weaving blue

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Warping yesterday I made a disastrous mistake early on which wasn’t able to be fixed, I was feeling very clever, and I wasn’t paying attention to any chance of stupidity creeping in. After I realized what I had done, I was ready to cut off the warp, but instead I shifted course and was able to weave by simply taking out the two shafts which were rendered unusable, not only that , I ran out of heddles, only able to use two of the shafts, so the piece is so narrow on the loom, I will call it a learning curve. But the learning curve isn’t what I expected; it is not that I should have been more diligent, and careful to detail, it was my lack of diligence and care, I allowed the forces of nature to enter the loom. I have only woven a little, but I love the effect, not only because of my original warping mistake, but two more mistakes reveal themselves, which in the end remind me how artfulness works, as if letting go to the natural influences, is essentially the key in surprise element of beauty and originality. I have skipped heddles, in more than one place, and they are beautiful in the field of mixed texture, color, and thickness. This piece is introducing me to an approach in weaving which is brought about by my not being overly controlling merging thick with thin, fuzzy with slick, and soft with unyielding. When I come to the pattern of the missed heddles , I repeat it in the weft . . .

 

This piece is truly beyond my experience, and I guess I wanted that. I’ve got to resist too much control. I’ve got to let the spirit of the warp and weft control me, and I am merely the mover of the shuttle for the higher textile mind, which speaks between the spaces of interlacement, for my mind is the mind of a single person in one short life, but the textile’s spirit is ancient across hundreds of thousands of lifetimes, and it knows what it wants to be before I can recognise it. If the linen tells me to beat, even still, lighter, still more… and if the puffy silk is asking me to beat a little more, well okay, each fiber in the weft wants different tension and force of beating, and I am listening.

gathering blue

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I dyed this very fine silk yesterday, not with real indigo, but my own blend of acid dyes I call Ocean ( it is photographed on a cloth dyed with indigo) The silk is almost dry after spending a winter day hanging on the line out in the wind. My idea is to warp and weave with a mix of animal and plant fibers, what I am calling “fundamental four” — linen, cotton, wool, and silk — each one of them considered ancient and possibly prehistoric in their use in weaving cloth. I have been pondering a subtle difference of indigo shades as well as mixing up the the fibers at the same time, for textural and visual affect. Today I am winding bobbins, and tomorrow I’ll be warping!

Cloth No.1

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This morning early, I was impatient for the light to come, giving the muse a rest, and the loom too. Nothing is distorted or broken in the weave, after-all. It went through wash and dry, and a ritual of steam pressing — it is more than fine, it survived my incessant nervous worry as I wove through the last many days, and my misunderstanding of the warp is now an embarrassment, but essential part of the lesson, because really, in the end there is no sacrifice, it is a perfect piece of cloth.

Warp and weft together leave their home, are cut off the loom as if saying goodbye to their birthplace, for a marriage in a journey together for the life of the cloth. Purifying their bond in the water, for wet finishing is when the fibers bloom, the tension evens out, the blatant flaws heal and become only subtle scars. The loom is silent for a short while, and the cloth is folded and stashed away, along with its own potential, as it was meant to be.

♣   Weaving Notes  ♣

  • Yarn: 20/2 mercerized perle cotton, 8400yds / 1 lb, Maurice Brassard, in colors Beige (P-2), Natural (P-100), Turquoise (P-401), Rose (P-145), and Flax (P-5104).
  • Loom: Ashford Brooklyn 4-shaft Table Loom, straight draw threading for plain weave, lifting pairs of odds & evens (1&3, and 2&4)
  • Warping method:  Tested an easy direct warp method, back to front; double threading from back apron rod through heddles and reed, then to peg. Wound on to back beam and finally tied off on to front for weaving.
  • Number of warp ends: Warped in couplets of 20/2, each couplet counts as 1 end. 380 plus 2 extra at each selvedge = 384 ends
  • Reed: 16 dent reed, 2 ends in each dent and 2 ends in each heddle.
  • Width in reed: forgot to measure.
  • Sett on loom: 20epi
  • Selvedges: 4 extra ends at each selvedge and used a temple to keep width in reed.
  • Sett after finishing: Warp 24 epi, and weft 12 ppi.
  • Color Pattern Warp: { 8 ends beige, [4 ends turquoise, 16 ends beige]x8, 4 ends turquoise, 16 ends rose}, 4 ends Flax, mirror reverse { … }.
  • Pattern Weft: No pattern, just one color, Natural (P-100), used shuttle.
  • Finished: 1/4 inch turned hem, then washed and dried in machine, then steam pressed, measuring 80″ long and 14″ wide, and weighs 128g. 
  • Yardage:  Total yardage used for finished piece = 2370y, figured from weight of finished piece and not including loom waste.

Invincible Spring

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It is the emissary of spring when the wild fruit trees first bloom.

I witnessed the first tiny leaves of the Black Oak, nearly a month early, emerging next to a leaf from last Autumn that was too reluctant to fall.

On the first day of February, I heard what I thought was a deafening sound of cicadas, but learned it is the Pacific Chorus Frogs, and they haven’t stopped since, as if something ominous began that day and continues.

Out walking in the wild, on a trail near my house, I am reminded that in the absence of distractions, I begin to feel peaceful renewal . . . because in the dispassion of winter, I discovered within me an Invincible Spring.

Juno feels it too.

Philosophy of the Loom: Tension, distortion, breakage . . . repair.

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This morning early, photographed in the light of the sunrise of a new day, I am weaving fast and furiously on the Little Brooklyn, ascending to new heights.

I just want to empty the loom, after many days of struggling with the threads’ betrayal, so that I can again find peace and contentment in weaving through the hours of my day.

Considering the warp tension; if there is too little the warp becomes flabby and the shuttle dives beneath the threads, if there is too much, then there other problems arise, at worst . . . breakage . . . or surface distortion. And if there is a threading mistake, even if the sheds clear, it will reveal itself after the weaving begins, like these mysterious gaps between the warp threads.

Repairing becomes a dilemma, as when a problem persists it usually worsens, like anything in life. One has to decide if fixing it is worth the trouble, or better just to cut it off the loom, lessons learned. However, for this problem warp, I will proceed with diligence to the end, letting the flaws relish in their glory of a first project on a new loom, and I will weave with a fury until I can take it off the loom, and start new. Maybe it will even out in the wash as they say.

Meanwhile, I am encouraged by the ideas coming to my mind for the next weave, as if to weave it is beyond my experience or ability . . . as if I am receiving inspiration from some mysterious unseen luminous source, and I am simply following the instructions.

Four Shafts

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I have been craving weaving yards and yards of narrow width, fine cloth, on just a simple little table loom like this, my new Brooklyn four-shaft loom. Using the finest weight cotton and linen threads that I can find, higher epi (ends per inch) should not be so overwhelming with only 16 inches weaving width, shoulder width, therefore it is very ergonomic and a great way to weave longer pieces. I like to stand while I weave, so I have set up the Brooklyn on my loft table which is also my desk, sharing space with everything else, and I can take breaks often to weave a few inches here and there. Just having it there with a long warp waiting, is so inviting. I started weaving my first project, with a hybrid direct warp method, using only the number of heddles for 20epi that the loom comes with, and next time I will add heddles and weave 40 epi. Even though the inexpensive Brooklyn comes unfinished, I waxed all of the pieces before assembling, and I don’t even mind that the sides are plywood, I wanted a little loom just like this one on which to learn to weave ultra fine — at my own pace.

Another Nine Days (Shawl No.2)

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It is just another one of those striking coincidences, that the days it took me to warp, weave, finish, and photograph Shawl No.2 is precisely the same number of days as Shawl No.1. Despite my best efforts to relax and enjoy the process, I began to focus on speeding up my technique, spending less time fussing at the selvedges, and worked at a frantic pace , and now my whole body is sore, and my arm feels like it is going to fall out of its socket. Abelene models the shawl in a most regal way and was compassionate and quiet today, although she did tell me what great work the wind did for the photos!

♣   Weaving Notes  ♣

I wanted to try big blocks of color this time, decided to weave the full length of the warp, not trying to enforce full repeats, so there is a little strip of gold at the end, giving beautiful asymmetry, and a unique folksy touch.

  • Yarn: Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud lace weight, 440 y = 50g, in Lydia (rust red), Zadie (gold), Willoughby (warm light grey), and Arabella (dark green).
  • Loom: Ashford 32″ rigid heddle loom
  • Warping method:  Easy direct warp method for rigid heddle, 1 end in hole and 1 end in slot.
  • Number of warp ends: 472
  • Reed: 15 dent rigid heddle reed.
  • Width in reed: 30.5″
  • Selvedges: I added 4 extra ends to each of the selvedges, as they tend to get pulled in, and I used a temple.
  • Sett after finishing: Warp 16 epi, and weft 16 ppi.
  • Color Pattern Warp: 118 ends each of Lydia, Zadie, Willoughby, and Arabella, approx 7.5″ blocks.
  • Color Pattern Weft: Same sequence as warp, weaving each color in blocks, but ended in a little strip bit of gold for a folksy touch.
  • Finished: 3″ hand-twisted fringe, then washed and air-dried hanging, and lightly steam pressed. Measures 96″ long (not including fringe) and 29″ wide, and weighs 275g — approx 68g of each color.
  • Yardage:  Total yardage used for finished piece = 2422y, figured from weight of finished piece and not including loom waste.

Nine Days (Shawl No.1)

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Hi, its me Abelene,

Nine days ago the newest member of the crew arrived, the Ashford 32″ Rigid Heddle Loom, and Jen waxed the pieces and put them together.  She then spent seven days weaving an impressively voluminous alpaca shawl. Today, the fringes were hand-twisted, shawl washed and quickly dried in the cold winter breeze, loose ends trimmed and lightly steamed. Finally, the excitement began when Jen brought me out of the closet to model this beautiful piece of weaving . . . the shawl makes me feel sophisticated, moody, and quite elegant with the color rich weaving wrapped around me, like I could live forever in this moment! Jen has got much more alpaca, so there’s hope this winter will find more shawls coming into view.

Ta ta, Abelene & The Crew

♣   Weaving Notes  ♣

Note from Jen:  Woven in the same lovely alpaca that I have been for many months now, but the weaving width is double of that in the scarf series, and therefore a full sized shawl, at 29 x 84 inches.  I have a lot of ideas for this loom, and I mustn’t be in a rush, but let the hours and days, weeks and months pass by at their own pace; with the awe of a child and the patience of an old woman. Adding to my collection of rigid heddle looms, was inevitable, it was time for this loom, and I know I’ll weave on it a lot! Now, for the tech stuff . . .

  • Yarn: Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud lace weight, 440 y = 50g, in Amos (green), Lydia (rust red), and Zadie (gold).
  • Loom: Ashford 32″ rigid heddle loom
  • Warping method:  Easy direct warp method for rigid heddle, 1 end in hole and 1 end in slot.
  • Number of warp ends: 472
  • Reed: 15 dent rigid heddle reed.
  • Width in reed: 30.5″
  • Selvedges: I added 4 extra ends to each of the selvedges, as they tend to get pulled in, and I used a temple.
  • Sett after finishing: Warp 16 epi, and weft 16 ppi.
  • Color Pattern Warp: [52 ends Zadie, 52 Amos, 52 Lydia] x 3
  • Color Pattern Weft: Same sequence as warp, weaving each color in blocks.
  • Finished: 3″ hand-twisted fringe, then washed and air-dried hanging, and lightly steam pressed. Measures 84″ long (not including fringe) and 29″ wide, and weighs 241g — approx 80g of each color.
  • Yardage:  Total yardage used for finished piece = 2120y, figured from weight of finished piece and not including loom waste.

Auld Lang Syne (Scarf No.15)

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A lot of the time I don’t realize the coincidences at play as I bring something to finish. For instance, the Scottish phrase “Auld Lang Syne” evoking the sentiment of “for old times’ sake” and “days gone by” . . . and my attempt at weaving to mimic an “auld Scottish tartan” design that my dear old friend and I planned the minute I got my first loom a couple of years ago (the very loom on which it is photographed) . Posted yesterday drying on the line, today here it is, fulfilling all those sentiments as it will be draped artfully over the shoulder of an old wingback chair which sits facing an old woodstove, in a very, very old cabin. For old times’ sake indeed, not to mention it is New Year’s Eve — happy 2026 everyone!

♣   Weaving Notes  ♣

This weight of alpaca is truly perfect for the rigid heddle looms, using a 15 dent reed, because the drape is spectacular and there is enough room for the alpaca to bloom in the simple plain weave. Oh, and about the missing information in the notes; I wrote everything down on a piece of paper as I was calculating the design, then later lost the piece of paper, so it was accidentally thrown away.

  • Yarn: Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud lace weight, in Carson (dark grey), Alfred (medium grey), Arabella (dark green), Elizabeth (red), and Zadie (gold). 440 y = 50g
  • Loom: Ashford 20″ Knitters Loom
  • Warping method:  Easy direct warp method for rigid heddle, 1 end in hole and 1 end in slot.
  • Number of warp ends: Not available
  • Reed: 15 dent rigid heddle reed.
  • Width in reed: 18.5″
  • Selvedges: I added 4 extra ends to each of the selvedges, as they tend to get pulled in, and I used a temple.
  • Sett after finishing: Warp 16 epi, and weft 16 ppi.
  • Color Pattern Warp & Weft: Not available
  • Finished: 3″ hand-twisted fringe, then washed and air-dried hanging, and lightly steam pressed. Measures 89″ long (not including fringe) and 18″ wide, and weighs 175g. 
  • Yardage:  Total yardage used for finished piece = 1540y, figured from weight of finished piece and not including loom waste.

Drying on the line.

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Heavy and dark with water, drip drying on the line out in the woods. I just finished hand-twisting the fringe and in the setting-wash I decided to add some tea bags with some vinegar to fix. I didn’t really “boil it in” so it would be just a slight effect if anything at all, trying to soften the contrasts some, to make it more like an “auld tartan”. Probably later today this will be completely finished, ends trimmed off, photographed, but instead of folding it up and putting it in the drawer of woven scarves, I will then personally deliver it to its new home. It was with me for about ten days; a blink of existence in the weaver’s life, and I am only grateful I got to weave it and give it to a home that will give it the appreciation it deserves, draped invitingly on a chair in front of a woodstove, in a 100 year old cabin just down the road from me, and which I visit often. Yes, there it will be appreciated a lot, even by me when I visit.

Posting tomorrow, the finished scarf with weaving notes, so watch this space!

Scarf No. 14

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Levi came to visit, and as I was showing him my alpaca scarf series, I could tell that he admired them, and that perhaps he even wanted one, but none of the colors I had woven were appropriate for his blue & grey gentlemen’s style. So, the day before he was to leave I suggested he design one with the alpaca colors I had on hand and that I would weave it for him, and so he did, and by the time he was leaving back to Canada, I had already woven one repeat to show him. Then this last week was a determined effort to getting it done, and now it is finished and ready to send in the post. As usual, my technical weaving notes are listed below.

♣   Weaving Notes  ♣

  • Yarn: Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud lace weight, in Carson (dark grey), Alfred (medium grey), Eleanor (light grey), and Bernard (blue). 440 y = 50g
  • Loom: Ashford 16″ rigid heddle loom
  • Warping method:  Easy direct warp method for rigid heddle, 1 end in hole and 1 end in slot.
  • Number of warp ends: 228
  • Reed: 15 dent rigid heddle reed.
  • Width in reed: 14″
  • Selvedges: I added 4 extra ends to each of the selvedges, as they tend to get pulled in, and I used a temple.
  • Sett after finishing: Warp 16 epi, and weft 16 ppi.
  • Color Pattern Warp: 20 ends each of *Carson, Eleanor, Bernard, Eleanor, Carson, Alfred, Carson, Eleanor, Bernard, Eleanor*, Carson.
  • Color Pattern Weft: Same sequence as for warp *thru*, and ending in Carson.
  • Finished: 2″ hand-twisted fringe, then washed and air-dried hanging, and lightly steam pressed. Measures 76″ long (not including fringe) and 13.5″ wide, and weighs 118g. 
  • Yardage:  Total yardage used for finished piece = 1040y, figured from weight of finished piece and not including loom waste.

My colors of Autumn…

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Familiar colorways I always seem to go for. I’ve got about 400g of the terracotta blend ( the blending notes are posted here ) and about 650g of the greyish rusty tweed. My goal is to be spinning and knitting the handspun as I did with rescued From oblivion, but I have decided for now to bear down and get a lot of spinning done first, so then I’ll have a lot to choose from when it comes time for knitting. It has been a dream of mine for a long time, to spin samples of my designs from my own handspun, after all, I include gauge substitution charts in nearly all of my patterns just for this reason.

I should have made *Spinning Notes* on this entry, but honestly, I have been focused on one thing, and one thing only, and that is to learn to properly spin “fat singles”. Since watching Jillian Moreno’s LongThread video Spinning Singles , which I highly recommend, I just decided it was one of those things I wanted to challenge myself with, because some of the best yarn I’ve knit with, like Donegal Aran Tweed, with a texture of handspun, loaded with rich layers of colors hidden in the twist, is just what I am striving to create. I have a ways to go yet, but I’ll get there.

But from now until forever I will be leaving off the add-ins of pre-felted nepps in the blending. I think the best tweed blends which have nepp textures are not from the adding them into the blend as much as from the addition of colorful shorter fibers, snips of combed top or even cutting yarn and carding it a little first, but I’m getting rid of all the wool nepps I bought; they are a hazard to drains, and caused me a lot of grief in the spinning. Oh, and after spinning a couple of pounds of yarn almost entirely on my e-spinner, I found the take-up needed to be so great that it was putting definite strain on the motor. So I switched the operation on over to the trusty traditional wheel, and the control was easy, almost like a sigh of relief! I am finding that for Fat Singles, my Ashford Traditional is the tool of choice.

rescued from oblivion

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Late in July I posted about a lot of handspun yarn I found in a drawer that I forgot about, in Consigned To Oblivion. It was the end of August I began to think about knitting it up in one of my own designs, my Calidez Cardigan. Now finished, this handspun sweater can be posted tomorrow to Canada, for my niece-in-law, who is such an extremely artful person, I think she will be able to appreciate the rustic handspun sweater, which is knit to her personal specifications. Just in time for the cooling of the season, rescued from oblivion!

(Sweater details on Ravelry here. )

Sun Into Libra

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The sun has gone into Libra, and now it is the Autumn equinox. This photo is my equinox tradition for years now, capturing the sinking sun’s rays throwing light up against the rafters, the beams glowing, and yet each year it is a little different. Autumn is my favorite season, a time of transition into cooler days with rain on its way, the fragrance of dampness in the woods, acorns, falling leaves soon, and a relaxation which overtakes me, knowing we have gotten through the worst of summer’s wrath… the equinox marks a happy time ~~ wishing a happy equinox to all!