Finishing Up and Starting Again

The finishing up part of the blog is showing the final photos of the scarves that were woven last month.  The first is Mom’s denim blue silk scarf with white Tencel.  It caught someone's fancy and sold in just a couple of days.

Second is my pink silk scarf with chocolate, silver and cream silk stripes, it has dark purple eggplant Tencel as the weft.  It is a charming scarf and I love how that pattern looks like ruse buds.  For sale.

The third scarf is the dark pink scarf with three stripes of chocolate and cream silk stripes, it has dark red Pompeii Tencel as the weft.  There was a disaster when I washed the scarf, even though I used Dye Catchers, the chocolate coloured silk leached into the cream silk.  Now there are smears of dye all throughout the scarf and the cream stripes have turned light blue/grey, not good.  So it is mine.

The fourth scarf is Mom’s ink blue silk with teal Tencel.  Getting photos of the wonderful iridescence is hard but the scarf is still spectacular.  The wonderful curves of the pattern look like waves coming onto the beach at one of the local beaches here on Vancouver Island.  For Sale.

I have put together a new weaving draft for sale, I call it Coastal Mountains Twill Tea Towels for 8 shaft looms.  There is a PDF with the draft, project guide and further breakdowns of the threading, tie up, and treadling just in case the person buying the draft doesn’t have a weaving program.  Also included is a WIF, which is a universal weaving file that can be used with most weaving programs.   Etsy listing for Coastal Mountains Twill Tea Towels Weaving Pattern.  

This is a favourite draft that has been woven numerous times by both Mom and me.  Here are some of the variations that we have done over the years, here it is in an Easter Egg Plaid, here in Grey with Purple Stripes, here in Grey with Yellow Stripes, here in Grey and Red Stripes, here in Caribbean Blue Stripes and lastly here in bright stripes of cottolin, a Unicorn Party of colours.   

I'm thinking about my new project featuring these two skeins of very fine silk in a lovely spring green and blue.  The reason I'm still contemplating is that these threads are actually not much thicker than sewing thread.

The skeins were quite messy and it took hours to make them into cakes so that they will be ready to make into a warp.

There was a homemade tag on the skeins saying that they were 2/60 but looking at them next to a commercial 2/60 I think that they are closer to 2/120!  That is very fine, I was thinking of doing a scarf in Echo Weave with them but they are just too fine.  The sett would be 120 ends per inch and at 8 inches wide for a scarf that would be 960 ends!  I'm really worried that the scarf would be too thin and webby looking.  I think that I’ll be starting again to find a new project.  But if anybody has any tips on using super fine silk, please let me know!

Final garden photo is Arctic Bells Daffodils (Narcissus bulbocodium 'Arctic Bells').  They are a form of hoop skirt daffodil, they are a lovely pale lemony colour and very fragrant.

A Fresh Start and A Clean Sweep

It is the New Year and time for a fresh start.  I dropped off writing for the blog and I’ve missed it.  I like having a written record of my weaving and it is surprizing how much I refer back to the blog.  It may be a little old fashioned to write a blog but I do really enjoy doing photo essays about weaving. 

But first the clean sweep part, I’m going to tidy up the blog and give a recap of the projects that have been done since August.  The last blog by me was about the Fleur de Lys scarf, which was 2/8 Tencel in white and blue with 2/30 cotton.  I actually unwove the scarf and redid the motif, it’s longer and more ornate looking, the pattern is Diversified Plain Weave.  The finished scarf was lovely and has already sold.

Mom did two 12 shaft Drall scarves.  The first scarf was woven in 2/8 Tencel in grey with pinks, green and blue stripes.  The second scarf was also woven in 2/8 Tencel in white with different shades of blues.

For sale on Etsy.

For sale on Etsy.

In September I did a set of six tea towels in 2/8 cotton with a white warp and 2 towels each in lavender, red and turquoise.  They are woven in a lovely twill on 11 shafts that makes a charming round motif.  

Red and white tea towels for sale.  Turquoise and white tea towels for sale.  Lavender and white tea towels for sale.

We had a lovely long fall this year, with temps into the high 20’s into October which is really unusual.  We were able to grab this bonus time and we painted the fence, it was a lot of fence as we are on a corner.  We picked a lovely dark chocolate brown, it really makes the plants pop.

Two more weaving drafts are available, both are for tea towels.  One is the Cunningham Tartan Twill Tea Towels, which is a 4 shaft design.  For sale. 

The second weaving draft is Spring Viola Twill Tea Towels, which is 8 shaft design.  For sale.

Lastly I wove two network twill polka dot scarves with a light teal 2/8 Tencel warp.  One scarf is bright and cheerful in red violet Tencel and the other one is a study in shades with the weft being a darker shade of teal Tencel.  The teal on teal has already sold.

For sale.

For New Years I like to show what is on the looms right now.  Mom has place mats on the loom.  They are mixed cotton, linen and Orlec in earthy shades of cream, browns and rusts. 

I have an ink blue 2/8 Tencel warp on the loom, enough for two scarves.  The pattern is crackle, it is actually one of the drafts we have for sale – the Helix Nebula Crackle Scarf Pattern. I’ve started the first scarf in white Tencel.

Final Garden Picture is a charming yellow rose that is still managing to bloom even after the large dumps of snow and the unusually cold weather.  The next one is Mom sowing the first seeds of the year!

The Call Of The Loom

Now that’s a Canadian title if I ever heard one! Autumn has truly arrived on Vancouver Island and I have heard the call of the Loom, sounds like a good book. 

I want to weave something exciting and interesting as well as beautiful; something to really inspire me and I am always drawn to iridescence.  This made an Echo Weave the perfect choice.

I hauled out the Itten Star and started looking for warp and weft choices.  I searched for the post where I talk about this wonderful tool, only to find out that I have never done one!  I will do a complete post on this soon.

One colour combination that always creates iridescence is the Split Complement.  This is essentially two colours side by side on the colour wheel combined with the colour directly opposite them on the colour wheel.

I decided on Blue Purple and Aquamarine as my warp choice; they are placed in the warp in an Aquamarine, Blue, Aquamarine, Blue sequence.  The weft that was needed to make the Split Complement is in the Orange Red family. 

I got my Tencel yarns out and found that I only had three colours that fit the bill, Ruby, Spice and Cayenne.  I was immediately drawn to the Cayenne, but of course there was just a few grams on the tube and I was not sure if I would have enough.

Well, I’m a problem solver and so I decided to put on a two scarf warp which would allow me to actually measure out how many grams of weft yarn this scarf would take.

For the first scarf I chose to simplify my treadling and to make a scarf that was going to come out completely differently than the Echo Weave, but still had the same feel and yarn use.  

I chose to use an Analogous Colour combination.  This combination is one where three colours sit side by side on the colour wheel; for example, blue, turquoise and green are analogous colours.  I looked for it on the Itten Star and found that this type of colour combination is not included, so I jury rigged my own to show you.

My weft choice for the Aquamarine and Blue Purple warp is Greyed Teal.....these are all very close in colour depth so the overall look of the weave is tone on tone shimmer.

I am almost finished weaving this scarf and it looks like it will be truly lovely.  Because of the colours I have chosen, it will be just a nice Crackle Weave scarf.

I was asked what this little dohicky that I use to hold spare warp ends was, so I looked it up and it is called a Yarn Holder or a Knitting Bobbin and I think is was made by Boye.

We have added two more weaving drafts up for sale.  The first draft is an original Clasped Weft pattern that is on 4 harnesses.  This draft is called Piano Keys Clasped Weft Scarf.  Etsy listing for Piano Keys Clasped Weft Scarf Weaving Pattern.   

The second draft is an original Diversified Plain Weave pattern that is on 12 harnesses.  This draft is called Music Notes Diversified Plain Weave Scarf.  Etsy listing for Music Notes Diversified Plain Weave Scarf Weaving Pattern.

Weaving Drafts for Sale

I have been thinking for a while that I would like to sell some of our original drafts, especially the 12 shaft designs as they are hard to come by.  So when I got a message asking if I sold weaving drafts, I took that as the push that I needed to get started.

It is surprising the time and information that needs to go into each pattern.  First I started by naming the drafts, as some of my drafts have silly names like ‘Interesting Motif’.  I went with a space theme; all the drafts are named after Nebulae.  I then created WIF, which is a universal weaving file that can be used with most weaving programs.  

The next part was to create a PDF with the draft, project guide and further breakdowns of the threading, tie up, and treadling just in case the person buying the draft doesn’t have a weaving program. 

The first draft is an original Crackle Weave pattern that is on 6 harnesses.  This draft is called Helix Nebula Crackle Weave.  Etsy listing for Helix Nebula Crackle Scarf Weaving Pattern.  

The second draft is an original Echo Weave pattern that is on 8 harnesses.  This draft is called Cat’s Paw Nebula Echo Weave.  Etsy listing for Cat's Paw Nebula Echo Scarf Weaving Pattern.

The third draft is an original Crackle pattern that is on 12 harnesses.  This draft is called Orion Nebula Crackle Weave.  Etsy listing for Orion Nebula Crackle Shawl Weaving Pattern.

The fourth draft is an original Crackle pattern that is on 12 harnesses.  This draft is called Rosette Nebula Crackle Weave.  Etsy listing for Rosette Nebula Crackle Shawl Weaving Pattern.

I will be adding more drafts in the coming weeks so please check out WovenBeauty on Etsy.  Next week the drafts are going to be the Piano Scarf and the Music Note Scarf.  I’ll also be adding a page to the blog (beside the Tips and Tutorials Tab) that will have links to the drafts that I have available for sale.   We will be posting more regularly again, I have some tea towels to share with you!

 

Final Garden Photo is Climbing Lilies (Gloriosa rothschildiana).  We got these as tubers from the Horticultural Society and we didn't know what to expect.  We planted them in early spring, dug them up in June to see if they were alive, they finally started to grow in July and by August we had these lovely flowers.  They were well worth the wait!

Re-purposing A Runner

Waaaay back in 2017 I woven three Double Huck Lace Runners in gold cotton (here).  The pattern is really lovely, but the selvedges really were disappointing.

After washing and pressing and really looking hard at them, I just couldn’t put them up for sale with edges that didn’t please me, so they were packed away at the back of the guest room closet.

The selvedges of the runners had been stabilized with 2 inches of plain weave and I was sure that 21 ends of plain weave would be enough to even out Huck’s tendency to bulge unattractively; but it was not to be!

I find one of the simplest and most effective way to update a room is to change out the cushions, and this year is no different.  I happened upon this amazing butter yellow textured cotton on sale and snapped it up.  I was able to make cushion covers for some beige silk cushions, the change to the room was immediate; and while the cushions are lovely, they needed some contrast to really pop in the room.

My mind went back to those Double Huck Lace Runners and I figured that I could cover the small cushions that came with the couch, you know those meagre cushions that the manufacturer throws in with your purchase.   My first job was to unpick the hems of the runners.

I sewed three sides of the runner and gave the envelopes a rough fit, it was almost as if it was meant to be and it was a perfect fit.  It was at this point that I decided I wouldn’t bother with a zipper like in the larger cushions but sew the cushions into the envelope.

To make sure I was working with the straightest edge possible I pulled a weft thread and gave the hemline a trim.  Then folded the edge to the inside and pinned securely. 

Now I was ready to sit in the sun and sew that seam closed.  This way I could get a really good fit to the cushion.  

The 18”x18” cushion really works well with the bigger butter yellow cushions and I think the double diamond motif is offset beautifully by the darker cushion inside.

They look smashing on the teal armchairs too!  

The garden shot today is of the Japanese style tree supports that we made.  I'm a huge fan of Japanese Maples and have six different varieties in the garden.  Generally they are low to the ground and these nifty creations help prop them up without allowing the tree to absorb them into their branches.  Yup, had that happen on one of them and now I have metal hooks dangling like earrings on the poor branch!