This past weekend I did another show – Christkindl Market in Canandaigua. As always, I wanted to bring my rigid heddle loom to demonstrate weaving, and as always, gave a great deal of thought to what I’d weave. Although my little LeClerc works fine and there are lots of options of what you can weave on a rigid heddle loom, there are some limitations. I like to make my weaving demos relevant to the season, so I don’t usually weave with wool in June, nor make light, cotton lace in November. So what yarns did I have in my stash that would work well at 12 ends per inch?
Some beautiful alpaca!
I chose to use two colors. If you look at the fringe, you can see that each color is really two colors spun together. The gray & black strand are natural alpaca colors. I dyed the red & black, which started out as the gray & black, in cochineal to achieve the deep red. Although I am NOT a dyer, I was able to do this successfully at the 2009 Southern Tier Fiber Arts Guild‘s Dye Day. Our Guild holds such a day every year, thanks to the skills, talents, and generosity of two of our amazingly talented members: Carol Wood & Deb MacCrea. These two women travel around the east coast teaching all-natural dyeing, and offer their skills to us for just the actual costs.
As always, many show visitors were fascinated with the weaving process. I had warped the loom for two scarves, and didn’t get them finished at the show. The hairiness of the alpaca made weaving slow, with me having to physically separate almost every shed. I wanted to have the scarves with me for my display at Shea’s Shopping Soiree on Wednesday, so I finished them at home yesterday.
I’m quite happy with these handwoven alpaca scarves. I think they’re very classic and classy looking. Unfortunately for me, I can’t wear any wool around my neck unless I have on a turtleneck. Fortunately, my hands can handle working with wool without too much of a problem.
Your turn: how often are you attracted to garments or accessories that you can’t wear?
[…] green coat with brown trim, and wanted these colors in the pattern I’d woven earlier in the red, gray & black. Since both of the colors in the new scarf are a similar value, the houndstooth pattern […]
[…] great effect. In fact, I used the same weave pattern on my rigid heddle within a few weeks with the lovely alpaca. So what is it? Two strand of white, alternated with two strands of pecan, in both warp and weft, […]
How often am I attracted to garments I can’t [or shouldn’t] wear? In my youth I was often too clueless to notice that enormous hat made me look like a mushroom. In my 30s I realized that (sadly)sky blue made my skin look green. Now in my “wiser” years I gravitate toward the colors and shapes that serve me best. But I still wish I could look ravishing in lilac.