Royal Stewart Scarves

A couple of months ago I did a trade with a weaver in Georgia, USA where I sent her some AVL shuttles I have been acquiring for years and she sent me Schacht end delivery shuttles. She had tried them and didn't like the feel. I love them and they are all I use.    So it worked out well for both of us.  Just for the cost of postage.    

I knew that I was itching to do another tartan warp and this swap meant I didn't have to change out bobbins constantly.   I had my little trolley next to the loom and  lined them up like soldiers.   The darker ones are my old ones and are 'experienced' and the blondies are the new kids. 

They were hard at work on Royal Stewart tartan scarves.   Its one of my favourites from my youngest days. I have posted before on Tartans which you might find interesting.

I had to make some changes to the draft to have it fit  for a scarf, so this meant a reduction in the red section midway.  It end up being 12 inches in the reed.   I used 8/2 tencel and the sett is 24 epi  and a standard 2/2 twill tie up.  Aim for a 45 degree twill line.... or be consistent with your beat.    I was able to get some momentum in the 3 1/2 inch red section, but the colour section was much more carefully done.  Lots of colour changes and it was important to get the edges as smooth as possible. So lots of shuttle work and neat tucks. I also carried some colours up the side if it was only 2 picks or 4.

So on the loom: 12 inches in the reed and woven to 74 inches or ten repeats of the colour sections and a final red.      Finished: 10 1/2 inches by 71 inches, plus 5 inches for fringe.

I was going to do the usual scarf wrap around the neck but decided it looked far better like this. There was a light breeze and the flow of the cloth was beautiful.   Lovely hand to it. 

So I have two of them right now all finished. I'm still not done with tartan or plaids though. I'll be weaving another tartan sometime soon. I love them!   

My back has improved now so I can resume weaving that shawl on the Megado and *finally* get that done.   There has been lots of 'adulting' going on as well as we tackle various things on our to-do list, that pandemic or no, must be done. 

Lots of spring colour outside in the yard and also a bright spot in the house. This little  face greeted me a few days ago when I got up.  Then out in our front yard is this beauty!    The chestnut tree will be next and its gorgeous in full bloom. 

Highland Heather

Are you following the television show Outlander?   Are you a reader of Diana Gabaldon's series of books?   I have been reading them for years and so the show is a nice extra!  I must admit to watching and thinking... "hey, that wasn't in the book..."  but they can't always translate every detail through to a show or it will take a zillion years to get the nine (yes- 9 and counting) books out!

I have always loved the interplay of colour that comes with plaids and tartans. Now, if I recall rightly, a plaid is any arrangement of stripes of colours that is also UN-registered. A tartan is an officially registered colour arrangement and associated with a clan, organization or person. Well, I think this is right.  This Wikipedia post helps define the terms and history.  You can also visit the Official Scottish Register of Tartans some time and browse. The Scots went around the world after the Battle of Culloden  in 1746 so most people can find a wee bit o' the Scots in their ancestry!

A few years ago I wove up Mackenzie #2 tartan as part of a towel exchange for the Guild of Canadian Weavers. It was bright and bold and challenging to weave.  Here it is on the loom and under way.  A true twill line is forty five degrees and you must be careful not to pack the selvedges in.   Sett is really important and regular even beat!   It was the first time I wove a long length of yardage and then cut apart for towels after.  

I always remembered enjoying the experience and wanted to do it again.  With my leftknee bothering me of late, and using lighter four shaft patterns, now seemed like a good time!   I decided to use only what cotton was in my stash and I found that while I have a lot of 8/2 cotton, there's not a lot of any one colour except for the ones I found to weave these towels!  (It will be a challenge to use up the rest...)

I had recently purchased a warping mill as it was hard to stand still in one spot to wind a warp on the board.  This plaid was my inaugural warp on the mill and I was up to speed in no time!

Beaming and threading went well and I used the two stick start:

It just takes the threads and spreads the warp nicely and gives you a firm base on which to make a start!  I did use a temple as "draw-in" happens!  I just repeated the basic colour line up in the warp and repeated over and over again.... for all 8.3 yards! This is 8/2 cotton from Brassards in Quebec (love their quality!) and sett at 24 epi. I used a twelve dent reed. The warp is just over twenty five inches in the reed.  I'm allowing for draw in and shrinkage. I planned for seven towels at thirty four inches each (before hemming) and twelve inches for some samples (plus twenty inches loom waste).

Okay... the weaving part.  I sat when ever knee and time, or even mood,  allowed.  So it did take some time to slowly work through.  We had a trip away to see my father one last time at the hospice. That was, to put it mildly, a gut wrenching experience and I came home quite numb. It was wonderful to have the (sometimes frustratingly) endless  repeats to focus on and simple weave away, and weave some more. 

Soon I noticed the warp roll at the back was much slimmer and the cloth roll getting some nice heft to it!

I wove right to the back of the four shaft heddles and used a stick shuttle for the last few inches .  I cut it off the loom and had a literal arm load of fabric!

I had scrap yarn at the start and end of the warp which I serged neatly and then popped it all into the washing machine for a soak and wash.  After coming out of the dryer I pressed it all using steam.  Its time to cut the towels apart.

I measured the planned thirty four inches but it ended in the middle of a pattern area.  I guess that's okay but remembered my post about the Golden Mean and thought I would use the  computer program to help me with a nice proportioned towel.   The twenty five inches at the reed was now twenty three inches after washing and pressing and as you can see from the picture below, it recommended thirty seven inches!    Way too long!

Then I noticed that thirty five inches ended in a good spot with a natural cutting line.... all along the entire warp! So white section of hem on one side and the ending of a large dark colour block on the other.  It works!

So I got busy and started removing the scrap yarn sections and cutting apart towels.   I ended with six towels and some small amount of samples.    Where did towel seven go to??   I ran through my calculations again and I had done them correctly.... so it would seem the take up for a 2/2 twill is far greater then allowing for three inches for every yard woven. Even allowing for the additional six inches lost to slightly longer towels.   An entire towel's worth in fact!   Geesh. 

I did a simple small turn over for hems and pressed and pinned them.  One end was stitched using white cotton thread and the other end black thread. This meant that half was done by day light so I could see and the other could be done while we watched TV. They were already washed so a final steam press was all they needed.   Time for their "beauty shots"!

This three of them all draped on the dining room table, with an old dirk  letter opener we have had for years. Lends an air of authenticity I thought...

The cloth is lovely and soft to the hand,  drapes well and the interplay of colours is lovely.

Here are four of the towels as the last two are to be hemmed still. 

Here's the basic draft to show you my colour arrangement.  I used what I had to hand and then used the Murray tartan's basic striping to place my colours.  There is a yellow fine stripe and I choose a soft butter yellow over the brighter ones normally used.  (Reds didn't go with this grouping at all.)

Why not try working up an plaid arrangement of your own? Its quite fun and a good way to use up yarn.  I found this Isle of Sky tartan on line recently and thought it would be lovely to try next?  I love the colours and think its quite feminine.... a shawl or arisaid perhaps? (visit that link to learn all about Scottish clothing, names and how to wear it properly)

Thank you for your patience waiting for  my posts during a sad time for our family....  I'll leave you with a shot of the flowers we took to Dad on our recent visit. He loves roses...

Herringbone Twill: a Classic, Elegant Weave

As soon as I finished one men's scarf warp, I had another ready to go. I had more men folk to weave for!  This time I chose a soft silk yak blend in a silvery grey beige and sett it at 36 epi and I used 30/2 black silk as my weft. Now I would have chosen 20/2 but it seems I'm all out. I found a black 20/2 in thick and thin but the lines of this twill need to be sharp and crisp. The. pattern is a classic four shaft herringbone twill, using a standard twill tie up.

The total warp was for three scarves and I'm glad I was generous with fringe allowance as it gave me room to cut off each scarf as they were woven. Reason behind this was that I had some tension issues on the right hand selvedge. It was beamed tightly so I'm not sure why this happened again. (Last 16/2 cotton runner project had the tension go weird there on me too.) I'll look the loom over before reloading! I think it may have to do with how fine the warp was for this project and the last. It seems finer threads show tension irregularities very quickly. I'm going to read up on warping fine threads. Maybe see what Lillian Whipple has to say. She's the queen of beautiful fine thread weaving.

There was a section of plaid at either end for some interest but the middle was straight herringbone twill. They were woven for a total length of fifty four inches, plus a two inch fringe. I hemmed stitched every four ends to neatly secure the edges. They were washed gently in mild sudsy water and hung to drip dry. Next day they pressed up beautifully and I trimmed the fringe up neatly with a rotary cutter.

plaid section (before washing)

fringe before wash and trim

After the 'magic in the water'....

Very fine and butter soft!    Then after the magic of  our postal system...

My Dad wearing his new scarf,  with the picture taken by my brother.  Dad was a little hesitant about appearing here, but I thank him very much for stepping out from behind the camera for this shot! I think it looks great on him...

Now, what next for the Louet spring?   COLOUR !  

one warp wound....

...and the next to go!

More treats from the downsizing sale proceeds have arrived:

I swapped old books and yarns I'll never use for cash and bought these:

30/2 silk

60/2 silk from Japan (by way of Oregon) 

I'm hoping to paint silk warps this coming summer and have them ready for next winter's weaving...
But for now I'm resting as I've not been well. I'm typing this from my laptop in bed....I won't be here long as I have too much to do!

Nepali Ned

This post will be more personal this time. I'm going to share a family member with you. My brother, Kent.  He came home as a baby to this little house in Saskatchewan:

1963

The house more in more recent years... still basically the same! (very small!)

He was a cute little baby and I was seven years old. It was a quite novelty having to share my parents! Here I am with my mother and a sixteen month old Kent. 

He was a good little toddler  and as you can see, really cute! He had a thing for cars from a very early age. He would look through the car window and ID any car, make and model, (maybe even the year) Two more baby sisters arrived and we now a family of four kids

Here he is in front of my Dad's pride and joy, his 1957 Ford Meteor!

We all moved to New Zealand in 1970 and lived in the South Island for a few years. 

Here we are at the beach in Dunedin.  Probably in December or January as that's high summer down under. Kent is about seven and I'm fourteen years old.  Oh, the fun we had at that beach... I still recall it fondly.

Here Kent is helping Dad with some outdoor project, sweeping up. After four and a half years there, we returned to Canada.

Ah, the '70's!  

We stayed on the west coast ever since..... Where ever I have lived in BC, Kent would always travel to visit us. Phone calls and emails. We've stayed close through the years.  Some years ago Kent took up hiking in a big way and also photography at about the same time. The two activities fit together nicely, especially here in BC with stunning views. Kent kept climbing higher!

I believe this is the view from the Tusk above Garibaldi Lake.

He's like Forest Gump... he just keeps on going! He has walked the Inca Trail including Macchu Pichu,  Mount Blanc  from Chamonix, France, and Nepal. Nepal is his special love as he's been there many times. He has completed many of the various treks around the Annapurna Circuit. 

This picture shows the major mountains in this portion of the Himalaya range and there are various treks that last 2-4 weeks, of all experience levels, where you move through valleys, up to great heights, and cross many swing bridges.  On the Manislu trek Kent said he counted twenty three at least! There are various treks around the exterior mountain range and there is also an interior circle route between Annapurna 1 on the left (just left of centre of the picture) and Annapurna 3 on the right. They total altogether 160 to 230 kilometers if you do them all.  Kent has traveled there and joined up with many others from around the world.

Here he is dining with others of his trek group at a Nepali teahouse.

Here he is posing at Thorong La pass  (at 5416 meters above sea level) where he's about to start the downward trek back to the valley.  Kent told me the people there are simply beautiful inside and out.  I've done a blog post about one of his trips to Nepal once before ( and hope to do another soon).

His photography? Well, it kept pace with him...and he's very good at that too. 

Naturally this is taken in Nepal, in November 2012, I think this is Annapurna but I will edit the correct mountain name in later if wrong. I can't find it right now!

So my 'little' brother just turned 50 earlier this February.... such a milestone birthday. So I wove him a scarf to keep him warm when he commutes to work, which is a trek of a different kind, ....and he sent me this picture taken by our Dad.

He's going to kill me when he sees this post, but I just want to say "thanks" for being a great brother!