Weaving in the Foothills

24 Plus or Minus Samples

2012-02-11T05:24:00.000-08:00

As with last year, I am late again for the Complex Weavers 24 +/- Study Group samples to be finished. I had great intentions last year when I was madly weaving to get the samples finished. I even knew what I would be weaving for this year's exchange. Last year I created a design playing around with the tie-up and created something that looked good to me using a straight point threading.

The plan this year was to use the same tie-up but pair it with a network-type threading. I decided to use 20/2 pearl cotton so that I could have a more complicated threading and still keep the repeat width small enough so that I could give at least one repeat per swatch in the exchange. I used alternating natural and yellow warp threads to make the warp a little more interested and a green-blue (UKI Duck) in the weft. (This picture doesn't look anythig like the true colors.)

I know the picture isn't fabulous, but I am kind of liking the pattern. It has taken me longer to get the beat correct. I think with the finer yarn, it is easier to beat too hard. I threadedthe warp at 32 epi and am trying to beat at 32 ppi. This is made a little easier because coincidentally the pattern repeat is 32 ends.

I am hoping to finish in the next day or so - since they are due this week. Nothing like a little pressure to help get a project finished...

Another Month - More Towels

2012-02-11T05:08:00.000-08:00

Now that the holidays are over, I can refocus and start working on another set of "Calendar" towels. This color scheme is inspired by the July picture. I did change the colors used slightly from this original set. I added a little dark green and eliminated two of the yellows. I think they will look pretty good.

My plan is to use an extended point twill for the threading. I am comintuing to use the 1-1-1-1-2-3 twill design for the treadling. This is partly laziness - getting under the loom to re-chain is harder than it used to be - And I do like the result. It's a little more complicated that a regular 2-2 twill but with a smooth texture.

I'm looking forward to seeing how these will turn out.

A Little Diversion

2012-02-10T18:37:00.001-08:00

My sister was visiting over the holidays and into January. While she was here, she (with just a little help from me) put together four lap blankets for next year's Holiday Cheer gift. I had been slowly making squares with a Weave-it frame for her to sew together. She made a ton while she was visiting and sewed them together.

They are either all acrylic or acrylic and wool yarn. They are about a yard square - 10 rows of 10 squares each. They should be a warm gift for a home-bound senior next Christmas.

January Towels and More Progress

2011-11-01T20:58:00.001-07:00

I am finding that even though the warp is a bit bright, using the medium light blue or silver as weft turns out looking pretty good. This was threaded as an M W twill. I am treadling the towels either as a straight 1-8 treadling giving uneven points or 1-8-1, resulting in uneven diamond shapes.

I found a few of the finished January towels. I really like the color combinations.

Exploring October

2011-10-25T17:30:00.001-07:00

I'm taking a big color leap with this set of towels. Although they look garish, I think they will turn out OK. This has been an interesting experiment.

For this set, I used the random stripe generator, but as with the January towels, I modified the pattern I selected so that the colors were closer in proportion to the picture and values weren't tilted too far to the high value colors - i.e., less red and orange and bright green.

I will be threading these in an "M" twill - 1 to 8; 7-5; 6-8 and back to 1 . The December towels' dornick twill was a bit too choppy, but the diagonal and diamond patterns in the other towels look really good.

We'll have to see.

I may have sold almost all of the January towels without a picture, but I will see if I can find one and post it later. They turned out really great.

January Towels

2011-10-04T20:23:00.000-07:00

The next set of towels is the January Picture. It is of Point Betsy in Northern Lower Michigan. It looked all ice and cold, but when wound on as warp, it translated to Fourth of July.

I'm sure that it will be toned down when crossed with a weft of light blue or even white.

I used the Random Stripe Generator, but this time I figured out the proportion of each color in the picture. I then adjusted the stripe width and colors to reflect that proportion. So it's random with help.

I am threading this set as a point twill but weaving it with the treadling from the last set -- a 1-1-1-2-3 twill. I might even attempt diamonds.

Interesting Color Exploration

2011-10-04T20:17:00.001-07:00

I finished the ten towels with the "September" colors. They looked much better than I would have expected as I wound the warp. I used yellow, gold, light blue, green and dark brown for the wefts.

These were threaded as a straight draw and treadled in a 1-1-2-3 twill. I wove most of these with a point treadling. A couple were done as a straight twill, but they weren't quite as interesting.

The gold really made the colors look deep and complex. The brown was pretty surprising - the picture doesn't do it justice.

These are not my colors but I would definitely use them again.

September Towels

2011-09-11T13:11:00.001-07:00

I picked the September picture to work on next. I'm using more colors, so it was a little more complicated. I did use the Random Stripe Generator, bu this time, I changed the colors so that they were used more in the same proportion as the picture, e.g. more yellow and gold than the red.

I wound the same length of warp - enough for 10 towels. Everything seemed to be fine until I went to thread the heddles. I realized that I had flipped on of the sections. There was a glop of green together.As I was pulling the warp through the heddles, I added some warp threads off the back to separate the overabundance of green. I think it will be ok. After all, it's supposed to be random. It would be so bad if the green were a more perfect fit with the other colors. I'm sure it will work out when woven.

I am threading this set in a straight draw. I am planning to either weave a point or something like the dornick twill treadling I used for the December towels. This way each set will be a little different - in more than just color.

December Towels

2011-09-11T12:59:00.000-07:00

Finished weaving the December towels. I cut them apart last night and now all I have to do is hem them. I like the way they turned out, although I think the beat could have been a little stiffer. They are a bit "drapy" for towels.

Here's some detail. It does lok quite complicated, but it isn't really.

December Towels

2011-08-23T15:40:00.001-07:00

I have about 6 of the December towels woven. I am making two of each warp color. I'm not sure though if I will use the dark brown as weft. I also think that I might spend more time on the warp stripe designs on later towels. I think this one is too regular - a too even distribution of the colors. They look pretty good and I am anxious to see them off the loom and washed. I'm not sure the colors are ones I would want to have per se though...

Towel Project - December

2011-08-02T19:09:00.001-07:00

I started looking at the yarn colors I had (and recently ordered) and came up with color combinations for the series of towels I am planning.

I decided to start with December. There are only 5 colors and I though it might be an easier way to begin. I am using a random stripe generator located at: www.kissyourshadow.com/stripe_maker.php It allows you to pick the number of different colors and the width of stripes desired.

For this set, I am planning to use an 8-shaft dornick twill I found in Carol Strickler's book: "A Weaver's Book of 8-Shaft Patterns" The twill will be regular but the colored stripes will be of varying widths, so the colored stripes will not match the pattern exactly. This normally makes the end textile look more complicated than it is. I am hoping that it won't look too busy.

The yarn is 10/2 cotton for both warp and weft. I wound on enough for 10 towels. I will be using some of the warp yarn colors for the weft, probably the light blue and pink to start.

We'll see how it works. More later...

Slight Detour

2011-07-26T15:45:00.001-07:00

As part of the Holiday Cheer project, Craft Guild members are making quilted lap blankets. I wasn't going to make one, but there was some nice cotton fabric that just asked to be used. Most of the fabric has greens and reds. Some fabric is solid red and green. Most people are using fleece as a backing but I wasn't sure I could sew that on myself - without a stretchy stitch feature on my sewing machine. I found some bright pink corduroy for backing that looks pretty good and will provide some warmth.

I hope this will keep someone warm this coming winter.

Blankets

2011-07-26T10:27:00.001-07:00

I finished four blankets from the warp - two baby and two lap blankets. The lap blankets used darker warp and don't look so baby-ish.

They turned out pretty well.

Senior / Baby Blankets

2011-07-19T19:50:00.001-07:00

The Weaving Discussion Group's project for this year is to make lap robes for holiday gifts for home-bound seniors. So thinking about how I can get this done quickly AND have something to submit to the County Fair, I decided to make the lap robes as I would baby blankets, nbut with more adult looking weft yarn.

The warp is cotton - mostly knitting type yarn. Two different yarns are paired in Fibonacci stripe width. These are pretty fun since I design the colors as I go along. I have used the same striping widths for a while. The sett is 10 epi, which is sort of an average since the yarns are not all of the same grist. The structure is plain weave,

I have one and a half finished so far.

Quick Towels

2011-07-19T19:43:00.001-07:00

Wanted to use up the naturally colord 12/2 cotton I had, so I wove four towels using the random stripe twill design from the last set. The stripes are irregular in medium brown, light brown and natural. The warp is threaded to a regular point twill. This way the color and the pattern don't match - making it look more complecated than they are. I used the medium brown and light brown cotton as the weft.

Totally Off the Path

2011-06-09T18:18:00.000-07:00

I just got yarn for some towels I am planning. These are totally not my usual color pallet. I am planning colors to match pictures form a calendar I used last year. Each set will be warped and woven with colors from the 12 different pictures.

They will probably be a regular 2/2 point twill with irregular stripe widths. More later.

Second Rug

2011-06-09T18:13:00.001-07:00

Finally finished the second rug, This one turned out much better, Before washing it was 44" x 30" after washing and machine drying 29.5" x 27". This will work much better.

I have some ideas for other rugs, but they will have to wait. I have to get busy on some hand towels. Glad this finally worked out.

Finished But Too Short

2011-04-26T08:19:00.001-07:00

I finished the rag rug - but it is too short. I thought I was carefully measuring the length on the loom, but I must have blinked or something. It is more square than rectangular - I probably needed to make it at least 6" longer.

Otherwise it turned out fine. I have enough warp to weave a second one. Although I'm not sure I need a second purple and white rug. :-)

The warp is purple and white 8/4 cotton carpet warp. The weft is 1 inch strips of t-shirts. I cut them so that each shirt yields a long strip - essentially cutting around the body of the shirt. This weft makes a strip that naturally curls and wears very well. The last rung I wove this way has lasted around 18 years.

The weave structure is plain weave with the warp colors alternativing. To change the colors, I just place two of the same color together. The stipes of color change in the weft direction by using two shots of carpet warp instead of just one.

Replacing an "Old" Rug

2011-03-24T07:35:00.001-07:00

After the marathon with the 24-shaft samples, I decided to do something simpler. One of my early projects, probably 18-20 years ago, was a rag rug. It was 8/4 carpet warp and t-shirt weft.
It was pretty easy to weave and the rug wore like iron. Until the warp threads started to fray near the header.

So, I browsed through the t-shirts I had and my husband's drawers for shirts that had seen better days. I decided on purple and white for the 8/4 cotton carpet warp, since I had those colors and my bathroom is purple. The pattern is a color & weave play on log cabin. Threaded dark-light-dark-light for two inches, then light dark-light-dark for the next two. At the intersections, there are two threads of the same color next to each other. The sett is 12 epi.

The white t-shirts were cut around the body of the shirt, giving a long continuous weft. (This isn't as hard as it seems since you fold the shirt and cut it with a rotary cutter on a pad.) I cut them about 1 inch wide. The shirt strip naturally curls. This makes it easier to keep most of the cut edged from showing. They are alternated in the weft with the purple warp yarn. The color pattern changed when two shots of the purple yarn are through in succession. The weave structure, threaded on 8-shafts, is plain weave.

This is going slowly since I am limiting myself to about an hour a day of weaving. The heavy beat needed to pack in the weft can be damaging (to me). So easy does it.

24-Shaft Twill for Samples

2011-02-15T14:57:00.001-08:00

Right after the table runner came off the AVL, the next project went right on. This time I used all of the 24 shafts on the loom. It's pretty far back there - I'm not sure how people with 40 shafts tell what's going on...

This loom has a "backwards" raddle. It sits on the far side of the back beam. I warp back to front, but the warp actually is wound from the really back of the loom - rather than coming from the front, resting on the shaft frames. It is a bit awkward - made even more so by the exercise bike immediately behind the loom...

The warp is threaded to a point and woven as threaded. The uniqueness of this is that I designed it by just selecting shafts to raise in the tie-up box. So starting with a 24x24 grid, I filled in boxes. The maximum float was 5, but with 10/2 pearl cotton, that's not too bad. The warp and weft are 10/2. The warp alternating natural and champagne (yellow); the weft willow green.

I had more color errors than I wanted in the warp, but figured I had plenty of warp to weave the necessary 34 2x2 repeats I needed. And I was under a severe time constraint. I started weaving using the design I put together. This involved lifting 12-14or 15 shafts at a time. After 2 feet, I used the "Change Face" feature in Fiberworks PCW and had only to lift 8 or 9 - 12 shafts. Much easier. After taking way too long to thread, I wove one day for 10 hours. Not straight, but pretty continuously. The dobby, the shafts and I got tired, but I was able to catch most of the mistakes in the weft (or in the raised shafts) early enough to easily fix them.

This is definitely a design that I like. For the next round of the study group, I am thinking about using 20/2 yarn and a network type threading. And starting earlier...

16-Shaft Table Runner

2011-02-15T14:45:00.000-08:00

Finally finished weaving most of the 20/2 warp last month. I wove some tabby at both ends and left plenty of warp for fringe but might decide to hem it. The tabby is a little bit wider than the twill protion - of course - didn't think that one through enough...

The length was about 72" before I cut it off, not counting the fringe. I haven't measured it again now that it's been washed.

Weaving off on 16 Shafts

2011-01-24T19:39:00.000-08:00

I'm weaving the warp from the 16-shaft napkins I put on the AVL loom probably a year ago.

I wove two napkins for an exchange, but lost interest.

I need to do another project to be finished by mid-February, so I am weaving this as a table runner instead of napkins. A little faster and possibly useful.

This is 20/2 cotton, so progress isn't very fast. I've woven about 3 1/4 yeards so far. I am trying to decide how long to weave it. Unfortunately I put on plenty of warp.

Christmas is Over???

2011-01-18T07:58:00.000-08:00

I just finished all of the Christmas tree towels I had warped. Yes, the holiday is over, but I'll have these for next year.

I tried some different color variations. On this particular one, I forgot the star - Oh well.

With this 12/2 warp, I used a trick I got from Susan D using cardboard tubes and Ziplock bags to keep the waro orderly while I wind it on.

Next projects are for the two Complex Weavers study groups I joined...

Christmas Tree Towels

2010-10-19T18:43:00.000-07:00

I've moved on from pumpkins to Christmas trees. These are threaded the same way as the pumpkins - 8-shaft rosepath - but the treadling and pattern weft is different. Still using #5 perle embroidery floss for the pattern.

I will be at Winterfaire this weekend - Oct 23rd and 24th from 10-4 both days - at the Nevada County Fairgrounds, Main Building, Gate 1, selling these towel (yes they will be finished by then) and baby blankets.

Halloween Before Christmas

2010-10-11T05:42:00.000-07:00

Before I got to Christmas towels, I thoght I would try some pumpkins in rosepath. The top line of pumpkins looked a little too fat, so I decided to go with the smaller version.

The warp and weft of the towels are 12/2 unmercerized cotton.

The decoration in size 5 pearl embroidery floss. This works well and generally doesn't run. This sample has been washed.

Alpaca Weekend

2010-10-11T05:22:00.000-07:00

I had the opportunity to sell some of my things last month at A Star Alpaca in Grass Valley, CA. It was during a ranch tour. As you can see the alpaca are lovely animals. It was a great weekend.

I was with two other weavers for the two-day event. We had a great set-up.

I had baby blankets
and towels for sale.

The Holidays Will Be Here Soon

2010-09-21T20:00:00.000-07:00

I started work on the Christmas towels. I've got the warp on the back beam. It is a 12/2 unmercerized natural cotton, so it doesn't show up well in pictures - certainly not much to show yet. It is there on the far right of this picture.

But for this pattern I have to do a bit of re-chaining under the loom. Yikes - not a very big space and it gets harder every year...

Finished Blankets

2010-09-12T12:41:00.000-07:00

I was able to get 3 2/3 blankets out of the current warp. I have several less than full blankets sitting around. I am trying to figure out how I can sew them together for regular sized blankets or maybe do something that could be doll-sized. Not sure.

These did turn out very nicely and I like the colors - mostly pink, but with some purple and a little green and a hint of orange as well.

There are two closer looks.
These are very simple - plain weave sett at 10 epi with a variety of cotton yarns for the warp and synthetic yarn for the weft - Mostly baby yarns.

Next project is Christmas towels.

Blankets for Girl Babies

2010-08-28T18:50:00.001-07:00

Started with a pile of pink, white and purple yarns and found some nice combinations for baby girl blankets. There are two on the way imminently

and I don't have any blankets I can give. So have to get busy.

The warp is all cotton, except for a couple of small sections which use a cotton/synthetic blend for one of the pairs.

I am still lashing on, but I am hoping to be weaving soon.

Finished Towels

2010-08-28T15:10:00.000-07:00

I finished the cotton/linen warp with a potpourri of structures. Several were extended point twills using the same yarn as the warp. One was woven off with medium brown Foxfiber cotton and another 10/2 yellow unmercerized cotton.

The ones that were woven with cotton/linen yarn were less dense than the M's & O's, but still nice.

Next project is pink baby blankets...

If It's August, It Must Be Fair Time

2010-08-17T06:15:00.000-07:00

After several years of not bothering (or not having anything novel to enter) I entered three pieces in the County Fair this year. Two towels and a table runner - one of the cotton/linen M's & O's towels and a twill Foxfiber cotton one. The latter was using natural as the weft rather than one of the two shades of Foxfiber from the warp. That one got a third place ribbon.

The table runner was one I wove several years ago. The structure is canvas cloth (4-shaft lacy structure) with a basket and plain weave border. My mother cross-stitched the Egyptian figures. The cross-stitch design was from a British publication called "New Stitches". There are 14 figures representing Egyptian gods. It was a fun collaborative project. This piece got a 1st place blue ribbon and almost got a Best of Division prize. The winner of that is a fantastic weaver. A nice honor to some in second to her.

More Towels

2010-07-11T14:59:00.000-07:00

After the four M's & O's towels, I rethreaded the warp to a point twill design. I have one towel finished and maybe three more to go. The white on white is hard to capture but you might be able to see the diamond pattern on the bottom photograph.

Detail of the point twill design. 4-Shaft / 4-treadles; 24 epi and approx. 24 ppi

70/30 Cotton / Linen in white

M's and O's Towels

2010-06-15T21:01:00.001-07:00

I wove four of the M's and O's towels before I cut them off so that I could take them with me to discussion group. I am going to re-thread with another pattern for some variety. I don't mind doing more than one the same, but more than four is a little much.

They turned out very nicely, good selvedges and uniform size. I've washed and hemmed them already.

Not sure what I might do next...

Towels

2010-06-08T06:06:00.000-07:00

The M's and O's towels with the 12/2/ cotton linen blend are weaving up nicely. I have 2 1/3 towels finished already. I was concerned that the edges might be wavy because of the weave structure. They look pretty good so far, but I'll have to see after they are off the loom.

The only problem I had was one broken warp thread. It was crossed behind the reed. Even though the two crossed threads were in the same dent, there must have been enough tension at some point to break it. The yarn is strong, but not quite as strong as a mercerized cotton would be.

I had to turn this bottom picture into black and white to avoid it looking too yellow or technicolor. I'm not that great with Photoshop and the fluorescent lights in the studio turn most things yellow to start with. But it shows the detail fairly well.

White Towels That Will Stay That Way

2010-06-03T06:21:00.000-07:00

Am back working on the big loom again. This time towels - M's and O's. I am using a bleached 12/2 70/30 Cotton/Linen blend. This is the same yarn I used for lovely twill towels that I combined with a navy of the same yarn content and ended up with navy and purple towels. It is such a shame because they turned out great and they feel really good.

These pictures don't really show it, but the navy bled a lavender. So I am using them myself. These twoels were sett at 30 epi, but I think they are a bit dense - especially for towels. It seems that density affects moisture absorption as well as fiber content and texture. So these are being sett at 24 epi. I put on 9 yards, so there will be plenty of towels OR time to experiment. I am hoping for the former.

That navy yarn, properly labeled as a runner, will be headed to a yarn exchange soon.

A Small Detour...

2010-05-31T13:57:00.000-07:00

I've been doing some Weavette/Weave-it squares with miscellaneous yarn here and there. I did these at a meeting recently. Much easy to carry and do than one of my other looms.

Probably going to send them to my sister to sew up into lap robes or afgans, depending on how many there are.

More Blankets

2010-05-21T12:40:00.000-07:00

Is it really almost June? I finished the three yellow, green and blue baby blankets last week.

The only glitch was after I finished winding the warp on the back beam, I realized that one of the yarns I used wasn't all cotton - it was stretchier than the others. Fortunately, I left more space in between each blanket and it didn't seem to be a problem.

Details for the three blankets:

Too Much Yarn - Need to Use it!

2010-03-18T19:57:00.001-07:00

I finally have more time to weave and too much yarn to fit into the space. So I am working on yellow, gree & blue baby blankets.

The other two looms are still full, but the yarn is there and needs to be used...

Finished Towels

2010-03-18T19:44:00.000-07:00

Well, these towels are finally finished -- well almost. I have to hem three of them yet.

They turned out pretty well and are very soft. I tried not to beat them very hard. The sett was 25 epi and the average picks per inch was 22-23, so a little bit less dense than the sett.

The twill pattern is very pleasing as well. It is an 8-shaft 3-3-2-1 twill. I am not sure which weft I like the best. I used the three different colors from the warp - natural, medium brown and a combination of natural and medium brown. When weaving with the natural, I thought it might be too much contrast, but now that they are finished and washed, it looks good as well.

Here a detailed view.

More Progress

2010-02-22T19:17:00.000-08:00

I took off the first three towels so that I could have something to show at Discussion Group. There are two with medium brown weft and one with natural /medium brown weft. They washed beautifully and look very nice.

After I re-tied on, I used the natural as weft. (See below with one each of the other colored towels. At first, I didn't think I liked the very light weft, but I am beginning to think it might be interesting - especially after I take it off and wash it. But that will have to wait for several more to be woven first.

Here is a not very good picture of a towel being woven with the natural yarn. Because it is very light, the stripes are faded looking.

Finally Back...

2010-01-25T16:51:00.000-08:00

Where has the time gone? I am finally back weaving again. These are a 1-2-2-3 twill using 12/2 unmercerized cotton. The browns are Foxfibre, which is a naturally colored cotton and the natural is a natural. They are threaded on 8 shafts in a point pattern. The colored stripes are varying widths so that the twill pattern doesn't match the striping, making a little more interesting pattern.

My other two looms both have warp on them and have started calling as well. Napkins in 20/2 are on the 24-shaft AVL and the remains of the doubleweave class from April!!! is on the Baby Wolf.

I am hopeful I can spend more time in the studio.

Napkins vs Towels - Napkins 0 Towels 4

2009-08-27T11:01:00.000-07:00

I am still plugging away at both the napkins and the towels. Unfortunately the napkins have still been causing problems.

The towels are doing great, although I think I should set them at maybe 26 or 28 instead of 30 epi. I am beating them at around 24 ppi and they seem to have a bit better hand. I wover 2 tan ones and took them as a hostess gift while we were on vacation. I have 1 1/2 green weft ones finished.

The napkins had several more threading and sleying errors. Even after weaving this short sample for discussion group, I found some more sleying errors. The loom was giving me fits. I guess the dobby box (the one with the solenoids) was off kilter a bit and the pattern would not advance. I was able to find some info on WeaveTech that helped troubleshoot that. So, I need to get this going, but the inertia is high.

Here is a picture of the sample and a close up. The color isn't great - it is mostly white with some natural in the warp,
but the close up does show the pattern.

I am planning to have this warp finished by the middle of September - in time for the next discussion group meeting.

More Towels

2009-07-14T21:17:00.000-07:00

Back to working with something to show for it. I hemmed and ironed
all of the towels I still have around the house. There is one Christmas
towel left from the end of last year and a small huck towel that I think
is big enough. The green, yellow and white towels are the latest - 16-shaft, 10/2 unmercerized cotton. I really like that pattern, but the green
shows when the beat isn't quite even. It make the white on white and
yellow on white better.

I am still struggling with the napkins (16 shaft, 20/2 cotton)
that I concentrated on the towels. I am actually weaving on them. They weave pretty fast, which is great.

The napkins had at least three sleying errors and one big heddle
mistake (i.e., I must have fallen asleep and used the wrong heddles). With the fine white yarn on white heddles on white floor underneath, it has been a trial. The towels should be finished fairly soon and then I'll get back to the napkins...

Napkins & Towels

2009-06-23T19:58:00.001-07:00

It seems like a long time since I actually made any progress at the loom. I started to warp some 20/2 mercerized cotton for napkins - probably a month ago. You can see where they are now. Well actually I have all of the warp ends through the heddles this evening. It was a bit of a mess to wind on. I haven't figured out a good configuration for the reed - right now it is positioned behind the loom so that the warp comes from the back of the loom, rather than from the front of the loom (even thought I am doing back to front warping.) It is not only a bit ackward, but the excercise bike is in the way. Sigh...

I got so frustrated warping the napkins that I put a warp for towels on the other loom. So I have 10/2 pink striped towels there - waiting.

I missed the napkin exchange at the discussion group, but one person has extra and is willing to exchange with me.

I was able to finish the towels I was working on a month or so ago. There are several green ones, a yellow and two white towels that I've gotten hemmed. I also still need to put together my samples from the CNCH Doubleweave class. They are still in a bag. Never a dull moment.

A Sonoma Weekend - Looking for the Secret to Doubleweave

2009-05-04T14:34:00.000-07:00

Two weekends ago (wow how time flies!) I loaded up the Baby Wolf and set off to Sonoma for the CHCN conference. It is really just workshops with a few extras on off years between the big conferences. I signed up for Jennifer Moore's Doubleweave class. She does some really phenomenal things with doubleweave pick up. http://www.doubleweaver.com/index.php

Sonoma is a gorgeous town with a large square - lots of shops and restaurants and a place where you can walk everywhere. Great setting for a workshop.

It was a great class and we did lots of weaving over the 2 1/5 days. I think I may have found out the key to designing the purple to green nine-square idea I have been toying with for around 15 years.

Forget the Samples - Let's Make Something

2009-03-24T19:02:00.000-07:00

OK, for those of you who know me, you know I am terrible when it comes to sampling. (Well, also record keeping and a number of other things, but that's beside the point.) I decided to try to just weave off some towels with the 16-shaft point warp. This is the Alderman design using 10/2 unmercerized cotton in dark green.

I am not a big fan of green, but I think I got this as part of a "surprise" batch of yarn somewhere along the line. I really prefer to use unmercerized yarn for towels, although there is still a great debate around which is better - unmercerized or mercerized. The jury is still out.

Here is the detail. As you can see, thanks to Beryl, I've fixed the treadling errors. I love the computer control! It really make it very easy to make adjustment or fixes. I am glad I had some experience in Midland with a manual dobby, but this is much better.

Weaving towels was great for a snowy Sunday.

16-Shaft Point Designs

2009-03-24T18:02:00.000-07:00

I have continued to work on the 16-shaft point twill samples I started a few months ago. Here is a picture of the entire piece.

This was done with 10/2 unmercerized cotton - white in the warp and dark green, yellow and kelly green in the weft. The yellow and kelly green are mercerized. The latter I don't know why I have so much and am trying to get rid of. Yeah!

The first design is a star/flower like pattern that was used as an exercise in JoAnn's Diaper class. It is pretty and I love the detail I can get with the extra shafts.

These samples are unwashed.

Even with this not so great picture, you can see the detail.
I think when washed it will lose the vertical line-spaces.

The second design is from Sharon Alderman's book

Mastering Weave Structures, page 54

This picture shows the original design at the bottom and a variation I created by playing around with the tie-up.

The variations are not nearly as interesting or crisp but I wanted to have something that had shorter floats. With the sett (24 epi)

and the yarn, the floats on the original aren't too long.

I like the original design better.

Here is the detail of the original design - with two treadling errors. {Thanks Beryl for noticing these!}

It's not quite square, but maybe with washing it will look ok. The diamonds with the longer warp floats look squarer than the other diamonds do.

The last set of samples are a design from Kathryn Wertenberger's

book, 8, 12...20 An Introduction to Multishaft Weaving, pg 65.

The yellow is the original design and the green a variation.

This is a really nice design - the picture doesn't do it justice.

I've started working on Bonnie Inouye's book, Exploring Multishaft Design, so I am hoping to have a lot more unique designs in the

future. Also there are napkins for an exchange with the Weaving Discussion Group and I need to finish off the 8 yards of warp on the AVL. So much more weaving ahead.

Incorporating Memories

2009-02-09T16:20:00.000-08:00

I have been noodling around with my next projects and I am working on the idea of taking some t-shirts that had been my mother's and incorporating them into a rag rug. I haven't been able to wear the shirts, so this is probably a better use for them.

So I have been cutting them up. I also found some that had been my father's and some old ones of mine to use. As you can see this is going to be pretty colorful.

I have more to cut up. I am still thinking of how I want to weave it. I also have some pretty colorful warp that I plan to use.

More later...

It's Working

2009-02-03T19:31:00.000-08:00

Well, I have the loom all put together and finally have the right version of Fiberworks PCW on my laptop AND have the settings right. The loom works great! (I think I know now how Dr. Frankenstein would have felt after assembling the monster. :-) )

I still have to figure out how to put a pattern on the Compu-Dobby itself or on the cartridge I got with the loom, but maybe later. Running the loom off of the laptop seems very easy and straightforward.

I put on 10/2 white unmercerized cotton, sett at 24 epi, for some playing , sampling and eventually towels. I threaded the warp to a 16 shaft point. (I know I've got 24, why not use them all.) The design is one I saw while taking JoAnn's Diaper class and I wanted to try it out.

Here is a close up of the design. It is really very nice. I'm not sure if it will work for towels with this grist. There are floats that are 5 or 6 threads long. I'll see better after washing.

I am going to try some more designs I am finding in my books while planning some designs of my own. This will be a good time to experiment designing using the "Magic Box". More on that later. I probably need to put something on the Cranbrook so it doesn't get jealous.

It's Together - I Think

2009-01-25T17:04:00.000-08:00

I finished putting together the new loom, with all of the electronics, etc. I put a 10/2 white cotton warp in a 16-shaft point pattern to try it out. I have a great flower-like pattern that was part of JoAnn's Diaper class that I want to try out, but thepoint threading will allow a lot of experimentation.

Now I have to figure out the Comby Dobby! :-)

Tis the Season - a Little Late

2009-01-13T12:59:00.001-08:00

Finally I've gotten my Christmas towels finished. I wove this pattern about 10 years ago and dug it out again for this year.

I have several IOU's out for presents. At least it will be before Valentine's Day. ;-)

This is an example of an unwashed towel. I used 12/2 unmercerized cotton - natural, sett at 24 epi. The pattern is

done with #5 perle mercerized embroidery cotton.

This is a washed sample.

New Toy Coming Together

2008-12-09T19:15:00.000-08:00

I am finally assembling my new (to me) loom. Thanks Sue!

I managed to get this far in one day.

Fortunately the sides were already assembled,
so there wasn't as much to do.

Also everything was well labeled, so even I could figure out

what piece was what.

The frame is all put together. The rest, according to the

instructions is "All down hill."

Blankets, Blankets and More Blankets

2008-09-07T12:20:00.000-07:00

I have actually gotten busy after much non-weaving. I am currently working on boy baby blankets. I picked up quite a bit of cotton yarn on my travels this summer and decided to use some of it.

The warp colors range from green and blue green to purple. I have two finished already and still on the loom. The first has a purple slubby weft and looks purple all over. The second is green with slubs of blue, green and pink. The last is underway.

I wrote this up and saved it to draft and forgot about it.

The blankets are all finished. Here are a few.

More Hearts

2008-09-07T12:10:00.001-07:00

I finally got back to the loom to work on the huck heart towels. I got four out of the remaining warp - plus on that is short with white and brown stripes. They turned out pretty well and I am going to use them in a towel exchange the discussion group is having.

Here is a little closer look at the hearts. The larger ones have warp floats and the smaller ones, weft floats. The warp was white 10/2 cotton and the wefts different colors of 10/2.

Experiments in Huck

2008-04-20T13:45:00.000-07:00

While studying The Complete Book of Drafting for Handweavers by Madelyn Van Der Hoogt with my virtual study group, we finally got to the Lace chapter. I've done huck before, mainly by following someone else's draft and was a bit stumped by the section. So, I decided to figure it out.

I designed an 8-shaft pattern threaded to a point, with shafts 3 through 8 for the pattern. There were huck hearts with weft floats centered on shaft 8 and smaller warp float hearts, centered on shaft 3. The rest is plain weave.

This is the reverse side of the sample:

These picture's don't show the fabric very closely, but the hearts look like hearts and having floats go in different directions and the hearts in different sizes adds interest. I used white warp and white, yellow, pink and dark pink in 10/2 cotton and 12/2 cotton in natural for the weft. I like the white and lighter pink. The darker pink might be create too great of a contrast with the white, but it does show off the huck pattern.

I will probably weave a few hand towels with this pattern all over and as just a boarder with plain weave for the towel. I might get adventurous enough to design new pattern that I can weave with the current threading. We'll have to see what happens.

Happy Spring,
Ingrid

Getting Back to Weaving

2008-03-19T14:34:00.000-07:00

I finally got back into the studio to do some weaving. I put on enough warp for four baby blankets. So much for good calculations, I thought I had only enough for three and a little bit. I have a bunch of 1/3 or 2/3rds of blankets. I am planning to some day maybe do a patchwork blanket out the the short pieces.

Here are pictures with more detail of two of the blankets:

I used mostly cotton for the warp and synthetic baby yarn for the weft. It gives a nice hand to the blankets.

I am currently planning hand towels with some sort of huck motifs. Also I still working on "The Complete Book of Drafting for Handweavers" by Madelyn Van Der Hoogt with three other weaving friends. We've gotten to the Tied Weaves chapter.

Back in the Pink

2008-02-04T10:25:00.000-08:00

After a long absence, I finally have gotten back into the studio. This isn't the best picture, but I am working on pink baby blankets. It is a great project - not much thinking and so very easy that it helps get me back to the loom. There are girl babies on the horizon for friends of friends so they will not stay here long once they are finished.

Not sure what's next, but at least I'm weaving!

Cheers!

Calendar Sample Pictures

2007-10-23T12:22:00.000-07:00

I finally got the picture upload to work. Here is the cloth still on the loom. I did around 4 yards (and actually have more warp that I can weave). This was done in 10/2 cotton. The warp is a yellow and natural alternated. The weft is yellow and a light tan, also alternated.

This detail, isn't great, but the cloth is meant to be reminiscent of

strata of earth.

The samples are all cut and we have started assembling the calendars. We only did 100, so it wasn't too much work.

Calendar Samples

2007-10-17T14:08:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been a while and many thing have been going on - not many of them weaving. The latest project is a perpetual calendar with my weaving discussion group. The theme is the Gold Country of California. We are weaving samples to use for each month of the calendar. I have October.

The samples are finished and cut to size and we are currently assembling the calendars.

The mechanism to upload pictures isn't working, so I'll have to post the pictures later.

Fair Results

2007-08-14T07:52:00.001-07:00

The County Fair has come and finished this past Sunday. I am pretty excited because I won two ribbons for the three entries I submitted. The baby blanket got a second place in the baby category.

The end of the warp from the Shadow Weave class that I was too lazy to do more than just weave as a runner got a first place in the home accessory (or something like that) category. The third entry was two of the pink striped towels.

I was very impressed with the quality of the other entries. That made the awards more special.

I'm busy working on the next project, but more on that later.

Blankets are Finished - Mostly

2007-07-28T13:56:00.000-07:00

At the left are two of the four blankets I got out of the warp I put on earlier this month. Actually I got 4 1/3 blankets. I haven't gotten the calculations correct so that I can just have enough for a specific number and I hate to just cut off the warp and try to figure out something to do with it. I think eventually I can make a kind of patchwork blanket out of all of the 1/3 blankets I have.

Here is a close-up of one of the blankets. (It's not great, but might give you an idea.)

I don't have anything on the loom yet, but I am entering four things for the County Fair next month - oneof these blankets, the brown and white runner and two of the striped towels. Our calendar project is coming together, so that may be the next project.

Towels Finished - On to the Next Project

2007-07-06T11:27:00.000-07:00

Well, the cotton towels are finished, hemmed, washed, etc. They turned out pretty well. I used pink, yellow, green and brown for weft. The brown ones (center under the yellow towel) looked better than I thought it would. The green isn't my favorite, but doesn't look too bad. I am thinking about entering them in the county fair in August.

In order to keep the momentum going, I started on some baby blankets. You can kind of see my process for designing the blankets. They are striped using two different colors and yarn types at a time. I have a plan for how wide the stripes are and just pick yarn combinations that seem to go together. These blankers are in peaches, yellows and whites. The warp is all cotton - mostly knitting-type of yarn. The wefts will be some kind of synthetic blend - acrylic/nylon, etc. It makes a very nice hand for the blankets.

If I get these finished, I will probably enter one of these in the fair as well.

Striped Towels in Pink and other Colors

2007-06-19T19:42:00.001-07:00

I am still working on the multi-striped towels in 10/2 cotton. I started with a sample that crossed all of the warp colors in the weft. This gave me a chance to see how each color would look as weft. You can see the sample to the right.

I have woven a towel with the pink and have cut this off. The picture below was taken before it was washed and its detail is below. (The hardest thing about this blog is to get the pictures where I want them. It must not be that hard since lots of blogs have pictures everywhere in their posts. sigh...)

I have woven a yellow and a green towel and will probably use the tan for weft next. The yarn colors that were darker like the hot pink and purple didn't look very good as weft, probably because the value was so much different than the overall warp. I am hoping to finish these before the end of the week. Cheers!

More Shopping Than Weaving

2007-05-24T08:01:00.000-07:00

Between CNCH and a visit to North Carolina, I haven't had much time to weave. So I did the next best thing - shopped for yarn!

Those trips were great opportunities to find yarn. I know I don't need any more but it is hard to resist some of the new yarns in great colors and mixed fibers. The yarns to the left are all mercerized cottons. Perfect for baby blanket warp.

These blue yarns, on the right, (except for the small ball top left) are from the same company. They have slightly different content (wool, mohair, etc.) but are the same color. I found them in North Carolina and some in Carmel, CA. Unfortunately they are also available via the Internet.

I have been finishing the Shadow Weave sample. It is washed, but I haven't decided if I will add a fringe (and what kind) or just hem it. The pink towel warp is all wound, threaded and tied on. I just have to start weaving on that. More on those later.

Weaving by the Sea

2007-05-01T08:19:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, I attended the CNCH Retreat at Asilomar in Pacific Grove, CA. It was a lovely spot to be and an even better place to weave. This isn't quite the view from the classroom window, but we could see the ocean.

I took a Shadow Weave class during the long weekend. My sample was an illustration of a 4-shaft shadow weave with a border - threaded on shafts 5 & 6. I used 3/2 mercerized cotton in natural and brown. (I was glad to use it up since the brown is definitely not my color and I don't remember why I bought it.) There were 17 students and the instructor brought a 16-shaft compu-dobby loom for the 18th sample. Many people brought table looms, which turned out to be the challenge for me but helped me decide to not consider buying a table loom.

It took a lot of work to complete all of the samples, but I did, although some are very short. I still have a bit of warp to weave off. I should use it to experiment, but I will probably weave it off as a runner.

Previous Unplanned Result

2007-04-16T07:34:00.000-07:00

Before starting on the striped towels, I finished a set of linen/cotton blended twill towels. The yarn, a 30% linen/70% cotton blend wove into cloth with a great hand. Everything seemed fine until I washed them. The blue yarn bled - not just bleeding around the intersection of the white and blue colors - but across the entire towel. It also looked purple rather than blue.

At right is a washed towel with an unwashed towel on top. I originally washed the towels with a dye magnet sheet. I washed them a second time with a couple of the dye magnet sheets. I simmered one of the towels on the stove with a little detergent. The blue is still discharging.

I still have a couple of things I can do - more washing with dye magnet sheets or using a color remover. In any case, these towels will be mine rather than the gift they were intended to be. I guess that is a good thing since they do have a great hand and they turned out very well otherwise.

I haven't washed this one towel was done with mostly blue weft yet.

Taking the Plunge

2007-04-14T18:06:00.000-07:00

There are two things I'd like to accomplish with this blog. Having removed myself from my weaving compatriots by moving across the country, I thought it would be an easy way to share what I am doing with them. I suppose the other reason has to do with keeping current and understanding the new technology trends. I also hope this will help me keep weaving.

My current project is towels done with 10/2 mercerized cotton. They are a stripe that I put together for a calendar project in 2005.

This is as far as I have gotten so far. We'll see have it goes.