Making Waves 🌊

 Time for a finished project!    Woven on the Megado that doesn't live here anymore, a month or two ago.  It has been so busy here and  this one slipped my mind!    With all the studio rearranging, it was folded and put away....

I wove this pattern a couple of years ago on my old Spring loom and enjoyed it very much. I could see some potential for treadling variations and colour pairings.  I wound a 4 colour colour shift from royal blue to deep teal green on my warping mill. It does take some time but I quite enjoy the process.

The warp yarns were 8/2 tencel as they have so many lovely rich  colours:  royal blue, azure, greyed teal and dark teal. The first scarf I used salmon which looks very terracotta to me.   The sett was the usual 24 epi. 

Its a very rich looking mix and there is irridescence!

When it came time to weave up the second scarf and I had to choose a weft colour, I was stumped! Last time I wove this pattern, I used black for one and coral for the other.     I auditioned a few candidates and finally chose lemongrass..... and a different treadling for a whole new look. 

I would have to say it's my favourite of the two.  Sometimes you just have to push through and test your comfort colour barriers!   😊

Here's the draft  which is 8 shafts and I found it on Pinterest, with no credit given to who ever designed it sadly.   The colour gradation was done by me using Fiberworks for Mac. 

22 Hour Flip ⏰

 So my Megado 110 looked like this yesterday morning at 9:30 am

Ready for the final parts to come off and for that I needed help.

What I had managed by myself....  

The box contains small wooden parts and bags of nuts and bolts hardware in a separate box. The bench ultimately came apart too.

The dobby  was wrapped in bubble wrap, then into a box and surrounded by towels.

The new owner, Jessica, came at 10 am yesterday and the loom was hustled out the door to a truck with a sliding canopy cover. They had a drive down island, a ferry ride and another long drive to get home. The Summit on the Connector between Merritt and Kelowna had the first snowfall of the season too.    They likely got home last night about 10 pm or 11 pm.

Then at noon today, 22 hours from the first picture, I saw this:   😳

Apart from tweaking the dobby, she's ready to thread!    We are apparently very keen and very excited..... and didn't sleep much last night.     The loom looks great there and will be making new cloth  probably by the end of the day. 

Meanwhile, here : I had a large empty spot and so got it all vacuumed thoroughly but there's no disguising where the loom sat for 9 years.    I moved a few things around to make it look and feel less empty.  So here's the studio view as of today.

You can see her 'foot prints" in the carpet pile.

Just me and the new kid now with her view of the garden. I'm leaving her here and thinking about what's next for the space.  There's no hurry....  

Today is Canadian Thanksgiving and I'm wishing all my fellow Canadians well as they gather for a meal. 

🍂🍄‍🟫🍁🍄🍂

A Golden Circle Finish

 

When I beamed this warp, I had no idea that this would be the last warp on this loom.     With two looms in the studio I knew that this larger one would be sold eventually, but perhaps next Spring 2026?   My weaving has slowed down due to Life, a postal strike here in Canada and American tariffs so right now my Etsy shop is on an extended  break.

Eventually the strike will be resolved and then I can reopen and then resume selling to Canadians only for the time being or another 3 years.    We'll see where that goes....

Life has been keeping me (us) busy again as it  seems my husband has yet another health battle and this time it's leukemia.   We don't know too much right now as we're in that nasty waiting period where you know, but don't know much until the referral to a specialist kicks in.  

So it seemed appropriate to sell the loom now, rather than next year and it sold in less than 48 hours and is going back to the Okanagan Valley on Thanksgiving weekend. The poor loom is now 3/4 dismantled and awaiting its fate. 

The last project is a 12 shaft turned satin weave draft I received from a Scottish friend many years ago.  I did weave some table runners back then, also gold and they all sold as fast as I listed them, all to one customer.   I thought to try them again as they were just lovely.

So 10/2 mercerized cotton, sett 28 epi and first up was 10/2 gold tencel.  Second runner I used a 10/2 pale gold called "Straw" and for the final runner, I used an ivory bamboo that was like a skinny 2/8.   It elongated the circles but it still looked nice.

I'm very pleased with my edges and the smooth silky touch to the cloth.  They have a nice weight to them and lay flat nicely.  The ladder hemstitching really adds to the cloth. I was careful with my hand sewing so they could be used revered if  that side was preferred.   One side is more warp dominant, the other weft.

First up.... the pale gold.     All three runners are 19 inches wide, and this one is 56 inches in finished length

Here's the draft for those of you with 12 shafts to play with.  I've left the numbers down the treadling so you can match it up. 

Then this is the dark gold runner: 19 inches by 51 inches finished.

.

Here you can see the back side of the runner. 

The hem on the reverse side.

Then, lastly, the ivory bamboo weft runner which is difficult to photograph as the colours aren't too far apart. You have to use the play of light, but I love the subtle pattern play.

This runner was 19 inches by 66 inches finished.

I will be sad to see this special loom go onto another adventure with a new weaver, but Margaret would have loved that her loom is being returned home to Lake Country.  

 Coming full circle. 

Both our names and dates of ownership are under the bench seat.   There's room for many more owners to come. 

Louet Megado 110 ~ 16 shaft with Compu-Dobby for Sale

 For Sale:           Sale Pending

16 Shaft Louet Megado 110 Loom with  Compu-Dobby 

Included:

• 110 cm ( 43.5”) weaving width - 2002 model
• version 1 computer dobby for 16 shafts
• bench
• lease sticks
• bundle of warping sticks
• foot rest
• lots of texsolv heddles!
• ‘Helping Hands’ Warping assist brackets
• rear springs for lighter treadling
• Reeds: 8, 10, 12 dent
• All manuals

*You will need your own PC computer, and your choice of weaving soft ware.*

The Megado is the top of the Louet line weaving loom, featuring the floating breast beam for even tension every time you advance. 

Weave 2 shafts to 16 and enjoy limitless treading options.  You can change patterns on the fly.   No more getting down under the loom to change tie up’s which is great for people with joint issues.   Rear springs means an even lighter treadling action for your legs!

Original owner was a Guild of Canadian Weavers Master Weaver (owned 2002-2013)

I have owned this loom for 12 years  since 2013.

If you would like to try weaving on the loom, I have a sample warp on for this.  I’m happy to answer any questions.   I’d prefer to have the new owner pick up the loom and possibly help to dismantle. We can photograph / label the process either way..   Loom weighs roughly 500 pounds. 

Future options that you can add to this loom:   sectional beam, second warp beam and fly shuttle. 

Pricing:

If you were to buy a new Louet Megado 110, and a bench, one reed,  with a foot rest you’d be paying approximately $23, 800 before taxes.

I am asking $12,000.00 (firm) for all listed here. Located in Campbell River on Vancouver Island.    Please contact Susan weever dot shaw.ca  

Can you see yourself weaving on this loom?  😊 

Sherwood Forest 🍁 🍂

 I fell for this rich painted warp from Blazing Shuttles a couple of years ago and bought it.   Then it sat in the stash to 'mature'  😉   I also wasn't sure how choose the right weft colour and decided that a rich burgundy would be nice.... and I'll defer  the other choice to later on...

The was was 7.5 yards in length and 400 ends.... and I used 397 of them!   Some spares for possible mishaps...

This picture shows the general idea of the colours but they are essentially a burgundy red, forest green, and a tawny gold.   It seems we fall in love with the rich jewel tones and then are faces with choices. 

Here's the warp loaded onto the Megado 110 and is ready for threading.  The Helping Hands really do work at making things feel more stable as you work. 

Then it was time to start weaving and I'm using my burgundy tencel.  It does blend into some parts but that's where a play of light will reveal the pattern.

Then it shifted to the green section and the burgundy sure tones down the red. They are opposite on the colour wheel

Then it shifted to the tawny gold.... which I really liked.

This is the 12 shaft draft I used from Handweaving.net. It's draft #55882

For the 8 shaft weavers out there.... here's the 8 shaft version.    I reduced this one down for a friend but there is an 8 shaft version at handweaving.net. Sorry I don't know the number off hand.

So all done and finally photographed  and the red version  (Dante's Garden) turned out quite nice!  Very rich looking.   The width is 12 inches and length is 74 inches. Soft to the touch and a touch of shine. 

So, no more deferring .... time to choose a weft colour for the second scarf.   I auditioned several choices, including a bronze gold silk and nothing seemed to work.   So I went with basic black.

It turned out quite nicely and very different from the first.  Rather than working in with the warp's colours, it made them stand out, much like leaves in the autumn, in varying degrees of change.      🍁🍂 🌲

This scarf end up being a bit shorter at 64 inches but we oldsters call that a 'coat scarf'.   In my parent's day, scarves went around your neck and  under your coat. This scarf is wide so it can be double folded and would look marvellous under a black wool winter coat.

 So an Autumn project being released on the equinox's eve..... and the funny thing is, I wove these last Spring.  Slightly ahead of my time I guess  😁🍁