Blanket No.1

Published on by Jen5 Comments

This medium-weight wool throw blanket project was warped and started weaving in late August, designed for my friend’s birthday, for her (nearly) one hundred-year-old Lauren-esque cabin in the woods, and her exquisite taste for moody old country interiors. It has become a labor of love and honor to weave piece after piece for the dark wood paneled walls and big wood stove stone hearth, as timeless country comfort is the mood of every room.

I got off to a rough start though, picking pin stripes of fuzzy yarn, alternating with slippery silk, wanting those mohair pinstripes to create a halo of fuzz, and the silk to sparkle like jewels imbedded in the wool, texture & color playing subtlety together. I only vaguely suspected the mohair would cause a problem in the weaving, and sure enough, right off, threads were sticking and each weft pass was pains-takingly fussy, and the weaving was slowed to a crawl. I confess, I wasn’t all that motivated and just made a little progress each day, through the weeks, at a snail’s pace.

But about halfway through the warp, I figured out a quick couple of movements to change things up, and suddenly there was a clear shed every time, the weaving sped up probably four times, and the incentive made me stay with the loom far longer each day. In a week I finished the second half, and an extra two days to do the finish work. I introduce to you, what we have affectionately named Da Blankie!

♣  Weaving Notes  ♣

What the trick was that sped things up was on the ‘up’ pick, I would lift the rigid heddle reed completely over the reed block and up to the warp beam, separating any under-tensioned or fuzzy yarns, then bring it back and place the reed in the up position — clear shed every time! I wish I had figured this out earlier, much earlier. One can’t do this with a conventional loom, and I attribute yet another reason why rigid heddle weaving is an excellent way to get the weaving done.

Another technique I learned by my own experimentation, that is better than a hemstitch in my opinion (which I never do anyway) is: Take each pair of ends (1 from upper shed, 1 from lower) which encase the last weft thread, tie those 2 ends together (once) to snug up to and encase the last weft thread, thereby holding everything in place. When I’ve tied 3 pairs, I divide those in two sets of 3, then twist the fringe.

My fringe technique: Place one set of ends in each hand, begin twisting each clockwise, then after a few twists, begin plying the two sets in counterclockwise direction as I continue to twist clockwise. Simply tie knots at 3″ then snip tassels at 3-1/2″ total. Which shrink at the finish to 3″.

  • Yarn: Knit Picks Palette (from the cone) in Cream, Aloft mohair silk lace in Brass Heather, and Luminance silk lace in Triumph.
  • Loom: Ashford 48″ rigid heddle loom.
  • Warping method: Direct warp method, double threading from back apron rod, through front to peg. Wound on to back beam and threaded through reed: Palette, 1 end in every slot and hole, mohair 2 ends in slot and 2 in hole, silk 2 ends in slot and 2 in hole.
  • Number of warp ends: 480 holes & dents possible on reed, plus 1 neutral shed on the outside of the reed, then doubled outermost 2 selvedge ends to make +4 = 485.
  • Reed: 10 dent, 48″
  • Width in reed: approx. 48″
  • Sett on loom: 10epi
  • Selvedges: doubled up outermost 2 ends and used a temple to keep fell at 48″.
  • Sett after finishing: 12epi and 12ppi
  • Finishing method: Twisted fringe, hand washed — without pressing water out, folded in half lengthwise and hung over bedroom outside rail until water stopped dripping off, then fluffed in machine on low heat for only a few minutes, then let dry hanging over rail doubled in half, shaking and changing out the blanket and changing the fold line a few times. Decided not to press so that the lofty fuzz wasn’t ruined, and the pebbly surface was actually nice. Finished dry measurements are 42 inches wide, and 88 inches long, not including fringe. Weighs 605g , or, 1.33 pounds!
  • Yardage: Total yardage of yarn used for finished piece = approx. 2800y, figured from weight of finished piece and not including loom waste.

Two Shawls

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Hi, its me Abelene,

There is a story behind these two modest shawls. It began with Jen slipping in the gravel coming down the ridge road on a steep section right near home, sometime in the beginning of September. After tearing her knee up something awful and feeling very humbled by the situation, a strange determination overtook her. She decided that she didn’t want to walk up the ridge for a time—or forever (unrealistic in her injury)—and instead desperately wanted to fix up her old knitting trail down by the tiny house again, in the deeper, darker, more densely wooded haven, where the terrain is softer… not so rocky and steep.

However, as that would take a LOT of work and energy that she doesn’t really have these days, instead she decided to design some shawls. A perfect resolution in my opinion! Just some simple knits that could be knitted while walking the old trail she once had (and will have again one day, after the dead trees are finished falling) … before the indifferent wild took over with loggers, fallen trees, brambles, and all manner of unkindness to the soul of a trail.

So these are the two shawls. Instead of coming up with a new design, she decided to quietly slip them in under the radar, without fanfare, into her pattern collection A Drawer Full of Winter. (( Jen left some notes below on the details))

That is the update here in the perpetual wild beneath the tall trees, humbled by the months and years, the roaring quietude, and still making appearances, in spite of ourselves!

Ta ta,
Abelene

♣ Jen’s Techy Pattern info ♣

This classic shawl shape in stockinette stitch can be knit with solid increases for a staid & sturdy layer the wind won’t blow through or with light and airy classic eyelet increases appropriate all year round. Three sizes; shown in size 1, a shawlette, and size 2, a medium. Written in a modern “knit-to-exit” framework, it is beautifully customizable. You can easily test the shape by working the body increases with a mini swatch before working the finishing border. From fingering yarn or handspun, from cobweb lace to worsted– the framework lets you begin the finishing rows at any time and bind off with perfectly balanced proportions. One shawl many ways — soon you’ll have a drawer full of them!

Sun Into Libra

Published on by Jen2 Comments

The sun has gone into Libra, and at last Autumn arrives like a soft exhale. My tradition for years now is to take this photo, capturing the sinking sun’s rays throwing the dying light of summer up against the rafters. Good-bye summer. This year my favorite creations hang in the photo, milestones adding texture to the celebration. Autumn is my absolute favorite season, a time of transition into cooler days, when the landscape is damp, bay berries and acorns fall, leaves soon to follow, and relaxation overtakes me, knowing we have gotten through the worst of the hot dry season, so the equinox marks a happy time for me. Wishing a happy equinox to all!

Things that go with yellow.

Published on by Jen4 Comments

I am conducting experiments in chambray. A traditional cloth of plain weave in two colors, but finding my own pairings beyond the standard blue-and-white. I have set out to test first the yellows, creating a color gamp that shifts between yellows, golds, and peachy apricots.

I warped my tiny sample loom in a sequence using four distinct shades of yellow. For the weft I wove the same sequence in the four yellows to see the true solid shades on the diagonal, then I introduced white — the traditional chambray partner — see how it tones down the yellows to unique pale versions? I then wove in subtle pale pink, which created a soft cross-weave that gently changed the yellow to apricot, and a deeper pink to a beautiful terracotta.

Because chambray is a plain weave, the weft and warp threads are equal, so in a balanced weave the new color should be a perfect mix of two. When the pink wefts interlock with the four shades of yellow warp, they don’t fight for dominance, instead, they melt into each other… the bright yellows soften, the pinks lose their coolness, and a rich, glowing spectrum of new colors emerge. This color gamp shows how yellow isn’t just a single note … with the right chambray pairings, it is a chameleon.

Chambray — a new category in my cloth weaving exploration where I refine color blending, and something I can easily do now thanks to my little Ashford sample loom, I am ready to pair up colors and see them come alive, so excited about my summer “gamping” trip!

♣   Weaving Notes  ♣

Although its just a sample, a color gamp, to show how the different colors look together, I need to list the exact colors I used so that I can come back to this and repeat. What is going on with the mottled appearance in the darker shades? I have learned that the term for this is “tracking” apparently, and though I will understand it one day, for now it is a mystery!

  • Yarn: 16/2 cotton from Bockens, warped in a sequence of yellows; 104, 101, 2030, 0020. I then wove the same sequence in the weft first, before weaving with natural 2000, pale pink (468) and rose (471).
  • Loom: Ashford 10″ Sample Loom
  • Warping method:  Direct warp method, threaded through two 15 dent reeds.
  • Sett on loom: 30epi

Rug No.2

Published on by Jen4 Comments

It has come. The summer in its scorching moods and light saturated glaring afternoons, where the heat is reason to be out in the early mornings just to get a breath of fresh air, to water the plants, fill the birdbaths, and take Juno for a scamper. Then it is back inside, to stay busy beneath the posts and beams of the house, sheltering in. The solstice has already long passed, the days are shortening already, at a dizzying rate, it will soon be Autumn again, and each year older I become, the pages of my calendar flip faster than I can write anything down… the days, near empty boxes on pages turning… and my blog goes quiet for weeks upon weeks now. My focus has been elsewhere, and for a long time. I feel this morning though, as I have woken not only to a new day, but a new clarity, a new trust in myself.

In the new year I put together the Brooklyn 4-shaft table loom, and I finally began to weave very fine narrow cloth, satisfying a craving that goes beyond reason, lost to its gravitational pull, I was sure it was me married to fine linen weaving for the rest of time (Cloth No.4) . Even though everything, and in all directions, is part of the creative experience, adventuring so far out in one direction, before recentering and then again drifting off in another direction, like a pendulum. I wonder, is this the way of the artist? I am longing for a mid-summer reset at center. I confess, there are times I’m just too embarrassed to post about yet another diversion, that I have become more quiet, unsure of my impulses, I seek the stillness, worried that as soon as I put it into words, the words already begin to change inwardly.

Soon we will (finally) be putting in the finish floor for our rebuilt home (but not too soon, hopes Juno), and in a bit of anticipatory celebration I have decided to weave rugs. Lots of them? Reminiscing in the archives to November of 2024, I had recently woven my first sakiori from torn cloth, and then completed my first floor rug, feeling certain these were to be the first of a huge series where I would refine my technique. But I had not woven another until now. Reconstructing worn clothes into bit of improvisational rag weaving of sakiori cloth and rugs, while at the same time weaving fine cloth requiring intense focus, should keep me on my toes for the remainder of the summer!

♣   Weaving Notes  ♣

I wove a third of the rug with no particular pattern in mind but to make stripes, which I think was maybe a bit cliche. I did however, make intentional “mistakes”, laying down a few colors out of sequence, and making some stripes fatter than others, going for that folk art appearance. The effect was perfectly achieved when the faded areas of the fabrics, from drying on the clothes line inside-out in the sun, over time create a variegation of color, sought-after in folk textiles.

Oh, and it is definitely worth mentioning that weaving a rug on a rigid heddle loom needs a bit of specialized extras — specifically a weighted beater to really pack down the weft (the plastic reed is only to change sheds, not to beat anything) , and in my opinion the Ashford Freedom Roller is essential for the bulk that builds up in no time on the cloth beam.

The actual weaving notes are minimal for this project, as I was improvising through the whole thing, and not taking notes. Here is what I remember…

  • Yarn: Warp: 8/4 cotton warp yarn from Maurice Brassard, in color Rouille. Weft: Linen strips cut from many pairs of 100% linen pants, ranging from 1/2″ to 1-1/2″ , creating a thick-and-thin appearance, from spiral cutting up from the hem of the legs, over side seams and patches, going with the rustic nubby effect.
  • Loom: Ashford 32″ Rigid Heddle Loom with Freedom Roller attachment.
  • Warping method:  Direct warp method, double threading from back apron rod, through front to peg = 110″ , which was a rough guess to be more than long enough to use up all the terracotta linen strips. Wound on to back beam and finally threaded 1 in each hole and 1 in each slot. Tied off on to front apron rod for weaving.
  • Number of warp ends: Approx 182
  • Reed: 12.5 dent, but threaded every other hole/slot to create 6.25 dents per inch.
  • Width in reed: approx. 29″
  • Selvedges: Used a temple to keep width in reed.
  • Finished:  I didn’t want fringes, so I planned to hem. Wove the first and last 2″ woven in warp thread, packed down with weighted beater created weft-faced, stitched a rolled hem. I should have woven first 3 inches and packed down tight with weighted beater like I had at the last 2″. Measures 29″ wide by 66″ long unwashed.
  • What I will do differently next time: Cut the strips 1″ consistently, weave the warp thread header longer and pack down with fork for a tightly woven rolled hem. I will make a very minimal weavers angle when laying in the weft, for fear I was too dramatic with this one. Also, I really think for linen rags, I would like to use linen warp.