Weaving A Gem Of A Life

My first cloak – and a question

Handwoven (November/December 2014) calls this a circle shawl. Another weaver who makes something similar calls hers cloaks. I don’t know what to call mine. UPDATE: My ever-brilliant daughter tells me that they are commonly called open front cardigans these days. That’s what I’ll call mine!

I used the directions in Handwoven only somewhat. I didn’t use their warping or weaving directions at all, modified the dimensions in their sewing directions, and added a lining to the armhole. And I’ll make more modifications next time.

I wish I’d been bolder with the colors, but there’s time enough to change that. I’m sure I will make more of these, whatever they’re called, for my summer show(s).

My daughter, who’s quite fashion-conscious, gave the thumbs up on the design. Yay!

Now for my question. I’m hoping that at least one of my readers will have some input for me.

I’ve been very busy so far this year – helping to paint the interior of a home, spending time with family & friends, and lately spending many hours shoveling. So I am VERY behind on meeting my monthly weaving goals. Now I know that my garments, things that have both more fabric and more hand work involved, will sell for more than a flat piece of fabric that’s a scarf or shawl, so I’ll need fewer total items, but still…I need to have a certain amount of inventory to set up a booth at a show. I’d really like to apply to both of my good summer shows, one in July, one in August. But I can’t yet know if I can realistically produce enough for both shows.

When I moved 3-1/2 years ago, in August, I had to bail on the August show. They did accept me back when I applied the next year, but…

If I end up with not enough inventory, or sell way more than I anticipate at the July show, and have to back out of the August show again, will I be black balled? Or do shows expect a certain number of artists to back out each year?

Falling apart

On Wednesday as I was beaming my coral and turquoise warp I looked down and saw this on the floor under my Macomber.

It’s a screw, but an unusual one. No point, so I think not a wood screw. Does that mean it’s a metal screw? I don’t have enough hardware knowledge to answer that question…do you?

Of course, I looked at every piece of connecting metal on my Macomber carefully, and found nothing that looked similar. Ok, so don’t worry about it.

EXCEPT…

Several days earlier I found the exact twin of this screw on the floor near my counterbalance loom. So now I have two of them.

Something is falling apart. Something in my studio. But what is it? I’ve checked out my ceiling fan; no screws that look anything like it. Nothing on my warping mill, which does get moved around. Little else in the studio to even look at.

Anyone got a clue? I’d like to find and fix whatever it is before it falls apart completely.

UPDATE: I asked my handy & clever son to read the post and give me his input. He said, “looks like a 1/4×20 machine screw.” Okay, but what might it be from? He has no clue.

ANOTHER UPDATE: I figured it out! While I was weaving I just kept looking around the studio and thinking…what could a machine screw be from? Finally the light bulb lit! I got up off my butt, turned over my drummer’s-stool-turned-weaving-stool, and there it was!

I screwed in the 2 errant screws and tightened the other 2, which were also loose. Glad I found it, or soon I would have been on my butt unexpectedly!

Dyer’s remorse

It was actually just moments after I finished the dyeing of those last warps and skeins that I decided I should have done it differently. I should have dyed some bouts only in coral and some only in turquoise.

Amazingly for me, I actually had an 8/2 tencel warp measured for dyeing, dyeing I had planned to do months ago and then got too busy to get to. Wide enough for a scarf. So I just made 1 small bout of yarn the same length to use for a few narrow stripes. Despite being really busy this week, after playing grandma all day yesterday, I went down to the basement and dyed these 2 bouts.

After seeing how the last batch dried, my goal was to make the live coral a bit more pink and a bit stronger colored. We’ll see if I succeeded.

The yarns batched overnight, soaked for several hours today, rinsed till the water ran clear this afternoon, and are currently hanging to dry. I really want to get the scarf on the loom and see what I think.

It’s too early to tell if I will like either or both of these dyed warps. I’ll share with you no matter what. Maybe others can learn from my experience.

Back in the basement

I got that last warp, planned to become a circle shawl, woven, washed, and dried. Before I go any further I have to make a muslin, which I didn’t feel like doing at the moment. So plan the next piece for a jury photo.

Gee, I’d like it to be woven from yarn I’ve hand painted. Well that doesn’t happen overnight. Hand painting yarn takes time. Plan the project. Measure the yarn. Scour and pre-soak. Mix dyes, paint, steam and batch. Rinse and soak. Hang and dry. All that takes place before I can begin to beam. So I can’t weave with my hand painted yarns spontaneously. I have to do the first several steps, then put something else on the loom during all the waiting steps. I’m planning that ‘something else’ in my head at the moment.

I started by looking at my dye inspiration board photos on pinterest. Some really nice things, but why am I not excited about dyeing any of them?

I decided to check out Pantone’s color of the year. I’ve never felt moved to jump on that particular bandwagon before, but this time the photos here spoke to me. Wow – vibrant!

So next I had to figure out how to create a similar color from the small assortment of dyes I have. I used Tangerine, Mixing Red, and Sun Yellow for the coral, with Turquoise and Intense Blue for the turquoise. I wound 5 bouts of 8/2 tencel – 3 to paint as warps, 2 to paint as skeins.

Here’s 1 of the bouts I painted today.

And one of the skeins.

All 5 bouts were painted and steamed and are currently batching overnight. In the morning I’ll unwrap them and put them in a bucket to soak for at least several hours to minimize the rinsing time and water needed.

Only then can I hang them to dry, and hope that my choice of colors looks good dry. Fingers crossed on that. And on the hope that I can find a weft color that shows them to their advantage.

Although I’m still committed to using up my still-too-much-yarn stash, I have ordered 5 pounds of tencel and 3 pounds of silk (actually out of stock at the moment) for dyeing.

The good news? Yesterday, in addition to measuring out that tencel for the dyeing, I got all my year-end paperwork (actually computer work) done! Now I just have to wait to get some 1099s, W-2s, and the like in the mail so I can take it all to my accountant. Whew! That’s a load off my mind!

Plus, between yesterday and today I’m about 1/3 of the way through the 6-hour online defensive driving course to reduce my insurance cost. I don’t like doing it, but I do like that financial benefit, and it’s only required every 3 years, so it’s well worth the time.

More miscellanea

After the last post I realized I received one more photogenic Christmas gift.

Cool, isn’t it?!

And here are shots of those finished towels. Reminder, I used 8/4 cotton for both warp and weft, sett at 12 EPI.

8/4 all over huck, white weft

8/4 striped weft, all over huck

After those 2 all-over huck towels, I tried one alternating huck treadling with plain weave treadling. It wasn’t clear on the loom, but alternating huck and plain weave ended up creating a sort of waviness to the towel, since the shrinkage wasn’t consistent. I *should* have been able to anticipate that. Sigh.

8/4 huck and plain weave alternating, white weft

Then I wove one in plain weave. As other weavers have reported, LOTS of tracking. (For non-weavers, tracking in plain weave is when it appears that there is texture and/or twill lines that don’t really exist.) I actually like it, but others may not.

8/4 plain weave, striped weft

Then I got tired of the white weft and used yellow for the last 2 towels.

8/4 yellow weft, alternating huck and plain weave

yellow weft towel, alternate huck, alternate tie up

8/4 yellow weft, alternating huck and plain weave, alternate tie up

That last towel is my least favorite.

So, would I use 8/4 again for towels? The answer is maybe. I like the ‘beefy’ feel of the towels, although they are a bit stiff. I’ve now put them through the washer and dryer twice, once on their own and once with a load of my clothes. I may do a third. We’ll see.

On the next-up front, it was time to audition wefts for the planned circle shawl with the hand painted warp. I was surprised by what I saw/learned.

From bottom to top

8/4 white weft, simply to spread the warp cuz I had some left on a bobbin after the towels;
8/2 black tencel weft;
8/2 sienna tencel weft, which is what I’d sort of planned for, but which makes the weave structure totally disappear AND doesn’t show off the lovely warp yarn to its advantage;
5/2 golden mercerized cotton weft, since I saw that I wanted a yarn that was similar grist to the bamboo-cotton warp;
5/2 purple bamboo weft; and
8/2 black tencel weft doubled, since I liked the black best so far but a thicker yarn.

You can probably guess which I’m going for. Or maybe not. It’s that last one – doubled 8/2 black tencel. Now back to the loom.

Weaving A Gem Of A Life

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My first cloak – and a question

Falling apart

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Back in the basement

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