This time of year I just keep weaving and weaving and weaving. I’m working to build up my stock for the shows that will start this summer. I know that’s months away. I also know that I’ve been successful enough at these shows that I have to have lots of stock, lots of variety before the season starts. Once the shows start I have only a few weeks between them and can’t get a lot woven during that time. So now, when the weather’s too cold to be outside for long anyway, I spend lots of time at the loom, exercising my leg muscles pushing on treadles and my arms moving the shuttle and beater.
I’m trying to vary the weaving patterns, yarn sizes, fiber types, and finished piece sizes both to make sure I’m having a great time and to build up a varied stock. Plus I’m trying to time different things as a means of making my pricing more systematic and sensible. So after weaving 16 scarves in bamboo or rayon in February, I decided it was time to do a few shawls. I’d purchased some of Tammy’s lovely hand painted yarn specifically for this purpose.
Yesterday I finished two of these scrumptious shawls.
They’re handwoven from a colorway Tammy calls Silver Linings. I really like the fact that I had two different dye lots with very different color intensity. It worked beautifully to put a very thin band of solid purple at one end, then warp with the darker variegation, move to the lighter variegation, and end with a wide band of solid silver. I also used solid silver for the weft on both shawls.
I’m working on another warp of 2 rayon chenille shawls, with a blend Tammy calls Frost. No sneak peeks today – they’ll be done soon enough.
I sure do wish I had a way to get better color representations on pieces with a sheen to them. I’m never happy with the photos. Do you have any good ideas, short of setting up a whole photo studio complete with white walls, light shades, and more?
P.S. Looking back, the shots of the rayon scarves in the last post are pretty true and clear. Wonder what I did differently….
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