Hurt Book Sale at Interweave

I am in no way associated with Interweave Press. They do get my money on a regular basis, though. As such, I thought I'd share the pain: Interweave is having their 'Hurt Book' sale. Go! Browse! But don't say I didn't warn you that it was dangerous to your pocket book.

http://www.interweavestore.com/Hurt-Book-Sale.html

I was good. I only ordered two books this time.

More inkle weaving

D D D D D D D L L L D D D D L L L D D D D L L L D D D D D D D
D D D L L L D D D D L L L D D D D L L L D D D D L L L D D D

Yup, the cats are walking on the keyboard again. Either that, or those are Dark and Light threads in the inkle pattern I made up and wove last night. I'm betting on the second, since the cats have gotten themselves banished from my studio for trying play in the wool roving. While I'm trying to spin it. Bad kitties!

This pattern gives a checker board result. I used dark blue cotton crochet thread for the Dark, and a very pale variegated pastel cotton for the Light. I think the lighter thread was originally intended for cutesy baby stuff, but I like it better this way.

I actually remembered to take pictures this time. Now you can see how pushing down or up on the threads creates a 'shed', or an opening for the weaving shuttle to go through.










The finished band is just around two yards long, which is as long as I can do on my little loom. I'm starting to think that I need one of the bigger inkle floor looms. Wouldn't this one be lovely? http://www.thomas-creationsllc.com/index_files/Page1418.htm *sigh* One of these days. I need to sell a few more things in the Etsy shop before I can look at new equipment, though. So until that point, I'll just be making bands in two yard chunks.

I am pleased with how this pattern turned out. What do you think?

Inkle Pattern

B B B Y Y Y M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M Y Y Y B B B
B B B Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y M M M M M Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y B B B

Ok, I know that looks kind of like the cat was walking over the keyboard again. But really, it is a pattern. When you string up an inkle loom, every other thread goes over the first peg, while the others go under the peg. So, in the pattern, the first line of letters are the 'over' threads, and the second line of letters are the 'under' threads. You alternate back and forth between the lines to get the threading order.

After all the yarn is on the loom, those 'over' threads are brought down into place with string heddles. Those stay fixed in one place. But if you reach behind the heddles, you can push up or down on the 'under' threads to create a spot for your shuttle to go through. Here's a shot of the loom all set, with all the threads in their neutral position. (I would have taken a shot of the threads up or down, so you could see the process, but I wasn't thinking of this post then. Silly me.)

In the case of this pattern, the 'B' stands for Black, the 'Y' stands for Yellow, and the 'M' stands for Maroon. I used cotton crochet thread. With my little inkle loom, I ended up with just over 2 yards of trim. This is intended to go on a maroon SCA fighting tunic that is just the color of that maroon pattern in the middle of the band.


I was able to make the pattern, thread the loom, and weave off the trim over the course of one evening. For a weaver, that is nigh unto instant gratification! I think I must do more of these. Maybe another band tonight, so I can weave during the Officer's Meeting I need to go to. Hmmmm...what colors today?

Quote for the Day

When my daughter was about seven years old, she asked me one day what I did at work. I told her I worked at the college - that my job was to teach people how to draw. She stared at me, incredulous, and said, "You mean they forget?"

~Howard Ikemoto

Wet Finishing

Well, I thought I was making a nice shawl. I had spun up a batch of merino/tencel blend, and wove it on the floor loom. Yesterday I finally finished twisting up the fringe, and took the shawl off the loom. Do you know what sleazy means? No, not that guy who tried to pick you up in the bar. (What is with those lines???) No, sleazy in fiber terms means a cloth that is thin and loosely woven. When I took my fabric off the loom, it definitely fit the definition of sleazy.























At this point, the fabric was 34" wide by 7'6" long, not counting fringe. And, it was surprisingly heavy. Now, I knew the solution to the looseness of the weave was to wet finish the fabric. That gives the threads a chance to move into their final places, and allows the fabric to tighten up. I chose to just put it in the wash, since I'd rather get any changes done right away rather than be surprised down the road. So I went ahead and popped it in the machine on hot, knowing quite well that wool fulls and shrinks. I had accounted for some shrinkage in my calculations, but I hadn't done a test swatch so I didn't know exactly what was going to happen. Ready? Hold my breath... Go!



...Oops. When I pulled it back out of the wash, I knew I didn't have a shawl as a finished product. The wool was now 18 3/4" wide by 4'9" long, and about a quarter of an inch thick. True, there were no holes left in the weave. But even though the size was still usable as a scarf, it didn't drape well at all any more. In fact, it was a very solid piece of material, as stiff as a rug. However, the pattern was still nicely visible, and the colors had melded together. The texture was slightly fuzzy, and the fringe had tightened up while still remaining untangled.







I pondered this weaving for a little bit, with a sinking feeling in my stomach. Had I just ruined several years worth of on and off work?

A few days ago, I posted this quote: "Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes,
Art is knowing which ones to keep."

--Scott Adams



My mind started looking at it in different ways. I suddenly realized that while I didn't have a shawl at all, I might have a kick ass table runner. And it looked like it was just the size of the top of my dresser, where I keep my antique walking wheel. I decided to give it a try...



Oh yes! It worked. Beautifully, in fact. Like I had custom made it for that particular spot. I didn't really need another shawl, but a good table runner? I hadn't had one of those till now. And this one is sturdy enough that it will wear like iron. My great grandchildren may still be enjoying this runner long after I'm gone.

I may have miscalculated the shrinkage of the wool yarn...but this is a happy accident that I'm pleased to keep. Besides. It has the kitty seal of approval. How can that be bad?

Twisted Fringe and a whole lot of Indigo Yarn

I was twisting the fringe on the Sea Shawl today, and took a couple of snap shots of the process. Want to see?

First, I cut four warp threads, using a small ruler as a guide.

Next, I divided the threads up into two bundles.










Each bundle got twisted in the same direction, until they just started to kink up.




Then, I tied both bundles together at the end.










Ready? Just let go. The threads will twist back on themselves, to make a stable and attractive fringe.










Today, I also took time to photograph a batch of yarn I spun a bit ago. This is how it started out, way back when. The fiber is a nice soft wool mill end roving from the Brown Sheep company.


I took the yarn to the Griffin Dye Retreat with me, and dunked it a couple of times in the natural indigo dye pot. Have you ever dyed with indigo? It is amazing. You just dip your yarn in the pot, and pull it out. It comes out a yellow-green color. As the dye hits the oxygen in the air, a chemical reaction happens and the yarn turns it's final blue right before your eyes. Magic! Here are the skeins, hung up to dry along the side of my tent.






I measured it out today. I have 1660 yards of single ply yarn, coming in at 15 wraps per inch. I spun it to be a weaving yarn, appropriate for a historical recreation piece. Most wool fabrics in the Middle Ages and Renaissance were woven with single ply yarn. I was pretty dubious when I first heard that. I figured hand spun single ply would break, or kink up. But I tried it and, lo and behold, centuries of weavers actually knew what they were talking about. It works beautifully. I'm thinking this yarn would be a great base for an A&S weaving entry, especially with the natural indigo dye for color.

It is going in the Etsy shop for now. If it doesn't sell by the time I finish up my next weaving project (probably going to be those White Scarves), I'm likely to take it off the market and use it myself.

Fringe and a New Braid

So close! I finished weaving on the Sea Shawl today. Now I'm down to the finishing work. Tomorrow if I find the time I'll trim and twist the fringe. I'm trimming the warp about 6 inches from the edge of the weaving, then making twisted fringe. That shortens the fringe up to about 4 inches long, and makes sure that my yarn won't unravel itself in the wash. It takes more time, but given the fact that I've put in over 2 years on this project already, one more day won't hurt anything. And I like the look it gives.

The scary part comes after the fringe is ready. I need to toss this in the wash. Eep! But a project isn't finished until it is wet finished. Washing the fabric gives the threads the opportunity to move into their final positions. And since this is wool, things will full and bloom and shrink. I'm kind of nervous. I don't exactly know what I'm going to get. Crossing my fingers.

I was looking at my stash of yarn today,
and a cone of blue caught my eye. It is a sky blue, with white bumps and a metallic sparkle. I got to thinking, and my kumihimo disc just kind of jumped into my hands. And then a batch of smooth white cotton thread just seemed to want to come and play too.

In my mind's eye, I pictured a braid where the blue gives me textured blue diamonds against a smooth white background. While I had the image in my mind, I wound up the bobbins with 4 yards of thread each. It took one false start--I had the bobbins in the wrong starting position--then I was off and running. A couple of inches later, and the braid I pictured was in my hands. Magic!

I like this one. The blue diamonds kind of poof out, but it is subtle. It gives a nice texture, without being as outrageous as the last braid. This will be my take-with project for the next little while. I think I'll enjoy working on this one. The blue and white combination is one of my favorites. (I suppose you could guess that, looking at the pictures.) So clean looking. With this yarn choice, it is peaceful yet playful at the same time. Sounds like a good combination for summer time.