Mistakes Happen

As a follow up to my last post ‘It’s All in the Sett’; I did decide to work on this tea towel pattern. The pattern has so much potential and by sleying it at the wrong sett I did the pattern an injustice.  I did however get some really lovely tea towels, just not exactly the tea towels I wanted.

I had to make 42 more ends to have the tea towel come in at the correct width, so this entailed reworking the entire pattern to ensure that the stripes are well balanced.

As well as adding more ends I was running low on the aquamarine blue, so I had to swap out some of the stripes.....essentially making an entirely new stripe sequence.

As you can see I’m nowhere near ready to weave, but I shall persevere and I know they will be wonderful!

While the weather here on Vancouver Island has been rainy and dull, dull, dull I decided to go to my happy place, which is my kitchen.

Three days ago I started making ‘Cold Rising Sourdough Bread’ from Martin Johansson’s book Bread, Bread, Bread.  This is actually a three day process, with Day 1 invigorating the sourdough culture,  (I made this no yeast culture about 10 years ago and she’s a goddess!)  Day 2 was actually making the bread and doing all the intermittent stretches and coil turns and then popping it into the Bannetons to chill overnight in the fridge.  This morning all I had to do was to bake the two loaves.

This is the round one.

This is the oblong one.

And this is what happens when you are too lazy to put them on separate baking sheets to bake independently!  Thankfully they still taste amazing.

It's In The Sett

The bright happy tea towels are off the loom and ready to hem.  I have worked on creating this pattern for some time and have in the past woven a very similar pattern  without issue.

My goal this time was to create a very colourful, uplifting tea towel that was really thirsty and would really hold water well.  So, I decided to change the sett on the weave.

I chose pink, magenta, blue and aqua green for the warp colours.

I decided to sett the tea towels at 20 epi as this has been recommended on several recent articles I have read with the goal to enhance the functionality of the tea towel while preserving the weave.  Sometimes a fabric that is woven too closely will be a little water resistant.

Here is a photo of the tea towel on the loom and it shows distinct diamonds with both warp wise and weft wise floats.  A lovely pattern that gives a lot of surface interest when interacting with colours.

After machine washing and drying I took the tea towels to ‘McSteamy’ my pressing machine and gave them a light press.

To press anything with length you have to accordion it behind the plate and press it while moving forward.  I thought that this was a pretty cool photo.

Then I fold up the hem 5 cm and give it a second quick press.

Here are the tea towels all ready for hand hemming, but where did the lovely diamond pattern go?  I think that the looser sett allowed the weft threads to move around and consequently the pattern has been hidden, drat!

I think that this is a beautiful thirsty tea towel that will function well and brighten up any kitchen, but since I intend to create and sell the PDF pattern on Etsy I will be reweaving these tea towels with a closer sett and few more modifications to ensure that the pattern holds firm after washing.

I have started knitting a new pullover from Drops Design 180-22.  This is a top down stranded knit pullover and so far, so good.  Here is what it should look like when finished.

Back at the Beginning Again, Tea Towels on 8 Shafts

I have a history of weaving tea towels in January.  It gives me a chance to focus on my posture at the loom while creating something beautiful.  This year is no exception so I chose a fairly straightforward pattern that I have modified significantly.

I pulled a warp in 2/8 cotton using some really bright and happy colours, pink, green, blue and magenta.  I wanted to work with summer colours while we are in the middle of Vancouver Islands greyest months.

I chose my pattern and then proceeded to make fairly bold stripes.  When I do this I work only half of the pattern and then use PCW Fibreworks to mirror the first half.  This makes sure that the placement of stripes is even across the fabric.  I let the program do the work for me.

I made the warp, which was a tad painful due to all of the colour changes and popped it on the loom.  Threading the warp was my next step and then tying on went well.

I chose to weave the first tea towel with navy weft and it wasn’t very far along that I noticed something amiss.  There was a 9 thread float dead centre of my warp! 

It took a bit of sleuthing, but what appears to have happened is that when I mirrored the threading on the computer I must have deleted a single thread and boom.....9 thread float.

I really didn’t want to pull the entire warp off the loom, so I cut out what I had woven and at this point I decided I didn’t like the navy weft.

I un-sleyed half of the reed, up to centre where the error was and added two string heddles to the warp. I hung these two floating warp threads and, Bob’s your uncle, I’m ready to move forward.

While I was looking on the computer to find the error, I also decided to change up the treadling and I’m very pleased with the change, so a new treadling and a new weft colour;  I guess my mistake was meant to be!

I’m still really enjoying knitting hats at the moment and this is my very first original pattern.  It hasn’t been blocked yet, but I think its a winner.

Crackle Weave Painted Silk Scarf

I just removed this scarf off of the loom and I’m already calling her ‘Jean’.  This colour way is definitely the perfect match for a jean jacket or any denim outfit.

The pattern was one both Ngaire and I had used before and every time I weave it I remember why it is a firm favourite.  You can see the draft here and here. 

The treadling that I used this time is such a long pattern repeat that I only wove the pattern five times to get the full 70 inches.  It was such an engaging treadling that there was no time to get complacent or to memorize it, so I was on task the entire weave.

Now that ‘Jean’ is off the loom you can see how long the pattern repeat actually is.

I always start my finishing process by lightly braiding the fringe.  I find that this really helps keep the ends from knotting during the washing process.  Then once it has been washed and on the drying rack it is easy to undo the loose braid to allow the fringe to dry straight.

I start the washing process with Eucalan fine fabric wash.  Eucalan is a no-rinse, delicate wash that is non-toxic, biodegradable, free of bleach, phosphates, synthetic fragrance and dyes.  Since I am selling this scarf I think it is a good idea to use a soap that is essentially allergen free. The grapefruit fragrance is derived from natural plant oils, so it is super mild and fresh.  I avoid the lavender product as it can be a tad overwhelming.

It is blustery here on Vancouver Island today, so I'm please that we got the greenhouse tidied up for the winter yesterday.   I use it as a sun room and have moved our patio furniture in, all ready to cosy up with a good book! I still have three Brugmansia’s in the greenhouse because they have plenty of blooms on them that are just about to open.  These three are new cultivars for me and I’m really looking forward to seeing them for the first time, so waiting on Rhapsody, Zuni Yellow Spider and French Connection. Below is what Zuni Yellow Spider should look like, fingers crossed.

Two Scarf Warp in Blended Colours

I really loved the pattern I used on the Silk Waves Scarf, so I decided to weave it again. 

This time I wanted to drive home the ocean aspect of the pattern so I decided to pull the warp using colours from dark to light and back to dark again.  

These are the colours I chose Aquamarine, Greyed Teal, Mineral Green and Cactus, all in 2/8 tencel.  I decided to make a two scarf warp because pulling and blending the diminishing colours takes quite a bit of time. 

You can see the progression on the warping board.  I pulled the warp in two sections ~ dark to light, then combined the big bouts on the loom.

I tied it on the loom allowing 10 inches for fringe.  The scarves will woven to be 70 inches (+ or -).

I love this shot.....you can really see the waves in the pattern already.

I auditioned some weft possibilities and frankly I was surprised.  From bottom to top they are navy,
ming blue, greyed teal, olive, ink blue and just to go out on a limb adobe.  

For the first scarf which I will call ‘Salish Sea’ I chose to use the greyed teal as the weft.  

I think it looks moody and cool just like the ocean looks today with our cold wind and rain.

I have been overwintering some Brugmansias in my ensuite and they have gone from this.....

To this in the past few days.  Brugmansia have a heavenly fragrance that really dominates a room.  They are evening/night scented with a strong rose/lily/baby powder scent.

Silk Waves Scarf on Eight

I found this pattern somewhere on the internet and I loved the general shape of the motif, so different from the very angular shapes I’ve done lately.   I put the original Crackle Weave draft up on the computer and made a few alterations both in the warp and the treadling to make it uniquely mine and I’m really happy with the results. This is the original draft.

I have a lovely stash of silk in my cupboard and as I was riffling through I found this lovely deep dark inky blue that totally captivated me for the warp.  I paired it with 2/8 tencel in Greyed Teal for the weft.  A match made in heaven I think.

To get three full motifs, I ended up pulling a warp of 200 ends for a slightly wider scarf at 8.3 inches in the reed. I sett the warp at 24 ends per inch.

When the light hits this web, it shimmers beautifully.  On a side note, we have had the cloudiest spring I can remember here this year, so getting photos that really show off the shimmer and shine in my weaving has been difficult.

Here is the beauty shot of the scarf after being washed and quickly pressed, but to make my admittedly self imposed Monday deadline, the fringe has not yet been twisted.

And another photo of the scarf outside in the gloom against a grey house.....maybe not the best light, but needs must, and all that.

I have my fringe twizzling to look forward to today!

I have nurtured a cutting from my Brugmansia all winter and today I noticed it has decided to reward me with a blossom.  I can’t wait to see it open, hopefully our temperatures will warm up enough that I can start putting her outside soon.

Eight Shaft Crackle (Echo) Scarves

I wanted to wait until we had a sunny day to take photos of the two Crackle Weave Scarves that I wove earlier this month.  I waited and waited and....well, you get the picture.  We have had the dullest October I can remember and this week we are in store for what the meteorologists are calling ‘A remnant of a typhoon which has become a ‘Weather Bomb’! Yikes!

I turned on all the lights and stood by a window and was able to get these few photos and frankly they do not show the iridescence much.  Here are a few of the better beauty shots.

The first scarf I wove on the blue and turquoise warp was with a greyed teal weft.  This scarf is super subtle and gives off a faint lime green sheen in the light.

Unfortunatly the photo really hids the pattern which is lovely and shows up beautifully in real life.

The second scarf that I wove on the same warp was with cayenne weft.  This scarf is much more iridescent and gleams red/purple and shows the pattern to much better advantage.

This is a really lovely pattern which has absolutely lovely selvedges, but to get them I had to weave with my bulldog stretchers and start my throws from the opposite edge than I normally would have.  It really pays to try out both ways before you commit to the weave.

Now I get to ‘fess up’ and tell you I made a threading error that only another weaver would notice, but, both Ngaire and I get to add another scarf to our collections.

We have been baking our way through all the Great British Bake Off Technical Challenges, much to my husbands delight and these are from Season 12 ~ Jammy Biscuits or Jammy Dodgers as they are fondly called.  British recipes tend to make small batches and this recipe only made 12 sandwich cookies, the perfect amount.  The cloth is Shadow Weave.