The Scissor Solution

Since weaving was, first and foremost, my business/profession, I was very quick to realize that my time was the most valuable commodity that I was investing into my textiles.  As such, it became quite easy over the years to figure out when the time I needed to invest in a warp was becoming unreasonable.  When I needed to invest so much time that I could not ever hope to recoup the time and materials I had put into completing it and bringing it to market.

It is one reason I sample so much.  I'd rather invest a little (a little time, a little materials) to prove that a concept is going to work.

Over the years I have invested a great deal of time in just making samples to investigate new weave structures and new yarns.  While I am happy to take advice from other weavers as to density, the only way to know for sure if that is going to work for me is...weave a sample.

Sometimes the sample is a warp of its very own.  Sometimes the sample might be the header at the beginning of the warp.  Sometimes a sample woven on a narrow warp won't translate to a warp that is much wider, so that last chance header sample is necessary before committing to the entire wide/long warp.

Sometimes conditions change.  Having a different loom means that what I did before on the AVL might not translate well to the Megado, which has a different kind of engineering and a much lighter beater.

Sometimes you start a warp with a certain relative humidity and by the end, that may have changed drastically.  As happened on this silk warp.

The first scarf wove up beautifully.  Then Life Happened and it was about five days before I got back to the warp.  Not realizing the delay would be that long, I had not released the tension on the warp (20/2 silk).  I knew the relative humidity would drop, but in the end wound up having to turn the small humidifier off because the house windows were beginning to ice up, quite significantly.  And the warp sat for those days with the tension on and the relative humidity dropping like a stone.  (This morning it was registering at 18% in the house according to the little weather station we have - and that was with the humidifier back on since yesterday morning.)

When I started weaving yesterday afternoon, I noticed the right hand selvedge was not behaving well.  Loops were forming at the edge and to make the weft sit 'properly' I was having to stop and give the weft yarn a slight tug to make it lay properly.

That cut my weaving speed further, but mostly?  It was annoying.  I carried on until the third broken end happened, in the space of 12" woven.

I was happy enough with the way the cloth was building in the loom, but I looked at the selvedge.  Considered how many more  broken ends I might have to deal with, took a break and thought about whether or not I really wanted to carry on.  Or if it would just be a really good idea to stop now.  Before I invested any more time or weft yarn in this scarf.

The first scarf looked to be good, and that was the one intended for publication.  It was a matter of quite literally cutting my losses.

The yarn was 'inherited' so my financial investment wasn't great (shipping to get it here).  I had not carefully selected each and every skein with a lovely vision of what it would turn into - I was working from someone else's stash.  (Don't get me wrong - I have done this before and I consider it a great honour, it's just that I don't have the same sort of emotional attachment to it.)

The warp was six meters.  When I cut the warp off the loom, it looks like I do have a lovely scarf to write up and submit.  I'm very pleased with how it looks prior to wet finishing, and I think a good hard press will bring the silk to the lovely lustre we associate with silk and I will be happy to submit it for consideration.  Out of a six meter long warp I have apparently achieved one scarf that meets requirements.

The thrums (about 2.75 ounces) will go to a friend who takes them and incorporates them into her 'art' yarn, so the yarns won't actually be 'wasted'.  I just won't be spending any more of my time trying to make it behave when it so clearly does not want to.

So I applied the Scissor Solution.  And I feel fine about it.  The next warp is already planned (mostly) and I am looking forward to getting that into the loom and enjoying weaving it off.

Carrot/Stick

I used to beam the AVL with a wound warp but wasn't sure if I could make it work on the Megado.  The warp is silk, fairly fine, and it's for a proposed article for Handwoven.  I have already had some...oopsies...with this project so I was foot dragging on getting it beamed.  Not to mention the studio got snow globed again and I could not get to the loom to work on it for several days.

However, late last night Doug got the last shelving unit assembled (it was too big to fit down our winding stair case) and that got put into place - against the wall behind where I sit at the loom. 

Moving the Megado far enough away from the wall for the shelving unit to fit means I now need my supplemental lights moved so that I can see properly to thread.  Sigh.  Dominoes.  Again.

The Megado is a different loom from the AVL and it quickly became apparent that this process was going to go a whole lot more smoothly if I had help, so I asked Doug if he had time to assist.  He did, so we jumped in.

It went smoothly enough - sort of.  It is only a six meter long warp, so the small amount of difference in build up of the yarn should not be enough to cause too many issues.  If it does, the warp is long enough I can cut/re-tie after the first scarf.  But silk does have some elasticity, so we will see how it goes.

Then when I was transferring the cross I got impatient and instead of waiting for helping hands, I forged ahead.  The lower lease stick fell out of the cross.  So then I had to carefully pick it up again.  When we did the actual cross transfer, somehow not all the threads made it to the correct place.  Not enough that I can't fudge it.  But still.  One more oopsie on top of too many.

But the warp is beamed.  Now that is done, I'm going to go weave on the small loom which I got dressed yesterday.  A little carrot for bulldozing through the obstacle the silk warp had become.

Another lesson in humbility...

Keeping Track

I have two planning calendars - one for the current year, one for the coming year.  Early in January I wipe last years calendar off, post the now current one where I can easily consult it (door of my office) and set up the calendar for the next year which I also keep in the office.

This year I don't have to track craft fairs, but I do have to keep track of teaching.  Already I have two weaving workshops in Feb, am holding dates for two weeks in April then in May in case Olds assigns me to those satellite classes, Olds Fibre Week, where I'm booked to teach level one again, then Convergence in Knoxville TN, where I plan on hanging out (and giving Teresa Ruch comfort breaks from her vendor booth).

I have also said I would help with the guild exhibit at the fall fair so I need to sort out when exactly that will be, plus help at the guild booth at the craft fair, then lastly, the guild sale we routinely have in December.

So all of those will get entered into the 2020 calendar.  2021 will be blank for now as I no longer teach for guilds.  Other than my own, of course.

January has gotten more complicated than expected, but I'm feeling much improved and managing to get some work done every day.  (Still think of weaving as 'work' - that may take a while to change!   Is it still work when you don't really expect an income from it?  House work is still called 'work' and if you do your own, you don't get paid money, just the satisfaction of getting it done.  My payment for weaving will now be enjoyment and satisfaction.  Hmmm....)

We are having a far too warm January.  We had about 6" of snow, but the temps rose to +0 C and then it rained - hard - on top of already nasty roads.  With more precipitation and equally warm temps for the next while, driving is going to be done very carefully - by me, at least.

My goals for the next while are to stay on top of the marking for Olds - I have one box in hand, another en route.  I need to prepare for two Intro to Weaving weekends.  If they want to continue, I need to figure out a date for a further workshop for those interested.   I'm not sure when I will find out if it will be me teaching the two satellite classes, but I am heartened by the growth in the program.

The Gaelic College in Cape Breton is scheduling all four levels this year.  Fibreworks Studio is offering level one and two.  The college website has not been updated with the 2020 course offerings yet, but you can check in a week or two.  There is a button on the far right for off campus listings.

For the class at Madeira Park on the lovely Sunshine Coast, you can reserve your spot by contacting Alexis directly.

If I teach I plan on driving so I can bring a van load of stuff with me, plus potentially two classes.  :)

The drive from Vancouver up the Sea to Sky Highway is pretty amazing.  The Coast Mountain Range drops almost directly into the sea.  Long fjords line the coast and the highway hugs the thin strip of land between the two.  In April the weather could be cool and wet.  Or it could be glorious with spring bursting forth.  Cape Breton in May will most likely be windy with the winds blasting off the Atlantic.  The advantage to Cape Breton is that the studio is fully loaded and you don't have to transport a loom.

Today I will be tackling that silk warp while Doug goes pressing.  We are waiting for word on the sale of some studio stuff and slowly the rubble is being removed.  Several trips to the thrift shops are planned and Doug has been filling the recycle bins, including his scrap metal bin with various things.  Yesterday the fan on my ancient humidifier died so that will be added to the pile.  We haven't been able to buy the 'proper' wicks for that for years so we'll get a new one.

With the warmer temps and the precipitation, the relative humidity isn't terribly dry but I don't like weaving with silk when it's 'dry', so hopefully we can replace the humidifier quickly.  We just have so many things on our respective to-be-done lists!

For this morning, however, I am meeting a friend to deliver her Ashford order and have brunch and a catch up.  I'll deal with the silk warp this afternoon.  Or my ledger.  Or who knows?  Maybe both.

Sprouting

When I began telling people that I was going to 'retire' and close down my business, the question would be asked - what would I do? 

The short answer was - I don't know.

I knew I would keep weaving, just not production weaving.  I knew I would write - for this blog, if nothing else.  I knew I would teach - the Olds program for so long as they wanted me and I was able.

Beyond that?  No idea.

Having been in the business of being creative for 44 years, the one thing I knew for certain was that when the time was right, the idea(s) would come.

The past six months have been a steady slog of downsizing, getting rid of production equipment I no longer needed or was useful, getting rid of yarn I would not use, re-arranging the studio to hold the new, smaller, loom, erasing the goat trails of clutter and working out the last of my contracted obligations.

Now that 80% of that is accomplished (still some AVL loom bits but Doug is dealing with those so I'm not sure what the status is on them), my shows are all done, shelves have been crammed into every nook and corner and lined every inch of wall space, boxes are being emptied and I can see what there is, it would appear that I was ripe for a confluence of things to happen and a way to show itself in terms of a creative idea.

The seed was planted last week.  When I picked up the silk from Ingrid Boesel, I wanted to make Bob a scarf from her silk as a thank you.  So I have had that idea quietly dormant in the back of my mind since July.  Then a bulk email from Handwoven with their upcoming themes dropped into my inbox.

At first I ignored it.  The deadline for the one theme that caught my eye was fairly tight, I have company coming in January, there are special orders I am working on, workshops to prepare for and a tea towel warp on the Megado.  So I closed the email and let it go.

Well, not entirely apparently because suddenly a tiny seedling appeared.  It was based on a weave structure I'd played around with in the 80s but it was slow and I'd let it go because I had to produce.

I no longer need to weave with a product to sell foremost in my mind.  It doesn't matter if the weave structure takes two shuttles, or is in some other way time consuming.  I can weave purely for my own intellectual stimulation and enjoyment.

Hmm.  Intriguing.  Remembering my desire to weave a scarf for Bob, I dug through Ingrid's yarn and found some that could double as a scarf for Bob, and a suitable project for Handwoven. 

Over the past few days I have thought about the colours I have available, changed my mind several times, ruminated over what I would do, remember how the weave structure actually worked, crunched the numbers, changed the colours I would use - again - so I could make a longer warp, make two scarves and still do a sample at the beginning of the warp to make sure I was remembering correctly.

Then as I started winding a skein of the silk onto a cone, I had a sudden flash that let me know how I could manipulate the weave structure to make it more 'interesting'.  Still just using four shafts, so still appropriate for Handwoven. 

Today while weaving a tea towel on the Megado, I thought about the project, decided that ideally I should do it on the Megado so that it didn't matter how many treadles my idea would take, it would still be 'easy' to weave.  And then I thought about the scarf for Bob, and further realized that doing it threaded on all 16 shafts would allow me to really play with the warp.

I still have to crunch the tie up and treadling, but already I'm getting excited about forging ahead.

It may all dissolve into tears if I've thought it through incorrectly, but never mind.  I'm having fun.  And seeing the whole concept of our conference theme of Confluences coming together.  

Full Steam Ahead

The yarn arrived yesterday afternoon.  I immediately opened the box and checked my initial calculations once I had the actual yarn in hand, and everything seemed ok.  I wound the warp and started filling out the project notes.

By the time I'd done that it was dinner time, so I left it until this afternoon.

But. 

Last night I could not get to sleep.  As I tossed and turned the thought squirrels started flailing.

Was the epi I chose really good for this slippery silk yarn?  Should I increase it?  That would mean redoing the draft to accommodate the narrower width.  Did I have enough yarn to wind more ends?

I mentally did the math.  Never a good idea, never mind at 2 am.  But I did it.  And then I thought about adding another 40 ends.  Mentally pictured the yarn left on the little cones.  Hmm.  Probably enough yarn for 40 ends?  Maybe...

Eventually I fell asleep but had to be up early. 

After lunch I re-did the math.  Eyeballed the cones.  Yes, it looked like enough for 40 ends.  As I wound the warp I realized I probably only needed 36 ends.  So, back up to the computer, adjusting the draft.

Yes, 36 ends it was.

Back down to the studio to finish the small chain, which then got added to the lease sticks so I could rough sley both chains and get them beamed at the same time.

There might have been enough for 40 ends, but it would have been squeaky close.

And a reminder that sometimes you really need to pay attention to the thought squirrels, as annoying as they may be at 2 am...and thank goodness for always adding in a bit of a fudge factor.

Craftsy Blog

The latest Craftsy blog I wrote has been published here

This weekend Cindy and I (and 10 other guild members) are attending a workshop being presented by Kim McKenna, learning about the new regenerated fibres.  It's been a while since I had done any spinning so I'm fumbling my way through the samples, mostly slippery fibres.  :)

Even though they are all regenerated, some from cellulose, some from protein, they each have their own characteristics.  I was most surprised at how slippery some of them are, although why that should be I'm not sure - they were developed to be silk substitutes, after all.

If you ever have a chance to take a workshop with Kim, you will learn a lot about fibres and yarns.  I'm hoping to become a better weaver by adding to my database of how fibres look, feel and function, in order to make better choices for my hand woven cloth.

Snap, Crackle

In spite of running the humidifier for several days, this warp proceeded to crackle and the threads splay outwards away from each other anyway.  So out with the spray bottle to tame the wild static electricity!

After winding I sprayed the entire warp chain, then put the box and all into a plastic bag in hopes of the fibre absorbing some of the moisture.  But I rather suspect I'll wait until the humidity has increased before attempting to dress the loom and weave it.  My hands are rough from the dry weather and with the tendency of the silk to cling onto everything?  I'm going to exercise a little patience and wait for better weather!

Monday Rambles

When I published Magic in the Water, I realized I would need to attend fibre events in order to show people the book in order to sell it.  Since having just one item to sell wasn't going to pay the expenses of renting a booth space never mind travelling to get to the event, I decided to sell yarns as well.  I tried very hard to stock yarns that other vendors did not carry.  Which worked, sort of.  I wound up importing yarns that I thought were special and nice to weave with in hopes that others would be attracted to them, too.

In order to make my yarns even more different, I stocked a lot of hand dyed yarns, some dyed by others, some dyed by myself.

This yarn is one of the ones I imported and dyed myself.  It is a 2/20 silk, quite nice, dip dyed variegated.

After going through not one but two major (and not a few minor) health issues, I decided that now I was in my 60's I needed to stop doing so many things.  It was taking up far too much time, space and budget to order in cases of yarn, skein it off, dye it, attach labels, store it and then schlep it across the country in hopes people would buy.

So for the past week Doug has been turning these skeins into coned yarn.  Because in order to weave with it, it needs to be taken out of skein form into something more efficient.

This is the 3rd bucket he is starting to fill and there are enough skeins for at least two more.  That's a lot of silk scarves coming up!

And once gain the issue of selvedges has raised it's head on one of the chat groups.  If you want to know my thoughts on selvedges click on the label to the right hand side.

But here are a few shots of some of my textiles and their selvedges.  All of them are some sort of twill and none of them have been woven with a floating selvedge or an end feed/delivery shuttle.

It is not necessary to use a floating selvedge to get a 'good' selvedge.  As I've posted before selvedges are not that simple.  While some people may find that they get better results with them than without them, they are not 'necessary'.

As always, if you use them and like them, carry on.  If like me you don't, try to find out why your selvedges are not good and then fix that problem (or problems).

Piling Up

As warned my energy levels are dipping lower and taking longer to come back after each cycle, but I'm officially 3/4's of the way through this challenge and the end is in sight, espcially since there will be no more delays.  I've got the vials from the pharmacy and I begin the injections on Sunday to stimulate the production of white cells.  One or another of my friends (both nurses) will oversee the first time and make sure I'm doing it right.

This week has been stressful but a number of issues have been either dealt with, or at least progress has been made.  My mother's surgery will take place sometime in October, she has a health management team in place, co-incidentally the same team as Doug's step-mother, and they have been great to us knowing everything that has been going on.  Along with all my friends I feel very supported and able to continue on this journey to achieve a positive result.  So many have contacted me to share their success stories - it has meant a lot to hear about them.

While I have not been able to weave nearly as much as previously I have managed to weave a scarf a day most days and the end of the silk warp is also in sight.  It looks like 3 yards left with #9 just begun so I ought to be able to finish that warp off tomorrow.

With the next warp a fairly complex threading it will be a very good idea to get the loom set up again before the next cycle on the 21st.

I've also managed to make a further dent in my fibre stash and have a few more skeins spun up.  There is a little bit of the green/purple pencil roving left so I'm going to try to finish that off tonight and then prepare the skeins for sale and get them mailed on Monday.   The pencil roving has been really nice to spin - I'm thinking I might need to get some more, but the only supplier I know is in WA state. I do, however, have friends there who could likely get some for me.  :)

The first sale of the fall season began today.  I'm hoping that people are going to be open to buying things, but one never knows until the show is done. 

We are enjoying a very tardy bit of 'summer' weather here.  The weather website says the current temperature is 26 C and the a/c has been running this afternoon.  The sunshine is very welcome although the changing colours of the leaves on the trees prevent us from believing it will last very long.

As I look back to mid-February this year has been a mixed bag.  But the hope is that once this challenge is done I will be better than ever and healthy enough to help my mother with her health issues and that we'll both begin the new year in a much better situation.

Speaking of hope, I've learned - this time for real - to take each day as it comes.  To not worry too much about goals or expectations that put demands on me I can't meet.  To stay focused on hope - that things will be better.  That health will be the result.  That there will be many more years of weaving, doing it, teaching it, writing about it. 

After all, it's a beautiful life.

Perfect or Good?

Turns out some of the 2/30 silk I have on hand has already been used for other projects I guess because several of the colours I'd hoped to use on this warp are insufficient for a scarf.  Oh well.  More yarn to go into the bobbin lace bag.

It seems as though at times people get hung up on the idea of 'perfection'.  That everything that we make must be 'perfect' and if it isn't we feel like a failure.  This sort of attitude is counter productive because as soon as we start feeling like a failure, we can't seem to get beyond that and we don't even try.

So, while I always strive for perfection, I know that I can accept good.  That essentially the tiny 'flaws' that prevent me from labeling my work 'perfect' are oftentimes not even on the horizon of others who view my work. 

In terms of selling my textiles, the biggest question is "will it perform it's function"? 

So, no, these scarves are not exactly perfect, but they are good.  Good enough I can put my label on them and offer them for sale. 

I have brought the best of my knowledge to the loom and I am doing my best to be consistent.  Because if you can't be perfect, be consistent. 

Currently reading The Busy Woman's Guide to Murder by Mary Jane Maffini (comes with organizing tips - just what I need!)

Wherein I Take Another Stab at the Stash

The baby wraps were not particularly hard or difficult to weave but since the loom was giving me the fits during the weaving of both 30 yard warps I'd pretty much had it with 2/20 mercerized cotton warps and fly shuttles.  For a while at least.

Not to mention I really need to continue to de-stash in a very serious way.

The 2/30 silk had been on spools for - oh, way too many years.  If memory serves (not that it is these days - serving that is) this yarn is left over from weaving the samples for Magic.  So we're talking at least 10 years.  (And OMG, does time ever fly by quickly when you're not paying attention!)

I'm relieved to say that I emptied, or nearly emptied, a quite large number of spools.  The bad news is that there are still way too many spools left with serious amounts of silk on them.  Which means I either wind more spools of the 2/20 silk on cones and do a mixed warp or I think of something very creative to do with the left over yarn. 

(The little bits of yarn left will go to my lace making buddies - there's far too little to weave with, too much to throw away and lots to make many lace bookmarks, or other lace goodies.  And I like enabling my fibre friends.) 

I did think of using some of the left over silk yarn as weft on this warp but the intention was to use up some of the very large (2 pounds?) of tussah silk in a rather bland sage green.  I may wind up doing some of each even though the warp isn't all that long as I wimped out and only did 20 yards instead of 30, fearing I would run out of silk.  (Ha!)

At any rate, the intention here is to dye the scarves after weaving.  The tussah silk will take the dye differently than the white silk and should look quite nice. 

Now that I've got the header woven and am satisfied that the treadling will work (no outside ends falling out of the cloth, etc) it's time for lunch, the chiropractor (my back is slightly 'out' but I know from experience that it won't go back 'in' by itself and why wait until it gets truly painful?), the guild room to thread that overshot pattern and then maybe come home and hemstitch and start weaving the first scarf.

We'll see how the best laid plans go.

Gimp and Boucle'

When I was learning to spin, I was told that the yarn on the left was called a 'gimp' and the yarn on the right was a 'boucle' (accent over the e').

Since I'm not really a spinner I don't know the finer points of distinction in how they are constructed but they are both spun.

To my eye the biggest difference is that the loops in the boucle' have lots of air in them. They are a true loop.

The gimp has a much stiffer hand which leads me to believe that it has much more twist in it. It *looks* like there is a core around which the tightly spun silk is spun. The little knobs have no space or air in them and they are like a little bead in comparison to the loop in the boucle' which is very soft and lofty.

The two yarns have very different hands. The mohair loop is lovely and soft; the silk gimp is harder and much more textured to the touch. They both weave up nicely - I don't think I've had a broken end in either yarn - but they make drasticly different qualities of cloth.

Some people feel the silk gimp and they do not find it tactilely satisfying at all. They wonder what on earth you could make that would be nice. They decide that it isn't a good yarn.

But it actually makes quite a nice shawl set at 10 epi and woven square in plain weave. The little 'beads' of the gimp help hold everything together - although the cloth is 'delicate' - I think it's actually quite A Good Yarn.

Currently reading A Play of Piety by Margaret Frazer

Scarfaweekend #2

click on photo to see close up

In spite of spending the morning at the guild room dyeing, I managed to thread and sley the warp this afternoon and after dinner got about half of it woven in between minding the industrial cone winder.

I have a new temporary studio elf coming in on Monday, so I needed to get some prep work done in order that she have things to do when she arrives. The Bambu 7 is now coned off, ready to be labelled and packed. Next week I'll do the Bambu 12 in case she can come the following Monday, too. Add to that the textiles that require labels, the tea towels and place mats I cut off the looms that need serging, vacuuming, etc., she will have lots to keep her busy.

Fibres West will be upon us rather quickly. I have already fallen behind in my expectations of what I felt needed to be done but have made progress getting samples spun and knitted. And the 2/20 silk yarn is all dyed, too. In the end, the festival will come whether I'm ready or not, so I'll just keep plugging along while waiting for phone calls from two different specialists' offices for appointments.

It appears that 2010 is going to be devoted to fixing my body. While I'm grateful to be living here and now where there are medical treatments for both issues, I can't help feeling that my body is letting the side down much too soon. :( Not to mention I'm sick and tired of feeling sick and tired.

I like being my age (59 going on 60 in case you were interested). I like having a life times worth of experience to draw on. I like the skills I've acquired over my career in weaving. I like the perspective all of this gives me.

I don't like having my body break down. Especially when I still feel like I'm young - or at least young at heart?

Now I'm over the initial shock of hearing what I expected to hear but not wanting to hear it, I'm determined to get everything dealt with so that I can continue to weave after surgery, if it should be necessary. The last two years it's just been one thing after another - but - and it's a big but - 40 years ago there were no treatments. And now there are.

We've come a long way, baby. :D

Currently reading Underground by Kat Richardson.

Lashing On

Someone emailed me a few days ago and asked if I ever lashed on. The answer is, yes, I do lash on sometimes.





I'm trying to get some samples of the 2/20 silk yarn that I've been dyeing woven up, and this yarn is a prime candidate for lashing.

The yarn is slippery and fine and doesn't really like to hold a knot. That makes it difficult to secure the yarn to the apron rod by tieing directly to the rod as I would, ordinarily.

The secret to successful lashing on is to use a slippery cord. Tie the warp into bouts of about 1 inch - or a little less - then secure the cord to the apron rod. I tie a loop in the end, then wrap the cord around the rod, pulling the loose end through the loop. I work from left to right but I assume you could work from right to left if you wanted. I just find working this direction feels more comfortable to me - and I'm all about comfort when ever possible!

Open the shed and alternate passing the cord through the shed in the bout, and wrapping around the apron rod.

At the end, tie several half hitches to secure the loose end. Adjust the tension on the warp, flicking the individual cords between the warp and the apron rod until the tension is equal. Sometimes just pressing down on the warp threads will be enough to equalize the tension on the cord, too. Experiment and see which works best for you.



And here is the first few inches of the scarf woven. I threaded an advancing twill and am treadling in straight twill progression. There are times when I will thread something more complex so that I can treadle something simple. Why? Because in this scarf there are 324 ends and approximately 2300 picks. I'd much rather do something complex for 300+ times and something easy for 2300 times.

You can just make out the undulations in the weave structure in the header picks, I think. Click on the photo for a close up.

Of Dyeing and Warp Winding

Winding three colour warp with cheat sheet

When I'm winding a long or complex stripe sequence I post a cheat sheet above the warping board so that I can keep track of which colour comes next and how many ends of each colour are required.

In this case my counting string will count not merely threads but repeats of the stripe sequence. There will be two warp chains. I will break the warp into two more or less equal numbers of ends so that there will be about 3.5 of the middle stripe repeats in each warp chain. The trick, of course, is to get the warp chains side by side properly, but with this design that won't be difficult.

dyed 2/20 silk

Yesterday was a 'dye day' and I got 40 fifty gram skeins dyed. I'd been having some problems with resist marks from the skein ties and whined about this to someone I respect as a dyer who made her living for many years dyeing silk and would therefore know. She told me to remove all of the X ties and just tie circles of string loosely around the skeins.

Well, I was a bit hesitant but followed her advice and voila, no resist marks. Yes, the skeins did get a little unruly, but not much more so than with X ties.

Which leads me to step onto my soapbox. Many people complain bitterly about fugitive dyes ruining their projects. Often when I ask them how they wet finish they begin by saying something like "I soak the cloth for 24 hours....."

This is an open invitation for any fugitive dye to release and settle elsewhere on the cloth.

I always assume that any dyed yarn has fugitive dye in it and treat it accordingly.

Therefore I never ever soak a web but get it into the water and rinse, rinse, rinse until I am sure there is no fugitive dye lurking to settle elsewhere and ruin my weaving. I use Color Catchers (made by the people who bring you Shout products) when I know for a fact there is fugitive dye in the yarn - and generally any cellulose yarns that have been hand dyed will for sure have fugitive dyes.

I've been told by some dyers that they rinse until there is just 'blush' left which means that there may not be much dye, but there is some left.

I've also found that in acid dyes magenta can have fugitive dye molecules that are difficult to rinse completely out and sometimes cyan can be problematic, too.

So as I say, always assume there will be fugitive dyes and wet finish accordingly.

Just one more good reason to wet finish your handwovens and not gift or sell un-wet finished articles.

And yes, the silk yarn will be on my Art Fire store in the new year.

Dye Day

Yesterday I went up to the guild room and dyed some more of the silk skeins. I didn't get all 48 skeins done as I ran out of steam plus I had to finish getting ready for the first study group meeting that evening. I'll try to get them posted to Art Fire when they are dry.

Four people showed up and we discussed point twill. Since I put a 5 yard warp on, that means they each have about a yard to play with for samples.

We looked at various ways to weave a point progression, including a single end huck and waffle weave.

The next meeting will be Oct. 7 and we'll look at huck lace.

My website is 'down' because bandwidth has been exceeded. My webmaster is away for a week, and then I leave for a week, so it may be down for a couple of weeks until I find out what needs to happen to get it back up and running again. I may have to pay for more space - it may be a simple matter of re-booting the site. I really have no clue. So - stay tuned!

Currently reading The Moneylender of Toulouse by Alan Gordon

Silk Yarn

50 skeins of silk dyed today

The dyeing went quite well. I got four dyepots done (two colours per skein) and some of the colours are unusual but attractive, I think.

The red/green at the bottom will look terrific with a dark teal weft - it will be hard to put these skeins up for sale!

The blue/purple above the red/green also looks great in real life. The light purple is not solid but shades from a pale almost pink to a lavender.

I'm really happy with the turquoise/blue. The red/blue isn't my personal taste, but looks pretty good for 'spring' type people. The red in these skeins is more of a coral colour.

These are 50 gram skeins. In future if I import more yarn I'll get it done in 100 gram skeins, so I'll sell this yarn two skeins at a time. That should give enough for a scarf warp at 30 epi.

It should show up on my Art Fire store in a few days as it will take a couple days to dry.

Currently reading The Lacemakers of Glenmara by Heather Barbieri