Monday, February 7, 2022

The Saga of the Tea Towels

It seems that everything has been conspiring to keep me from the loom, so my weaving time has been very limited.   What should have been a weaving dawdle, has turned into a weaving slog.


My first impediment came in the form of a malfunctioning heat pump, we called the heating company and due to the fact that we live in an area with booming growth; they are so busy with new builds that getting service is difficult.  Luckily we have two gas fireplaces and we were able to keep cosy by running them alternately.  The downside of this is that I’m so paranoid about fire, I spent several nights sitting up babysitting the fires. 

Then, and this is definitely a first world problem, we received some flat pack furniture that demanded my studio space for assembly. I know whaa, whaa, whaa!  Hopefully I will be back on track soon.

Since it has been weeks since my first post about these tea towels I thought I’d refresh your memory of the pattern I am weaving.

I have woven four of the 10 shaft overshot tea towels, the first in this lovely clear blue, although the pattern is overshot, this is a one shuttle weave.  This means there is no tie down threads, just pattern threads.

The second tea towel is in a subtle dark rose and right now I think it is my favourite.  There is something so very calming about the colour.

The third in blue/green that is truly fresh and pretty.  Now I think this one may be my favourite!

Finally I took the leap and used red/violet or magenta.  This colour shows the pattern to its best advantage, just lovely.

I still have two more tea towels to weave, but in the meantime, here are some of the stats for the project.  The warp is 7 yards (6.4 metres) long, and I pulled 441 ends of 2/8 white unmercerized cotton and sleyed 2 per dent in a 10 dent reed.   It takes between 1.6-1.8 ounces (48-50 grams) of weft for each tea towel.  I allow 1 yard (.9 meter) for loom waste on my Louet Spring Loom.

The garden is still in dormant mode, but there are a few shafts of sunlight that hint of warm weather to come. The daffodils have really begun to grow and the alliums have shot up, eventually the cranesbill will cover the entire spot with purple flowers and hide the die back of the bulbs.  There is hope!

3 comments:

Susan said...

That is such a delightful pattern! I can see why you are revisiting it.
Interesting you allow a yard for loom waste. I budget 20 inches!
Your garden will be springing to life very quickly.... the longer days are are welcome.

Peg Cherre said...

I have a question about that lasagna layering with bulbs...does it have an impact on the bulbs dividing? I'll be interested to watch your experience with this planting method.

Lynnette said...

Hi Peg,
Planting your bulbs in layers has no adverse effects on the bulbs. That being said, when you dig up the bulbs to divide them, you will have to dig up the lot.