Just Playing.... 🌈 with Colour!

I like to play with my Fiberworks (for Mac) program and try my hand at  creating colour gradients. I know what colours I have on hand, and what I feel looks nice when paired together.   I even like winding it up on the warping mill thread by thread. Weird huh?   😁

This is mineral green, greyed teal, blue Ming and royal  8/2 tencel (from Webs) when blended.   This is the draft I used to wind the colours.  Looks different  but that's because I need to see the colour changes clearly or else go blind trying to see what is next!

I wanted a large open feeling pattern; not so much grids and lines that can occur with some drafts.  This 8 shaft crackle weave suited nicely.

So for the first scarf I used coral 8/2 tencel as my weft. I felt it would pair nicely with the blue's and green's and it didn't disappoint !

But what really woke things up was lemongrass!   It adds "zing"   🍋🌱 and is my favourite of the two scarves!

It was an enjoyable weave, interspersed with Life chores and summer outings.    Fringes twisted up and wet finished.... pressed and trimmed and then time to snap some pictures. 

Coral weft and look how it turned out between the blue and greens!   It's a real chameleon!  The coral looks orange near the greens and pinkish near the blues.

Then it's lemongrass ..... which also changed the under tone colour depending on which side of the scarf you look at.    

It turned out even better than I had in my mind's eye and I can also see other future projects for this draft.   Hard to believe it's just 8 shafts huh? 

Running into Spring 🌷

 🌱

Spring arrived yesterday but you wouldn't know it by looking outside. Stormy day with blustery winds blowing in a steady drizzle of rain.   It looks cold too.   There are valiant early spring flowers poking their heads up and birds are returning and looking for nesting spots.  The starlings that nested in our eaves last year will be in for a surprise as that was well barricaded to evict them!

So we have been super busy with many medical appointments.  The ones that were put off due to the omicron wave, and the heavy snowfall in December.   There seems to be something on the list for almost every day as we catch up so weaving has been hit and miss while we be 'good adults'.  Even the taxes were done....   😳

So I do have a project to show you but must say that these pictures are not their best and brightest. They were taken indoors and in order to show you the 'white on white' pattern blocks, I needed some awkward lighting.

Draft 246 from  Carol Strickler's classic " A Weavers Book of 8 Shaft Patterns" seems to be a favourite among weavers. The satin blocks, when using colour to best advantage seem to look woven over and under each other.   I love some of the colour combinations I have seen but it can look rather 'busy' visually.  I decided to try some table runners in a finer 10/2 mercerized cotton, sett 28 epi. A snowy white and softer muted colours as striped defining the borders.  Cameo Rose, Sponge (moss green), Frost grey (silver mauve),  and Autumn blonde. Without really trying, I was weaving something that said Spring.  🌷

After six inches of hem allowance, I did ladder hemstitching. The cotton has some bite to it so you are able to pull tightly and have it stay put as you work. The 'ladders' are nicely defined.

This picture above shows the changing blocks and how the stripe appears to do a side step.

A screen snap of my draft.  I was originally going to use a soft silver grey weft for the cross stripes, but my actual cone of silver grey was too dark for my liking and I preferred the white instead.  As you can see, the blocks can be of any size you like, depending on the yarn size used or the look.

I serged the runners apart and hand washed them. After drying on a rack overnight, they were steam pressed and then shifted to the ironing board to turn the hems.   Dividing it into thirds and pressing.

With the final third brought up to the bottom of the hemstitching, it was pressed again and pinned.  It all folded nicely and stayed put as I worked.   Then I hand sewed the hems using a running blind stitch and also closed the end open loops of the hem.    Pressed it firmly again.   Most women hate ironing, but its a valuable tool in the weaver's arsenal of finishing tricks!  (Don't skimp on price and buy a heavy one.  I get compliments on the appearance of my final woven projects, but the main secret is my iron ! )

Front and back of the hems.

I wove three runners:  17 inches by  46 inches and 17 inches by 55 inches featuring just lengthwise stripes.

The last runner I decided to try cross stripes and wove a runner 17 inches by 58 inches.  I think with a colourful table cloth underneath, such as mossy green, it would be a nice runner for Easter.

My big table is approx 94 inches long so even 58 inches looks short here! I have chairs for six but it can comfortably seat 8 people.

I'm trying different angles here to get the light!

This last darker shot is to show the changing blocks. Next time I use this pattern 246, I'll try the more colourful versions and weave up some happy kitchen towels. 

So what's up next?   Scarves and they are under way. After that?  I have a warp would for kitchen towels and a friend is having a baby so I'm looking for drafts and cones in the stash for that.

🌷🌷🌷