Summer Side Up

The year is rapidly slipping away. Tomorrow we begin anew. Slowly and surely daylight is growing longer. We look forward. It is an exciting time.

Little Grandbaby beneath his Wee Pine Tree Coverlet

As 2019 ebbs I had to share one more photo. It is my precious Grand beneath his Wee Pine Tree Coverlet. This time the “Summer” side shows. This is the side that was up on the loom when I wove it. You can see how the slightly darker threads running through the tree trunks create a pleasing secondary pattern. I like that. I enjoy weaving. Color is such fun! Very best of all is sharing my weaving with loved ones.

May 2020 bring you and yours great success and happiness. Happy New Year!

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Waves of Waffles

Waves of Waffle Weave yardage
The color here is far from accurate, check the next photo for a better idea.

Waffle Weave with plain weave, Detail
The color here shows a bit better

This waffle yardage was the next project after Ketchup & Mustard. The draft works well and is satisfying to weave so I simply wanted to continue with more of the same.

Lately, making use of yarns already on hand has been a recurring theme among my weaving friends. Collecting yarn is easier than weaving with it and we are mostly of “a certain age”. Also, sadly, the members of our guild are aging and leaving yarns for us to weave in their honor. Thus we are busily working to make the most of what we have while we can. I suppose it's a grains of sand in the hour glass type of goal.

Here I chose 16/2 dark teal green cotton, combining it with 20/2 black perle cotton and a 20/2 cotton variegated yarn. The teal colored yarn came from the estate of Lynn, a late guild member. She will not be soon forgotten.

The woven piece is yardage. Happily, I used a lot of yarn to weave it. Now what have I been mentioning about getting around to sewing?

Precious youngest grandson
giving his Wee Pinetree Coverlet a workout

 My youngest grandchild loves his Wee Pinetree Coverlet. Today his dear mother took this snapshot while he napped. Precious child, precious mother . . .

Christmas is nipping at our heels and there is still much to be done. I have been busy weaving Cottolin towels. Yet, there are warps between the waffles and the towels. After I take photos I’ll write about my adventures with Taqueté and Samitum.

Merry Christmas!

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Ketchup & Mustard Waffles

Ketchup & Mustard Waffle Weave

Here is a new combination. Let it be known that this is the one and only time I have combined waffles and those classic condiments. It does not sound appetizing but you might agree they make a terrific weave structure.

 Those of you who have followed my blog know waffle weave has been a particular favorite of mine. Following many experimental warps, this one is my favorite. Further experience may bump this one from first place but, so far, this one is tops.

What makes it so special? The cloth is lightweight and absorbent with a nice hand and pleasing texture, a perfect combination for kitchen towels or medium weight clothing.

Ketchup & Mustard Waffle Weave detail

The colors make me happy, too. Red is my favorite and I like to use variegated yarns. Plus, these are yarns from my vast collection. Nothing new was purchased.

Hem rippling can be a problem with waffle weave. Combining waffle cells and plain weave helps. The plain weave stripes in warp and weft hold the cell groups to minimize draw-in and add stability. Using sewing thread as weft for the hems is another way to prevent the puckers.

Hooray for the latest gourmet treat – Waffles with Ketchup & Mustard!

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Crepe Closer 4

Here it is October already. The year is rapidly fading. And this is the last group of photos from my Strickler crepe weave sampler, but it won’t be my last adventure with crepe. It is plain to see that crepe would make especially fine clothing.

Strickler # 41
I chose this one for my study group swatch exchange. It seemed the "crepe-iest". 

Strickler #42

Strickler #43 (Oelsner #826)
I admit it, this is one of my favorites.

Strickler #44

Strickler #45

Strickler #46
Another of my favorites

With weaving there is always more to learn and experience. My guess is one could never exhaust the possibilities. Isn't that the beauty of it all?

One last photo shows the swatches I shared with my study group. It was tough to whittle it down to one of the 24 options from my sampler. In the end I chose #41 because it seemed to be the “crepe-iest” crepe in the lot.

Strickler #41
Study Group swatches show rust colored weft on the left and weft same as warp on the right.

Where to go next? How about taking a quick step back into waffle weave? We'll see.

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Crepe Closer 3

Happy first day of Autumn! Don't you just love Autumn? With cool but sunny days, brilliant colors and musky scents, this is my favorite season. It’s nice to get together over a cup of hot tea or cider and talk weaving. Or at least have a hot cuppa and read the latest weaving blog posts.

Here is the third installment of photos of my crepe sampler from the Strickler 8H book.

Strickler #35

Strickler #36

Strickler #37

Strickler #38

Strickler #39, same as #813 in Oelsner's "A Handbook of Weaves"

Strickler #40, same as #814 in Olesner's "A Handbook of Weaves"

The colors of these samples really do say "Autumn", don't they?

After this there will be one more set of six photos then I’ll have a bit more waffle weave to show.    

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Crepe Closer 2

A "Box of Chocolates" approach is my thing for sure. Variety definitely appeals to me. Weaving samplers is right up my alley.

Here are the next six 8H Crepe weaves from Strickler. On the first one you will see the number under which it appears in Oelsner.

8H Crepe Weave #29 from Strickler (Also in A Handbook of Weaves by G.H. Oelsner, #803)

8H Crepe Weave #30 from Stickler

8H Crepe Weave #31 from Stickler
Note: The threading in this draft puzzled me. I decided to change it
to treadle as a straight 8 which is what you see here.
It's impossible to tell from the black & white photo in the book which is correct.

8H Crepe Weave #32 from Stickler

8H Crepe #33 from Stickler 

8H Crepe #34 from Stickler

I have still more swatches to show. Watch for the next post and keep weaving.

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Crepe Closer 1

Except at close range, the structures of crepe samples woven with 20/2 cotton sett at 37½ e.p.i. are too small to see. Here are a few swatches in close-up to better show detail of the structure. A tape measure appears in the photos to show scale. These are all from Carol Strickler's A Weaver's Book of 8-Shaft Patterns, previously published in A Handbook of Weaves by G.H. Oelsner.

#23 This one is an "interlocking twill"

#24 Another interlocking twill

#25 Interlocking twill

#26 This one is a crepe

#27 This is one of my favorites
They are all rather nice though, so it is tough to choose.

#28 Yet another nice one

Of course, it would be best to see and feel these in person. But that will have to wait for higher technology. Until then, stand by for more close-ups.

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Crepe Obsession

Once crepe came into focus, I couldn’t get enough of it. My study group even decided to take a closer look at crepe, too.

It was tough to show the entire length in one photo.
Here it is folded to show a bit of each version.

Of course, I went to one of my all-time favorite books, Carol Strickler’s “A Handweaver’s Book of 8-Shaft Patterns”, in search of new crepe drafts. There, on pages 15-16, was a veritable chocolate box of delightful options.

Then came the obvious trouble of making a choice. But wait! Each of the 24 variations can be woven on the same straight draw on 8 shafts. I wanted to weave them all and with only a few changes in tie-ups and treadlings, I could. Yippee! Changing tie-ups on my Glimakra is less than convenient but ultimately do-able. Once I got started, climbing beneath my loom for each of the 17 required tie-ups became routine.

On my shelf I had a few cones of old 20/2 unmercerized cotton mill ends from WEBS. With those I wound a narrow warp, sett it at 37.5 e.p.i., and away I wove. And wove . . . and wove some more. The result is a sampler of 24 crepes and interlocking twills. There is a 6” length of each variation. The finished sampler is 12.5” wide and 108” (3 yards) long. It contains a wealth of useful information.

Left to Right - Drafts #23-32 from Stickler

Left to Right - Drafts #33-42 from Stickler

Left to Right: Drafts #40-46
There is some overlap from the last photo. The last swatch on the right is Draft #26 in both pale yellow and brown
because I ran out of the yellow.

This cloth is soft has a nice drape. It would make a comfortable shirt or a snuggly baby blanket. For now I will enjoy handling the sampler and think of future projects.

This is the entire length. That's a lot of crepe!

If not for my structure study group crepe may well have entirely escaped my notice. A little push outside my comfort zone often brings delightful results. This one certainly did. For a new weaving adventure, think about giving crepe weave a try.

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Crepe-ing Along

My philosophy is: Time doesn’t fly; it accelerates. Can it be nearly two months since last I posted? Really? I guess I'm Back-Blogged. Again.

Here is our modest little goldfish pond.
The first water lily of the season bloomed way back in May.

Spring finally arrived followed by summer. I headed outdoors. Time spent outside has been healthful for both myself and for my garden. My ailing loved one is seven months post-treatment. We are dealing with a slow but mostly steady recovery. Time is our ally. Wedged in among these distractions I’ve found moments to weave.

My structures study group decided to take a look at crepe weave. Until now I have been only vaguely familiar with this structure, rather an interesting one. Crepe is characterized as having an overall pebble-like surface with no distinct pattern and a pleasing drape. The first thing that came to mind was the cloth used in fine wool suits and dresses.

I didn’t care for the green crepe from my previous post so I wove this blue one to share swatches with the group. The draft is #1000 from “A Handbook of Weaves” by Gustaf Hermann Oelsner. It is threaded in a straight draw on six shafts and tromp as writ. I liked the structure. The cloth has a nice hand but it seemed a bit heavy. It is woven of 10/2 perle cotton. Finer yarn might be better. Still, I shared swatches of both light weft and dark weft sections with the group and was happy with that.

Crepe Weave Swatch -- The little square surrounded by zig-zag stitch is
 the one I shared with my Weave Structures Study Group

The group decided to continue our study of crepe. More samples followed and I promise to share those soon. Crepe has been an interesting topic.

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What, a Crepe?

When Seattle’s Nordic Heritage Museum packed up the old place and moved into their shiny new building they unloaded old, non-museum-quality stuff. You know how it is during a move. They offered several boxes of cut/torn rolled rags to my weaver’s guild. Two of the boxes found their way to me.

Toothbrush rug from narrower rag strips

Enter the toothbrush (rug). Well, I don’t actually use a toothbrush since the old style is virtually extinct although one at last has been found and properly carved into a point. But that is beside the point. The name has very little to do with the technique being the name of the old homemade tool used to make these rugs.

Toothbrush rug, detail

Normally toothbrush rug technique calls for rags strips 1½ to 2 inches wide. The rags I’d been given were only 1 to ¾ inches wide. But they were worth a try.

Here is the result: a finer rug than the usual. It looks good and works well in our Powder Room. If it holds up I will switch to narrower rag strips in future toothbrush projects.

A study group I attend is studying Crepe Weaves. Having very slim experience with this structure I began thinking it would be a quick study. Did I ever have a lot to learn. It isn’t!

First attempt at weaving crepe

Putting together a threading from one source and a tie-up from another that seemed like a winning combination. Choosing two similar shades of green 10/2 perle cotton I chose a sett of 30 e.p.i. and dressed my loom. The result produced the required overall pebbled crepe effect. But the cloth seemed heavy and did not satisfy me. It’s time to think again and head back to the drawing board.

May the learning continue.

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(P.S. What a difference a comma makes!)

Thrum Cloth

Thrum Cloth
Knotted thrums of random color and grist on every third pick

Loads of carpet warp fills my collection of thrums but lots of finer yarns are in there, too. I’ve been concocting  ways to put those finer ones to use.

Here is a very simple weave structure. Small weft skips lay between every two plain weave picks. The design came about by way of serendipity. As I wove the plain weave structure I experimented with frequency of thrum placement. Were they best included every other pick, every third pick, etc.

In the end I decided on a three-pick repeat but found the uneven number of picks difficult to maintain. I rely a lot on rhythmic shuttle movements. Once I am in the groove my mind is free to wander. The two picks of shuttle one, one pick of shuttle two kept throwing me off so I decided to throw the third pick, the thrum pick, on treadle #3. My previous tie-up was still in place so I just used what was there. It happened to lift two adjacent shafts. The result made me happy and made shuttle movements more predictable.

The resulting Thrum Cloth yardage is visually interesting with a nice hand. I’ll be considering it’s final use; perhaps a sewing project is in order.

Thrum Cloth
Swatch of my original sampling appears at lower right.

Next is a group photo of my three Deflected Double Weave towels. This structure would be great for scarves, baby blankets and lap robes, too. So much to weave, so little time . . .

Three Kitchen Towels

Spring takes me outdoors more and more, keeping me from the loom. But a study group project is in hot competition for time. A deadline approaches so I am deep into the study of a structure of which I know very little: Crepe Weave. Wish me luck!

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Spring Sunshine and Happy Colors

Great Colors Make Me Happy

Things that make me happy include grandchildren, sunshine, flowers and just the right color combinations.

My third foray into Strickler Draft #760 was a happy one. Color is one of my life-long delights. I am rather a practical person. Still, practicality does not exclude beauty.

I take particular joy in weaving everyday household textiles that are both useful and visually pleasing. This kitchen hand towel exemplifies my goal and makes me happy.

Kitchen Hand Towel, Stickler #760

Structure: Deflected Double Weave, #760 from "A Weaver's Book of 8-Shaft Patterns from the Friends of Handwoven" edited by Carol Strickler

Yarns: 10/2 and 20/2 perle cottons in three solid colors and one variegated. Sett: 30 e.p.i.

Third color way of Stickler #760 on 8 Harnesses

Reverse Side, Third color way of Stickler #760

Spring has sprung. Yard work beckons and the fun continues.

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Weaving and Wishing for Spring

Wishing for Spring Cotton Towel

This has been a tough winter with more snow, colder temperatures and more freezing nights than I can remember. Added to my Midwest Polar Vortex adventure, spring seems a very long time coming. Yet it is still early March. Guess it’s time for patience. In the meantime, I’ve planted several seed trays indoors. Anticipation grows.

While awaiting spring, indoor color adventures continue. Here is the second warp using the Strickler draft #760. The turquoise 10/2 unmercerized cotton had been on my shelf for some time. With 10/2 perle cotton in Porcelain Green, 20/2 UKI mercerized cotton in Banana and 20/2 cotton in a variegation called Spray I think this is a winning combination.

Wishing for Spring Cotton Towel, reverse side

I don’t usually complain about the weather and a few crocus have been blooming. Patience is a virtue, right? Still, I’m very happy that this winter will soon be over – at least according to the calendar.

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