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Saturday, October 1, 2011

Done Like Dinner

My bright idea of getting some more mileage from tie-up's on the Louet loom were brought about due to a cranky lower back. A great idea in theory! I would do one project and tie-up and then go looking for another, usually modified, project and use the same tie up again. When you come to think of 12 shafts and 12 treadles and 144 ties, it's a reasonable concept!

The book mark project was the instigator (see picture on head of blog!). I played with the draft in my PCW Fiberworks and changed a few things. Here it is again:


I had two ways that I liked to treadle them. One as shown and the second is to add the diamond and a half between repeats. Okay, so two scarves! I beamed a 10/2 tencel warp at 28 epi. I have more details on this at this post.  My weft was uber fine 30/2 black silk and one full repeat was a lot of treadling! I recall the first scarf progressing well and no difficulties but things went far slower on number two!  The  floating selvedge edge thread on the right hand side kept letting go and breaking every six inches until I finally accepted it was going to happen regardless and kept the T pin handy. My final fix for this was in my last post. My problem was boredom!  The book marks had been quick and fun but this was dragging for some reason. I found myself avoiding the loom and weaving more on the blue and white towels! (they are coming to a conclusion soon... patience grasshopper!) I did force myself to sit down and weave so many repeats before I was allowed to weave on the other loom.... and when it seemed like I would be having a student come soon and use the Louet, I got busy and wove the last portion and got started into the finishing. The loom sits empty for now now... geesh!

I had difficulty getting decent pictures for you as the scarves are black and a deep red, with a silk weft which all reflects light when my flash goes off! So please bear with them ... trust me, these are the better ones!


Here they are on the fringing board. I did a nice firm, rounder three stand cord using my triple twister. Twisters make the work go so much faster! Next up, beading and bling!



Click to enlarge for better detail. It took me a pleasant two hours yesterday to do the four scarf ends and then I lay them and my samples to soak while we made our dinner.



Since our summer seems to have moved on, they hung for the night in our shower stall and then out came the ironing board this morning!


So with diamonds in between repeats.... (wow, great sheen on that silk!)


... and without! There was just one complete box or square to start and finish and the rest was all undulating pattern repeats. They are not as shiny in person as they appear here. I'm an automatic 'point and shoot' type so the more technical side of all things camera are not my forte! The scarves are now tucked away with the rest of my inventory for the coming sales.

With those sales in mind, I did something special to get ready. My very first professionally made business cards!  They also serve as my hang tags so there is a small hole punched in one corner and care instructions on the back. 


The image is  the echo weave scarf I wove using Lynnette's unique computerized draft.  The first cards I didn't make on my little printer with little perforation marks all around the edges! 

10 comments:

Bruce said...

Nice post, Susan. Your scarves are beautiful. You've been keeping very busy in your studio and it's nice to see an empty loom once again. With a new student beginning work in your studio soon and Christmas just around the corner, I know that Calli and I will take care of putting the gardens to bed for the winter.

Hub

Evelyn said...

Gorgeous, as usual!

Theresa said...

They look beautiful Susan and as always so professional. Those cards are just perfect. Love the idea of having everything on the back and the front really has a fine and eye catching photo of some of your excellent work!

barbara said...

Hi Susan,
Your scarves are beautiful, thanks for the story of their journey from thread to the finished product.
I really like you "business" cards, they are very nice, and very professional looking. Well done. Nice to see on the information on the back of the cards. Weaverly yours ... Barbara

Linda said...

Beautiful work, Susan! ..as always! I'm also at the juncture with a completed silk 12h gebrochene still sitting on the Carolyn while I figure out how I want to take advantage of that threading for another couple scarves... It does seem to take forever to treadle through, and I won't even re-consider how many inches I un-wove on mine as well...just one thing at a time. So now you have a clean page ahead and a million ideas, I'm sure, for what to do next. Always fun to see what you're up to!

Hilary said...

gorgeous!!!!!!!

Cindie said...

your scarves are stunning!

Peg Cherre said...

I have a slight preference for the scarf with the diamond in between, but they're both stunning, as your work always is.

Anonymous said...

Susan, I am in awe.

Blessings,
Wayne

dorothylochmaben said...

Am a bit slow catching up ! These scarves are stunning and the silk shines beautifully in the pictures.
Nice new business cards too, they look very professional !
Dorothy