Abalone Shimmer

 Winter hit here in a hurry.   We were enjoying a regular fall day and the next morning we woke to snow and rather cold temperatures.   It was a shock to us but more so to the trees and garden who were still wearing leaves and in some cases, flowers!    I cut these little rose buds the night before to enjoy in the house and good thing I did or they'd be frozen stiff the next morning.

The snow is gone now thankfully but now we are wrapped in fog and its been here for several days now.  I couldn't see my neighbour's house last night. Its eery and quiet.     It also means there have been delays to getting some pictures taken for you.  

Eventually, it brightened up enough to try my hand at fog photography.   Too much direct sunlight saps the colours out of the subject and so I thought this might just work.... 

This scarf warp was a blending of five colours of solid 8/2 tencel shades: Ming Blue, Aquamarine, Grey Blue, Greyed Teal and Dark Teal.   I used the gradation feature in Fiberworks (for Mac) and after some tweaking, I wound the warp one thread at a time.   I find it relaxing and quite enjoy the process. Seeing the changes build on the warping mill is a treat for the eyes.   This picture from its early start on the loom shows the warp colours best.

The weft is 30/2 silk from Treenway, dyed in a colour called "#42-Velvet Opera".  It was left over from this project.  Its pretty fine stuff so its a slower weave working through repeat after repeat.

But the results are lovely. Its a fine cloth, with a very soft touch.... its as light as a feather!   As you can see, the base warp colours still manage to make their presence known.   The burgundy /wine colour works with the blues on one side and also the teal greens on the other.  This scarf is called Summer Wine.  🍷🍇

Subtle iridescence ?  😊

This picture is my favourite of this bunch.   I guess they could be brighter but sunshine would have drained the colours away.

So.... what to choose for weft for scarf number two?   I had some criteria set: it had to be silk, it had to come from my stash again, and it hand to shake hands with all the colours in the warp.     So I checked my Itten Color Star for a nudge in the right direction. Then I got digging through my silk bins....    I found an antiqued apricot 20/2 silk I bought from Etsy shop "Sericin" some time ago. I think they may even be naturally dyed.    I wound some up and did some test weaving..... and liked what I saw!

I had one weaver who saw this picture and she described it as abalone..... and so its called Abalone Shimmer. As you can see from the pirn in the picture, the silk weft is also not dyed to one base colour but it varies in tone, which adds so much more depth to the overall affect.    It also seems to help in blending the warp colours better so they seem to flow.   Its thread magic!  

And the final scarf?   Well, you can see for yourself..... and like a favourite child, I took more pictures of this one than the last.     (oops)

The pattern is an 8 shaft twill progression and uses only 8 treadles. To get this length of repeat is a lot of dancing on the treadles in twill runs to and fro, progressively in one direction, then another. 

Someone thought it was a 16 shaft twill so all the dancing was worth it! 

My husband took some picture of the scarves too and he took the one below which I really like.  Its shows all the nuances of colour.  I told him I was going to try my hand at photography in the fog and I think he didn't want to be left out of the experiment.

So what's happening in the studio now?

I have a single scarf in silk and tencel again on the Spring and more table runners on the Megado loom that have a 348 repeat or 15 inches.  😳    Three repeats gives you a whole runner!  Plus my legs are getting quite the work out.   They, the runners that is,  are coming along well.

I'm about to wind another colour gradation  as I really like the effect and its using what I have on hand which is a good thing.   

I have succumbed to more yarn and have some dandelion yarn coming.... and also green tea.   This new use of other plant fibres just fascinates me.    Now to come up with a project for that.   I'll decide when it arrives and I have it in hand.

Stay warm.... and keep your shuttles moving! 

Paint the Town Red

This past late spring I was thrilled to be asked to weave two all silk scarves for a client!  She was very particular about what she wanted as far as pattern, colours and fibre which is great.  She had purchased one of my linen / cotton book marks a few years ago and loved the intricate twelve shaft pattern.

yes, this is the same draft as the scarves!

As I had some projects under way on the loom and another special order to go so I had time to order in the silks.   The black 30/2 silk came to me via a friend in California who had done a bulk buy. She has a modern jacquard loom and it eats yarn like crazy! It arrived and looked wonderful!

Meanwhile I found some lovely red 30/2 silk from a Canadian supplier.   When it arrived it was decidedly an orange based red and not the requested blue based red.   It had looked just right on the screen... and of course, all screens are different.  Nothing replaces a real sample and I had clearly overlooked that fact, even though I often tell you just that.   My Bad. 

So my client found what she envisioned as the perfect colour and sent me a link to Treenway Silks and their dye number 42 "Velvet Opera".  Oh, yeah!   Rich, deep and  lush.... and rather burgundy compared to the other reds in the lineup.

So I ordered 30/2 silk, dyed to number 42 and waited for my order.   I was thrilled when it arrived as the colour was simply beautiful!  Then I noticed it.   It was not 30/2 silk. It was 60/2 .

Oh, geez...

I last ordered bombyx silk from Treenway under the old ownership and when it was here on the west coast on Saltspring Island. They called their yarns by their actual type of silk and the size of the grist.  The new owners have given all the various yarns names, which is lovely, but apparently confusing to me when I ordered. 

I called and spoke to Susan at Treenway and asked if a rush order could be done on 30/2 silk and  in number 42 Velvet Opera?   After hearing my story she kindly offered to take back the finer silk but I declined as firstly, it was my mistake, and secondly... I love the colour!  Susan drove some silk over to her dyer who did it right away ( and was about to go away on holiday for a month... talk about cutting that one close! ). It arrived quickly and it was perfect!  

So runs of bad luck usually runs in threes.  I started to wind my warp and it was going well. I had about 50 ends wound when I started to notice little bits of black dyed 'fluff' stuck to the smooth yarn.  They picked off easily enough and I carried on.... but they started to increase and within a yard or two the yarn was covered in little bits.   While they picked off okay and in time would wash out of a fabric, it was not the smooth  silky look I wanted for this project. These are going to New York City!

I located some black 30/2 silk at Sanjo Silks in Vancouver and happily my friend took back the  other 'fuzzy' silk (minus the weight of what I had wound off)  It was a shame as the cone had started out so well

The only other yarn used was a natural off white  bombyx silk, also a fine 30/2  and I'm happy to say, problem free!  From that point on there were no more issues to deal with. The beaming of the warp went well, threading was straight forward and no mistakes, no sleying errors and after lacing on, the warp tension was great!

It was just a lot of weaving as the yarns are so fine!  I listened to podcasts as I wove and mostly CBC's Quirks and Quarks, a science program.   There are several ways to treadle this pattern but I used two of them by the client's request.  Next post I'll discuss the various options and show you how they look.  It also took a bit longer due to Life happening (Calli's surgery) and summer in general (gardens and getting out more).   Then, they were done and I cut them off, leaving a third silk scarf on the loom for later.

The lady's scarf: I twisted a finer fringe this time and made it seven inches in length.

The gent's scarf: was a more regular sized twist bouts and cut to four inches in length.

Time to hand wash them!

I had a feeling that washing the scarves separately would be best and it would seem my intuition was right! The dye job was a rushed order and so perhaps was not rinsed till clear.   I did several rinses and used a drop of synthrapol to help but this scarf will have to go with a warning to handwash separately. 

As you can see from the pictures below, the black really wasn't an issue with minimal bleeding. There was no greying of the white silk at all.   A good hard pressing with my trusty steam iron and out popped that lovely glow that only silk has!

This is the gent's coat scarf:  eight inches by fifty six inches with a four inch twisted fringe.  ( thirty six ends per inch and forty six picks per inch)

Picture above and below how both sides of the scarf. one side is a bit darker, the other a bit lighter.

I can't imagine anyone who would not feel extra special wearing this red and black beauty! The burgundy red is simply rich as this picture shows...

Then there is that silk sheen as this one reveals

The fabric is fine and feels soft and light under the fingers.  It made all the tromping worth while! The finer fringe was also a good idea and it gave a graceful movement to the fringe. It measures eight inches by sixty six inches, as requested.  (Interesting points: both scarves were three inches longer when woven. Relaxation of the warp and wet finishing reduced both by a full three inches in length only.  Drawn in and wet finishing  reduced width by half an inch.)

close up of right selvedge

These two final pictures are my favourites as they really give you a good idea of how lush this colour is!  I think my client is going to be very happy once she opens her parcel.  I know it was hard to part with it myself.

Meanwhile back at the loom, I laced up the warp again and checked my stash for options.  I found a full pirn of fine silk yak blend left over from a recent shawl project. It made sense to me as since I wasn't entirely sure of how much warp I had left. If it was a bit short, then it could be a man's scarf  and if my luck held, then a full length lady's scarf.... plus my pirn would be empty and back in use again! The colour is also nicely neutral too.

Sorry for the slightly fuzzy focus picture but it does give you an idea of how things are progressing. In a word: slowly.  It seemed like I'm treadling a lot for little gain so I set a fine coloured cotton thread into a shed and wove for an inch. Using my trusty pick glass I counted forty six picks per inch!

Well no wonder it's a lot of work.....  Its labelled 30/2 but it looks and feels much finer than the bombyx 30/2 I just used.

So my next post will be a follow up from this project on treadling variations and how you get more bang for your buck out of a tie up and threading! 

Calli report:  she's doing just fine and had her stitches out this past Thursday. Its healed very well and the nasty onesie has been washed and put away.  She will need to see her vet in six months time for a check up.

Me? I broke my recently completed (spring 2017) root canal molar and waiting for yet another crown.   I was planning on getting a crown on it this fall but apparently that wasn't soon enough.   😳

Changes...

I enjoyed weaving the red silk and it was done in no time (once I got my bum on the bench). I have now moved onto the second scarf. I'm using a plain off white 30/2 silk and a different treadling variation. 

So both scarves have similar, but different patterns. Both are custom colour,  lengths and fibre choice as chosen by my customer.   She was very particular about all these details.  I like that.

Try doing that with a store bought scarf!  You get to chose from what's on the shelf or hanger and that's that.  If its purchased in a retail store it also means many other people will have your scarf too.  I have worked with a few clients who helped with designing their project and they said it really added to the experience.

So weavers.... rather than weave a scarf or towels and gift it. Why not give a lovely gift voucher for one scarf or a couple of towels..... and, with some guidelines from you,  they get to choose the colours, size, and pattern.  Really personalize it!

I have warp enough for a third scarf  and I'm starting to think on what my weft will be..... I'll be digging through my silk bin tomorrow for options.   I'll be back to show you the winner when I have a start woven.

Finally, here is our sweet loveable goofy girl Calli who puts a smile on our faces everyday.  She is having a sizeable lump removed from her side next Thursday.  If you are a 'pet person', please spare her a thought.  Initial needle tests show carcinoma cells so we hope our vet gets it all.

She loves our new, fully fenced back yard and keeps the raccoons away (sort of!)

You couldn't wish to meet a more gentle dog.  She's 7 1/2 years old and still plays like a puppy.

Velvet Opera

I think I'm in love....   with this colour!

Its called #42  Velvet Opera and came from Treenway Silks

The fine 30/2 black silk came from Sanjo Silks.

Its a Canada - USA collaboration here on my Dutch made Louet loom. 

The silk most likely came from China and India. 

Its a slower weave but its fun to watch the pattern build. 

I think my client is going to find it hard to gift this scarf away!

I have done some on line shopping and bought a couple of rare end delivery shuttles via a friend.   I have been trying to find an English Crossley shuttles for several years now.   They stopped making them in 2006 and rarely come up for re-sale.  AVL bought out their remaining stock and released AVL shuttles that used Crossley hardware and shuttle blanks and I have two of those.... but no genuine Crossley's

This one is roughly fifteen inches and I have ten wood based pirns. Its big and heavy and for a fly shuttle.   I'm going to have to get my fly shuttle set up on the Megado and give them a whirl!

The second shuttle is smaller, lighter and could be used on a regular loom despite the metal end caps. Its eleven inches and uses these  lacquered cardboard pirns.  I have ten of those too.

As you can see both are in beautiful condition  and only the larger one shows a bit of wear.  I can't take any credit for the linen huck lace weave cloth in behind the shuttles. That towel was a gift from dear friend and weaver Wayne Nicholson.  Its currently in the "too good to use" phase right now as I admire it in my studio.

I also found a gently used copy of "More on Mormon" by Heather Lyn Winslow. It takes Theo Mormon's work and takes you in to more general use for hand weavers. It has some dated pictures of 1980-1990's fashions but the techniques are timeless.

So just a short update today.... and I'd best get back to weaving this lovely scarf !