Colour Cascade

I have been having some fun with colour..... three in fact!   Some months ago, I bought some hand dyed silk from Germany from my friend Heike.  All three were of a similar value and depth of shade. Perfect for a turned twill and a "cascade of colour".  The silk is a 20/2 (2/20) and I used a sett of 28 epi and a 12 dent reed, sleyed 2, 2, 3.    The beaming went very well.... no clinging and threading went okay too.  There is a single line of red in the centre as I was balancing the pattern blocks.

I treadled one through to eight to create an decorative edge to start. Hemstitching was done every four ends so the colours line up to create solid twisted fringe bouts.    No extras were added as its busy enough!

This picture and the two above are of the first scarf. I kept the blocks smaller.  I had two skeins each of the green and purple silk, but only one skein of the fuchsia. So this scarf has the fuchsia in both warp and weft.   It became clear I did not have enough for the second scarf..... so I had to find a solution and fast.

So I found a couple of 20/2 silk skeins in my stash and dug out my dye supplies.  No easy task as they are squirrelled everywhere!  I used Telana dye and went for a pink red. After setting the colour, it came out too brick red.    Crap.

So I got out the Procion MX  dyes.... my first time ever using it!   It was quite simple and no heat required for setting.   I'll be doing more dyeing with  procion!   I also got a nice even dye application with the immersion technique.

Its a slighly darker shade but in the same family as the weft fuchsia.  So longer as the use is consistent, it will all look planned   :)    That's the story any how....

The second scarf is shown in the three pictures above. I used the same starting border and then slightly larger blocks through out.  The slightly deeper red is noticeable but looks even through out. A nice colour variation.  The scarf is also a bit longer than the other one too.

I also used the same tie up as the previously posted Drall scarves.... nice not having to re-do the tie up again!

I'm having so much fun with this that I have put on another project to do a similar project.... and here's a peek:

Tea towels!  I'm using 8/2 cottons and will just treadle the entire warp in colour sequence and then cut apart and hem later.  So it might be awhile before you see them finished! I'm kinda pokey slow now.

Black, sage green, pumpkin, clay and a lighter version of the pumpkin for a variation. I can see these in a new kitchen with stainless steel appliances.   My Etsy shop is running low on towels so the timing is good.

Another thing I would like to share with you is a surprise my husband pulled on me yesterday!  We had to get a new car as our old one was on its last legs and we chose a Santa Fe SUV.  Its higher up than our old Sienna minivan and I have found that lifting my left leg and bad knee into the car quite painful on the passenger side. Then, as a driver, hiking my right leg in first aggravates the right hip (which is next on the fix-it list). We had been looking at options and aids for getting in and out such as stepping stools etc.  No conclusive ideas that are affordable.... so its been pushed back for now.

Then hubby went out yesterday and came home with this:

New stainless steel stepping rails!

Getting in as a passenger is a breeze now!   (the drivers side will take some practice) Bruce also got new floor mats and a cargo area protector so Calli's kennel and delicate dainty paws doesn't damage the carpet.

I was taking pictures of the new rails and suddenly felt eyes on me.... I turned and snapped this one of him!  Apparently he was pleased at the total surprise I felt and shown...   What a guy! 

The columbine is fully open now.... isn't spring grand? So much potential!