A New Year: a fresh start?

 Happy New Year to you!  🎉

I normally do a weaving year review, but I took 7 months off recovering from a spine and back injury and so my only effort has been two shawls and a lot of hand spun yarn.   I have yet to photograph them and present them here as yet.   When we finally get a decent sunny day, that is my goal!

I started weaving on a towel warp as shown previously but  nerve impingement in my right shoulder put a stop to weaving yet again.   Then we have been preoccupied with Christmas and trying to stay warm.    Stay warm?   well, our furnace quit on December 13th and we have been without furnace / heat pump heat since then. We are relying on space heater and a gas fire place to keep warm.   Sweaters, socks and fluffy housecoats are in vogue here. 

We called the heating company this morning to "put a fire under them" to see where our new furnace fan is out there. It's coming air freight from the USA. I'm thinking we should have got Amazon to ship it!    But it should be here soon. 🤞 Edit: as of today Jan 3rd  its apparently on back order and we're no closer to a solution.  😢

So what have I been up to?  Well spinning is a nice way to spend time, and I'm all up to date with Netflix, BritBox, Acorn and Primevideo.  I read *a lot* and love my Kindle.

I also spend time at handweaving.net and cruise the patterns.  They just released 4 shaft overshot miniatures:   Bertha G. Hayes Miniature Overshot Drafts

I've also been going through my weaving book collection and in particular " Janna Weaves" by Janna van Ledden- Valk.  A bit on the spendy side to acquire but I'm feeling inspired by the drafts.  Yes, there are drafts for high numbered shaft looms but there are 8 shaft and 16 shaft drafts too.

I'm also looking to do weavings based on themes.... and still working that out in my head for now.  For example, Pompeian art and mosaics.  Some examples....   some neat colours to work with in these.

I'll close for now with a draft I have been working on from "Janna Weaves".  Yes, the warp is wound  so that is encouraging.   (16 shafts/ 16 treadle)   Click on the image to enlarge.

Silk Road Red

So as I explained in my last post, spinning is all I can do for now while my back heals and I have been enjoying the time.  I have become much more familiar with my Hansen e-spinner and how to get the best out of it and my spinning / plying has improved.  It's a different approach to a regular spinning wheel and takes some time to get used to. (Or it did for me at least).  Anyhow, it has saved my arthritic feet and I enjoy the portability of it.    

Some how I found this web site: FellviewFibres on line and bought some of their rolags to spin.  There is always a little bonus rolag as a tease and it sure works!   Her rolags, puni's and batts are literal works of art and a joy to spin!   Each one is prepared by hand and takes time to build an order, and she's very popular..... so orders can take some time to arrive.  (Subsequent orders get a 10% discount which is nice.)

I spotted this selection called Sogdian Rolags and the inspiration really spoke to me. I'm a huge fan of ancient textiles and so have researched the Silk Road, the various cultures along the route.   The Sogdians were a very sizeable empire along the silk road and controlled a great deal of the traffic along the Road.   They faded into obscurity and their descendants live in the general area still..... and a tantalizing glimpse of their history is in grave goods and mummies and some ancient city sites.

click to enlarge and read the inspiration

I have 'borrowed' these images from Fellview's web site as I failed to get decent pictures of the rolags before spinning. You can see how rich the colorway is.  It's a fine micron merino and tussah silk and a touch of ruby bamboo. 

I had approx 400 grams of rolags (or just under a pound.... 454 grams is 16 ounces or one pound)

I got four skeins of varying weights and they are simply yummy. Its difficult to photograph skein and red ones  properly so it will take me some time to find the right method to show them to their best advantage.

I recommend this book if this sort of ancient textile 'mystery' appeals to you. 

I discovered that my little Royal ball winder is not up to the task of winding the skeins into cakes so I have this ball winder on order and due to arrive this coming week.  Fiber Artist Supply Company made my fringe twister (with 10 clips) and they also now produce and sell Woolhouse Tools table looms.    

So that will take care of the winding....

Plus I have one of these yardage counters from Stanwood so I can tally the yardage properly as I wind them up.

Then next task is to design a paper sleeve to wrap around the cakes to have all their data listed ahead of (gasp!) selling them.  

 I'm not a knitter, an occasional crocheter and while I do plan to weave with some, not all will be kept.   I spin as I enjoy the process and find it calming, relaxing.   After the winter we had, I needed all the stress reduction I could get!

On a personal note:  Hubby is doing much better and we will soon find out if he is infection free, and a CT scan in late May will show how effective the kidney stone laser treatment was.    He back to puttering in the yard, and doing odd jobs, albeit with a daily nap.

Me? well the sciatica has reduced so it doesn't involve my entire leg and seems more localized to the hip area, but I'm still relying on pain meds to get through my day. So it's improving, but ever so slowly.....

It seems to be time to take a long hard look at how things will be going forward once I can weave for a time. I doubt whether I can be working two looms as quickly and often as I did before and must take a more sedate approach. I'm leaning more and more  to reducing to one loom only.   The Louet Spring would be the choice to sell as even with lifting the loom up and sitting on a stool, you still need to bend forward to do the tie up's.    I don't think my back will be so forgiving anymore, and I certainly don't want to go through all this again!    

So more downsizing to come......

Caribbean Beach

It was either a television show featuring far off golden beaches and turquoise waters, or a travel ad luring you to the Caribbean for a 'sun-cation', but the nugget of inspiration for this project was conceived on a cold, dark night in early January.   The driving wind and rain, or the cold sleet and snow, combined with the short days getting dark so early had me thinking of warmer, brighter times to come!   

The image I saw on the telly was much like this one below. This is a beach on the Coromandel Peninsula on the north island of New Zealand.  It best demonstrates my design concept with its curving arrays of waves on a golden shore.   My mind mentally ran through my stash and I realized I had the colours on hand!   

Now the search for the right draft started. Over a few days I spent much time cruising through drafts on Pinterest and Handweaving.net and scrolled through scores of drafts. I went through all five of my sample binders, and various books.  I went back to Handweaving.net and eventually found this draft there.  Now, I must 'fess up and say that I either didn't record the draft number or lost it.  I don't have it , so sorry about that.... but you do have the three screens of the draft below.  This is what I call an extended twill progression.  The twill progresses along but there are many repeats at any given point, in this case four and then it transitions to the next, creeping up or down the run. There's 349 steps to one repeat, which in the case of my 8/2 tencel measured 14 inches on the loom.  Five repeats  equals 70 inches.  Scarf done!  Okay, so the in-between part is mind boggling but works okay  with no interruptions (of any kind) and a well caffeinated mind.  Its a good work out for the head, arms and legs.

I had used my Fiberworks program (for Mac) and played with the gradation feature. I tightened up some of the gradation but the draft is as it was as I found it at the website.   I was able to print off the threading by itself and then use little mini post it notes to isolate the sequence and so work my way across four colours and reverse again on the warping mill.  With the post it notes left in place, it meant I always knew where I was in the sequence and so could leave it for a break and a stretch.

I used 8/2 tencel from Web's  in dark teal, greyed teal, straw and finally 'tussah' coloured tencel from Textura Trading. It has been in my stash for a few years now and was perfect for the centre colour. It wasn't until I was starting to wind the straw colour and needing to add the lighter tussah that I found the tussah was actually 10/2 and not 8/2 like the others. I had put it on the wrong shelf in the storage closet!  I thought about it for a few minutes and decided to go ahead and use it anyway and keep my sett the same at 24 epi. *fingers crossed*  😳

I could see right away this was going to be special...

The colours worked so well together and the shift from one to another was  great.

As luck would have it my  scrap  filler yarn to use at the start was a medium purple and it suited the warp so well. I  decided to try amethyst as weft for the second scarf and I liked it a lot.  Think "twilight time at the beach".

It also picks out the pattern more clearly than the dark teal and so has a whole different feel.

After several days of rain and cloudy skies, the sun came out this past weekend and I got busy with the camera.  This one shows the 'wave' effect I was going for nicely....

The colours in this photo more closely resemble the real colours used..... (pardon the fold lines! I did get out there quickly to snap the pictures). It clouded over and started raining again shortly after I finished.

This one below shows a full repeat of the pattern. The scarf was woven to 70 inches on the loom and was 66 inches when all wet finished and pressed.  Four inches lost seemed a lot to me....
The final width is 9 inches.

Then there's what I call the Twilight version, with amethyst weft:

 This time the pattern takes centre stage.

One full repeat again.... plus a close up shot for you to enlarge and see the pattern.  I also want to add that the slightly smaller grist 10/2 tussah tencel in the centre wasn't an issue at all. It behaved just like the rest and you wouldn't know there was a difference at all. (Phew!)

So that 'cold and dark' night is far behind us now and spring is here in all its promise.  Daffies,  cherry blossoms and green leaves are budding and the yard is full of nesting birds competing for worms and bugs to feed their broods.    Lots of fresh starts... and speaking of which....

Our local guild, The Midnight Shuttles, held a 'learn to weave' one day short program at the local community centre this past weekend and it was great fun. It was a 'taste test' of various methods of weaving  and we had participants of all ages:

Two serious students hard at work. 

One of our members, Jeanelle, working on a tapestry loom. 

Val showing off her tapestry samples.

Joyce showing the workings of a table loom.

All in all, it was loads of fun but I came home very tired and ready to  relax.  They wore me out... 😊

"Ode to Inge"

Under this protector sheet, is the shawl project! It sat idle for a time as we were so busy with the new windows and when time allowed or I needed a break, I wove and did finishing on the huck lace shawl. The vertical blinds were down and the sun streamed in so I had to shield the loom. When we got the new window in, painted, new blinds up and so I got busy on the loom. ( the black bundle on the side of the loom is a warp for placemats to go on next.)

To review: this is 2/8 tencel, sett 24 epi and is threaded in a 12 shaft M's and W's. The treadling is a bit more complex than the threading as I did runs to and fro and one repeat was approximately five inches in length. I hunkered down and wove carefully as it was easy to lose your place. I did this once and had to 'un-weave' back known starting place.... almost four inches back! I did develop a rhythm in time and soon it was done.

Then I pinned it out on my styrofoam board and started twisting the fringe. I did the black and red sections first to ensure continuity. I also wanted the beige ends to be solidly beige and not a mix with black or red. {See my post: 'A Good Twist to the Yarn'}

Twisting the ends took two full afternoons as there is a lot of fringe here. Once complete, off the board and now comes the bead stash bag. The red in this shawl is more of a brick red and if I was to use red beads, they had to be the right shade and happily I had one bead that matched!

Beading took another two full afternoons as it's a slow process. This time I set the beads in between the fringes so it will appear worn either side. No double beading as with the last shawl thank goodness. { See my older post: 'Gilding the Lily' Feb/09}

Here it is prior to wet finishing and everything is a bit stiff. Washing really settles all your work into it's place and completes the look you want. Same as the huck lace shawl, I soaked it in warm soapy water for 20 minutes and gently squeezed it through, rinsed, then spun it out in the machine. I hung it over a pvc road to dry after pulling it into shape and untangling the fringe bouts. The next morning I gave it a hard pressing using steam and the shine popped out and the tencel turned to 'butter'. The fringe swayed and the beads relaxed. All I need to do now is to trim the ends of the fringes. This I do by laying the shawl on a table with a cutting mat under the fringe. Straighten all fringe, lay a yard stick across the cutting line and roll through with a rotary cutter. It gives a wonderful sharp line.
So here is the shawl draped on my studio manikin and pinned to hold it up! Gotta get some arms..

A closer shot to show the pattern:

And the bead details...

Now, I'm aware that this shawl has an unusual look to it and may not be for every one's taste. The inspiration for this shawl was the work of Inge Dam. Inge is a Ontario Handweavers and Spinners Guild 'Master Weaver'. Inge did her thesis work on the ancient textiles found in the burial sites in northern Europe. These ancient weavers wove using tablet or card weaving sewn onto their clothing or in some cases actually woven along with their cloth on their warp weighted looms. These bands were much more than methods to tie their clothing to the body, they were adornments and decoration. Inge has incorporated card weaving into her cloth in bright, modern and unique pieces. I would love to show you her weaving here but I hesitate to 'borrow' her images and so ask you to visit and view her work here.

I hope to one day try this method for myself, but in the mean time this shawl gives the appearance of bands while being loom woven. As for wearing it, I see a simple black dress with a Celtic style necklace. Or for the really brave, a simple but stunning brick red dress. I have always had a love of archeology and in particular ancient textiles. I have a number of books on this topic but here is one that features burial garments found in graves in Greenland. The title is 'Woven into the Earth' by Else Ostergard. The Viking descendants found here had no trees to make coffins, so they buried their dead in wrappings of clothes. Most likely older clothing and not their best. The conditions preserved the cloth and they were found with tree roots growing down through them, hence the title.

So when you sit at your loom, what ever style, do you think on weavers that came before? Each thread is a link to our collective past.