Caribbean Twilight

I have been spring cleaning. Every nook and cranny has been swept clean,  inside windows sparkle and now I'm pressing and re-installing the draperies after cleaning.  I must say it feels darn good!! I'm going to keep on whittling things down further by diving into drawers and closets in the coming days.

I'm continuing to downsize in the studio also and have vintage and even two antique books listed at my Etsy page.    The antique books are 99 and 101 years old!

So no new weaving has been under way but I have managed to finish off the last project from the Louet.   The loom is currently naked but I hope to beam a warp on her either today or tomorrow.

I had given you a sneak peek of the second color gradation scarf.  I used the eggplant (or aubergine) and magenta again but this time I teamed it up with azure and dark teal. I also changed the blending area in the centre to shorten up the sequence.  You have to love weaving programs as you play around and try different things long before you get to the loom or waste expensive yarns. Well, actually .. you can still get a pleasing draft on the computer and still have a disappointment at the loom. The mixing of colours and the play of light all have a hand in what counts as a success or failure, not to mention what you like or don't like personally!

I love the concentration of colour on the warp beam!

I had the scarves finished before we went to the birthday party and they only needed to be beaded and washed and pressed once we got home. Once again, I had no purple aubergine beads so had to go for the teal and turquoise.  Not too many of those to choose from either. I end up emptying my entire bead collection out on the desk and then spent much time reorganizing them that so I can actually find things!

I accidentally dumped an entire container of turquoise beads on the Berber carpet. I was down on the floor for about thirty minutes picking them up when Bruce found me and got down to help me.  I must have knocked them far and wide over six square feet. Now he's a real pal! They were the right color that I needed to use so I had to save each and every bead. I'm grateful I had vacuumed just the day before so not bring up too many surprises along with the beads!

I made a list of the gaps in my colour range and so will carry that list in my purse for future shopping trips. I had only one spool of thread that came close in colour too so there's another gap to fill as well.

I took pictures of the beading process and unfortunately I didn't check them on the camera as I went and it seems that none of them turned out. My camera settings had been changed and I didn't see that. Oh, well.... I basically followed my usual routine and that is found here .

So  the project basics are: 8/2 tencel, sett 24 epi, two scarves and samples from 6.5 yard warp. The finished dimensions were 7 inches in width and 71 inches in length, plus generous length of twisted fringe.
So here they are...

There is a beautiful sheen to the cloth that doesn't seem to come through in the pictures. Also, it seems to be hard for the camera to accurately get the colour mix and they are richer in person. The colours remind of what I imagine an evening twilight time by the Caribbean might be like.

Not sure what the next project on the Spring will be but if its scarves,  it will be a two scarf warp again. That way I get my mileage from the loom waste and not get bored with the same treadling or variation. 

To be truthful after doing my planning, colour choices and playing with it in PCW Fiberworks....then I see the first repeat on the loom and I'm ready to move on!  Crazy huh?  Newbie weavers can't wait to get to the "real weaving part" and later on down the road, somehow the picture can flip. The fun part is the creating and design. 

If you are still following written drafts, then make a safe, slow start to taking your weaving forward.  Start by taking a pretty draft you have used and familiar with and add in borders, or isolate one portion of the treadling and try that as your treadling plan. Try weaving as drawn in...   what ever takes your fancy, but try something different. 

That was my goal in the first few years of learning to weave. Each and every (short) warp had to include something I hadn't done before, either fibre, colour or draft. We can get stale when we don't push ourselves out of our comfort zone. The weaving takes on a sameness and next thing you know, you're avoiding the loom and you don't know why. That can be a good time to start an in depth study of a weave structure that you've always admired but have yet to do more than flirt with.   All food for thought....

Edit: Now I originally had an article written by Laurie Autio here but Ms Autio said the article was close on 20 years old and she wants to rewrite it to make it more current for today's situation.

I hope to be able to repost it at that time.... or link to another copy. Thanks for your understanding.