A New Year: a fresh start?

 Happy New Year to you!  🎉

I normally do a weaving year review, but I took 7 months off recovering from a spine and back injury and so my only effort has been two shawls and a lot of hand spun yarn.   I have yet to photograph them and present them here as yet.   When we finally get a decent sunny day, that is my goal!

I started weaving on a towel warp as shown previously but  nerve impingement in my right shoulder put a stop to weaving yet again.   Then we have been preoccupied with Christmas and trying to stay warm.    Stay warm?   well, our furnace quit on December 13th and we have been without furnace / heat pump heat since then. We are relying on space heater and a gas fire place to keep warm.   Sweaters, socks and fluffy housecoats are in vogue here. 

We called the heating company this morning to "put a fire under them" to see where our new furnace fan is out there. It's coming air freight from the USA. I'm thinking we should have got Amazon to ship it!    But it should be here soon. 🤞 Edit: as of today Jan 3rd  its apparently on back order and we're no closer to a solution.  😢

So what have I been up to?  Well spinning is a nice way to spend time, and I'm all up to date with Netflix, BritBox, Acorn and Primevideo.  I read *a lot* and love my Kindle.

I also spend time at handweaving.net and cruise the patterns.  They just released 4 shaft overshot miniatures:   Bertha G. Hayes Miniature Overshot Drafts

I've also been going through my weaving book collection and in particular " Janna Weaves" by Janna van Ledden- Valk.  A bit on the spendy side to acquire but I'm feeling inspired by the drafts.  Yes, there are drafts for high numbered shaft looms but there are 8 shaft and 16 shaft drafts too.

I'm also looking to do weavings based on themes.... and still working that out in my head for now.  For example, Pompeian art and mosaics.  Some examples....   some neat colours to work with in these.

I'll close for now with a draft I have been working on from "Janna Weaves".  Yes, the warp is wound  so that is encouraging.   (16 shafts/ 16 treadle)   Click on the image to enlarge.

2022: A Weaving Year in Review

Like many of you, I'm thinking about the past year and just how fast it went by! Another one 'done and dusted'   😳     We had a nice but very quiet Christmas and it could only be that way due to being inundated with snow and we couldn't get out!  We never got much of a fall and seem to go straight into winter with a dump of snow while the leaves were still on the trees and then it would melt and fall again etc. Then came the recent cold snap and more snow.  Winter has only just begun and we're sick of it already!     A pineapple express from Hawaiian waters came to the rescue and warmed us up and melted nearly all the snow away with heavy rains. Its a case of be careful what you ask for as now we have had some flooding, but not for us fortunately. 

New Years Eve was also quiet for us but we did stay up for the big moment and our neighbours set off fireworks and banged pots together.   🎉

Some years ago it became a 'thing' to photograph what is on your loom for New Year's Day and I changed it up to be a review of what I accomplished for the year in the studio instead.  I can say that I wasn't as active as in previous years, but I put more thought into each project and took my time enjoying each step. That's a good thing as Life is busy enough as it is and weaving is something I want to enjoy and have fun with.   Both my looms are engaged; the Spring has rose fibre shawls, and the Megado has table runners underway.

Thank you to Robyn Spady of Heddlecraft for this fun Bingo card for weavers!

I know that there are some regular readers out there and I thank you for your patience when the time between posts go long,   Blogger took away the email notification of when a new post is written so  I have to rely on you taking time to check in periodically.   Blogging seems to have fallen from favour with the trendy masses as they shift to the next new thing.   I can't keep up with it and don't want to.   So I am on social media at Instagram as @ThrumsTextiles, Face Book as Thrums Textiles, Etsy shop called Thrums Textiles, and my favourite weaver playground of Warped Weavers at Ravelry, as weever.    I will continue to post here; after starting this blog in 2008, I may as well carry on while I enjoy it. 

Now lets get to the review....  Click on pictures to enlarge.  Click on hilighted links to list the past post for details, possible draft and more pictures.

January 2022

I had some health issues for several months in 2021 with a reoccurring toe infection which makes treadling difficult and resulted in a minor surgical procedure in December.    That, and a shoulder muscle spasm meant I was healing in January, but I did get both looms full and busy and weaving was underway again.

February 2022

I had a ruby warp on the Megado and planned for two 16 shaft twill shawls. Some tension issues meant I cut the first one off and so this beauty was able to be finished and modelled. 

I finished these two scarves featuring a pretty little 16 shaft twill and a colour gradation. The top picture was recently featured on the cover of the Guild of Canadian Weavers "Bulletin" as they show cased their 75th anniversary online exhibition.    My first time as a cover girl! 😁

March 2022

Then there was three table runners woven on the Spring loom featuring pattern #246 from Carol Strickler's   The Weavers Book of 8 Shaft Patterns. The pattern when used in band of colours,  looks like straps interwoven, but I went for a more subtle look.   Some soft colours and its a play of light that reveals the interlacing bands.   A touch too subtle it seems as none have sold.   Its so darn hard to photograph white on white. I'm going to try again come spring and  with better lighting conditions.

The second shawl off the ruby warp was completed as well and shows some iridescence and our early spring garden.

April  2022

Nothing weaving related  to show in April but the looms were  busy, as was my e-spinner. I just love it!

May 2022

I was trying more of the 'interlacement' imagery when I wove these two silk and silk bamboo  scarves.   The treadling is done in little groups of three that you can enlarge in both threading and treadling to make bigger boxes. I thought this might make a colourful baby blanket in the future. Except later in the year when I wove a baby blanket I forgot to use it.  😬

June 2022

This month started with having a close call with our old car when the steering column started smoking as were about to start a trip. We got turned around and headed (slowly) to the dealership.   A shortage of parts, and of used cars thanks to the pandemic, but we did leave with a newer used car and feeler safer on the road, and a slave to car payments once again.   *sigh*   Hub went back to the dealership two days after we bought the car and discovered they had had a fire in the service bay and were half burnt down! No it wasn't our old car but it was the same make and model.   

Weaving is underway on longer warps of 8-9 + yards so they are all 'in progress' and I was also enjoying more spinning time sitting on our patio

July 2022

So finally one of the longer warps was completed and finished!  6 shaft herringbone twill kitchen towels that were fun to weave and a great way to use up some small part cones for the double shot of colour.  They have been a big hit and my local guild is possibly using the idea to weave a large 5 foot by 9 foot blanket for a local care home.

August 2023

I participated in an online towel exchange in honour of my late friend Padre Wayne Nicholson.   I received linen towels from  Cheryl in Georgia, USA and she received  one of the recent herringbone twill towels. 

September 2022

Our family Doctor announced she was expecting and I felt inspired to weave up a blanket  for her.   No idea if it was a girl or boy as she was going old fashioned and waiting to see.   So I started it a bit late so I could have it reflect a girl or a boy. Also, I was trying to use up stash... and I was shy on blue!  I forgot about the other draft I thought would make a good option, and went with  striped of twill and braided twill.    It was a little girl, so she got salmon pink hems.   The other two were more neutral green or plaid. 

These three scarves all have the same painted warp and with weft changes show three different faces.  The 16 shaft  straight draw pattern, by the late Ingrid Boesel, resembles ripples or twisted ribbons and the painted warp makes it look so much more complex. There is an 8 shaft version now at handweaving.net

October 2022

Continuing with the three theme, I was going to weave two shawls in the dramatic colours you see above but end up with three table runners instead.  Long story but the link will take you to the post where its all explained.  🍋

November 2022

The previous scarves I wove in the early spring with the olive to eggplant gradation had me wondering if it was possible to do closer shading, based on my existing stash. Web's tencel line has a great series of close blues into teal. So that's the reasoning behind these two 8 shaft twill scarves. I also thought that a careful choice in draft would also help to assist in the blending of colours, or at the least, make it less obvious.  

The first scarf I used fine 30/2 burgundy silk called Velvet Opera. It worked well with the blues and also the teals.    Then I dug around in my stash and found two small 50 gram skeins of dyed 20/2 silk that the dyer called 'vintage apricot'.  It was a peachy orange with a brownish undertone. I tested it and it looks fabulous.... and I had enough weft for one scarf! There are more pictures at the link above.  I really liked it, but I listed it anyway for sale at Etsy. In the morning I decided to keep it for myself and was going to take the listing down when I got notice it had sold overnight.  I also got another message from a disappointed potential customer who asked if I had another  as she wanted to buy it.    Oh, dear....

That begun the great peach silk hunt....  the original seller / dyer was not able to reproduce it for me, so had to go looking all over the internet.  Stay tuned.  😳  

I wanted to use more silk this year and had a lovely single scarf painted warp of 200 ends and added some solid plum dyed silk as borders.  Dark teal tencel was my weft and it was soft in the  colours and also the  touch.  It also sold right away.  

December 2022

I had fun winding the colour gradation, and so I wound another tencel colour gradation where the colour appears as a ripple across the warp.   See the colour changes in the fringe in the picture above.  Royal blue to greyed teal and back again twice.   I used the colour adobe as my weft and had fun weaving up these two scarves as my last project for the year.  Once again, they were snapped up over night and now they live in Maryland.

2022 Tally

scarves: 12   

shawls: 2

runners: 6

kitchen towels: 9

baby blankets: 3

A grand total of  32 finished items for 2022!

...... and I have also found the right coloured silk for weaving that special scarf again!   

I want to wish you all a very Happy, Healthy New Year with Smooth warps and Swift Shuttles!

2017: A Year in Review

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year!

Taken Dec 30th, 2017 by Bruce Harvey

2017 was a strange year for many reasons. The election of Donald Trump as the American President seemed to set off a surreal year as many, around the world, dealt with mixed emotions as they watched the daily debacle unfold. It has literally affected every person on the planet in some way.  It took some weeks and months before people resumed (sort of) normal lives after.

I found weaving was a great cure when you needed to de-stress. Even my weaving year was different as I took on more commissions and they in turn took me back to old drafts. These drafts are 'old friends' but my hopes of retiring them for a 'time out' was  not to happen this year.  The interesting detail about my weaving commissions is, that they were for other weavers ! A very flattering compliment.

We had a busy year working on projects to do with upgrading our home and so when I did weave, it was on the commission projects mainly. I was given plenty of time to complete them but I'm not a fan of deadline pressure and would prefer to be done well ahead and happy, then rushing to the end of the line and not doing my best.

Did I mention that they were for other weavers? People who know how to look at cloth and see the imperfections, and 'design elements'.   So the short story is, not much was woven for my Etsy shop and so if it wasn't for me downsizing my library and some yarns, it would be all but empty.

So, for 2018, I have decided to decline commissions for the time being. I also learned that I need more variety in both drafts and colours. Shorter warps?  Anyhow, I need to get back to what calls to me and throw in a dash of colour for 2018!   Speaking of colour....

The Pantone colour of the year is ultra violet so it will be interesting to dig out my Itten Colour Star and see what other colours work with this electric violet!


So lets review ... first up for the New Years day loom peek:  my looms have warps on them currently.... cotton for tea towels on the Megado and this bright linen on the Louet:

9/2 French linen "'brick", sett 24 epi, 8 shaft huck lace

Then  onto a review of what I was able to accomplish for 2017....

January / February:

I started the year with four table runners in a familiar twelve shaft twill I have used before.  10/2 mercerized cotton warp, 28 epi and I used 8/2 bamboo weft in cream, 10/2 mercerized cotton weft in grey, and 8/2 tencel in birch.  The cream one had a missed treadling error  so now graces my bedroom dresser and the others sold pretty much right away.

On a personal level we coped with the largest snowfall here in over 30 years.....

March:

I had seen a gorgeous Nordic sweater in a movie we were watching one evening during the snow events. I got the idea of trying to duplicate this but using weaving instead.

I turned to an old draft, also previously used by me, a twelve shaft "gebrochene hind und under" to get the complexity and the star shapes.  8/2 tencel had the colour ranges I was looking for and also the shine and drape for a dramatic shawl.  I actually wove two of them!  Both sold right away.

lovely pattern work that resembles the sweaters.

Personally, we both had head colds and I developed a tooth ache. This was the start of my summer and fall of getting to know my new dentist very well, and paying for his Australian Christmas holiday. 😳

April:

My slightly delayed birthday present to myself arrived! A Louet Victoria spinning wheel.  Weighing in at only 6.5 pounds, its travels well and is lightweight. I'm ready to join the other spinners in our guild and put some miles on her.

I was asked to weave a special shawl for a wedding commissioner  who was not only performing marriage ceremonies but attending some family ones as well.  The warp was a glossy white 10/2 tencel, sett 28 epi, and weft was a beautiful off white Bombyx silk, which came to me via Scotland and where from before that, I have no idea!

The twelve shaft draft that was chosen by the (weaver) client was another old favourite. It relies on a play of light to reveal the pattern and so would not over shadow any brides, and go with any outfits the client decided to wear.   I also beaded the edges with seed crystals and tiny fresh water pearls.

... and personally,  I had a root canal. 🙁

June:

There was warp enough for one more shawl, but only one pirn of the silk remained. I chose a fine silk yak blend in a natural silvery beige and started treadling, and treadling...   Being finer than the advertised 30/2 , it took more weaving to get an inch!   So it took a while to weave off.

I also beaded this one too

I must have been very generous with my warp length allowance because even after two 85 inch shawls and long fringes, I still had enough warp to weave a small table centre cloth of 22 by 37 inches!  No wonder it seemed to go on and on!

Personally.... I got my very first dental crown!


July:

I had an idea to utilize the 12 shaft tie up once more and re-warp with some bright colours and try for iridescent scarves. Judging by the pictures, I think it worked!   8/2 tencel sett 24 epi, tencel weft.

Then I tried another more muted colour combination and it was a success too.  As you can imagine, I'm retiring this draft for some time....  I can thread, and treadle this one in my sleep now!

Then we found out our girl Calli had a pre- cancerous lump which had to come out.... so she had surgery. Here she is modelling her onesie. Very stylish!  It seemed like it was a long time before those stitches came out as we had to keep a close eye on her!

Personally.... I broke a tooth and had to get another crown made and fitted.  ☹️ 💲

August:

I had accepted another  commission back in late spring for two, all silk fine scarves as surprise gifts for Christmas 2017.   I had them all done in August and if the pattern looks familiar, it should, I used it to weave table runners at the start of the year! It was specially requested by my client.

The gentlemen's scarf is black 30/2 silk and a natural 30/2 silk weft, with a shorter twisted fringe.

The woman's scarf was the same warp but this time a deep cherry red 30/2 silk and a different treadling variation, longer scarf and twisted fringe. Beautiful colour!

The third scarf I used silk yak again (hey, I had pirns all pre-wound so it made sense to use them up). It could be uni-sex and had a lovely drape.

I held my breath as I mailed them away.... insured and trackable until they arrived at their destination. The client liked them so much she bought the silk yak one too.  The gift recipients apparently loved them!  They came as quite the surprise....

September:

We finally got a trip away for a few days to see our family and the grandkids. We arrived at their home on Friday evening and saw this on the sidewalk waiting for us....

It was a good thing Bruce took this picture when he did because the next morning it was raining and the chalk art was all gone!

Little Miss "Oo La La" showed us her ballet moves.

... and her brother showed us, for the first time ever, how still he can be when he's watching a movie about trains.

Once home again I got to work on some runners, again for the shop.  10/2 mercerized cotton, 28 epi, tencel weft,  and taking advantage of the tie- up in place for the previous scarves.  One for the shop... and...

I wove two cloths for the large night tables.... and another two cloths for the  small end tables. They had been waiting for years to get fitted out properly.  (I'm going to bury this draft!) 😜

On a personal note: I was eating something soft and I had yet another tooth fall apart and so this month saw me getting my third crown prep work being done. 💰💉

October:

My third commission for the year was three huck lace runners for a (yet another weaving) client who bought my original blue lace runners a couple of years ago. She loved the draft, the linen and the colour and wanted more runners.... two- 55 inch runners and one- 76 inch runner for her home. Naturally I wove another 55 inch one for the shop.  

So here's where I have to confess to you that I did not blog about them or even take pictures.  They needed to be off the loom and so I could empty out my studio and be ready for painting.  I hand sewed the hems them while sitting in the middle of the chaos I called home for nearly four weeks this fall.  Once the crew had gone home for the night, I washed them and hung them to dry.... then the next night I would find space and used the steam press to get them looking their best.
Wrapped in tissue paper in a sturdy box, they winged their way to their new home.

These are pictures taken from the first  blue runners woven a few years ago.

November / December:

We finally got our house back and then had a fair amount of deep cleaning work to do.  We still have pictures to hang and some drapes are out being cleaned, with Christmas fast approaching.

I started the brick coloured linen runners you saw at the top of the post and simply stopped weaving over Christmas. I didn't feel much like weaving to be truthful.  I didn't bake, we didn't bother with a tree and after rats ate some very expensive cables in our car, we didn't bother with exchanging gifts.

I had had x-rays of my achey feet done this fall and I'm being referred to an orthopaedic surgeon sometime this spring for a consultation (regarding mid foot fusion and a possible ankle replacement).  It would seem that my OA and Lupus hasn't stopped and is soldiering on.  I'll find my mojo again soon and today is a fresh clean slate.


Tally
scarves: 5
shawls: 4
runners: 14

and...
root canal: 1  
crowns: 3
.....and one very happy dog!

Calli playing in the snow

Our back yard after a midnight snow fall

Wishing you all good health, much happiness and prosperity in 2018!