Sometimes Less is More

I spent the entire day today on computers.   Setting up a new Mac and preparing my old one for Hubby Dearest  to use.   We 'migrated' stuff using Apple's programs and troubleshooted some other issues.   Such as this one:  I've been using a program called iPhoto to do all the hundreds of old family pictures and apparently  Apple has dropped it from their roster. I clearly did not get the memo.  I have a back up drive with all the pictures as saved in iPhoto.... but where do they get to go??  The new Mac didn't come with iPhoto so I had a moment of panic.  As luck would have it, we found that I could download the program from the  'previously purchased' list at the App store, and after that download, they all went like homing pigeons into their folders!  iPhoto won't receive updates anymore so I will have to work out where to shift them to next, but I'm putting out one bush fire at a time !

So I'm using my new Mac for this post and hubby beside me is happily on his learning curve with the MacAir as he's a newbie. ( iPads and iPhones don't really set you up for a full on Mac).  His other PC laptop died after only six months, which is just crazy.  Its a lot of money to be out after a few months, not to mention the aggravation factor!   The Apple conversion in this house is now total and complete!     He was a tough nut to crack but like water on rock.......     :)


I had four or five cones of 8/2  (or 2/8) tencel sitting on my desk for some time.  Old gold, mineral green, taupe, Pompeii, and slate gray. There was something about the colours that drew me and they seemed to just go together but what to do with them?   I wanted to use all of them and try to keep the colours separate and distinct if possible.  I spent much time looking through old drafts, old samples looking for inspiration.   Then in a stack of old drafts  which I call my 'some day' pile I found a 6 shaft reversing 2/2 twill.   Then I found some similar colours in my Fiberworks. Not accurate but close enough for me.

Aprox 200 ends, 24 epi and 6 yards in length. I wound the warp and it hung  around awhile waiting its turn, but at least it in the queue now!

After the ombre scarves came off, the warp went on and Bruce was there to help.  Here he is all set to use his new trick of a pvc rod in the paper roll to stop it from going wandering while being wound on. It really seems to help!

Then I used my usual lacing on and two stick start. It really reduces the loom waste.  I only nip off the knots later and all that becomes my twisted fringe later  instead of going into the trash bin or thrums bag (which I don't keep).

I checked for mistakes, prepped my floating selvedges and got busy.  It met all my desired criteria of keeping colours separate and altogether, fully reversible, and having visual impact but simply done.  It sure looked better than I expected!    

There was a nice 'melding' of the colours, which are all of a similar value and depth of shade.  The black dividers nicely pop the colours, as well as the little boxes shine through.

I wove two in these colours and I can't say how important pressing is to the final wet finishing at the projects conclusion.   Its the shine on the apple.     I hope you can see these two examples clearly.... maybe enlarge it to see better, either by clicking or spreading with your fingers.  One scarf is washed and dry.... the other washed, dry and pressed.

The cloth becomes softer,  more drape to it, beautiful sheen, and ready to go somewhere!

Showing the length.

Here the fold has been turned to show the reverse side.

I was thrilled with how they turned out!   So I wound another warp to do it again.... next post will be the second warp and how getting excited about weaving again, did me in   :(      But I'm doing okay and ready to start again but in a more sedate fashion.   More tortoise, less hare.   

Speaking of rabbits, I hope you had an enjoyable Easter.   

Down the Rabbit Hole

Where did a month go?    I'm still here...... honest!

Well, it seems that my getting back into weaving that fast was perhaps a bit too much, too fast and I have been resting my knee and leg (other than the mandatory exercises).  

I fell down a proverbial rabbit hole!

Paternal great x3 aunt, only known as Ms Bowers.

I started sorting and scanning old family pictures instead to be useful with my time while my knee settles down.   Its like an old murder mystery but minus the murder part and you track clues and family trees.... and oh, look its midnight!

Olive  age 3, 1924

I have  family pictures for both my sets of grandparents and even some of great grandparents, then add to the mix one paternal aunt and her two marriages, and also two maternal aunts and their spouses  and all of the pictures taken by my father and mother over their lifetimes and I have literally thousands to sort, identify and scan.

Twins 1934
 

Twins approx 1937

Twins approx 1940-41

Twins approx 1948-49

I have an account with Ancestry and so can double check years and dates, family connections and then I have been sending these out one by one to family.   I had thought that 12-15 per day would take me 2-3 years but I decided to speed things up a bit.     So long as they sort using my subject lines, then all photos will group together as an individual or family.

Paternal great uncles Bill and Fred

Its fascinating seeing Life in another place and time, from their births to their old age. Its been a quite cathartic experience and it sure puts what's important .... truly important into perspective.

Paternal great aunt Hilda 

I'm doing my best with each and every one I handle as now that my father has passed on,  I'm the eldest in our family and for some of these people, I'm the only one to have met them or know their names.  

Unknown family member... no one recorded his name on the back. 

I just didn't want them to remain nameless or end up in a garbage bin or second hand shop someday. That is so sad.  

Family weddings....

If you have old style paper photographs, even if you don't organize them, at least write names on the back so someone one day who does organize them has names to go with faces.  Its one of those jobs that everyone says they must do sometime but it never seems important until its too late.

and funerals

Trust me, we all become a line on a family tree someday and with the technology around now, you can add pictures, stories, and even video's.

Consider it a gift to the future family.....

new babies

I did manage to ever so slowly weave off the last portion of my recent  scarves and they are threatening us with some sunshine tomorrow so I hope to put Madge Mannequin outside for some beauty shots.

Meanwhile we had an overflow from our four year old dishwasher and so our four year old hard wood floor is being lifted in places and  replaced with new boards this weekend.   The offending dishwasher is still here and we are hand washing until we decide which route to take: repair or replace.  Hand washing is a very time consuming job.   :(

Then there have also been some mysterious plumbing 'issues' downstairs which has four plumbers scratching their heads while we search for solutions.  

Now you know why the Rabbit Hole has been so appealing....    next post, weaving.... promise!

New Tricks

This is Bruce, my husband, doing his old job.... as a locomotive engineer.   Thirty eight years passed by, although it felt slow at the time! Those days and weeks do end up reaching a goal eventually.   He did work at another job in a different field for approximately ten years and is now fully retired.  He has a birthday with a zero in it later this month and it gives you a pause to think on it. I know, I have my own 'zero' coming up too in March.  He keeps busy on line doing consignment sales for people downsizing their model railway hobby (or expanding it)  and he also keeps a blog where he write his (98% true) railway stories.  Its been a while since he last wrote but several people, including me, are nudging him back to the keyboard.

He's a wonderful supporter of my weaving endeavours, and also an invaluable help in the studio and lends a hand when it comes to beaming a warp. I get everything all set up and ready. Then he winds the back beam and I tension and detangle. We usually have a good chat about what ever is going on, or listen to some music and sing along.

We use brown wrapping paper as our separator (which we buy at the post office as it seems to be the right size, price and is sturdy). It gets to be a 'personal challenge' to see if he can get the paper on and keep it winding straight.  Many of you might know how frustrating it is to have it going off wildly  off track.  I would cut it off, fold the edge over to straighten and carry on.    Bruce got creative!

He noticed I had a length of  half inch PVC pipe which I normally use to hang up and dry shawls over standing in a container.

He placed the PVC rod through the centre of the roll of paper and then nudged it back against the edges of the down treadles.  He has the leading edge folded perfectly straight and uses the apron rods to line up and we start to beam.

Bruce uses his feet and toes to gently tension the rod and the paper slides off under control and no wandering!  He's such a clever clogs!   We decided to take photographs and show the technique to you. This was 100% his idea and I must say it really works. No fighting with the paper and the six and a half yard warp went on very quick.

So what was that warp you say?     Have a peek..... 

There's going to be some colourful show and tell soon.... stand by!

Moody Blues

So that last project was fun to weave up and see the colour effect!    I thought "let's try that again"! This time I used four colours instead of three: Navy blue,  grey blue, whipple blue and baby blue.  All 8/2 tencel and sett 24 epi.  I have a nice selection of colours to play with at a time like this. 

Again, it was awkward to photograph effectively!  But it was clear that there was a completely different look and feel to the project. The warp width and length was the exact same:   8.41" at the reed and 6.5 yards. The scarves were woven the same way: network and as-threaded. 

The weaving went along well and I was pleased at how my knee was feeling with the exercise. It did swell slightly by the days end so I would elevate it and keep an ice pack on it.... plus pour a cold, well earned drink for me.  Endless days of rain was the perfect weaving weather in the quiet days of late January.

Below is the woven 'as threaded' scarf.  Once again it has the look of flowers or circles and they are much more visible with this colour arrangement.

I did find some beads that were a good match for colour.... so there's a few in each corner. Somehow less was more this time round...

It looks sort of flat but that's due to my arrangement to show the pattern off. The tencel is soft and silky with a lovely drape and cool hand.  I see either one of these paired with jeans and casual wear quite nicely for Spring. 

The network scarf requires only ten repeats to equal one scarf. The repeats are six and a half inches long!

This one has some bead accents hand sewn in off the loom as part of the finishing.

Again, I had to drag every light  into a huddle to shoot these pictures..... and today the sun came out in all its glory as I write.    I might try retaking the pictures and see if it makes a difference!

So that concludes my ombre style colour gradation  exploration (for now). Its time to move onto something different. I get bored easily and so my runs of anything are limited. I couldn't be a production weaver as I would suck at my job   :)

So here's a sneak peek at the next project..... to keep you coming back!

Magenta Ombre

Its sure been a long time for both you and for me when it comes to a new weaving post!     I'm having to reach way back to last September to start this story.   It was a tense time getting things together in the studio, plus getting the house and me ready for the surgery to come.

This project started with watching a video by Margaret Coe on how to use the colour gradation feature on the Fiberworks program.  It looked simple enough so I thought I would try my hand at it.   After a few fumbled attempts, I pulled together a three colour gradation of just over two hundred ends and then  found a nifty eight shaft twill draft at Handweaving. net wound a warp long enough for two scarves and some samples.   

{ I love that web site.... I could spend *hours* cruising through their random drafts feature..... and I do!    If you are a fan of authentic tartans, then go and take a look! There have been many entered into their web site and give the actual colour setts. }

 I wound the warp and got it ready for beaming once the guest towel warp came off the loom.    If I recall, the warp came off and this warp was on the loom all within an hour or two!   Hubby Bruce helped me so it went smoothly and quick.   I'm not a fan of naked looms.... they should be kept dressed at all times  :)

I wove the first repeat, which measures six to seven inches to see what it looked like and admire the colours.... and then left it to sit until I was able to weave again.  Something to look forward to.

I noticed it was hard to photograph it well between the darkness of the colours, the flash, and the shine off the tencel. I had to try different angles and settings. I'm sure someone with camera 'know- how' could do it but I only play with the auto settings.   So you might notice some changes in the lighting and appearance.  Its just me trying to get a better picture!  So my secret is out... I just take lots of pictures and see what turns out.... and then play with them in the computer.   Hey!  its worked okay till now.

The weaving part took some time. I tried my first few inches at about six to seven weeks post op. (So about mid November) and quickly discovered .... it hurt!  My first few sessions produced a few inches and only a few minutes each time.  The knee would swell up and so need a couple of days off and then I tried again.... with the same results.   But it felt good to be resuming a normal activity again. 

Then we received all the photographs from my Dad's estate, which I sorted, and then Christmas came along and so there was a three week break away from the loom.  This turned out to be a good thing in hind sight as it gave me more time to heal.  I felt much stronger when I got back and not as much swelling and pain.   I planned to be on the bench for New Year's Day and I was !   It sets the 'weaving tone' for the new year and I wanted  to start 2016 off right. 

To be truthful, I have finished these two scarves plus two others since then but the second batch are for another post!

It sure felt good to pull them off the loom. Bruce was there for the 'unveiling' and he also helped me load the next warp right away. I was on a roll and not about to stop!   The next day I serged my samples up, and measured my fringe allowance and evened the lengths up.  I pinned them out on my board and got busy twisting the fringes.  I had a good look through my bead stash but other than small basic black seed beads, I have nothing in the magenta colour line at all. They were just going to have to go naked!

Its okay as the ombre effect sort of takes centre stage anyhow.... who would even notice they were there?

These pictures show the scarf where it was woven 'as threaded'.  Its a neat little design that reminds me of flowers somehow.  Fully reversible and so it has a slightly lighter and darker side. I arranged the scarf to show both sides in the pictures.   I had waited for some sunshine to take the photographs but we have had endless rain.... or I was away from home when the sun did break out! I finally gave up and dragged every lamp we own into the studio and set up a white sheet across the Megado and gave it my best shot. (pun intended)

Etsy shop

The other scarf was woven 'network' style as shown in the draft above.  It has a whole different feel or mood to it.  Its also fully reversible.   I think this is my favourite of the two.   It would look stunning against a black wool dress coat, or suit.  Well, they both would!

So to review: six and a half yards of  8/2 tencel in colours black, eggplant and red-purple; sett 24 epi.  Both scarves were woven to approximately seventy four inches and end up being seventy two inches in length when all done and a final seven and a half inches wide. The fringe measures 6 inches.

The next warp that went on is a repeat of a few things.... the drafts used, the ombre effect but this time all different colours and a whole different look and feel.   I used four colours this time as well.
I had to plan to use the same tie up again as I wasn't sure of how things would go changing it, even propped up on crates. Parts of me just don't bend the same way anymore!     The treadling does count as exercise though for the leg and knee so its been good that way!

It was my goal to get a new weaving post to you in January and I made it!  By the skin of my teeth but I did it!      :)