Shawls of Summer ☀️

 This post is a tad bit overdue.   The weaving was finished a couple of months ago and I managed some pictures outside.  The photographs I took of one shawl looked bleached out by the sun and didn't do it justice at all so I planned to take some indoors.... but on a sunny day.   Then the clouds rolled in and it seemed that any sunny day had us going somewhere.  Finally, everything aligned and I got the photos taken. 

But let's roll the clock back to my old Megado and a mystery warp.  I bought a painted warp from Carr Park Artisans a couple of years ago and it was  7.5 yards and 400 ends of painted tencel.    No name of the colour way on the card and I asked Christine and she doesn't recall.

So I paired it with solid  mineral green tencel  and slipped in some of the extra painted warp left over into the borders. I didn't want to waste any!  Above you can see the warp being beamed, and below you can see my "S" hooks and weights I use to tension as I wind on. Yes, it means a bit of to'ing an fro'ing but I don't mind as I know the warp is on tight and will behave later on during the weaving. 

This is the draft I used. Rather than using a straight draw, I decided to modify it and use a 16 shaft point twill instead. I did have some straight draws on either side as part of the border.   It's a mind boggling 63 treadle run so usually woven up on a dobby loom.    The blank white part is the painted warp and later on where the gold stripe is, I replaced that with spare painted warp instead.  I'm making choices right up to the last minute usually.   The draft is from Handweaving.net and is #78089

The weaving was straight forward  and took some time. The first shawl I used the mineral green as weft as it seemed to work with all the colours in the warp.   It was woven to approximately 87 inches to allow for some shrinkage. It was fun to weave as you were always trying to anticipate the next colour zone and how it would look. The transitions were softly done which I prefer. 

This is the shawl complete and measured as 19 inches wide by 84 inches, plus twisted fringe.   It's fully reversible too which is nice for the wearer.      I see it as a 'summer time wrap' and of course, that time is now passed.

Now for some various pictures showing drape, colour, and my late summer garden

The sedum is colouring up to pink-red so taken mid September.  

The second shawl was entirely different. I used a different 16 shaft point twill tie up #34777. It's a draft I have used before and quite like it. It has a delicate flower / star like pattern, and this time I used greyed teal as my weft. The whole overall effect was softer and more gentle.

A couple of pictures taken shortly after starting.   Love the pink transitions!

Finally, indoor pictures taken, in a house with extra sunshine brightening the house up. I like to think my grandparents approve.... that's their 1930 wedding photo in behind.

This section of the warp had more of the gold-yellow colour, but not at all harsh.  All quite soft.

This shawl is also 19 inches wide by 84 inches too.

These pictures show the iridescence

So one more project was woven on the Megado 110 and then she was off to a new adventure in the Okanagan Valley. (see Oct 4th post about the table runners)  Life intervened here (again) and much of the delays here were due to medical appointments as my husband has leukemia, but it seems its low grade.  Tests will determine whether they treat it or not so we will find out more on the coming weeks.

Weaving has been a wonderful experience for me in the past 30 years. A source of new friendships, learning a new craft and constantly evolving as time, looms and circumstances change.   It's patient when you can't visit the loom or you dabble with a new toy or craft.  It gives solace when times get serious and you need a refuge. The magic of putting colour and threads together is joyful.

I have no regrets about going down this marvellous rabbit hole!    🐰

Under Way with Maeve

 It's been a busy time here this October and we're now into November, complete with shifting clocks back an hour to standard time and into what I'd like to call "the Dark Times".   You know, the time period where you can have lunch and watch the sun set at the same time?  😳

It took some time to tweak Maeve up and get her running smoothly. Heddles needed thinning, then layering shaft by shaft so not cause the shafts to float. I discovered that the apron rod at the breast beam (stick is more accurate) is actually 1/4 inch too long and jams under the breast beam when starting a warp. Nothing more complicated other than being simply a tad bit long for the space.  I know a man with a saw who can fix that so not a problem.   

The loom doesn't come with beater blocks anymore like my old loom so we had to make some from maple and install. Funny thing is, they still pre drill it for the blocks and then don't add them. I didn't like looking at the holes, and I wanted the beater blocks as it meant a further reach for arthritic shoulder joints.

The black rubber 'feet' under the loom and bench leave black marks on the carpet, so I ordered clear 1 inch foot cups and after cutting down the soft side to the right height, slipped them onto the bench's feet. No more marks!   The loom's feet will be done at some future date when I have some big burly helpers to tip her side to side to slip them on.   Its little details like this that drive me crazy and so I look for a solution.

In her spot so I can see the garden.... or watch winter storms.  

This plum shade is the start where I wove just to get the feel of the loom and check for errors. Happily none!   I chose a handweaving.net draft #79912 as it used all 16 shafts and is basically a point twill and sequentially a reversed point twill.   The heddles were all bunched up and so each and every one of the 728 had to be teased apart,  cut either top or bottom loop if missed and so this took a fair amount of time to do.

I could see lines in the warp so I carefully checked and they were threaded correctly.  I had used a 14 dent reed, sleyed 2 ends per dent so that reduces warp streaking.     I would stop and check every little thing that looked 'odd' and there was nothing to fix.   

I had double soft butter yellow ends as a design feature in the coloured stripes. I wasn't too sure about that but it worked out okay to have them than not.

It was 7.5 yards of 10/2 cottons from Web's; sett 28 epi.   Approx 25 inches in the reed and I wove each of the 6 towels to 37 inches.    Three has cream weft, one had khaki, one was a plain version of the three main stripe colours and the last was a plaid where I wove a plaid and also included the butter yellow. That one is my favourite.

Here are the group of 6 towels with the Cameo Rose pink stripe facing out.  There was also a silvery purple and a deep mossy green.   The neutral portion of the warp was a cotton colour called Shell and I used a neutral cream as weft on three towels.

This is the plaid:  I also noticed that there were lines in the weft every pattern repeat now that it was off tension.    It also happened on the reverse but in the second portion of the repeat.    It looked like skips!   It affected every towel, front and back.   So I checked the draft, the tie up plan, did the shafts misbehave?     Everything was correct and fine.    So its a feature that appears off tension that looks like a mistake but isn't.    It still bothered me though. 

I have another warp that I was planning to use the same draft again and now was changing my mind on that.  I will use the same threading but a different tie up plan. 

Here my favourite as the soft yellow perks everything up.   I turned the hems and hand sewed them.  I'm not a fan of the 'stitch ditch' line.  Some of my buyers use what I call a kitchen towel as a table runner instead so this makes them more versatile.

The khaki towel.   

The three towels with an off white 10/2 weft.

The towels end up being 21.5 inches wide by 30 inches with the shrinkage and hems turned.   Quite a bit of shrinkage but they are still generously large sized towels.

Things well under way on Maeve: The name Maeve is of Irish origin and means "she who intoxicates" or "she who rules". It comes from the Old Irish name Medb, the name of a powerful warrior queen in Irish mythology, also linked to the Proto-Celtic root *medu- for "mead" (a honey wine). Another meaning associated with the name is "the cause of great joy".  

Well, once we have all our initial  kinks worked out, Maeve will rule the studio and be the cause of much joy !

My newly set up winding station. Current weft yarns on top and the next projects weft yarns on the second shelf.  Third layer has a series of 3 pound weights to use while beaming a warp.  Towel under the winder is by dear friend Wayne Nicholson.

Finally, for those of you out there with 16 shaft looms, the draft and  you'll see there are a few treadling variations to try. I have the number wrong below and the correct draft number is 79912 at handweaving.net.  I call it a senior moment  😉