Three Things

Thing #1:
I finished the red yardage.  From a 5-yard warp, almost 27 inches wide in the reed, I got about 3 yards 20 inches by 22.5 inches of warp-dominant cloth, after washing/drying/pressing.

It's nice stuff; it has substance but it's not at all stiff or heavy.

The color is most true in the first photo.  It'll make a nice jacket, along with the 2 yards I wove as a sample back last summer.  I may need to weave more fabric, depending on what kind of jacket I make.  I used up all of the predominant warp yarn, however, so it will have to be a coordinating/contrasting fabric, which is fine.

But.  Butbutbut.  Everything went wrong with weaving this off, except none of the selvedge threads broke.  Lots and lots of warp ends broke (and I didn't mend a single one).  They broke for a couple of reasons, I think: There are three warp yarns - the shiny, bright red, thick cotton yarn, which gave me no trouble at all; a 12/2 70% cotton/30% flax mill end; and a NM 14/1 (skinny!) 70% silk/30% polyester mill end.  I held the latter two ends together throughout, but both of those yarns broke, I think because they twisted around each other and/or one of a pair changed places with one of a neighboring pair, so I had trouble winding on when threads twisted and caught on the heddles.  Also: tension.  In the last yard, first one side and then the other developed a smile; I don't really know why.  I finally resorted to a temple by the end.  Also: an angle in the beater, of about half an inch from one side of the warp to the other.  Again, I don't know why; I'll get out my measuring tapes and tools and see what I can do.  Finally, when I washed and dried the fabric, it developed a good bit of seersuckering, which mostly went away when I pressed it, but I fear it will come back when I go to construct a garment.  I didn't get seersuckering with the sample, but this warp had more of the bright shiny yarn in it.  I think I'll have to fuse some lightweight interfacing to the fabric, under a lining.

In other words, I love the finished fabric, but weaving it off was a bear.

Thing #2:
So, while I was beating the red warp into submission, I was thinking.  Thinking about why the hell I think I like to weave.  Thinking about what do I want to weave, and why?  Thinking about this blog and what it is (or possibly, is not) doing for us.  Thinking about my frustration with not being more "creative" with what I make.  Thinking the thoughts one has when it's late winter and another damned warp end just broke.

The first line of thought is easy:  I weave because I want to and I can, and I'm mostly adult enough to grit my teeth through the difficult or boring parts.

The second question, what do I want to weave:  Now, that's harder, because really, I don't need much.  If anything, I'm trying to shed excess stuff around here.  I could use a couple of rag rugs for the bathroom.  The new loom room and the bathroom need curtains.  I could use some washable shopping bags, for groceries and such.  Beyond that, I don't really need more shawls, or clothing, or presents (except that one wedding present, sigh), or anything.  I know that I'm weaving right now to create a weaver, not really to make a body of work or anything like that, and yet I have a hard time giving myself permission to just make things that will live on a shelf and not get used or displayed or given away.  It's that Puritan upbringing combined with my conservationist bent.

The third question, how are we doing with this blog:  Well, here I wonder.  Sarahw has faded away, and even Diane and I don't post as much as we used to.  I'm not exactly sure what I want, except perhaps for there to be more back and forth.  Does the weaving thread on FOAY fulfill that function?  Should we invite more weavers?  Set up "homework" that we both try - Create something that expresses early spring or Weave a twill scarf with 10 or more colors - that sort of thing?  How do you feel about how it's going?

The fourth question, why am I not more creative:  Well, here I think I come back to that Puritan upbringing, and I suppose what I ought to do is set myself some exercises to figure out exactly what I mean by "creative" and practice getting there.

Thing #3:
Despite all that questioning, I do find it motivating to set goals and try to reach them, so here is a slightly more complete list of goals for the next quarter, although I'm not ready to say this is It just yet.

• Finish the damned wedding present.
• Weave off two of the warps I painted last summer with Sara Lamb.
• Paint and weave off a new warp of my own.
• Think about/read/look/visit museums/whatever it takes to start teasing out what I mean by being "creative" and set up a series of exercises designed to teach me to be more creative in the way I want to be.
• Do one of those exercises (or start it, if it's a long exercise).
• Set up and weave something on the 8-harness Norwood (this can be any of the other projects herein specified).

Thoughts?  Questions?  Comments?  I don't so much need a there, there, you're doing fine, as a discussion that helps me work through this, ah, interesting place, shall we say.

Who you callin' sleazy?

So, the first set of samples is off the loom and I put them through a wash in the sink, albeit a vigorous one, because I really thought it'd be better to see how they'd change before deciding wether to resley or rethread.  I'm glad I did.  First off, a shot of the finished all-wool piece.



As you can see, I did a few combinations.  The bottom is two color and a long treadling repeat to make squares rather than rectangles.  The center section is also two colors, highly contrasting and the top is two color but nearly no contrast.  They're all interesting in their own way, but they all have one thing in common.  Too open.  For sure.



The shaping of the weave structure really starts to show, but there are big gaps between the threads.  I really, really don't like that.  As you get closer, it gets worse.



Moving onto the two treadlings that are more "contrasty", I'm really quite torn as to which I prefer.



I like the scale of the half-repeat for anything clothing-like, simply because the pattern isn't too overwhelming.



And, the contrasting threads give a visual dimensionality to it.  However ...



the squares really are quite charming.  For upholstery, linens, or maybe a blanket, great.  But I just don't think this would lend itself well to clothing.  Just too big.  (for reference, the "circles" are about 3/4" in diameter).

Now - everything goes better with silk, right?



Right.  Absolutely right.  There's a sheen that makes this fabric really gorgeous and the hand is also wonderful.  But again, on inspection, too open.



So - in the finishing, there's a lesson.  I'm not going to change the threading at all.  I am, however, going to resley this at 36epi and see how that goes.  And, I'm going to spend a bit more time with the silk and with the contrasting colors.  I do think that this is a workable fabric, I just need to pack it more densely.  Best of all, this is a fast change so I can still make progress this month.

Now, if only I thought that dealing with taxes would be this easy.

M's and O-Hecks

I'm finally plowing along on getting my vest fabric going (yes, still behind) but I'm going to say that the gamp fabric counted as a sample, so I'm half way there. Maybe it's a bit of cheating, but given how much I liked the twill once it was finished, I'm sure it'll make it's way into a garment at some point. Even Chris approved of it. "This'd be a nice jacket, I think."

On to the second fabric.

Weaving with finer and finer yarns seems to be my current path and this was a chance to start digging into the 2/26 mill ends I picked up from Webs last year. I've got four colors - navy, light pink, and two tans - a dark and a light. There's definitely enough there to make a sizeable piece of fabric so putting on a sample warp isn't a dead end. Also, if you recall, I'd been reading an old Shuttle Craft that had a series of articles on M's and O's done with a new "Drapery Cotton". I'm inferring that this is equivalent to the 8/2 unmercerized that I use for dishtowels, but that wasn't going to be anywhere near fine enough for what I wanted. Enter the 2/26.

After doing research, both from the article and from poring over other projects, I decided to just sett the fabric for a plain weave as a starting point, and then sett a subsequent piece a little closer. Also, the M's and O's are a four-shaft pattern (though Harriet Tidball has an expanded one on six or more shafts to yield a true tabby) so it'd be uncomplicated to start. Famous last words.

Anyway, on to details:

• Draft Pattern - standard 4-shaft M's and O's, 32 end repeat
• Yarn - 2/26 wool, tans as the warp, will use all four for weft
• Sett - 32 epi, 4 ends per dent in an 8 dent reed
• Warp - 10.5" wide in the reed ('cause I can't count) and 3 yards long
• Beat - 32 ppi for balanced plain weave

I also decided to use Tidball's "false tabby" on the selvedges (harnesses 1 and 4, threaded alternately). I wound the warp, beamed on, threaded, sleyed and wove a lovely header row. Oddly enough, it was plain weave all the way across. And, on the first pattern shed, it hit me. I'd only threaded the "M" blocks (1/2 and 3/4). All the way across. And, while interesting, it'll not give me anything even close to what I was after. So, I untied, pulled it out of the reed and re-threaded half the ends to give me "O" blocks. The good news is that each repeat of 16 ends used four heddles on each shaft - regardless of which block I was threading. I certainly could have been worse.

And hey - it looks great!

I'm alternating the dark tan with the navy for this first section, then I'll start rotating in the light tan and the pink so see which I like the most. So far, the tabby sections are beating to square and I'm already seeing the distortion of the float blocks.

In the above picture, you can see the transition from the dark tan (on the right) to the light tan (on the left). The reed marks look a lot stronger in this picture than they do on the loom and I'm hopeful that they'll wash out when I finish the fabric. Then, once I finish the block and resley for a finer sett, I'll rethread for a twill - just to get a little experience with that threading and this yarn. Plus, that can count as another sample for a future piece. Another reason why I went with the three yard warp. Feels like I should get plenty out of this exercise.

Finally, Lynn, you were asking about Complex Weavers. I had been thinking about joining that guild - again, as a way to continue to have accountability and also to try and build a sample book. I've signed up for the "Beyond Plain Weave Garments" study group, which includes a once or twice per year sample exchange. The goal is fabric for garments (perfect!) and "Beyond Plain Weave" is a very loose definition. It can be fabric structure, yarns, whatever. And, as part of the exchange, I'll get a piece of everyone's fabric along with details on yarns, structure, and any notes they have on how the fabric behaved as part of being sewn. I only get samples when I contribute, and I don't get kicked out if I don't contribute. We'll be doing an exchange in September - plenty of time for me to get a vest (or three!) done. And the samples are small - only 3" x 3", and can even come from waste material that otherwise falls on the cutting room floor. My kind of bunch.

That's my update so far. I'll trot all the goals for the quarter out in a week or so - and start thinking about Spring!

Flap, Flap, Flap Goes the Time

My, time is just zooming by, isn't it?  There are just over three weeks till the end of this quarter, so it's time to start panicking over everything I haven't done yet and daydreaming over everything I want to do in spring.

You no doubt saw the photos in FOAY of my newly furnished weaving room, but let's take another look at them, shall we, since I'm so very pleased with the whole endeavor.

Here's the view from the door into the room.  There are two closets (one whitened out by sunlight) on either side of the single set of shelves on the back wall; both closets are full of fiber stuff, mostly knitting yarn on the left and general miscellany on the right (thank Bob for closets!).

Here's a shot from in front of that left-hand closet, showing just how crammed this room is.  There are two or three feet of space around the loom and the little red cabinet next to the loom, but that isn't a lot.  The weaving hanging on the wall on the left is Guatemalan, I believe; I bought it in town here from a quirky antique/used furniture/fair trade shop.

Now we're looking back toward the door into the room - yes, that's ugly wallpaper in the hallway and yes, that's a THIRD closet to the right of the door.  This closet is above the cellar stairs, however, so it's only from the waist up to the ceiling.  I have more knitting yarn in there, plus needlepoint yarn and maybe even some old tax papers.

Finally, here is the wall opposite the wall with the two windows.  Three new sets of cheapo shelving units here hold wools, silk, and linen in the bins, with the 8/2 cotton left naked to fend off the bugs. I will hang my warping board off those two blue clamps on either side of Sarahw's Masham sheep fair towel.  I used this system in the old loom room and it worked well.  My warping reel is hiding behind the fern in front of the left-hand window, which I didn't take a photo off, come to think of it; I'll put the reel on the work table when I want to use it.

So, this was Goal #4 for the first quarter of the year and I am so happy to be done!  I'm sure that as I use this room, I'll move things around, but for now, it's one of the nicest rooms in the house and I am very motivated to weave and weave and weave!

Speaking of weaving, you can see the red cotton/silk/flax/polyester warp on the loom; weaving it off is Goal #2B.  The weft for the red fabric is the two cones of maroon rayon slub sitting on the red cabinet next to the loom, although I doubt I'll use more than a third of one cone of the maroon. 

That leaves me with the following to finish this quarter: 

• The wedding present runner - I gave in and bought the right reed (15 dents/inch) last Saturday for the warp rep I want to weave.  If I still can't figure it out, I'll weave a runner in monk's belt instead - just Get. It. Done.
• The exploratory warps - I was supposed to do four; I've done two, the honeycomb samples and the Thing That Shall Not Be Named.  I don't know if I'll get even one more warp woven off after the red fabric and the wedding runner, but I'll try.

I have to say that I'm enjoying how productive I've been this winter; this setting of goals and pushing to reach them seems to work for me. 

For next quarter, I'm thinking of concentrating on painted warps. I could finally get around to weaving the warps Sara Lamb taught me to paint last July, and I could gear up for painting some more of my own.  It's entirely possible I may have a little yarn I could use for such a thing!

It's February - What Did You Expect?

Outside...



Therefore, inside...

 

Forward and Back

Starting with the Back first ... Here's what I said I'd do in this first quarter:

These are my goals for the first three months of 2013:

1. Weave the wedding present table runner.  This includes a separate sample of warp rep, just so I understand the weave structure.
2. Two already-planned projects: A)  the Icelandic/alpaca twill shawl (like the one I made for Jesh, but a different twill or twills), and B)  the rest of the red cotton/silk yardage I sampled for earlier in 2012.
3. 4 exploratory warps.  These are just to play, to sample, to learn.  They can be short and narrow, or long and wide, cotton or wool, one color or hand-painted, whatever.  I'd like to explore weave structures that push the yarn out of straight lines, within the flat plane of the fabric - honeycomb weaves, in particular.
4. Finish painting and furnishing the second bedroom into a fiber room.
5. Start a proper sample notebook (with copies for all of you) and fill it with samples of all the warps, if possible.

 Now, not all of that had to be completed in January, obviously, but I think I made fair-to-middling progress last month.

The table runner:  Well, I have a warp and wefts ready to weave a sample, but I got frustrated trying to thread it, so I went on to something else.  I need to get back to this to two ways - order a 15-dent reed and try again, perhaps with a simpler sample warp, to understand how to weave warp rep.

The Icelandic/alpaca twill shawl:  DONE.






















This wove up with no hassles whatsoever (which is unusual for me!).  A couple of twill drafts from Davison smooshed up against each other, hemstitching, twisted fringe - DONE.  However, I'm not altogether satisfied with this; it's shedding a lot when I wear it.  I need to full this somewhat more, probably via the washing machine.

The red cotton/silk yardage:  No progress.

Four exploratory warps:  I was very happy with the wool honeycomb warp.  I loved playing with lots of color and I loved getting to change the colors and yarns often; I need to remember to plan more projects with lots of colors and lots of opportunities for changing things partway through a warp.

The fiber room:  The walls and ceiling are all prepped and primed.

The sample notebook:  I made up a template for recording all the details of the samples and I filled it out for the honeycomb samples.

All in all, that's not bad progress for January.

In February, I plan to:

• Weave off a certain Secret Warp that involves a lot of black/gray/white, with some color.  The black/gray/white part is done and I'm moving into the color section.  This will count as an exploratory warp, although there may not be formal samples in your sample notebook from it.
• Order the 15-dent reed and try warp rep again, even before the reed comes.
• Finish painting the fiber room (well, having it painted, techinically).
• Wind the warp for the red cotton/silk yardage.  I'd like to get this on the loom before March, but I doubt it will happen.

I've been trying to keep track of what keeps me from realizing my weaving goals; here are a few I've discovered:

• It can be too chilly in my current weaving room, which is a converted garage.  There's heat and insulation in there, but when we have a really bad cold snap, I'm not inspired to weave in there.  The future fiber room will take care of that issue, but in the meantime, I've figured out a way to wind warps in the living room and I've dug out my long underwear from the days when New England was really cold all winter.
• I can spend too long trying to get a stalled project to work (see the warp rep struggles), when what I need to do is back off and go at it in other ways (get the proper reed, for one, or choose something other than warp rep for the wedding present, for another).
• I commit to too many knitting and spinning goals at the same time as I'm trying to get a lot of weaving done.
• I could try to be more realistic about what I can really get done in a moth.  (Me?  Realistic?  Ha!)

 I suppose I better get back to weaving now!

A little behind

So. It's the first week of February and time to see where I am against the list from last month. Here's what I said I'd do back in December:

• Make and update the pattern for my "Test Vest"
• Come up with a design for a primarily wool fabric for my vest. Planned structure is twill, but I can vary yarn diameters, etc, to make it more interesting.
• Weave a selvedge rug for the studio (and possibly another for elsewhere)

Going in reverse order, the selvedge rug is done. I can't make another until I order more selvedges but I do want to make another one. Now that we've lived with it in the house for the past few weeks, we both really like the feel of it under our feet. And, the floors in the studio are absolutely bare, so it needs doing.

Second item was to figure out the fabric for my vest. I'd had my mind wrapped around twill - and I think I'll still give that one a go (Either Urquhart or an 8-shaft herringbone) but I am now also quite intrigued by the Honeycomb variant that I found in the Feb '57 Shuttle Craft.

There's a great discussion about how to vary two colors in the weft against a single color in the warp - and I should be able to pull that off with what I have. I'll be using 2/28 wool (Mill Ends from WEBS), and I've four colors in all, so I should be able to make something work from that. I've also a cone of 2/34, all white, and LOTS! so that I can wind off and dye something if it really comes down to it. So, two structures for sampling - the Honeycomb variant and the Twill. Done.

Last was to make and alter the vest. Absolutely no progress on that front and that's a bit of a worry since I need to plan fabric and make sure I've enough yarn. At a minimum, I've all the pieces drawn so I can get a quick estimate of how long for the two fronts. Realistically, that's a 10 minute job, so I'm not too fussed about that either. If I can get the vest sewn this month, I'll feel better about the whole thing.

Now, the other side of this is what'd I'd originally planned to do this month. That list looks like this:

• Sample setts as well as finishing methods for the vest fabric. Try at least *two* different warps.
• Dye yarn and sample for a krokbragd rug for the studio

The first one is fine. That's two warps of 2 yards each. Neither has complex threading and they're both straight-forward to weave. I think I'll shoot for two different setts for each one and resleying takes no time at all since I'll have multiple ends per dent. The only hitch might be the number of threads per dent and whether or not I end up with reed marks in the finished fabrics. But hey - that's what sampling is for, right?

Second is the Krokbragd. This is quite likely to fall off into March. I've got a lot on this month and this is purely a "fun" project. I've some knitting I want to finish, accounting and taxes, yadda, yadda. I give this a 50/50 chance of getting anywhere. More realistic is another round of dishtowels on the Gilmore.

So Lynn - how'd you do?