The vernal equinox has arrived, and the days are now racing by. Over the long reluctant winter, I’ve been spinning quite a bit, and these finished skeins are my favorite of them all, a colorway I want to spin again and again, this apricot & gold wooly confection. The dominant color mood is like the inevitable spring, through the grey of vernal rain clouds, bursts of amber, gold, and pink, create a rich deep apricot color all mixed together, and seems to define my coloring. Photographing was, as usual, a disappointment, impossible to grasp all the colors uniquely. The skeins have a little bit of a story behind them, and to get the spinning notes right I had to do some guessing, but managed to write them out so I can repeat this in the future. The sky is greying again, we’re expecting rain again, I am so in the mood to knit another sweater, but there is likely not quite enough yardage from this experimental batch, so will do another Apricot Tweed soon.
♣ ♣ ♣
Techy stuff for Apricot Tweed
See Speed Tweed #2 recipe carded December of 2023. The mix of pinks and amber created a deep apricot or terracotta color.
After I spun two skeins from the batch, I thought it was too bright for my liking so I put the rest of the unspun wool in the closet for a few months.
Eventually I re-carded the remaining wool, cut in with Wool Of The Andes Mink Heather Roving– the color of sand, about 100g I think, as well as some other colors I did not keep track of, but definitely some topaz bamboo, which I will do more of next time, for it creates streaks of shimmering gold!
Juno is four today. It seems like we’ve had her for much longer, that she is much older. But she is only four, and still our puppy! See all of the Juno posts (scroll down to see her first posts)
Felting the alpaca puff which will first dry, then get a good brushing, a tidy trim, and finally tied on to the top of the latest Chaltén Beret as an alternative to the decorative chufflin tassels on the design of the original beret.
Slowly working on new prototype variations for the Chaltén Beret, and deciding perhaps just the beret overhaul, with redrawn charts, wider band, shown additionally not blocked as a tam with tassels, but possibly including socks, would be good enough for the pattern overhaul. Still thinking on it, just knitting (and weaving) and trying not to let anything bother me too much. These are totally addictive to knit and I particularly love how the faced band is the focus of artfulness, while the crown is instead plain. Casting on for another…
Number two in my alpaca scarf series, warped and started to weave the first few color changes, just enough that I could photograph the color sequence before March arrives, and obviously in a colorway that is very typical for springtime. The color choice was difficult for me; I was considering gold and green , gold and apricot (it looks pink, but it is more like apricot), or even green and apricot… but all three together? Possibly too frolicsome and feminine. I mean, where’s the calming and staid neutral in the mix? My reason is that I figured I would never improve as a weaver if I didn’t start getting outside my comfort zone and make bolder choices, and so I did. It is evident there is a vernal influence going on here, as I’ve noticed all the wild plum trees have exploded in blossoms, and the intense fragrance of it all is amazing. Weather is high drama this time of year; one day the bees come out and everything is all abuzz with temperature in the 70’s, and the next day it could snow and bring everything to a frigid halt. I absolutely love March, and the last stretch of winter.
I’m wearing the first finished weave in Jen’s latest series of alpaca scarves; she apparently got a lot of lace-weight alpaca yarn to weave a pile of them, in various colors and patterns, so obviously she’s feeling optimistic for a new adventure. Believe me when I tell you that this weave is so sheer and light and lovely to wear, the alpaca creates a depth of richness that cotton, linen, or even wool, simply cannot, and Jen thinks this is because of the natural luster of the ‘hair’ structure of alpaca, and the color saturation of dyed protein fibers. Hopefully there are still a couple of weeks left of winter in Paris, because that is where this alpaca scarf is heading next, as Jen wants to rush this off to her sister-in-law as soon as she photographs it … on moi!
Ta ta, Abelene
♣ Weaving Notes ♣
Note from Jen: This time I tried placing pegs around the table, so I didn’t have the warp taking up the whole room, which turned the table into a warping board! I believe I could improvise this way for any amount of warp length within reason. As it was, without having the reference of warping this way before, I accidentally made the warp a little too long … oh well, I’ll do better next time. The very fine lace-weight knitting yarn weaves up into a beautiful light and buoyant draping fabric, I absolutely love it!
Yarn: Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud lace weight, in Elizabeth (deep red) and Lydia (brick), 440 y = 50g
Loom: Ashford 16″ rigid heddle loom
Warping method: Easy direct warp method for rigid heddle, back to front, double threading from back apron rod through reed, then around pegs on table (a warping board). Wound on to back beam and finally tied off on to front for weaving. Rethreaded to have 1 end in hole and 1 end in slot. I forgot to measure the warp…oops!
Number of warp ends: 240
Reed: 15 dent rigid heddle reed.
Width in reed: 15.5″
Selvedges: I did not add extra ends to the selvedges, but did use a temple.
Sett after finishing: Warp 16 epi, and weft 16 ppi.
Color Pattern Warp: [40 ends red , 40 ends brick] x 3
Pattern Weft: 5″ red, 2.5″ of brick, repeated length in sequence.
Finished: 3″ hand-twisted fringe, then washed and air dried hanging, and lightly steam pressed. Measures 98″ long and 15″ wide, and weighs 140g.
Yardage: Total yardage used for finished piece = 1232y, figured from weight of finished piece and not including loom waste.
There are things going on, and Jen has asked me to chat here a bit, about it being the time of year which demands a lot of work outside, and that Jen is tired, sore, and grumpy. But I am not! I am always cheerful and see the bright side of everything! For one, this lovely softer-than-a-cloud baby alpaca sweater I am wearing . . . it is a sample of more variations to come ( Jen hopes, with all good intention ) in a series of a redesign from an old pattern that was before my time, one of her first, back when her nieces were so young, it was the Chaltén Beret . It happened in the summer of 2014, and since only a few were ever made, she has decided to bring it to the fore and create a collection around it, which will include the pattern for this pullover that I am wearing, and who knows what else, but you can see all the posts past & present in the series Chaltén .
Recently I have been talking in the closet with Jen’s various unemployed looms, about matters of the heart; about cultivating and enriching the muse within, even when it feels barren, and dedication to a work ethic in all things artful, even when it seems futile or meaningless.
Hey, there is a rumor among the looms that one of them has been selected by Jen for another little series happening at the same time as everything else, also involving more alpaca, some gifts needing to be made, and Jen said to me that she thinks I should learn how to weave, to help her out with all the things going on.
Thoroughly enjoying the new winter season, with plenty of rain and the company of a pair of woolen socks I am knitting from some yarn I “un-spun”… playing with color and motif. Inspired by the muse lately, and excited to know that for the remaining winter I will be settled into working a new design, augmenting from an early design from over ten years ago into a new collection of variations! The looms are happy in the closet chatting amongst themselves for a while, the storms softly kiss the landscape, and I must say, I have missed knitting!
Up to the peak with Juno today, with the oaks just past their full golden splendor, and I remembered my camera, so I got some clear shots of my favorite views southerly toward Diablo and Tamalpais, with the fog over … Continue reading →
My first woven rug came together rather fast, from six old shirts of Jeff’s (one which I made for him years ago, and five LLBean shirts) made custom for a space in our bedroom in front of an old dresser which was given to us by a weaver (hi B!). The rug was woven on my 48″ rigid heddle loom, with the Freedom Roller attached, and I used a temple but kept it back a few inches from the fell so I didn’t whack it with the Schacht weighted beater.
Its been raining steadily for a few days, and I hemmed the rug sitting at the window, in the low light of the afternoon, admiring the Autumn color outside with the black oaks that have completely turned gold.
I am really surprised I could weave an *actual* rug on a rigid heddle loom! The rug is 28×50 inches, and I figure I could have had double the length with the Freedom Roller attachment; I reckon I could warp up to 48″ wide, so in theory, I could make a monster rug of 4×8 feet. After I finished weaving it I hemmed the edges to the under side, and carefully took the labels off and chose one to sew on the hem for a little artful whimsy . . .
Juno was the warping and cutting supervisor!
♣ Weaving Notes ♣
General Notes: I had to get around the fact that the rug is not made with a proper floor loom, with a heavy swinging beating reed, and so I had to beat hard along each weft with the Schacht weighted beater, but the end result was good enough. I thought of a clever way of cutting long strips; figured since the strips of cut fabric are getting scrunched into the warp anyway, it does not matter if they are on the bias or on the grain, I cut about 2″ wide strips, starting at the bottom, between button bands, following the shape of the shirt tails, zig-zag cutting back and forth, using up as much of the shirt as possible, and very little was cut on the grain. The sleeves were mostly spiral cut. When about 1.5″ from the button band I stopped, then from beneath cut a wide turn back the other direction over of the previous cut, snipping across side seams as they come. I was not particularly neat with the cutting either. I cut all the ends angled, and overlapped the beveled ends instead of sewing edges together, which would be way more work. I wove one shirt completely before starting the next, in segments rather than stripes, so we could recognize the old beloved shirts in their sequence.
Additionally, the rug is fairly sturdy and thick and the woven “cloth” builds up fast on the cloth beam, so the Freedom Roller (Ashford’s add-on cloth beam for their rigid heddle looms) is absolutely essential in my opinion to weave a rag rug that is thick and substantial, as is the weighted beater. But perhaps the most essential thing that I overlooked (never again!) is the importance of using warping yarn that can withstand the punishment of the hard beating.
Yarn: Maurice Brassard 8/2 cotton, double threaded (2 in hole, and 2 in slot) emulating 8/4 warp yarn. Approx 80″ from apron rod to pegs. Should have bought heavier warp yarn and waited for it to arrive before starting the rug!
Weft: Cotton flannel strips, about 2″ wide, taken from old shirts. Beginning and end 3″ same as warp, woven wide enough to make a turned hem below the rug.
Reed: 7.5 dpi (30/10cm) dent rigid heddle reed, about 28″ width in reed.
Finished: 1 inch turned hem, sewn against the underside of the rug. No washing/drying. Measurements finished are 28″ x 50″. I planned for 60″ length but made a mistake when measuring warp distance and somehow didn’t factor in the correct amount of loom waste! Gaw!!!
Yardage: Who knows…. 6 shirts using as much as I possibly could.
In the end, it was impossible to photograph, the colors could not be grasped by the camera. Even after trying a hundred shots, in different areas of lighting, only these few worked out. But Jen told me how amazing this one was to be weaving freely with no measured blocks of color, just changing quill bobbins randomly, and she has a lot to say about the whole project in the weaving notes below, so I’ll just smile and wave. I personally think the Marigold Scarf (no.9) is so beautiful, in its deep and rich gold tones, and I wish you could see the colors as they really are, but this photo out of all the many, captures the colors best . . .
♣ Weaving Notes ♣
Note from Jen: Yes, this project was difficult, and I must confess I am not all that encouraged about dyeing cotton but am gaining perspective in the concept of “slow cloth”. After the many steps of scouring, mordanting, dyeing, then finally washing and rinsing, the actual yarn, and that is before the loom is even warped. I must ask myself is it worth it? I ponder this because I really love weaving, but maybe the added overwhelm from dyeing the cotton yarns first did add a new level of complexity. I have tried indigo, madder, pomegranate and marigold, and in every yarn the results were dull and almost unappealing as the sheen of the undyed mercerized cotton was lost after all the processing through the steps, the luster was gone. I will not give up, I just need a small break, in order to be fresh for learning again. You can see all posts for this project here.
Yarn: Yellow , dark gold , green gold overdyed 10/2 yarn (see this post. )
Loom: Ashford 16″ rigid heddle loom.
Additional tools: I used a temple and the board I rest against the cloth beam to stabilize and lengthen the weaving surface.
Warp: Direct warp set-up, 1 end in every heddle/hole, and 1 in every dent/slot –drawing out from apron rod to peg is approx 110 inches from apron rod to warping peg.
Number of warp ends: 239.
Reed: 15 dent rigid heddle 15.5″ in reed. (The loom says 16″ weaving width, but there is only the capacity in the reed for 15.5″ .
Sett on loom: Warp = 15 epi, weft = 15 ppi
Sett after finishing: Warp 16 epi, and weft 16-18 ppi.
Color Pattern: Warp = random pattern.
Finished: 3 inch twisted fringe, then washed and dried in machine, then pressed. Measures 78″ long (not including fringe) and 14″ wide, and weighs 135 g.
Yardage: Total yardage used is approx 1250 y, figured from weight of finished piece and not including loom waste.
Note to self, recipient was eventually Camille, although it was intended for Nina.
I am weaving with the natural marigold dyed 10/2 weight cotton from this post. I really am glad I got this little loom, for I will be able to weave up my few experimental dyed balls of cotton into something … Continue reading →
I have just put together my little Ashford 16-inch rigid heddle loom. It arrived yesterday, and immediately after I rubbed all the wood pieces with butcher block wax, then this morning I assembled it with excitement, as my mind filled with visions as to what beautiful and interesting textiles will be woven on it. There is no denying these rigid heddle looms are addictive and tend to fill as much available space in one’s life as there is ambition to weave on them.
I know, I know, I already have several other looms, but I decided to get this little one anyway, and it really wasn’t at all that expensive. I just wanted a simple small loom to weave simple plain weave scarves only, a modest little destination loom for my modest little dye experiments, natural or commercial dyes, I’m no snob about it.
This first project is cotton dyed with natural marigold flower petals! The remarkable thing about this project is that I used a shortcut to a varied colorway by simply over-dying different shades of neutral tones, all in one dye bath of marigold flower petals. Plain and simple, the way I like to do things. I’ve written detailed dye notes below and stay tuned for a finished weaving coming up in the territory ahead.
♣ Dye Notes ♣
I got back to the dye pot, determined to have an easier time of it, working over all my beginner’s doubt with a fine-tooth comb. I hovered over the instructions nervously, double and triple checked every step before commencing, and yet still I was having to improvise and make adjustments. Scoured, check! Mordanted, check! Dyed, check! One hour devoted to each step, not including the tea over-dye. I was quite exhausted by the end of it all.
I started out with four colors of varying tones and hues of neutral, wrongly assumed I would have four colors over overdyed yarns, and ended up with only two; the grey was a darker shade, but all the others looked almost the same. After all was rinsed and hanging dry on the clothesline, I quick made literal quart sized pot of strong tea of Yorkshire Red, basically a tannin bath, and in went the lightest of the yellow shades which shifted immediately to a rusty brownish orange, absolutely beautiful! Love the way nothing can be predictable, and I am ready to make a panic decision at any moment. Now that all is dried the result is three slightly different shades of marigold, and what I figure is the spectrum of the marigold flower, from yellow to deep gold to greyish yellow green.
Yarn: Valley Yarns 10/2 mercerized cotton in colors: Natural (8176), Autumn Blonde (1405), Shell (7503), and Frost Gray (8798).
All were scoured together for 1 hour with soda ash.
All were mordanted together for 1 hour with Alum Acetate.
All were overdyed in same bath with marigold petals, but colors Natural and possibly some of the others were again overdyed in Yorkshire Red tea, for about 6 minutes in the pressure cooker on low pressure, for just a kiss of color to deepen the yellow, which turned to a deeper gold.
The marigold overdyed Grey yarn appears a deeper greenish yellow, a wonderful surprise! There must have been a little blue in the grey.
What I will do differently next time: I will use distinct different values of neutrals, such as natural or white, light grey, and medium-dark grey. The Natural, Autumn Blonde, and Shell colors may have been different hues very slightly but all the same very light value, so after overdyed and dry, all looked the same, I could not tell the difference — I should have labeled the yarns!
This piece is my first attempt at ikat, even though it is only a simple random ikat. I saw a short film on Japanese Kasuri, and wanted to try working with ikat, posted in Knotty. But natural dyeing to me is tricksome, particularly dying cellulose fibers like cotton and linen, and particularly indigo which works in an alkaline solution, which cellulose fibers require. To add, alkalinity is the enemy of wool, which is the only fiber I have significant experience with and possibly the most desire to work colors into. Dying cellulose fibers, such as commercial weaving yarns, involve scouring extremely well, mordanting properly, dying, then neutralizing and rinsing till the cows come home … requiring many chemical ingredients and meticulous measured steps which are very complicated and a lot of work. And if scouring is not done properly a thing happens called “crocking”, where instead of the dye imbedding fully into the yarn, some of it hangs out on the surface ready to rub off on things and ruin them … on to your favorite weaving equipment, on to the clothes worn while weaving, and after being washed the dye gets into the other colors in the weaving itself, which happened to this piece regretfully.
I wish I knew this about the pH issues and limitations before jumping in, and think at this point I need to put the dyes away for while and release myself from self-imposed expectations of dye mastery! I have learned that both commercial dyes and natural dyes have their pros and cons, and I will likely go back to my old favorite reliable powdered Jacquard dye with wools, which are protein fibers, for it needs only a splash of vinegar in the dye bath, a quick scalding, and the dyebath exhausts beautifully if done correctly. Maybe I will again try ikat weaving with wool and Jacquard dyes next.
Going forward, and I have asked myself this: Why spend so much time, money, and resources on the things I am a rank beginner at, while falling behind and not bringing to fruition the things I have a bit of and skill (dare I say talent) with, and really should aspire to become better at? There are a lot of things I want to do, but at this point in my life, I must narrow down the possibilities, eliminating distractions is essential.
♣ Weaving Notes ♣
There are no technical weaving notes in this post, but I want to document something remarkable I discovered for rigid heddle weaving ! When I was more than halfway through the weaving, and the front cloth beam was getting pretty packed with woven fabric and cardboard I found the cloth beam to have a certain amount of “squish”, the selvedges conforming to the curve of the cloth winding on irregularly, and not really producing a perfectly flat weave. This I assume is one of the things about rigid heddle weaving, the cloth beam builds cloth and as it does the woven cloth distorts in shape, as well as effects the stability of the tension.
I had an idea of propping a piece of wood against the wound cloth on the cloth beam, right at the edge, creating a sort of breast beam setting on top of the wound cloth. I found a piece of board which I had used it for separating the shed wider in backstrap weaving, so I positioned it on the cloth beam so that when I tightened the warp, the tension held it in place, creating a very stabilized and firm straight edge for the weaving, and I found I gained quite a bit of extra space on the weaving too, especially for the temple. The more cloth on the beam, the further back the stabilizing board it sits, creating a longer weaving area in front of the reed! I am going to explore this idea in the future, for I am very excited!
Walking out in Autumn with Juno this morning, up to the precipice, overlooking a beautiful fog in the valley below, and cool enough at 8:30 in the morning. Again, I used my phone, which I keep in a little hip pack whenever I go hiking now, but so disappointed the phone’s photos portray everything hazy and colorless (next time I absolutely must bring my camera!) but I did get some photos of the top of the mountain, and on the way back down. I’m making a good effort with Juno to be out as much as possible in my favorite time of year, cherishing the landscape, although heat still hovering in waves, dusty, dry, and thirsty, hoping for the rains to start soon, and give it a good drink!
