Tartan Talk

I have spent the past few days finishing the Dress Stewart towels.  It was rather exciting when I placed the entire eight yard length into the washing machine to soak for a spell.   I wandered by after ten or fifteen minutes and checked.....and the water was this dark murky pink muck!   The dyes were coming out and I had to do something fast!

My synthrapol is in a box somewhere in the garage.... but as luck would have it, a friend had gifted me a couple of boxes of the Shout Colour Catchers.   I had already used a couple of sheets but this was an emergency and so I dumped the rest of the box in.   I think it was six or eight sheets. I didn't count them (or take a picture after....darn!)

The cloth came out white where it should be white and the colour catchers were totally a dark pinky grey colour.  They worked and saved the day! After the towel warp was machine dried, it took me some time to carefully snip off all the little weft tails.   I actually took it to my guild meeting for show and tell as a bolt of material.  It weighed a kilo (or 2.2 pounds) and made a nice satisfying roll.

I cut the towels apart using the serger. The cut line was every thirty one inches at the end of a colour repeat which made it much easier!  I turned a small rolled hem and hand sewed the hems.
Yes, I know it would be faster to machine them but I'm not a fan of the 'stitch ditch line' as it distracts from the tartan lines.   I can't always be sure that they will be used as intended and they might end up as a runner.

While I sewing them, I found myself thinking of my first tartan experience as a child.  I had a pair of Stewart tartan  trousers and while I liked the pattern, they made my legs itch from the wool. Mum would dress me up in them anyway....

They were the full red version of the Stewart. Me in 1958, in the UK.

I also had tartan pinafore dresses, though I don't recall the colours of this one.  I think it was mainly green. A young me with Father Christmas, 1958.

So I can hear you asking, are you Scottish?  Not a bit! I'm a true Sassenach. My forays into our family genealogy have revealed southern English, with a dash of Welsh back to my 6 x great grandfather, William Vincent. 

.....but I digress....

It seems everyone wore tartans or plaids in England and I feel that Queen Victoria and the Royal Family helped to make it popular.  She wore tartans quite regularly and made it fashionable (along with the all white wedding dress).  (If you have been watching PBS's Victoria recently, the Queen's son Bertie wore a kilt and sash in Dress Stewart in the grand finale.)

Better historians than I can give you the story of the Scottish Highlanders and their sad history, but suffice to say that after the Battle of Culloden  April 16th, 1746, Highlanders were banned, upon pain of death, to wear clan colours and regalia. 

Anti-clothing measures were taken against the highland dress by an Act of Parliament in 1746. The result was that the wearing of tartan was banned except as a uniform for officers and soldiers in the British Army and later landed men and their sons.^[69]

But I'm happy to say that tartans are back and more popular than ever!  Fierce Highland pride and  television shows such as Outlander have contributed immensely.   Diana Gabaldon's series of books have come to life on the screen.  I swear she has almost single handedly revved up a love of all things Scottish, and especially men in kilts!

I wasn't immune from the new found popularity of the show and wove up a plaid using colours from my stash, in a plaid arrangement I called "Highland Heather"  five years ago:

I have also woven up tartan Mackenzie #2:

 So what is the difference between a plaid and a tartan?  People us the terms interchangeably  but is this correct?   Wikipedia says:

Tartan is particularly associated with Scotland. Scottish kilts almost always have tartan patterns. Tartan is often called plaid in the United States, but in Scotland, a plaid is a tartan cloth slung over the shoulder as a kilt accessory, or a plain ordinary blanket such as one would have on a bed.

I personally view tartans as distinct, recognized and registered patterns by the Scottish Tartan Authority and plaids is a pleasing arrangement of colours and stripes much like my Highland Heather towels.   I may well be wrong on this but it feels okay to me!

So who can have a tartan?  Well, anyone really! There are official registered tartans for every province or state, or country in the world.  

Books by Iain Zaczek are amazing resources. Don't let the last name fool you! (ISBN # 1 894102 43 6   and  ISBN # 1 552671 79 8)

Companies, non Scottish families, governments and institutions such as universities and schools have tartans.  Its not just for royalty and marching bands any longer.

Do you have Scottish ancestry?   You can find your clan or sept in books like these:

There are weaving sett guides and history in this book by Maria Constantino (ISBN # 1 895464 20 X)

Gordon Teall & Philip Smith jr have authored a classic district guide, complete with setts and histories (ISBN # 0 85683 085 2)

What about weaving tartans or plaids yourself?   Are there rules?  Well, the short answer is 'yes'.  A true tartan is always a balanced 2/2 twill.  This simply where the threads go over two and under two and can be woven on a four shaft loom. The tricky part is the word 'balanced'.   The sett must be just right so that the twill diagonal line when measured (off tension) is a 45 degree angle.   

So to be truly finicky, to get 24 epi and 24 ppi for example, you must sley the reed at something like 22-23 and beat so you get 22-23 picks in so when its off tension and wet finished and pressed  it becomes the magic 24 either way.  You have to know your chosen yarns very well and how they react under tension, keep your beat even,  and anticipate what they will do when wet finished and pressed.  That means sampling and more sampling....  ( I speak from experience as I wove a balanced twill for the Guild of Canadian Weaver tests)

Well, doesn't that sound like fun?   😳

Unless you run a textile / weaving mill, such as Lochcarron of Scotland where such standards prevail, most weavers do their best to get just a smidge under the 45 degree line on the loom, knowing it will balance out after a wash and press. Close enough!    So for my recent towels I used 8/2 cotton sett at 24 epi.  I got a decent twill line and quite frankly, I haven't checked it after washing and drying. They look nice as they are.

So why choose Dress Stewart for my project? Well, I have always liked the Stewart tartan but it came down to what colours I had on hand in my stash.  I had some red on hand but not enough if I wove the full Royal Stewart with its wide bands of all red in between the multi coloured sections.

Stewart Dress tartan draft

I found my draft at Handweaving.net   #13825 where they have an entire collection of 277 tartans and also some 452 plaids created by members.  I have since discovered that if you add  two threads of red mid way in the 72 ends of white, it becomes the Victoria(n) Stewart.   No doubt what  little Prince of Wales Bertie was wearing in the PBS television production Victoria, but I couldn't see that clearly.

There are three categories of colours used by weavers to guide their choices:

• Modern colours: 19th century aniline dyes replaced older natural dyes. They are bolder and have rich depth of shade.
• Ancient: this doesn't not denote the actual age of the tartan but indicates that natural dyes (from various sources) were used and have a softer more natural tint.
• Muted (or also known as reproduction) colours:  introduced in 1946, based on old bits of textiles found at the battle site of Culloden. They were tartans dyed using natural dyes, but then muted by their exposure to peat. There is a further softening of the colours, especially greens and browns. Used for hunting tartans and plaids as they would blend into the hillsides.   {sort of like old Scottish camoflage !}

There are many resources on line but I have three books on hand that are focused on hand weavers and reproducing tartans. I'm sure there are many more out there, plus resources on line if you do a search.

This small book by James D. Scarlett is the tartan weaving chief guide! 

In days past, the weavers knew the sett, and colours by heart and kept sticks showing the colour and warping order of a given tartan.  You would only need to show a pared down portion and the last colour was the pivot and they all reversed from there to complete the repeat. 

The Tartan Weavers's Guide by James D. Scarlett  ( ISBN # 0 85683 078 X) was particularly helpful in learning the colour sequencing and understanding the pivot colour.  

While there was three groupings of colours to chose from, they did standardize the  abbreviations for the actual colour words:

A: light blue (azure)

B: blue

C: rose (crimson)

D: dark + colour used

G: green

K: black

L: light + colour used

Lil: lilac

Lv: lavender

Ma: magenta

Mn: maroon

N: grey (neutral)

P: purple

R: scarlet (red)

T: brown (tan)

W: white

Y: yellow

Then from the Lyon Court came these additional symbols:

Az:  azure, sky blue

Gu: Gules / Scarlet

Vt: vert / grass green

Br: brown

Bk: black

Wh: white 

Purp: purpure / purple

Bu: a duller blue

Red: a duller red

C: crimson

Gr: a duller green

Y: yellow

Let's use my draft of Stewart Dress: W 72, B 8, Bk 12,  Y 2, Bk 2, W 2, Bk 2, Gr 16, R 8, Bk 2, R 4,  W 2  

If you study this warp colour bar from the Stewart Dress draft and follow along reading right to left, you will see how they only needed half the order (for symmetrical tartans). Click to enlarge.

Many know of Mary E. Black and her book Key to Weaving  and New Key to Weaving (depending on the publication date). There is a brief chapter on weaving tartans and plaids, of which she was especially fond.   Mary Black was one of the founders of the Guild of Canadian Weavers and was their very first Masterweaver and her thesis was on Tartan Weaving. There is a small booklet produced by Lily Yarns by Ms Black. No publication year is given but I estimate it to be circa 1950's. Its a real little gem! 

GCW Founder & Masterweaver, Mary E. Black (no publication date other than  10M-1-59  Printed in the USA, which I assumes means Oct.1st 1959, by Lily Mills Co. of Shelby NC

Roll the clock forward to 2018 and I found this delightful new weaving guide :

ISBN # 9781723818028  or the Amazon here

Linda covers a lot of material on weaving tartans for current times, including designing your own, and the practicalities of setting up the warp for weaving and setts.   There is even a section on  twill variations to move beyond a 2/2 twill  (gasp! 😳).  She shows how to use a chart and spread sheet to plan a successful tartan project.

Speaking of successful projects..... how did mine turn out?

Well, I cut  them every 31 inches apart as it ended nicely with the end of the colour repeat.

I turned a small hem and pressed, then hand sewed the edges using a running blind stitch.   I planned these as kitchen towels but they may end up as a runner in someone's home or?   Does hand sewing hold up to machine washing and drying? Yes it does as all my kitchen towels are hand sewn and are in and out of the wash constantly.

 The edges look okay.... just a touch of crowding. Not too shabby given that I didn't use a temple!

I got six towels measuring 20.5 inches by 29 inches in length plus a bonus table square (no sample this time). The bonus square is winging its way to Australia as a gift as I write.  Seems that some of  the Stewart Clan made for the far flung corners of the world!

Hot on the Trail

On the west coast of BC, Canada, summer has finally arrived!  This was after weeks of cool temperatures and rain which had most people feeling like we were missing out after seeing the east coast basking in toasty heat.  I was okay with the situation as cooler weather means you can do more and not feel like a limp noodle, and suffer less with seasonal allergies.  I knew that inevitably the heat would come!

It arrived just as we were heading out to the Okanagan Valley, in an older minivan who's AC just died!  *gasp*  We're heading to go and pick up the new to me Megado loom.

There were lots of preparations to make before we left, such as take out all the back seats in the van and gather old blankets and such to protect the coming load and tie down straps to prevent shifting.  We also had to water the beejeesus out of the garden and take down the many hanging baskets and place them under cover in the shade to keep them from drying out while we were away.

I also had to do some serious shopping!  The results will be shown a bit later on. During the shopping trip, I had pulled a muscle in my right shoulder while trying on clothes. It was very painful and so for the duration of the coming days, I took ibuprofen and iced my shoulder well. It made basic tasks rather difficult and weaving was out of the question (which upset me more than making a bed or cooking or packing a bag!)

Finally with our suitcase packed, and the dog off to the kennel for a holiday of her own, we hit the road! We were bright and early at the ferry terminal and enjoyed our two hour ride over.

The drive to Kelowna was soon under way! There was no point of taking pictures as we drove as there was a blue haze everywhere and apparently it was high level smoke from the forest fires in Siberia that had crossed the Pacific and covering much of the province.  The drive was much like our last one, but with much less snow pack through the mountains.  We spotted a forest fire at one point but it had already been called in.  We could feel the heat increasing as we approached the valley! Now, I had a plan for cooling. I had brought a large beautiful silk head scarf and I  put it on and tied the corners around to the back of my neck and we rolled down the windows and we listened to the wind buffeting at our windows for many miles as we drove at 110 km per hour!  The scarf prevented my now longer hair  from being whipped into a frazzle of knots. I had pictures of my mother wearing her scarves in the 1960's running through my mind as it was a common practice for ladies back then. I didn't worry what people would think as they passed us as most likely, I would never see them again!

We stayed at my mother in law's town house and had a lovely visit with her. She had just celebrated her 89th birthday and so the house was full of flowers and cards.... and then we came through the door with more and gifts too!

We arrived in the Okanagan Valley on a day when the temperature had reached 37 degrees Celsius (or 99 degrees Fahrenheit).  We felt like we were melting! Our bedroom was in the much cooler basement thankfully!

The next day we headed to my friend Margaret's house which is in Lake Country north of Kelowna and there are a series of smaller lakes there. Its very pretty country! (we used to live there).

Meet Margaret! We have been friends for many years now and she was my first weaving mentor.  I started weaving in the spring of 1996 and met her shortly after this. Due to her encouragement, I joined the Guild of Canadian Weavers in 1997. I later went onto become their BC Provincial Representative, then President of the Guild (2003-2007) and also served as an active past president for a further year co-running the guild during a medical leave of the then president.  All thanks due to Margaret and her encouragement!

So enough about me, now let me share a bit about Margaret: She is a retired occupational therapist and so had me seated correctly at my looms right from my weaving start. The height of your bench, proper posture and correct throwing of shuttles and her famous advise on getting good selvedges: "simply weave a mile!"    Margaret has been the official mentor for test candidates of the Guild of Canadian Weavers Master Weaver program for many years now and, is one of the special thirty weavers since 1947 to receive their master weaver certification. Her 1994 thesis was on Opphamta  The link will show you an example of this type of weave structure but is not Margaret's weaving) Needless to say we had many weaving  and guild (local and national) related adventures together.

I had full intentions of photographing the loom in its complete state before dismantling began, but we started talking and  before we knew it, Bruce had a lot of parts off and starting to stack them into the back of the van! So here is the loom, somewhat reduced:

Bruce has the bin underneath and so when the side rails are worked free the frames and castle will rest on the bin. Our minivan had been driven around the corner of the condo building and parked directly outside the patio door where the loom was situated.  Bruce had been busy! What the picture doesn't show you is the HEAT!! 

Margaret lives in the ground floor condo and despite a busy bustling gated community behind her, her view is this:

Aspens and natural woods to the left....

.... and a stunning calm lake view from the front! There were neighbours above and to the side, but the building design has them discreetly out of view. Its a beautiful place to live!

Meanwhile, while we continued to chat and reminisce, Bruce soldiered on! (I did have a wounded shoulder to nurse you know). It was his idea for us to visit while he worked and very kind of him.

We're getting there! I helped with the main frame and small parts.  Meanwhile, Margaret is opening some gifts from us.... 

A runner, woven by me, for her dark teak dining room table (more on the runners in the next post) Her wood table showed the subtle pattern off nicely! The picture above shows it on the counter at home before gift wrapping.

 More personally, there was a hand painted silk scarf, made by a local artisan from the Cowichan Vallley. The soft muted peach, pinks and greens reminded me very much of the Telana dyes that Margaret and I used to paint silk warps. The overall colours would go well with her wardrobe colours I know that she favours.  Margaret loved it!

There was also one of my recent book marks for her winter reading and a card, also made locally that is hand beaded: (check out the detail!)

Then, all was done and the van was fully loaded and well wrapped, tied down and secure. The bags have all the small parts.... We still had to get a suitcase and other bags in there yet for the trip home!

Despite smiles and waves, the good byes were difficult.  Friends.

We left the next morning before the heat was under way and by lunch time we were at my son and daughter in law's home for a quick stop.  We had some clothes for Ethan who is coming up to being 3 months old.

Ethan seems to really take to Bruce (who held him first as I was still trying to get in the door and put my gear and gifts down!)

He's grown so much! As you can see, he's quite taken with his Grandad!  Then it was my turn and he spit up milk all over my shoulder within seconds of being picked up!  I was assured that makes me a bonafide Nana but I still went and tried to 'sweeten up' with soap and water! We couldn't stay over this time or even for very long as we had another stop to make and so after a energy shot of coffee, it was time to hit the road again.  Another good bye but we'll be back!

Bruce snapped this great picture of daughter in law Lisa, Ethan and myself.  She's doing a great job of being a mum.

Next, we headed over to see my father for a visit and we enjoyed the time there with him. We all sipped cold ginger ale while sitting on his patio and before too long, it was time to go and race to the ferry terminal at Horseshoe Bay......which we missed by five minutes.... and so we sat and waited for an hour and a half for the next boat. It was comforting to be almost first in line though... The quiet time was nice after the hectic pace of the day.

The ferry ride across to 'home' was lovely. It was warm and the strait was flat calm. The sunset was starting and I commented that all we needed was whales or seals and PRESTO!  The next thing I know, Bruce yelled and pointed off to amidships that he'd just seen two orcas!  Sure enough, there were two killer whales steadily heading north through the water away from us. The ship's captain told the passengers over the loud speakers where to look for them and I wondered why the boat didn't list to starboard with everyone racing to look!

We got home about 10 pm and then it took a while to completely unload the van, including the loom into the house.  Its parts are strewn all over the studio now and await the rebuilding efforts to come!

There's its head! (or brain if you like  ;-)  I have to rebuild it with Bruce's help and also locate a small reconditioned laptop or notebook to run it. If anyone out there has experience with this sort of thing and can advise, please leave a comment.

It was well after midnight before we climbed into bed.... very tired after a very long day that started at 5:30 am and covered +/- 500 km's.

Arrived by Snail Mail

Do you recall this picture?

 I wove up these bookmarks as part of the annual weaving exchange with the Guild of Canadian Weavers, with Lynnette as the hostess. This is her last one as she gracefully 'retires' from organizing them. She has done an amazing job! I have been participating in them since they were resumed by Carolyn H. back in 2006 (I'm guessing at the date right now!)  They are so much fun to do. You have oodles of time, very clear parameters, minimal costs and it's like Christmas in October when the parcel arrives in your mail box!

For details on my book marks, draft and information,  please read here

I mailed four bookmarks away, complete with the draft  and project information and yesterday I received my package in the mail! It felt a bit bulky for book marks but I was eager to get home and open it up.

The first I saw was a very pretty pink lace. Click to enlarge any of the pictures. This weaver had just come from a lace workshop with Jane Stafford and so was clearly inspired! The weaver used 16/2 orlec, which is an acrylic, sett 30 epi, and wove it on four shafts.

Then there was this elegant silver and black one! Its a point twill that is 'tromp as writ'. The warp was a cotton/ acrylic blend from Italy and the weft 16/2 cotton.  Here's a close up:

Next up was this bright and cheery book mark! It's an eight shaft summer and winter. No information was provided about yarns used or setts. Very pretty though....

The last one was by Lynnette herself and its my favourite (even before I knew it was hers! True Story!  :) She chose a 12 shaft rosepath treadled as threaded. A fine 20/2 cotton warp, sett 36 epi and 8/2 tencel as weft

Click to see the close up!

Then I discovered why the package was a bit bulky! Inside was a lovely gift - a 'souvenir' from their travels in France.  Lynnette and her hubby, Michael had almost a month long stay in the country.  I do hope she writes a few tales of their time there and share some pictures!

It's a 100% cotton jacquard woven kitchen towel and is *very* generous in size. Larger than my big towels actually!  I find myself thinking " but it's too nice to use as a kitchen towel" (sound familiar?)

Lynnette said that it was the only textile she found in her time there that was actually made in France and she bought it in Pontivy , which is in Brittany. When I look at the jar of strawberry jam, or "confiture de fraise des bois", I can't but help think of Michael! (private joke... sorry!)