Four Shaft Place Mats

Finally the cotton and linen place mat warp is off the loom.  I swear it was the slowest weave ever!  I started out with high hopes of doing some serious stash busting and ended up with a weave that I completely lost interest in. 

The idea was to weave some very simple place mats using linen, linen/cotton slub and cottolin warp in neutral beige/browns.  I decided on an eight yard warp to give myself options.  I chose a larger grist of natural cotton for the warp.

I used the spool rack my husband made me  to pull the warp, because the colours and threads were to be random.  I ended up making three separate warps because I wanted less of some colours than others and some of the yarn was minimal. 

Of course each of the warps demanded a different set of lease sticks, so here are the three sets all piled up.  

I used the raddle on the looms castle to do the first basic colour spreading, and it looks a right mess!

Thankfully after all that, the warp pulled on very nicely.

The pattern I used was from A Handweaver’s Pattern Book by Davison called Ribbed Twill.  It is a 4 shaft pattern that has a lovely diagonal with some grouped threads.

It is always so satisfying to see the cloth winding around the cloth beam, knowing you are almost done.

This was one of the messiest warps I’ve done in a long time and there was a lot of vacuuming up to be done.

Here it is off the loom just waiting for me to decide on how to finish it.  Do I wash it in a piece and cut later?  Do I cut it into place mats, then wash?  Do I give a fringed edge with a machined finish?  Do I do a turned edge?  Do I make double across the table place mats or individual ones? Too many questions!

Here is what is keeping me from the loom right now.  We just bought an outdoor pizza oven and we are waiting impatiently for the weather to cooperate so we can try it out.  Apparently it will get up to 500 C and cook a pizza in 1 minute!  There will be wine and cheese when we finally fire her up.

All That Glitters Collapse Weave

After the wonderful success that Ngaire had with her scarves, I jumped on that glittery bandwagon!  This style of collapse weave really reminded me of a Fortuny dress, with all the stunning pleats and the ability to curve and hug the body.

Hoping to expand on the theme I decided to weave my scarves using Cobweb Merino Wool, Cotton Slub and Lumeya glitter.  The Cobweb Merino is in a pale, pale lavender, the Cotton Slub is soft white and the Lumeya glitter is pure silver.  It is a really lovely combination with an overall soft grey vibe.

Pulling the warp did not start out well because I was trying to pull the cobweb merino and the glitter together since they would ultimately share a heddle, this seemed like a good plan at the time.  But, they had such hugely different levels of stretchyness it was a nightmare!  Started again and pulled each of the different warp threads separately and it was much better.

Putting the warp on the loom went fairly well and using this pipe insulator really helped the ends not tangle in the raddle.  [This was the same piece of foam that Ngaire used to even out her tension on her collapse weave.]  The end of the warping process left the final few inches a tad snarly though.

I do love a photo of the warp when it is all organized.

Weaving plain weave was pretty boring, but using super fine over-twisted wool added interest and a little bit of trepidation, especially on the selvedges.  It is absolutely imperative to beat on the following closed shed to maintain the loose, even beat. 

The two scarves came off the loom essentially the same size and they are absolutely gossamer-like before washing.

After a long soak in Eucalan and the hottest water I could get they were squeezed dry and then popped into a hot dryer to tumble and transform for twenty minutes. 

Voila! They are stunners and truly resemble the pleats in a Mariano Fortuny dress.  I’m so sorry that the weather is so very grey and that I can’t capture the amazing sparkle, but trust me, sparkle they do!

I bought an Amaryllis bulb last month and she’s a looker!

Merry Christmas Everyone.

Finished Weaving to Frame

I have finally finished the guild study group challenge to weave something ‘frame able’ and it was not easy!

I wove a piece of cotton yardage with the idea of painting on it and was frankly underwhelmed by the result (check it out here).  Then I tried distorting the fabric to make rusching and again, hmmmm, not so much.

I started out with a piece of fabric twenty inches long and ten inches wide and used some iron on Pelon to stabilize it.  Then I cut it into three equal pieces to give myself plenty of chances to actually succeed in this endeavour.

My husband Michael found this product called Fabri Ink which promises to ‘create beautiful Watercolor effects on fabric’.  I finally got a glimmer of an idea and jumped right in.  The product comes in two parts; a refillable water brush and some concentrated ink.

I decided to do something simple and opted for ‘mountainish’ lines which I painted on dry fabric.

I then sprayed it with water to encourage bleeding.

I went a tad to far with the spraying and got a bit more bleeding than I had hoped for, but I could live with it by applying a few more lines of ink.

Here they are all in a row and as good as I'm going to get them.

This one lookes pretty mountainy, with a bit of cloud at the peak.

This one is almost mountain ranges and I'm liking it.

Number three and it is the most literal of the three.

Together they make a very satisfying triptich and I can finally put this project to bed with the knowledge that I met my commitment.  After Christmas I will hang them in my studio beside my loom.

Here is my kitchen Christmas tree all decked out in fine blown glass vegetables and pastries, every time I look up on top of the kitchen armoir I feel happy.

Piano Scarves

I meant to weave these piano scarves earlier in the year but I've finally got them on the loom now.  In the spring I placed an order with Brassards for some more white chenille, as I didn’t have enough left in the stash do make a piano scarf warp; it really takes a lot of white chenille.

Last week when I pulled all the chenille out of the cupboard, I found that I had a little bit leftover from last time that I wove these scarves which was also from Brassards.  So, I eyeballed the old cone to the new cone and it looked like it matched, you don’t really expect white to be that different.  Well it was really different; the little leftover cone is really creamy next to the new chenille as you can see in the photo below.  Unfortunately I didn’t find out until I had finished pulling my warp, while it wasn’t very many ends it was long, over 7 yards which is long enough for three scarves.

So I pulled everything off the warping board and started again.  Although, I first had to check my math to make sure that I had enough white chenille for all three scarves.  Luckily, I do have enough white chenille.  After all that everything went smoothly and I have just finished my second piano scarf.  Tomorrow I will start the third and final scarf.

I’ll show you the finished scarves next time.  For now I have the creamy white chenille sitting on the mantle in the studio while I am trying to think of a cool project to do with it.  I am hoping that I have enough to do a black piano scarf; I think that it would be cool.

Final Garden Shot is Himalayan honeysuckle (Leycesteria formosa).  The plant is over 6 feet tall and the long burgundy bracts have both white flowers and purple/brown seeds that are edible and taste like treacle.  The honey bees just love this plant; it blooms from late spring until winter.

Four Shaft Scarf on Loom

Another week and another scarf ... well just about. I really, really enjoyed the relaxing weave of this scarf. I think 3/1 twill may be a new favourite!

This warp is moss green and fuchsia over sea coral tencel. It is one exciting colourway; the sheen is wonderful and the colours are really front and centre.

I have woven almost 60 inches and I feel that there will be warp left over, so maybe I can weave it off for a small jewellery pouch.

This is one of my favourite shots, I love looking at the cloth rolling around the beam.

I have been spinning along with the Tour de France race everyday, but one, with Ravelry's Tour de Fleece. I took a day out and we went to Victoria and toured Bouchart Gardens which were stunning!

We had an estate sale at the guild this week, so sad to lose another weaver. The guild bought the entire studio filled to the brim with supplies and then sold to the members.

I bought some lovely hand dyed silk yarns, the cheeses are 2/20 silk and the skeins are 2/60...yikes!

And for some reason I just had to have ALL of this merino/silk blend sliver. I have a feeling this kilo of Ashford Pomegranate will keep me busy for yonks! To give you an idea of just how much stuff we had for sale, these fibres were left over after the serious spinners had gone through it.

My perennial beds are stunning today and I’ve decided to share the hummingbirds favourite flower du jour. This is Bergamota Monarede ‘Jacob Cline’ (Bee Balm).

And this one of a really tiny white crab spider hiding on a dahlia.