Simply Silk

Yup, I'm back again....  the sun came out and so did the camera.  It's so nice to have extra daylight once again and it will only get better from here on.

I was digging around in my three bins of silks (gulp)   ... yes, 3 and decided it was high time to use some. I had small skeins of several colours but not enough of any one thing to do a substantial project such as two scarves (so to reduce loom waste).   I thought about it and realized it was never going to be used unless I was willing to combine them, and do one singleton project.  

I reckoned a colour and weave project such as houndstooth might be nice or a tartan.   I have an 8 shaft draft from handweaving. net that is called "The Spirit of Scotland".  I decided to make it a 4 shaft draft and looked at the colour arrangement and my colours were not close but  close enough to say "inspired" by the Spirit of Scotland Tartan.   😉     The colours below were close approximations....   I almost changed the yellow thin stripes for white but left it as it.  The yellow is opposite of purples and so provides a nice tug on the eyes.

Winding it was fun as the colours built up on the mill.  It went quite quickly and I think winding the skeins into cakes took longer to do.    3 yards is a short warp.   My shortest in years!

So what time I saved on winding was soon lost to weaving. It's a slow process changing colours and in some places, such as the smaller stripes, carrying colours neatly up the sides.  I often wondered who thought up this great idea as a day's work was measured in inches..... and that would be me. 😳

But it was worth it. There's nothing like the soft hand of silk.  I set it at 28 epi and I'm not sure that was correct as it covered the warp yarn in places.   So not appearing like a proper tartan per se. It is an inspirational plaid project after all.  Its all done now and I quite like the effect and colour mix together.

Now I have several small balls of left over silk to work out what to do with.  And still 3 full bins of silk to work through. 

Spring is coming.... we have primulas and snow drops up!

🌷🌷🌷

In Between

 A friend sent me this today and I started my day with a good chuckle, as I lifted my first coffee.   It's the mid point time between the winter Solstice and the spring Equinox, and every day going forward will see an increase in daylight.    Even if you are somewhere covered in snow right now, it will be brighter!

So I have three scarves completed and waiting on the camera for their glamour shots. Our house is full of windows and during this time of year it's still dark and dreary..... but not for too much longer if the furry guy is right.

So yes, there had been weaving and much planning.   But also my back decided to act up again and so time was lost getting a muscle spasm to relax.  I was able to spin while recuperating which is a bonus as my Hansen has been collecting dust. 

This is an exotic blend of superfine merino, baby camel, eri silk and pendunkle silk called Night Stalker from Fellview Fibres (UK). It mimics the colourings of a barn owl.   Lovely floof!  I have 300 grams more to go in lace weight.

I did manage to get a gradient warp beamed before the back got cranky..... it features 4 shades of tencel...

.... and colour 5 makes it sing!    Obviously more on this to come....

On the more personal side.... we have been very lucky to escape much of the winter cold snap and only had 1 inch of snow so far (touch wood).   On December 16th, we had a brand new Mitsubishi heat pump and back up auxiliary  unit installed and it's been working like a charm.   It's good to -15 degrees Celsius  and so covers our region nicely and if it goes colder, the back up unit kicks in.      A year ago we had no heat for 5 or 6 weeks when some parts on our old unit failed and we tried to get parts.    The space heaters and gas fireplace kept us warm but we spent a lot of money on electricity and gas.... and furnace parts, only to find it was a stop gap measure.     The install took 10 hours total of removal of the old parts, and install and set up of the new.  It went well and cleanly done and the only painful part was paying for it  😳💰       Here's the outside unit and there's a large refrigerator sized 'box' in the crawl space.

There was a break in medical appointments over Christmas and we both said how nice it was to not be so focused on medical stuff for a time.   But January saw them resume again as further diagnostic tests resumed to learn more about my hubby's leukeumia.     His pancreas decided now was a good time to act up too so we have been struggling to get his blood glucose numbers back into line as well.   He wears a continuous glucose monitor, 4 insulin shots a day and every bite is subject to scrutiny by me mainly and him most of the time.  Sure takes the fun out of a meal!

I wasn't too sure about sales of my hand wovens this past Christmas with people watching their funds and trying to buy Canadian goods after all the tariffs were slapped onto Canada.   I had to sadly shut off American buyers from my Etsy store due to all the paperwork and extra costs.   I found that Canadians supported other Canadian sellers at Etsy by looking for the tag "Canadian Made" and had a number of sales on line and in person.   From not having high expectations to 11 sales I sold: 2 shawls, 5 towels (and gifted 3 more) 2 table runners and 4 scarves all went out and under someone's Christmas tree!    A big thank you !   🇨🇦

So we'll navigate Hubby through his care,  watch for signs of spring, enjoy the increase in daylight, plan to photograph the finished scarves 'soon' as a sunny day appears.... and slowly ease back into weaving again.

How goes your winter?     Stay healthy and stay warm.....

Mardi Gras Towels: A Splash of Colour 🌈

 Apparently some time has passed since I last posted!   Oops....   it wasn't on purpose, I have been side tracked with some Life issues.    Now Christmas is almost on us.... so more hustle and bustle.

So if you are taking a break from holiday preparations, let me tell you about my second project on Maeve, my Megado 90.   After some fairly 'vanilla' colours in my first project, I decided to get a burst of colour. I have a large collection of 10/2 cottons and so I looked through the brights and pulled together this warp.   Each section is a point twill or reversed point twill.   It was the same  threading as the first warp or from handweaving.net's draft # 79912. I didn't like the weird line that appeared across the weft every pattern repeat so decided to look for and change to a new tie up. I found the tie up for #34861 on this threading looked kinda nice.

Beaming on 7.5 yards

And using weights on the various warp bouts to tension.

This was the first of three treadling variations; 2 towels of each. 

This gives you an idea of the threading and one of the style of treading I used. Easy enough to play around with and create a new look. 

This is the draft 34861 where I 'borrowed' the tie up plan. I have used this one before and it's a nice crisp design as is.    Its goes to a new level with the threading change.

They look great with the black and brushed nickel appliances.   I had to crop this one as the reflection showed me in my nightie!  Geesh....    Sunshine appeared briefly so I ran for the camera!  

I got six full sized towels, which I laundered, steam pressed and turned the hems for hand sewing.

I couldn't decide which side I preferred to make the top side, so I hemmed one either way in each grouping. Each of these three pictures show both sides. 

And below is a more open towel, one showing the darker weft..... 

.... and the more brighter side.

One was gifted to a friend and another was sold and is in Ontario.  It was a good Christmas sale time for Canadian vendors on Etsy as Canadians focused on buying  🇨🇦 made goods. 

Today is the winter Solstice: the shortest day of the year and longest night.  First day of winter and the start of the return of the light.   This day has the most meaning for me, and I love all the light displays around town.

Wishing you and yours, a joyful Season!  🎄 🎁

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  😉