Island Hopping

I had one day to get over my whirlwind 3 day trip to Vancouver and then I was back on a ferry again! This time, a short hop over to Salt Spring Island with two guild members, Lois and Dawn. We're heading to Jane Stafford's weaving studio with our Louet Jane looms in tow. We are there to get our Jane's autographed! Oh, and some retail shopping therapy... Its a bit of a changeable day with rain squalls dashing through and the wind picking up as the day progressed.

Here's our boat in the process of loading cars to return to Crofton on Vancouver Island. We stopped and had a bite of lunch in Vesuvius Bay and then headed to the north part of the island

When we turned down a trail through the woods to the studio, we were greeted by Jane's "official greeters". The girls were pretty much busy looking for good eats and the rooster was all about guard duty and making sure they didn't go too far. Their plumage was beautiful!

Once inside we were in heaven with looms, all Louets of course except for one lone Leclerc Fanny and yarn, books, yarn and people who spoke our language!

Jane is known for her British mohair throws and also for her chenille throws. I found a colourful stack waiting for finishing that caught my eye.

Dawn was happy to be able to review some difficulties she been having with her Hollandia with Jane and get suggestions on how to remedy them. This is a Delta above. There is pretty much every model Louet makes all around the room: a David, a Spring, and a 32 shaft Megado.

I didn't get this lady's name but she is busy tying onto a dummy warp with some luscious mohair for another throw. Her loom is the Leclerc Fanny counterbalance.

Here Lois is perusing the cones for a project she has in mind. She wasn't disappointed! She has some Christmas runners to warp up with a view to being ready for gifts and the guild sale. Now that's smart!

This picture and the one below show the rainbow selection! Each colour has the various sizes ( 3/2, 5/2, 10/2 etc) all in behind one another. So you choose your colour, then your yarn size. She has cottons, linen, fine wools, wool/silk blends....and mohair of course.

The bags on the shelves are for knitters and have wonderful storage compartments. If there had been a suitable colour, one would be great for me as an everyday purse!

So yes, I did some shopping and I bought some 10/2 mercerised cotton in white and natural for lace weaves and another in a Christmas red. Lois apparently got me thinking!

I also bought a book for my library:

This book has come down in price from when I first saw it 18 months ago and so I picked up a copy. I guess its the various exchange rates between Canada and England perhaps? If you click on this link Janet Phillips , it will take you to Janet's web page where she explains her book in far better detail than I could. I'm looking forward to reading it in depth!

I mentioned earlier that we had just got back from Vancouver. We had gone over to see my father and also to help my brother with his move. As soon as I saw my Dad, I knew he was better! You can see it in the eyes ...

He still has a long road ahead to get stronger before he can go home but he's well on his way!


The owner of the dog kennel where we left our senior terrier said that she could not believe that he is 13 years old as he played with the other big dogs like he was 2 years old... and ate like a horse. He came home and headed straight for his bed and slept 6 hours , ate supper and then went back to bed. He wore himself out pulling the wool over those youngsters!


So with all our spring showers, I'm hoping to hit the looms and have something to show you soon.

That's a Wrap

So back to some weaving content.... or in this case 'finish up' content. This project has been a while in the works. It was the warp that went on as I experimented with warping my loom in a different way, then it sat idle due to it being a pain in the arse to weave. First for having the back end hitched up 3 inches (due to my not spotting a large second warp beam ... duh!) then because of irregularities in the shed, due to uneven tie up cords. I persevered and got the warp off just before we left for Christmas. I spent time serging the raw edges after we got back and then hand hemmed at night while we had our feet up relaxing. They were tossed into the wash and dryer, then pressed up.

So a quick review:

• 2/10 mercerised cotton from Jane Stafford Textiles
• sett 28 epi
• 8 shaft turned twill
• 9.5 yard warp, for 8 generous sized towels with three black weft, three gray, one red and one white.
• only one treadling error (the white towel, which is now 'mine') I thought this was rather good considering the circumstances!
• They were 25" in the reed, and woven to 34" in length. They measure 24" by 30" after washing and final pressing. (I thought of Lynnette's new press the whole time...)
  

So the picture at the top shows once towel in each colour, with four more that are off to the side.



The gray weft is quite nice and I really like the sheen of the cotton. The pattern really tightened up well but the cloth still has a wonderful drape.


The black weft really makes the other colours pop out and I would say that this is my favourite.


The red one really didn't appeal to me on the loom but it came to life off loom and away from the others. They have been to a couple of guild events and its the red one that people comment on most.
Funny how that works out...


Here's the white weft towel. The white really cuts the intensity of the other colours and has a fresh appearance. We all seem to really like white in our kitchen towels for that clean look....... regardless of how messy a kitchen can get. Happily I know where I can get more of these!

This was my first time using all mercerised cotton for toweling and I did gasp a little at the price of the cotton, but I've decided that I would use it again. The 2/10 size is a great weight and not thick as 2/8, or a lot of extra work such as the much finer 2/16's . The cotton seems better behaved, washed up like a dream and I love the shine. If you are making some as a special gift for someone,like a wedding gift or shower present, then consider the mercerised yarn. Presentation is every everything!

On the home front:
The carpeting in the dining room was lifted yesterday and the floor underneath prepped for the coming hardwood by 'floating' some areas ( translation: self leveling mud or a concrete style mix was troweled into the low spots and then allowed to dry.) The underlayment cushion and hardwood flooring will go down later when trades people aren't coming through in boots. Now we have to find a painter for the next phase while packing up everything that is not being used in the kitchen. Where the stuff is going is beyond me. It looks like I'll be doing dishes in my bathroom sink at some point...but for how long?? Tomorrow the electrician is coming early to start fishing wires and setting up new switches and pot lights.... wish me luck.

PS. The appliances will be delayed now until the third week of February... oh, geesh....