Caribbean Beach

It was either a television show featuring far off golden beaches and turquoise waters, or a travel ad luring you to the Caribbean for a 'sun-cation', but the nugget of inspiration for this project was conceived on a cold, dark night in early January.   The driving wind and rain, or the cold sleet and snow, combined with the short days getting dark so early had me thinking of warmer, brighter times to come!   

The image I saw on the telly was much like this one below. This is a beach on the Coromandel Peninsula on the north island of New Zealand.  It best demonstrates my design concept with its curving arrays of waves on a golden shore.   My mind mentally ran through my stash and I realized I had the colours on hand!   

Now the search for the right draft started. Over a few days I spent much time cruising through drafts on Pinterest and Handweaving.net and scrolled through scores of drafts. I went through all five of my sample binders, and various books.  I went back to Handweaving.net and eventually found this draft there.  Now, I must 'fess up and say that I either didn't record the draft number or lost it.  I don't have it , so sorry about that.... but you do have the three screens of the draft below.  This is what I call an extended twill progression.  The twill progresses along but there are many repeats at any given point, in this case four and then it transitions to the next, creeping up or down the run. There's 349 steps to one repeat, which in the case of my 8/2 tencel measured 14 inches on the loom.  Five repeats  equals 70 inches.  Scarf done!  Okay, so the in-between part is mind boggling but works okay  with no interruptions (of any kind) and a well caffeinated mind.  Its a good work out for the head, arms and legs.

I had used my Fiberworks program (for Mac) and played with the gradation feature. I tightened up some of the gradation but the draft is as it was as I found it at the website.   I was able to print off the threading by itself and then use little mini post it notes to isolate the sequence and so work my way across four colours and reverse again on the warping mill.  With the post it notes left in place, it meant I always knew where I was in the sequence and so could leave it for a break and a stretch.

I used 8/2 tencel from Web's  in dark teal, greyed teal, straw and finally 'tussah' coloured tencel from Textura Trading. It has been in my stash for a few years now and was perfect for the centre colour. It wasn't until I was starting to wind the straw colour and needing to add the lighter tussah that I found the tussah was actually 10/2 and not 8/2 like the others. I had put it on the wrong shelf in the storage closet!  I thought about it for a few minutes and decided to go ahead and use it anyway and keep my sett the same at 24 epi. *fingers crossed*  😳

I could see right away this was going to be special...

The colours worked so well together and the shift from one to another was  great.

As luck would have it my  scrap  filler yarn to use at the start was a medium purple and it suited the warp so well. I  decided to try amethyst as weft for the second scarf and I liked it a lot.  Think "twilight time at the beach".

It also picks out the pattern more clearly than the dark teal and so has a whole different feel.

After several days of rain and cloudy skies, the sun came out this past weekend and I got busy with the camera.  This one shows the 'wave' effect I was going for nicely....

The colours in this photo more closely resemble the real colours used..... (pardon the fold lines! I did get out there quickly to snap the pictures). It clouded over and started raining again shortly after I finished.

This one below shows a full repeat of the pattern. The scarf was woven to 70 inches on the loom and was 66 inches when all wet finished and pressed.  Four inches lost seemed a lot to me....
The final width is 9 inches.

Then there's what I call the Twilight version, with amethyst weft:

 This time the pattern takes centre stage.

One full repeat again.... plus a close up shot for you to enlarge and see the pattern.  I also want to add that the slightly smaller grist 10/2 tussah tencel in the centre wasn't an issue at all. It behaved just like the rest and you wouldn't know there was a difference at all. (Phew!)

So that 'cold and dark' night is far behind us now and spring is here in all its promise.  Daffies,  cherry blossoms and green leaves are budding and the yard is full of nesting birds competing for worms and bugs to feed their broods.    Lots of fresh starts... and speaking of which....

Our local guild, The Midnight Shuttles, held a 'learn to weave' one day short program at the local community centre this past weekend and it was great fun. It was a 'taste test' of various methods of weaving  and we had participants of all ages:

Two serious students hard at work. 

One of our members, Jeanelle, working on a tapestry loom. 

Val showing off her tapestry samples.

Joyce showing the workings of a table loom.

All in all, it was loads of fun but I came home very tired and ready to  relax.  They wore me out... 😊

Heading South for the Winter ?

I got roped in.....

I agreed to a weaving commission to revisit an old favourite pattern again.  My client was agreeable to all my conditions and in fact, she made only one request and that was the warp be the dark teal this time and magenta be the weft.  The shawl would look the same as the one woven a few years ago, but the fringe would be teal.

I got her request about a week after Webs had concluded their annual tencel sale, and they had NO stock left.     Ah, bad timing..... but I worked up an order and placed it anyway so that once more stock arrived it would be shipped first thing. Normally they are out of stock only 2-3 weeks.

Roll the clock ahead three months and I decided to call Webs to see when it was likely to be filled.  They had some new stock but were holding up my order waiting for a cone of ecru coloured tencel.   I chopped it from the order and asked them to ship asap.   It finally arrived!

Oops, cancel the party..... they only shipped one cone of dark teal when I needed two, and I'm certain I ordered two.  The dark teal was the whole main point of the order!

No worries, I would order another cone, trying to get matching batch numbers  and get it rush shipped.   The customer service rep told me it was  out of stock again.   Oh, crap.....

So my planned two shawls is now reduced to one and I'm hoping the one cone will be enough.  As luck would have it, there was probably about two to three ounces left on the cone when I was done winding.  Cutting things really close!   It was beamed onto the loom and once the 12 shaft tie up was finally in place, I got things underway.

The pattern repeat is quite long and is in fact almost six and a half inches in length, but you don't notice it all that much as you throw the shuttle. You are caught up counting and watching the pattern grow.   Its so pretty!  Its much like snowflake twill in some ways as its another draft I never get tired of!

Weaving went well and as for the length, I had to somehow time it to end with the end of a pattern repeat so to balance at either ends of the shawl.   By my reckoning I wove it to 90 inches. Yes a bit long but its length what the client wanted. 

But off loom it measured 85 inches. I double checked my notes where I keep track of my weaving measurements and it seems I made a five inch error.... oops!    So it was actually woven to 85 inches which is still nice and long.   Then it had the fringes twisted and then into the laundry tub for its hand wash and  lay flat to dry.

It now measures (after being steam pressed and ironed) 80 inches in length.   I can only assume that it relaxed and took up more length, then shrunk  again with the hand washing.... but five inches is a lot! The width went from 23 inches on the loom to 21 inches finished.  All things considered, it still a beautiful shawl  but not the length the client asked for.   Now if I had been able to weave a second shawl I would have had a choice and been able to give her the longer of the two. 

So it came back again to my shorted yarn order.......   Plus my addition goof! But in my defence, I had very little warp left and couldn't have woven another full repeat anyhow.

My client lives in California which is literally burning up right now and I haven't heard from her. 🙁 I do hope she is okay.   Meanwhile I have hung the shawl up and it will wait till we hear some news.

On the personal front:   About two weeks ago hubby asked me if I knew how old our hot water tank is?  He couldn't find a date on it any where.   No idea!  I mentally made a note to dig out the house inspection report from two years ago..... and promptly forgot.

Last Thursday I woke early and decided to get up and went straight into the shower. Normally I have a coffee first and check my email, but not this day.    Hubby went out to the garage to get something from our pantry cupboard out there and discovered a puddle of water and an over flowing hot water tank!  Nothing too large fortunately and a bucket and mop soon had it cleaned up. As luck would have it, we had a plumber coming that day to repair an outside hose bib and indoor shut off valve that wasn't fully closing off ahead of the coming freezing weather.... in short a "small job". I called and informed them we now had a "big job" and they arrived that afternoon with a new tank and set about installing it.  Installation took approx three hours due to reworking of gas pipes and such but we had hot water and lots of it before the afternoon was done.    We haven't seen the bill as yet but we know its best to view it sitting down first.

So, we are giving each other a hot water tank for Christmas!   Its that special?   I bet you haven't got one tucked under the tree.      Our best wishes to Van Isle Plumbing for sorting things out in a timely manner!

In a Blink of an Eye

Things were ticking along.  Days getting longer, brighter and even warmer.... I was making plans,  winding future projects.  Finally getting my weaving groove back....

Then I was awakened at 1:30 am one night to find my Hubby in pain and before too long, called an ambulance for him.    That was the start of two to three weeks of  hospital ER visits, medical appointments and diagnostic testing and specialist appointments as he struggled to pass kidney stones.  The one currently trying to vacate is 8 millimetres  (that's this long: ------- ).   After a week something passed but tests show that both kidneys are full of large stones  and one is 2 centimetres! They want to get that one asap.   Then just over a week ago he woke to find he couldn't walk on his right foot and it was exceedingly painful.    Another week of rest and foot elevation before he could even get to the Dr and its gout.  It makes sense given his ability to make rocks.   There's a medicine for that and he's on the right side of that experience and now armed with glasses of water and a new diet.

Its a rather rough  start to the new year: a funeral and then all this...   We have been just dealing with things around here one day at a time.

So long story short, I have been nurse, cook, dishwasher, housekeeper, banker, laundress, and driver to appointments.  Not a lot of weaving going on and all of this was hardly anything you'd want an accounting of....   so no blogging for the past month.

All that being said, I do have some show and tell for you now.....

The warp is 20/2 silk in a lovely champagne colour from Treenway Silks. Its a pale pink at first appearance but then you notice a slight peach to it as well.  It was difficult to find a weft colour that didn't swamp the champagne but this slate grey 8/2 tencel from Webs has a soft way of picking out the pattern.

The draft is a 12 shaft twill from Handweaving.net #55861and modified by me to allow for borders.

It has a definite front and back side and while much darker, its quite attractive as well.

I knew that the scarves needed a little something extra and that possibly could have been beads.... but then the the zig zag of the pattern made me think of this fringe technique.  I think it goes quite nicely!

 For the second scarf I auditioned a few weft colours but none of them seemed to work with out dominating the silk.    Then my helpful Hub dug around in the stash and suggested this olive green 8/2 tencel.

It seems to work well with the champagne  and is a fresh spring like scarf!  Being green, it does tend to bring out more of the peach tone of the silk.  Its quite the chameleon.

Again, there is a definite front and back side to the scarf.

 I also used the same fringe technique on this scarf too and it seems to get first notice before the pattern, the colours....    Amazing how something so simple can grab the eye!

All yarns used came from my stash which was a nice treat.   I do have another warp just beamed and all yarns are also from the stash.   There's no danger of running out any time soon...  😊

 So its going to be a busy month ahead with ongoing medical stuff but the specialist is onto this and moving quickly.    Spring is definitely here and all the neighbours are out tidying up their yards, pruning and planting.  One neighbour has already mowed but its more of a move to clean the lawn than to cut the grass.    I'm drawing up a mental list of outdoor things to do like hose off the house and then clean windows.   Not just yet though......   first I'm going to see about throwing a shuttle for while.

Hellebore that bloomed in early January (Victoria, BC)

Summer Snow

Happy Solstice every one!  I'm a couple days late...

I would have posted yesterday but I took a day off and went to the beauty parlour and got a trim and something they call 'glazing' done.   I decided for my past birthday in March where I turned 60 that I would embrace the grey and cease hi-lighting and semi permanent colours.   The semi colour fades away over three to four months and leaves a slight trace. The grey areas were refusing to take any effort on the part of my hairdresser to discreetly be covered with a semi colour and I won't go to a permanent dye. The time had come to become a full on crone.    This sure came along before I was expecting it....      Anyhow, the glazing is a clear semi permanent that gives your hair body, conditions it, tames the unruly white ones and gives it lots of shine.  It also involves a head massage that lasts twenty minutes.  Need I say more? 

I want to get the second half of my snowflake scarf project up here for you to see ahead of what promises to be some very busy days.  We're  listing our house and property for sale and we also have some over night guests coming  and everything that is entailed by this.    

I'm calling this one Summer Snow although I have used the new ecru 8/2 tencel as my warp (24 epi) and the un-dyed 8/2 tencel  

The pattern can be quite busy for some and so by using the two shades together it gives a neutral shade and uses the play of light on the yarn to reveal the diamonds and graduated "x's".   I also think it will move through the year as a wearable ... and lend itself to what ever colour you team it up with.

Here it is on black, but it would look equally fabulous on a deep red suit or  chocolate brown coat.  

This picture really shows how the white tencel picked out the pattern

It measures 8 inches wide by 76 inches long and a generous fine twisted fringe.   I'm so tempted to keep this one for myself but it would be months before its cool enough to wear it... and I can weave another.

These pictures are taken on our back deck against a rough stone wall. You can see the  lush west coast vegetation in behind.  Just a bit higher up above the fern was a small doe watching me...

They come through the property several times a day ( and night) and nibble away.  We gave up long ago trying to have a decent garden or flowers here....

Here's an inside shot where with incandescent lighting, and so it looks more cream.   Its also as soft as butter and drapes beautifully. I have recently seen posts by weavers saying they haven't tried weaving with tencel yet.   I think "what the heck are you waiting for?? "

This draft was modified by me to suit my needs for size and sett.  The original design similar to this one was seemed to come out at roughly the same time by Jane A. Evans (GCW master weaver, and author and published in Weaver magazine) and also Gudrun Weisinger (German master weaver, author in Weaver & Handwoven magazine... and my dear friend)  who passed away this time last year.  I don't know who was first.... but if you use it, please credit them.  Its a simple thing, doesn't take away from your project and means a great deal.   Also try to modify if you have enough experience with drafts.... and use different colours, yarns etc.   Making modifications is how you learn and grow as a weaver.  ( Copying exactly is not flattery...)  I have been experiencing some 'flattery' of late and so please note that I won't always share a draft every time.  This one has been published in more than a few places and easily found. 

A tip or hint:  this is as large a yarn size as I would go using this pattern. It has long floats and becomes a more friendly item to wear or use if you use a finer grist yarn.   10/2 tencel at 28 epi... 16/2 cottons or bamboo at 36 epi.   If you use a weaving design program, check the float length and then work out how long they are over an inch. 

Now, in the last weaving related post I promised a visit by an antique!   Many years ago I was quietly walking around a very large barn shaped building that houses antiques and collectables. You could spend hours in there pouring over all the items. I had an eye out for textiles and unusual china.  I found some absolutely lovely fine singles linen handkerchiefs with hemstitching and bobbin lace edgings for 50 cents each.  A large dining room table cloth that is pure linen, hemstitched on four sides for $10.00.... which only needs all the hideous embroidery removed and washed to be a useful beautiful snowy white table linen.    And I found this:

Yeah, orange stripes.... but look at the snowflake twill!   Its a fine cotton plied yarn or singles and the weft is a singles natural linen.  The linen is like two or three flax fibres spun together its so fine.  Its also very soft which tells me it was well used and washed often to be like this now. Linen only gets better with age!

The weaver made a simple rolled hem which has held nicely on one end but is slipping its bonds on the other.  I would love to use this somehow... but how do you lose the orange?    Over-dyeing might work.... but I suspect the striping effect would always show through regardless, and the orange will alter the colour chosen there. 

I hope you are able to enlarge this and see more detail.  I would love to have this analyzed and work out the draft. I'm pretty sure its an eight shaft. *fingers crossed*.   

Oh, and it cost me $1.00.    The bargain hunter in me was happy.... but the weaver in me cringed. 

Finally... a teaser for what's to come.... eventually...