Long Time Coming

Back last November I placed a silk warp  on the Louet Spring, wove in a header and then a few inches to see the pattern develop.... then I stood up and walked away.  I thought about it for a time wondering about what was ahead for me before I could sit down here again and pick up where I had left off.   Through it all, I kept one thing as my end goal.  To be weaving again! (That bit became a sample as I went with different colours)

Besides a "pat on the wood" a couple of times, my first time sitting to weave was six weeks post surgery where I wove for about 10 minutes and I had about an  inch to show for it!   Go me!

It was a busy time with physiotherapy and doctor visits and all the other things that had been put on hold for the past six weeks.   I would weave a bit but gradually increasing the time as muscles and even the bones adjusted to the new activity. It didn't help that the silk is quite fine and so there's a lot of treadling to get some mileage to show!

Then one afternoon I enthusiastically put in a long session and the following day, I had some serious pain difficulties and so had to take a week off to rest and heal. Then I started slowly all over again. Live and learn huh?   :)

So with a new understanding that this was simply going to be a slow process, I just wove a bit every day or every other day.   There was a huge victory cry when the scarves and samples were finally finished!!

Fringe twisting got under way the following day as well as adding some fresh water pearls to the plum paid version.  Nothing added to the black scarf as it could be either masculine or feminine. How do I know this? My husband did some serious 'jonesing' for it until I pointed out he has several scarves in a drawer!

They got a gentle hand washing in the laundry tub and a night to drip dry.  Next day they pressed up nicely with some steam and I nipped off the excess fringe from the twisted tassels with a rotary cutter.

Then came the beauty shots...   some project details for you.  I used 30/2 bombyx silk, tussah silk, and silk yak blend, all approximately 30/2 in weight as my warp. The sett was 36 epi. I used a twelve dent reed and three ends per dent. The black weft is 30/2 silk commercially dyed for a deep even black. It showed off the "boxes" nicely!  The second scarf took on a different look with a cotton silk blend I bought from Treenway many years ago and hand dyed it myself. It was an uneven dye job so the colours vary from soft plum to a touch of eggplant. This effect created an almost plaid like effect in a soft way.

You can see both sides of the scarf in these shots. One side favours the cream and the other the silver beige of the silk yak.  So you can choose depending on your outfit and mood.  :)

The black scarf is 7 by 68 inches  and the plum plaid is 7 by  72 inches and both are very light in physical weight as the silks used are fine.   (Both were woven to 74 inches so you can see the shrinkage in the length.  They lost half an inch in width.)  I even managed some samples for my files as well.

The next warp or two have been planned and one is well under way.  I discovered that standing still at the warping board really hard on both my new hip, but in particular, my left knee which has been complaining loudly of late.   I would stand and wind like a fiend for a few minutes, then sit down to rest and repeated the process. This seriously hurts my bones and so I turned to the internet and started looking for a warping reel.

Schacht has a horizontal model for $399.00 USD .    *gulp*    Too rich for my budget.  I looked for Canadian alternatives and drew a blank. Then I realized I was staring at the Woolhouse Tools Loom and then turned to their web page to see what they have!   They are winding down their business and so if there is an empty blank line after the product name, it means its sold out and not being replaced.  Well imagine my surprise when I saw they have a two yard vertical warping reel and it was on sale!
My lucky day...  

From ordering to arrival took three days and its now assembled. It can hold up to twenty yards +/-  which is six yards better than my existing warping board.   I completed my ongoing warp on the warping board, but I will give the reel a whirl for the next!

A chuckle for you:  I got the next new warp set onto the lease sticks at the back of the Louet earlier today and was getting ready to spread the warp in the raddle...... and then noticed I had forgotten to take the apron rod up and over the back beam. Oops!   Four months since I beamed a loom and I'm back to square one!   :)

I would also like to announce that Handweaving.net has just relaunched their web site and it's a tremendous improvement over the old. Fast, colourful and just plain fun to go and play with the drafts.   I left a small donation via paypal to help with the web fees to show my appreciation. Its a wonderful resource for weavers of any level!

A Reversal of Plans....
We had our realtor in place, downsizing underway and even a possible interested buyer but we soon realized that we simply don't have enough time.  I had a call from my surgeon's office last Monday and it seems that they want me to start my pre-op tests as early as  first week of April and I see the surgeon the third week of April.  My knee replacement can come as early as June...or... as late as October.  We had a discussion on the news and we decided with a time spread like that, a move is not a good idea right now.  (Too much stress as well.)  Another year here will give us time to get things better prepared, and hopefully sell the big loom and a bunch of other stuff!

It does mean I will be coming home to a flight of stairs which doesn't thrill me too much but we'll figure a work around.  Might just move the looms to one side and sleep in the studio?

The Small Big Thing

Just wanted to say hi .............and guess what I did today?

I sat down and wove about six and half inches, or seven repeats on my scarf!  It felt great to be holding shuttle again.   I haven't lost my technique thankfully . 

My progress today is shown here from the gold marker and up!   I went slow and was careful not to twist my leg or over reach the treadles.  Its a small, but big first start!

I'm six weeks post operative now and this time with my last hip replacement I was still hobbling around on crutches. Things have gone much better this time round.   I started weaving last time at about three months after surgery.  

I'll see how I feel tomorrow and not overdo  such things too much. I have been using my spinning wheel in the evenings so maybe that's helped?

I know someone else who is happy I'm back in the studio! Call grabbed a toy and waited patiently for the game of "you cover my eyes and throw it.... then I track it down, and bring it back ten seconds later."


Its a start!

Plum Perfect

So when I left you last time, I had the second shawl under way with a slightly different treadling variation and a different weft option.  The warp is Italian tussah silk that isn't quite as soft (before laundering) as bombyx or mulberry silk  so I wanted a softer weft yarn. What I found in my yarn stash is a silk cotton blend that I had bought from Treenway back in 2000 when I attended a silk workshop with Karen Selk (former owner of Treenway).   I believe the split was 55% silk and 45% cotton.  Its quite fine and would equate to a 30/2 for grist.  Then, sometime after that workshop it had all gone into a back yard dye pot and become this soft plum shade. It 'matured' in storage nicely and was ready for a new look!

The treadling variation was to simply treadle from one to twelve and back again. No network treadling this time round.  Easy to remember, and gave me more of the interesting motifs and both legs shared the load.  I have to ice the knee now in the evenings so this is my last twelve shaft project until after the replacement is done and healed.

Same concept as the first shawl off this warp,  I wanted a small tidy row of sparkle along the edges but nothing over powering. I settled for alternating a freshwater seed pearls about the size of a grain of cooked rice and opalescent beads that have a slight sheen.

The pattern is fully reversible and so the pearls and beads can be seen from either side as well.  There is a slightly more colourful side (seen above) and the other side is a mirror image but more cream than plum. The wearer can choose which way they want to go depending on their mood or the occasion.

With the softness of the cotton, the shawl is quite lightweight  and makes a pretty accent for spring!  With the silk in both warp and weft, pressing brought up the sheen that only silk has. Its more of a deep glow really.

We  had bright sunshine while the fringes and beading was under way and that all disappeared today and rain has settled in for the long weekend.  I didn't want to drag things further waiting for the sun to return so set up all my lights and tried to get some decent pictures.

The drape is lovely. You have to love a twill for beautiful drape....

Close up of the finished beading and border pattern...

Today is Good Friday and the sun came out this morning! I quickly dashed outside with the camera and took some nice shots. Behind, our large magnolia is just coming into bloom

Here you can see the network sections. I sure wish you could touch this fabric! Its like a cloud.

So its Easter weekend and whether you celebrate it or not, I hope you all enjoy your time with family and friends, or just spend the day relaxing.  We'll just spend the time quietly here at home and no doubt just putter doing stuff we enjoy in the house given its going to rain all weekend long. No chocolates here! There will be a turkey though as we missed that this past Christmas.

Next week my grandson Ethan turns two! Where the heck has the time gone? It seems like just yesterday I was telling you about his arrival!  I'm going on an adventure to Vancouver by myself next weekend to  visit with my Dad and then go celebrate at Ethan's birthday party.  I'll have pictures to share from the festivities!    

 My Dad, as you may recall, had a hip replaced in December.... and then again in February. He was hospitalized from December 10th (with a few days home at Christmas) until about three weeks ago. He had a very long and hard winter and so spring flowers must be so much sweeter for him right about now. 

Signs of Life

I haven't fallen off the face of the Earth....  I'm still here and hobbling around. Its a bit troublesome coming up with some weaving for you when I'm so slow now and this is a weaving focused blog!  Mind you in time, you will be learning all about knee replacements and the road to recovery later this year  :)

With longer days, more sunshine and things starting to grow again (well, here at least!) our attention has been diverted by annual events such as taxes,  and some early spring clean up around the house. With my wonky knee, I'm close to useless outside and so have to learn to 'not see' stuff outside that needs doing.  (Hard for my personality type to do!)

All in our garden at present. (including the weeds :)

Last fall we debated what to do with our car and its elderly age. We decided to leave it till spring. Its a 2001 Toyota Sienna and has over 260,000 km's on the engine. It's been a totally reliable car, no major issues, good on gas and room for the stuff and dog kennel we  travel with.

The car started making noises late fall and earlier this month it started a front end wobble so we suspected the wheel bearings. The trouble is, the repair would cost more than the vehicle is worth and we'd still have an older car with other expensive issues starting. We were grateful it lasted the winter months at the least!   So Bruce started looking around at our options. We had to have a similar seat height arrangement due to my joint issues (my hips can not be lower than the knees so many sedans are out). We need room for Calli and that means a kennel.  She is not a "just jump in the back" kind of dog. She gets all silly and wants to climb around, bark at other cars and stuff going by.  No, she goes in a kennel and it also keeps all the associated dog mess in one spot too.

Here she is with her fresh new spring hair cut. Don't let that innocent look fool you!

On  March 18th, Bruce found this beauty here locally:

A 2010 Hyundai Santa Fe LE, with low mileage, just brought in as a trade in the day before.   On the 19th, it was ours!  That's our old Sienna in behind the new vehicle. The Santa Fe is higher and although narrower than the Sienna, its roomier inside.   Its very nice to drive too.  So no more over heated me when we drive to the Okanagan. We have AC again now.   So pardon my excitement at a new car. It doesn't happen around here very often and the last time was fourteen years ago. We literally wore the last one out. She was destined to be recycled for parts as there was no value to selling her again.  Sad huh? 

I must admit that it feels good to have a new ride.  We signed the papers on my birthday and Bruce tried to say it was my birthday present, but I straightened him out on that point!

I have been able to spend some time in the studio but once again I have been setting things aside for more downsizing. I will be setting up a separate sale page and advertising items for sale on it. Watch for it very soon just under the Thrums banner and along with the other page tabs.  There will be books, various magazines, some yarn, and small equipment as I photograph and set them up.   Its now clear that living in a two storey house with a flight of stairs to the main floor is not going to work all that well (plus the acreage) and so we are voluntarily downsizing and getting ready to put the house on the market next year in 2015. Its just too much to sell and move now with an operation coming at any time.  So we will be having garage sales this summer and paring down.  (That's the plan....)

After wading through all this personal stuff, if you are still with me, you deserve some weaving content now!   In my last post you read all about the slow start to this current silk shawl project. The beaming was an education in patience for both myself and my helper Bruce.

I'm using a fine 30/2 Italian tussah silk that I bought from the Silk Tree at Diana Sanderson's Silk Weaving Studio at Granville Island. (Yes, those are three separate links for three locations. Check them out if you have time to browse. )  The sett is 36 ends per inch and I used a 12 dent reed, with three ends per dent. No problems with the threading, none either with the sleying. So nice when it all works out like that!  Its a twelve shaft, twelve treadle twill pattern that I received from my friend Gudrun. She found the draft at Handweaving.net from an old German manuscript.  Gudrun modified it and so did I a bit to suit my needs.  I had the information, even a copy of the draft she sent me but in the transfer and set up of Fiberworks between three computers being set up and decommissioned, its gone missing!  All I have is the single sheet hardcopy paper variety sitting on my desk. It will have to be re-entered all over again when time allows.  Its a combination of point twill and network twill in both the threading *and* the treadling.   Where you have point twill and treadle point twill, you get stars and diamonds, and where there is network threading you get this interesting design. Network on network is another look altogether...   Sounds confusing huh?   You can see the point twill with network sections in the draft below:  

 

 

The warp was planned for two shawls and to economize on warp, I laced it on and got under way using the two stick method. I used a fine 55% silk / 45% yak blend that I purchased from Treenway Silks when they were still on Saltspring Island.  Its a lovely soft grey beige and works so nicely with other colours. The tussah is a mellow gold tone and the two looked great together. This project cleaned me out so I did place an order for more silk yak blend from the new Treenway.  Great service and quick delivery.

I wove a border using a half run of one through to twelve for a few repeats, then I moved into some point twill runs of one to twelve and back down to one again.  Then I shifted into the network twill treadling which is a series of twill progressions. The border and network section measured roughly twenty eight inches. I wove  point twill runs again for roughly thirty two inches, back into the network twill again and shifted into a short run of point twill for the border and finally with  half runs of one through to twelve to complete  the eighty five inches for the shawl.  The shawl design is in three sections with a slightly larger centre section. I pictured that on the wearer's back and the two other reversed sections draped in front.   Clear as mud?   Here's a picture (please click on it to enlarge and see better):

Here the shawl is folded in half on the ironing board. At the fringe end you can see the border section and then the network twill portion and then near the iron, half of the centre section of stars and diamonds.  I was experimenting when I wove it this way. A concept project.  A calculated risk I know but if it works out, it will be great!.  At the very least, it would make an amazing table runner for a large dining room table. (Sorry the picture is so yellow... not sure what happened with that!)

It looked a bit 'blah' so I added some sparkle:

I had a box of beads in a tricolour arrangement that picked up the grey beige, cream and the centre bead is more amber in tone. Just small groupings between the fringe. Adds a little something but doesn't over power. Due to fine silks being used, its not a heavy shawl at all and somehow the beading needed to reflect that.  (If it does end up being a table runner, they can be easily removed.) 

Gentle hand wash in warm sudsy water, with a steady squeezing to help threads to shift about. Three ends per dent can give you some reed marks for the first wash or two.   Two rinse water changes and much  squeezing. I hung it over a rod to dry overnight.  Then my gut told me to go back and give it a pressing while still damp to remove crease lines!  I'm glad I did as the next day, I gave it a hard pressing and it was smooth, smooth, smooth! Any lines or creases can seem to sett if left to dry first.

It measures nineteen inches by eighty inches plus a six inch fringe. I lost an inch in width and four inches in length *more* than I had planned on for shrinkage! The tussah silk wasn't finished being annoying it seems. I have made notes in my records to allow greater shrinkage than 10%, and also about the cling problem!  I still have some left for future projects, so forewarned is best!

So, hopefully my grand experiment works out okay? What do you think.....

The network section on the left hand shoulder

The center section

The border and beads.

Bruce says that from a distance it looks a bit like snake skin.  There are shifting patterns all over it so it plays with the eye! Its light and neutral in tone, but the pattern is definitely there but not overpowering.   Its going into the Etsy store and so we'll see what happens from there.

The second shawl is underway....and it will be a slow time of it again.  Made some changes to my treadling plan and also my weft yarn. I'm using hand dyed silk / cotton blend in a plum tone, also from Treenway Silks from my stash. 

I hope you are all enjoying the extra daylight  and looking forward to more spring-like weather.... and for those of you with snowbanks and blizzards,  want to buy our property on Vancouver Island?