Sunshine and Spring Table Runners

There are many different ways to design a weaving project; do you choose the item, the fibre or the pattern first?  For this project I start by looking into the stash for colours that pleased me.  What caught my eye were large cones of 3/10 cotton in sunny yellow, warm peach and spring flower pink.

I decided to do some more table runners; that Etsy shop section is still low on content.  The fresh colours of the warp are such a pleasure to work with on the cloudy late winter days.  

The runners are going to be plaid so I started with the draft for the Lynch tartan, our family tartan.  Mom wove the Lynch tartan back in 2014 using wool in the Ancient colour palette of blue, green and scarlet (blog post 1 and blog post 2).  I have changed the colours to yellow, orange and pink.

For the first runner I choose to weave double the number of threads in each stripe, for example the pink stripe went from 4 to 8 threads.  It made for a surprisingly long pattern repeat of 20 inches!  I was only able to get three repeats for the entire runner.   

I’ve just started weaving the second runner and I went with a smaller repeat, which is lovely but I’m changing colours a lot more frequently, so the weaving is slower too.

Final Garden Picture is a vase full of willow branches in the front hallway.  The branches are lined with fuzzy silver tufts of catkins; they are a lovely sign of spring, and a gift from our neighbour.

Fiber Fair

Today I added a new page to my blog ~ a for sale page!  I have no idea how I’ve managed to acquire so much stuff! Please have a quick look because there are some real bargains to be had.

On a much more interesting note last Saturday we went to the Fiber Fair in Campbell River and had a great time visiting all the booths.

I was especially happy to find a booth for The Weavers Atelier.  They are so new to Vancouver Island that they haven’t opened yet, but lucky for me they brought some weaving yarn with them. Linda is also the Guild of Canadian Weavers current president and it’s great to have such a strong West Coast presence in the guild.

I was so happy to get my hands on 16 ounces of 2/20 silk because dyeing season is almost here and I love to paint the silk, although I still haven't finished weaving last years batch of silk warps.

I also found some Brassards 2/8 unmercerized cotton in a stunning peacock blue/green and the navy to cross it with…..I’m seeing tea towels on the horizon.

The weather here continues to be cool and rainy, but that’s just fine by me as it keeps me at the loom. 

I am about 2 yards into the Lynch family tartan and so far, so good although I’ve had every problems know to a weaver ~ mis-selying, mis-threading; basically if I could make a mistake I did! But, doesn't it look lovely!