Tax Day and Bull’s Eyes

Kitchen Hand Towel
Navy & Natural 22/2 Cottolin, Color & Weave Effect

After Samitum my Structures Group turned to Shadow Weave. The topic was soon expanded to Color and Weave Effect. A draft that caught my eye is in a wonderful book titled “Favorite Scandinavian Projects to Weave: 45 Stylish Designs for the Modern Home” by Tina Ignell of Scandinavian Weaving Magazine. For my study group project I chose the draft “Black and White Hand Towels with Color Effects” found on page 62.

On my shelf for some time now have been several full tubes of Cottolin plus many partial tubes of varying amounts. Some of it once belonged to fellow weavers and friends so it holds special meaning for me. Some of it came to me when a workshop was cancelled after the Sept. 11^th attacks. It is that old. I have been meaning to get around to using these Cottolins. This draft proved the perfect opportunity.

Cottolin Towels hanging off the back of my loom
Four different warps/Four color ways
I had fun trying highlight colors for selvedges and hems

Cottolin makes an excellent Kitchen Towel. It is strong, absorbent, has a pleasing hand, is readily available and comes in beautiful colors. It is pleasant to work with, too. I used much of the yarn from my stash. Isn't stash busting one of the best reasons for placing a new yarn order?

The structure for these kitchen towels is an 8 Harness point twill with both warp and weft ends alternating between black and natural. The Bull’s eye effect is striking and simple. The towels are a joy to weave and to use.

Kitchen Hand Towel
Garnet & Natural 22/2 Cottolin, Color & Weave Effect

This book is fantastic. I aim to weave several of the projects. Be aware that in early editions of the book this draft contains errors. Check for the “Errata” supplement page containing corrections for three of the book’s projects.

There are times when everything seems wrong. Times when it seems there's a Bull's Eye on your back. Being April 15, here in the USA it is Tax Day. Sadly it is an extra stressful occasion for many, many Americans. May each of you here and across the globe be and remain well. May the challenges we face make us stronger, encourage us to greater achievement and gratitude for good times. Spring is here. It is a time of renewal and looking ahead to brighter days.

Warp On/Weave Off, 

RepWeaver

A Slice of Pink -OR- Don’t Try This at Home

Oops!

It was late at night and I was in a hurry to finish. This is one way to add to my personal collection of kitchen hand towels. But I wouldn’t recommend it.

As soon as I took the last snip it was clear what was wrong. All the way up through the scissors I could feel the difference between single and double layers. Alas!

If not for the purple borders I could have salvaged this towel by hemming it slightly shorter. Oh, well. We will use it here at home and it will serve as a reminder to me: Slow down, be careful and get more sleep.

This one is a "keeper"

Warp On/Weave Off,

RepWeaver

Swedish Kitchen

Swedish Kitchen Towels, Warp #109 by RepWeaver

Here, at last, are additional photos of Warp #109 towels mentioned in the previous post. Choosing colors and watching them interact gives me great joy while weaving. Having a few variegated ends in the mix mulitplies the fun.

Once these come off the loom there are always "Aha" moments. Colors and combinations that appealed most to me while weaving aren't always my favorites when finished.

Nine Swedish Kitchen Towels, Warp #109 by RepWeaver

Red pattern weft washed out the effect of
red in the variegated warp ends.

Since the variegated ends in this warp were a combination of red, brown, gold and forest green I thought the brighter red pattern weft would be my favorite. But it turned out to compete too much and washed out the effect of red of the variegation. The darker maroon pattern weft was far better, causing the brighter red in the warp to zing.

Swedish Kitchen towel by RepWeaver
Two shades of green that did not seem happy together
Here you see both front and back sides of the towel 

The green towel below was my least favorite while weaving. Its blue green pattern weft seemed to fight the yellow green in the warp and tabby. Do clashing colors set your teeth on edge? That is what these greens did to me as I wove. But in the finished towel the colors worked. One of my weaving friends even said the green one was his favorite of the lot. Green pattern weft does a fantastic job of highlighting the red variegation in the warp.

The reverse side of Swedish Kitchen Towel with Maroon pattern weft
This color combination proved a favorite both on and off the loom

Warp #110 with marled (navy and white plied together) warp ends used where before there were variegated ends

This is the current warp on my loom, the one I wrote about in the last post. I tied it to my two previous warps. The marled warp ends don't seem to be working the way I'd have liked. Maybe this will be another case in which the finished product outshines the work in progress. Let's hope.

Knitted Shaker Dish Cloths

Here is a good way to spend time when away from the loom. These are knitted Shaker Dish Cloths. Leave it to me to find another way to incorporate variegated yarn! These work well and are fun to use. Knit some for yourself or to give as gifts. The pattern is available for free at Very Pink. Look for other great patterns there as well including "World's Best Kitchen Scrubbie", one of my favorites.

That's what I'm up to today. I wonder what will happen tomorrow? One can never be too sure.

Warp On/Weave Off,

RepWeaver

Back in the Saddle (Or Back on the Loom Bench)

Hello, again!

Swedish Kitchen, Detail

It has been a long, long time. For several weeks I have been away. I spent three weeks over Christmas in Washington, D.C. Then most of February I was with our daughter and son-in-law who just gave us our third grandchild. Their new little sweetheart joins an older sister and brother so they are a very busy family. Mine was a working visit but loads of love and fun.  Now I am home again and missing them, yet, home is the very best place. And I am back at my loom.

Here are a few quick shots of my latest towels. I will take more but first I need to iron that stack of towels. Here also is a shot of the third iteration of this design. I am going out on a limb here and using a plied yarn in place of the usual variegated ends. Time will tell if it works. I will be sure to let you know.

Swedish Kitchen Towels by RepWeaver

There are no travel plans in my immediate future but there will be visitors. Oh, and we will be having our siding replaced and the house painted. Neither of these will take me away from home but may limit weaving time. The excitement continues!

Warp on/Weave off,

RepWeaver

Warp #110

Miniature Norse Kitchen - Third Warp

Miniature Norse Kitchen towels

Darker teal yarn used as both warp and tabby in borders

Here you see finished towels from the third warp of my Miniature Norse Kitchen draft. This warp was shorter than usual due to limited supply of yarn. Look closely and you will see a darker shade of teal blue added into the borders. Sometimes I mix in other colors of warp for design interest. Other times I mix in additional solid warp colors due to limited supplies of yarn. It is a great way to use up small bits of yarn. Each of these reasons was relevant with this warp.

Third color way of Miniature 

Right side of Miniature Norse Kitchen

Both sides are beautiful. The variegated and darker teal is more obvious on the reverse side. If you ask me, either side could be considered the "right" side.

Warp On/Weave Off,
RepWeaver

Reverse side of Miniature Norse Kitchen

Decisions, Decisions

Sometimes it takes awhile to come up with color choices. Once the warp colors are decided it becomes easier. When I weave, each piece is unique. In other words, I do not set a palette to follow for the entire length of the warp. Maybe this shows a lack of attention span. I like to think it is merely excitement to find out how each pattern weft choice works with the warp colors.

Playing with colors for RepWeaver Warp #103
Three cones on the right are for warp.
Others are possible pattern weft colors.
I used all of them except the jade one at the back.

Recently I was reminded of a childhood disappointment. Crayola Crayons began making their famous 64 color box with sharpener when I was small. How I longed to have so many beautiful colors. On Saturdays one of my favorite things to do was listen to storybook records (the former version of audio books). While listening I would take crayons and paper and draw illustrations to go along with the story of the moment. Oh, to have my very own box of 64 colors!

But mother had other ideas. You see, she had six children and a limited budget and was worried about her living room carpeting. The sharpener on the back of the box was my undoing. It made her fear probable carpet stains from loose crayon crumbs. When I was much older I bought my own box of 64 colors. Even then, having all those colors made me very happy. It's probably just as well there weren't markers for children back then. Not having markers would simply have been another source of sorrow in my youth. Mom would have worried about her walls.

Neither crayons nor markers can beat colored pencils for shading and combining colors. As a teenager I discovered Prismacolor pencils and an entire new world opened up to me. But I digress . . .

Watching the colors cross is like watching woven fireworks.
Pattern weft here is "Eggplant" and not included in the original line-up.

Pulling out cone after cone of yarns and arranging and rearranging color line-ups is no end of fun. It is almost like having a big box of crayons (without the sharpener). Imagining the interaction of warp colors crossing weft colors thrills me every time.

Next time I'll show you more photos of Warp #103.

Warp on/Weave Off,
RepWeaver

Bother Number Four

This is the last one, I promise. Going by the level of annoyance, this really is number one on the list.

After the first few inches weaving this problem really stood out. It was especially apparent in the repeating middle section. Take a close look and you will see what I mean.

"Norse Kitchen" from draft in A Handweaver's Pattern Book by Marguerite Porter Davison

The ground interlacements on either side of each little white cross are not even. Checking the draft from the Davison book, one side of the center repeat section has six ends alternating on shafts two and three and eight ends on those two shafts on the other side. This problem pops up in the border sections as well but isn't as noticeable.

If you look at the photo accompanying the draft in the Davison book you will see that sample also shows this problem. I guess this is a lesson to look very carefully at sample photos as well as at drafts. It's dangerous to make assumptions.

The Davison sample photo is curious. It is so different from other samples in the book. It appears to be an entire woven piece and clearly shows crease marks. This made me wonder if the draft had been copied from the woven article and not actually woven by Davison herself. At the top of page 186 is a notation "Adapted from Caroline Halvorsen's Page 106 - No. 185".

Last week I did a search and discovered a book by Caroline Halvorsen and placed an order for a used copy. I do not know if this particular book is the source of inspiration for the Davison draft. But I aim to track it down.

Reading the "Understanding Overshot" chapter in The Complete Book of Drafting for Handweavers by Madelyn van der Hoogt it looks as if this draft may have originated in an abbreviated form. If you read the section "Variations in Drafting Format" on page 41 there is a clear explanation of how an unbalanced draft could occur.

When the Halvorsen book arrives I'll let you know what I discover. Then I will show you my solution to the problems with the Davison draft.

Bother Number Two

The second thing that really bothered me while weaving "Norse Kitchen" with my usual set-up was the floats. They were too long to be practical for use as a towel. I kept thinking how my rings would snag those floats. This was clearly unacceptable.

Here is the first towel. Warp is 20/2 cotton sett at 30 e.p.i. with 10/2 red perle cotton for pattern weft.
Those floats are far too long. After wet finishing they weren't just long, they were loose. Awful!