A Tale of Two Shawls : part 1

 Last  autumn I had an order of  six cones of various yarn from Webb's arrive and when I opened the box there were seven cones. It seems I inadvertently ordered two cones of fuchsia 8/2 tencel. Oops!     I thought I might as well jump right in and do something special with it then. 

Two shawls, all with fuchsia as warp.

The 16 shaft draft below really appealed to me as you can have a decorative border all four sides.  It's also reversible which makes it ideal for shawl or scarf wearing, or even a nice table runner. 

The first shawl was woven using amethyst tencel as weft and I wasn't too sure if it was the right choice but I kept on with it.   Then Hub wandered in and saw it and said "its kind of blah" and I immediately jumped to its defence and said not everyone wants to strut around like a peacock. Besides, fuchsia is not exactly a quiet colour!   Quietly elegant is what I had in mind.

This picture taken while still on the loom shows the leading border. The centre of the whole draft is goose eye twill diamonds and so I settled into some steady weaving. Except for some  abrasion issues with my floating selvedge on the right hand side. I had to do some repairs on the fly.   The next issue was some softening of the tension in a spot or two. I kept going but had decided to cut off the first shawl and then re-tie back on and hopefully eliminate my tension problems. 

In these two pictures I was preparing the fringe allowance and getting ready to twist the fringe. The cloth hasn't been washed and just as it came of the loom and you could see the potential already! These two pictures were taken by Hub and he had revised his opinion already.

So after a good wash by hand and a night drying on the rack, it was given two pressings. The first with the steam press, and a second by hand iron to smooth and bring out the shine.  The steam press helps me a great deal as I have arthritis in my hands  and I'd rather save them for shuttle throwing!   You pick your battles as you get older. 

The sun finally reappeared and it sure does feel like spring on a day like this. I've seen a few robins, and a whole flock of red wing blackbirds this morning, and there are some shoots coming up for the start of a new growing season.    

Below you can see the borders.

The drape is just lovely.

I was trying all angles to get the best view. When viewed inside the house, the pattern sort of blends into the background and is not as obvious until the light hits it.

The second shawl is under way and the tension is much better. I'm also using a temple this time and so the tempo is a bit slower.   No one is going to call this one blah..... here's a sneak peek!

Olives & Eggplant Scarves

Back some weeks ago (okay months!) I had big plans to weave up the first draft below, and no, I don't know where it came from. I just squirrelled it away.

I had planned a gradation of four colours: olive, old gold, red purple and eggplant 8/2 tencel, 24 epi, and as you can imagine the warp winding took some time.   The threading was straight forward and I even got a small sample done.

Next morning I discovered my computer had done an upgrade. Not just the latest security updates, but a whole new operating system called Big Sur.  POOF, all my Fiberworks files vanished, along with 6000 pictures of all my weaving and family pictures.  🥺  The pictures were in a program that Apple no longer supports so it axed them. 🪓

I have a two terabyte back up drive and my sample / paper records and also actual photographs so I can recover much of what was lost if the back up drive thing doesn't cooperate.   Right now, I'm considering a whole new computer and so will recover to that one in time.

So I had the threading and warp in place and a newly reloaded ( and off line) old Mac running  Fiberworks.   I went touring around Handweaving.net to find a substitute draft and found this one. I added to it it to reflect what I already had on the loom. Imagine more points in between edges!

Some issues kept me from treadling (toe infection and shoulder strain) but I completed them in December.   Snow, cold snaps and dark gloomy days made getting a decent picture pretty much impossible.

I hope you find these worth the wait!

7 3/4 inches wide by 72 inches long. I used the dominant colour from either edge as weft. My personal favourite is the green.

As you can see we have no snow now and the garden looks very early spring like!

🌷 Flowers and Stars 🌟 

Excuse the sunspot, but it was a nice picture even so. Below you can see the colour shift. 

Now the second scarf....

This shows the reverse of the pattern.

Brighter Days to Come 🌱

Well, January is just about done and February is nearly here.    It was quite the month. 

We had some serious snowfalls, and also serious cold snaps.... then freezing rain and it quickly warmed up and we had a road full of water and neighbours all busy digging in snow banks to find the catch basins!  You have to love those 'lean on the shovel' conversations as you catch up on news with the neighbours.

I'm happy to report that I got my booster shot, and my toe infection is all but a bad memory and I've resumed weaving and actually have some new items, but due to dark gloomy days in the house, there are no pictures to share right now. So soon all will be revealed.  It amazes us that a house with these many windows and we find ourselves snapping lights on.     I've a couple scarves all ready,  some table runners and I'm currently twisting fringe on a shawl, so the wait will be worth it. 

The days are now noticeably longer and our snow is all gone and we are eyeing our spring yard clean up. (Apologies to those still in the throes of snow and cold..... or extreme heat waves down under).

For North Americans February1st is Ground hog day..... but for those who follow older traditions, Feb 1st to 2nd is Imbolc.

Imbolc is a holiday celebrated from February 1 through sundown February 2. Based on a Celtic tradition, Imbolc was meant to mark the halfway point between winter solstice and the spring equinox.

So from that time going forward, the daylight is actually increasing at a faster pace.   So brighter times ahead. 

So spring flowers and more weaving posts to come soon.   🌷

Fresh Starts 🥂 🍾

 New Years Day, and we have more snow falling.  Our back yard looks like a clean white slate.

Today its being blown in by gusty winds, so a stormy start to the year.   It's calm and warm in the house. Perfect day for reading by the fire or work on a weaving project.   Yes, I'm still weaving but really have just made a start again.   Why is that?

Well, not trying to sound whiney or anything but it was my left big toe.  It started last May and became infected.  I'd do a ten day course of antibiotics and it would be fine.... then after a week to ten days of being okay, it would start all over again.  With no in person Doctor visits, it became  a cycle of phone calls, prescriptions and repeat.  Not good but with covid, there are many people dealing with far worse on their own and more in need of care than my big toe.  Canadians are like that and wait their turn.  It never gave any painful indication of being a hang nail and I have been cutting my nails 'properly' for years.  It meant I wasn't able to treadle with my left foot and so I wove using my right leg on the Megado and completed the set of towels you saw in my last post in October.   

I also pulled a muscle in my back that interfered with me throwing a shuttle so ice packs and anti-inflammatories became my new best friends.   Needless to say I got rather discouraged about it all and basically lost my weaving 'mojo'.  🥺  I just needed time and a more definite medical  fix.    So I booked a small medical procedure for December 7th and a doctor froze my toe and cut down the side of the nail to the base and took that section out.  Then they cauterized it and wrapped it up and sent me home.  I wore sandals to navigate home with snow on the ground. I haven't been able to wear shoes, and it does get me out of snow shovelling and other activities.    We also don't heal as well at a more (ahem) advanced age so its been a slow recovery.   I'm happy to report that I have recently resumed weaving on the Spring loom and some runners  are under way again.  The toe feels good, even if it looks awful still. (My apologies for the nasty picture. This is the least icky one and current. Oh for a pedicure!)    By the way.... there was NO hangnail. The doctor said it was just bad luck.

So weaving has resumed on the Spring:

10/2 cotton, 28 epi and draft from Strickler's 8 shaft pattern book #246 for table runners.  There are two blocks woven and one is all left foot and one all right.  I haven't been pushing it but it feels good to be able to use the Spring again.

I normally do a weaving year in review for January 1st but I will have to forgo it this time.   I had a computer 'issue' and lost 6,000 pictures  which included all my weaving photos, family pictures, along with all my weaving drafts on Fiberworks.   That was quite the loss and took me a few days to adjust to.  I do have a back up drive and the plan is to get the drive and my elderly Mac to the computer geeks soon and have them work their magic.  *fingers crossed*    So I have been hanging around handweaving.net again and anything I really need has been accessible as I print up a copy of all my drafts and store them with a sample.  The ultimate back up!

This computer loss also caused issues for my Megado as the new operating system would not run the loom so I had to bribe my husband with a newer 2020 Mac to get hold of his old 2013 Mac that still had a suitable operating system on it to run the loom.  Naturally, he's a happy man!  

I got it all set up and immediately turned off wifi and all updates to ensure the old Mac stays isolated and happy.  Its a dedicated computer just for that loom.    My other Mac (2015) is the one that lost all the pictures etc.  First world problems eh?     You might be beginning to understand why I lost my weaving mojo.....

I have two 16 shaft scarves that came off the Megado and completed and waiting for better days ahead to photograph for you.  I also put on a warp for two shawls:

 I'm half way through the first shawl and mulling over colour choices for the second!   I'm having issues with a continually fraying right floating selvedge which seems related to the hanging thread unwinding and then making it more prone to fraying with the reed abrasion.  Its annoying as heck but I do plan to cut off the first and re-lace back on again.  I'm not happy with the tension in some areas.    To that end, I have a set of soft weights and large S hooks coming to assist with even tension while winding on.

Fresh starts and new beginnings ......   I wish you all much happiness and good health in the coming year.  Smooth warps and fast shuttles.   

I'll close for now with more new beginnings.... our granddaughter Madison showing us her new teeth  over FaceTime.  The Tooth Faerie has been hit hard in the last month and she's a happy little girl.   💰

The Ever Popular # 728

 I belong to a weaving group on Facebook called Strickler in Color. Its where weavers share a draft they have woven based on the book and their interpretation and colour choices : The Weaver's Book of 8 Shaft Patterns by Carol Strickler.   

All drafts in this book are shown in black and white, or light, medium, and dark grey tones.   The focus is on the pattern. The focus of the group is show off colour!   How they have interpreted the draft.     By far and away the most popular draft is #728.    The draft just ends its self to so much variety and is just plain fun to weave.

It was actually submitted by Joan McCullough (of Campbellford, Ontario): Rosepath in multiple tabby weave, page 48, from The Rosepath Motif : An Approach to Weaving Design by Margaret Windeknecht. Published in 1987.

I have woven this before and  it seems the right time to do it again..... and in my favourite  colours and weft choice     So six towels all roughly 20" x 30".   8/2 cottons from Brassards, 24 epi, and hems are hand sewn to void the "stitch ditch" line.  

The hem is flipped so you can see the reverse.... its just as pretty on the other side!

The rather satisfying cloth roll before it was taken off the loom. Shown here with black weft for samples

I had a small bit of warp left and I thought I would weave some using the same red as in the warp. The idea was to embellish card inserts and make some Christmas cards.  Add some beads and sparkly bits.   I hand washed this red section and the red bled like a murder scene!   The white is a permanent pink and I have no idea of what to do with it now.   I washed the towels with no less than 8 colour catchers and rinsed until the water was clear.   I'm happy I did the red cloth first and saw the issue ahead of time.     So if you buy Brassards cottons, test them out first to make sure they are dye-fast!

We are enjoying a moment in the sunshine here. Its all about to come to an end and by the weekend we'll be into a large storm coming in off the Pacific with very serious winds and rain. We have done extra tie downs on the patio furniture covers and feel extra snug after our house painting this summer. Hub even made room in the garage for the car! ☔️ 💦 💨 🍂

The budgies are doing just fine and all settled in. I call them the Happy Gang after an old time radio show from the CBC and ran from 1937-1959 and enjoyed two million listeners.  

"The show was known for its "spontaneous humor, music, and corny jokes." 

Well, that describes these four birds completely. You just never know what is coming next as they play.  We have jazzed up the cage with perches,  2 swings, and treats.   Two swings?   well, they all tried to get on the triangle swing and so we got a second one to keep the noise down as they fought over who got the prime seating.

So here's the entire cage set up: 24" x 21" x 54" and on wheels. They are used to going for a ride and the vacuum doesn't phase them anymore.  Below, is Teal and you can see all the toys and swings. Yes, they are spoilt.   😁