only one remains uncontained. Unfortunately, it is the one closest to us and it's still sending plumes of smoke and ash at times. They hope to have it 50% contained in a day or so. The fire has grown to 4400 hectares (around 50 square miles); the good thing is it has grown away from the homes surrounding Okanagan Lake. We had horrific thunder and lightening storms yesterday and torrential rain, so that may help to douse the fire.

Leigh said...

Gorgeous! Leno is on my list of things to try.

Terrible news about the fires. Glad to hear the worst is over.

India said...

Well, I really did not get why you used the shower curtain rings but it was certainly very inventive. My English is not so good. I hope you will be ok from fires. That must be rally terrifying.