Wool Shawl No.2

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Number two of three Donegal Tweed neckwear pieces, mid October was reeled off the loom, and now it is fully finished and so photographable. These three tweeds have literally made me fall in love with weaving on my Ashford Knitters Loom. But what to call them…. scarves? Wraps? Stoles? The three Donegal Tweed pieces I’ve woven have used up every ounce of my stash.

♣  Weaving Notes  ♣ 

  • Yarn: Isager Tweed made in Donegal, also known as Donegal Tweed by other brands.
  • Loom: Ashford Knitters Loom, 20″.
  • Reed: 12.5 dent reed, optimal I think, for the Donegal Tweed, 1 thread in the heddle/hole, and 1 thread in the dent/slot.
  • Warp (sett) = 15 epi and Weft = 6 ppi. 
  • Direct warp method; if you take a look at the photos in the gallery you’ll see I am winding on to the back beam while scooting the table & loom closer and closer to the pegs clamped down, I’m finding this is a good way to maintain tension on the warp while winding it on.
  • Selvedge: Doubled up two outer most selvedge warp yarns, and used a temple.
  • Finished: Not wet finished, but steamed, tied a simple knotted fringe (knots could be taken out and twisted fringe worked, but I prefer the soft yarn strands). 
  • Measurements: 74″ long x 18″ wide, not including 4″ fringe.
  • Weight: 248 grams.

just reeled off . . .

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Just reeled off the loom, another plain weave check, that somehow miraculously used up the colors of the Donegal Tweed that I had left in my stash. This piece needs all of its finish work done as well as notes composed, and to “hang loose” off of tension for a while, and so I’m on to the next. This one and previous one, will return as finished and fringed pieces to properly photograph. Until then, I’m happy enough to just dive back in the yarn drawers and resurface with another warping to attend to before the end of the day. People are asking me, almost worried, what has happened to knitting? Am I finished with it? Will I return to it? The answer is simply that for now I am so happy in the weaving, knitting is only on a short sabbatical, and while attempting to convert yarn stash into cloth for a while, my long goal is to work back to spinning. Also, considering a very large rigid heddle loom for weaving wider cloth, such as throw blankets and table coverings, and what seems to me to be the natural progression of things around here. I don’t see that I will ever grow tired of simple plain weave.

Walktober, and tastes from the kitchen…

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Walking almost every day this October, and trying to increase distance too. But who says life has got to be so hard? With all the walking I’m doing, I’m really upping my culinary skills; baking bread constantly, experimenting making wonderful things, things I have never done before . . . such as making ricotta, then making ravioli with it, or even put it into icecream. Focusing on the old-fashioned way of things, like toasting hazelnuts then grinding into a paste with mortar & pestle, (then making into icecream). Oh, on the subject of icecream, I learned recently a trick from my Argentine friend, how to make their national favorite dulce de leche! The Argentines simply boil a can of unopened sweetened condensed milk for a couple of hours, and it cooks in the can and magically turns into thick caramel sauce! Of course, I mix that with about 2 cups of whole milk, and 2 cups of cream, then churn freeze into an absolutely delicious and very rich Dulce De Leche icecream. So, like I said, lots of treats to balance out all of the walking. . . this is definitely turning into my favorite month of the year all over again.

just reeled off the loom . . .

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This intriguing moody weaving of Donegal Tweed has been on the loom for only a few days, made entirely from yarn I had in my drawers . . . in blues, greys, and brown. Oh, but I seriously LOVE the rectangle check! I warped it on Saturday, considering it might be a nice wide scarf for a possible gift, but now pulled off the two-plus yards, and it is a bit stiff from the loom tension I suppose, thus inevitably not perfect for neckwear, possibly not soft enough. Deja vu ! Honestly, it is the same sett and same brand wool as the previous Isager Donegal Tweed piece I finished a few weeks ago, and softened up wonderfully. I bought and used a temple on this one, striving for even width with no draw-in. With this one I was a little more intentional, calculating some finished lengths, yardage, but left a lot up to guessing and assuming as the other one ended up “soft” and lovely, that this one would be too, as it is made out of the same yarn. Yet it feels like the weave is just too tight, however, I realize too that this is still stiff off the loom and has not relaxed yet, I suppose I ought to just stop worrying about it. The photo shows all the ends of the yarn wefts, which I really should learn to lay in before weaving, but I’ll weave them in with a needle soon and post again all nicely finished ~~ watch this space.

Coming Into Being (Wool Shawl No.1)

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I am finding with weaving that after the piece is taken off the loom, weft ends woven in, fringe knotted, twisted, or braided, then it seems to take on its third dimension . . . draping, folding, wrapping around, rippling into its new personality, yarns blooming and fusing in place and it simply finds itself coming into being.


Number one of a series of Donegal Tweed neckwear pieces I intend to weave. The wrap, stole, scarf, throw, is 17″ wide and 98″ long, not including the fringe.

This wrap is au natural in photos, minimally steamed, but otherwise not wet finished, it now needs to hang in the rafters a while to let it relax more. Already off of the loom for a couple of weeks it is not at all stiff, as I thought it was going to be, but like leather, or linen, needs to be handled and used to soften up to be a really seriously fine 100% Irish Wool piece.

Another day with storm brewing, I’m afraid is making the photos all a bit dark.

♣  Weaving Notes  ♣ 

  • Finished piece commentary here, the weaving notes for this piece are to be found on this post In Love (with Plain Weave Check).
  • Yarn: Isager Tweed made in Donegal, also known as Donegal Tweed by other brands.
  • Loom: Ashford Knitters Loom, 20″.
  • Sett: Warp =14 epi (ends, or warp threads per inch, and weft = 10 ppi (picks, or weft threads per inch).
  • Reed: 15 dent rigid heddle reed: 1 thread in the heddle/hole, and 1 thread in the dent/slot.

tea towel two

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A finished linen kitchen towel, woven pretty quickly for a birthday gift, and then I let it sit around for a week or longer before deciding today to finish it with a hem, wash & dry, and ironing.

It is very rustic and open weave as far as table linens go, and it is definitely going to need another twenty washings & dryings before it feels like a proper tea towel, but that is the fun part, experiencing the transformation of the linen.

♣   Weaving Notes  ♣ 

  • Using Bockens Lingarn 16/2 linen (100% linen) for both warp and weft, and I used my 15 dent reed. The listed sett (epi, warp threads per inch) for this yarn is 20-24 epi,  and I got about 16 epi, and 14 ppi (weft threads per inch) of 14.  Still not perfectly balanced, and looser weave than I wanted it to be. The dilemma is from the stiffness of the linen I suspect, and 100% linen is never easy to work with at any stage of the plant-to-cloth process, but I am motivated to figure it out because I love linen!
  • Warped 1 in the heddle hole, and 1 in the dent slot, with 1 extra thread in the first and last 2 selvedge warp threads.
  • Color: 12 golden bleach, alternating stripes of 4 dark gold and 4 light gold, with weft as white.
  • I have been packing in the weft with the stich shuttle which is longer by about 10 inches than the weaving width, using it a bit like the sword of a backstrap loom, because I don’t want to stress the plastic rigid heddle reeds pushing too hard to tighten the weave up.
  •  I forgot to take measurements of the finished piece, after wet-finishing (washing & drying) which I am guessing to be 16″ by 28″, before shrinking much, will probably eventually shrink to about 15″ x 26″ , with epi around 18.
  • Improvements for next time: With this yarn I think I would like a tighter weave, as it lists recommended 20-24 epi for sett. (At this stage in my weaving, I don’t know if listed sett is for how the fabric sits on the loom, or relaxes after taken off and wet-finished, or if it needs to be specified.) Tightly woven table and kitchen linens on a rigid heddle loom may just take some experimentation. To compensate for the openness of the weave, I used my stick shuttle to really press ( beat ) the weft in, and still I am not getting ppi as high as the epi, so wondering how I can tighten up the weave.  One way I want to experiment in getting a tighter balanced weave for this yarn is doubling up on the reeds, threading through two 10 or 12 dent reeds and attempt to get 20-24 epi, for a tighter warp sett/epi, but I don’t think I could get the same for the ppi (wefts per inch). I believe it may be the nature of rigid heddle weaving to have some difficulty in creating a balanced tight weave, as one can easily achieve on a floor loom with a much heavier beating of the steel reed. 
  • Also I think next time I will waste less warp on a hemmed piece if I lash the end knots to the sticks instead of tying the warp ends to the stick. For some reason the rigid heddle instruction book shows this method of tying the warp to the sticks, which I believe is intended for a fringed finish, but I think I’m ready to learn a better way for weaving for pieces intended to be hem finished, especially for expensive or handspun yarn. 

Sun Into Libra

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Sun has gone into Libra, and it is the Autumn equinox. My traditional photo on this same day, in the same hour, for years now , always evokes such rich memories in me. Celebrating with the light and shadow of the beams, as they glow in the rays of the sinking sun of late afternoon, marking such a meaningful time for me, the transition into the cooler months ahead, and rain is imminent! Wishing a happy equinox to all.

In love (with plain weave check).

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I can’t get enough of the simple plain weave check pattern, and my new Ashford Knitters Loom. I found quite a bit of light grey and natural Isager Tweed in my drawer, enough to work a large two color check pattern, and wouldn’t you know it, I’m weaving it into a rather long but wide scarf, to allow for plenty of shrinkage. I happen to only have either too large or slightly too small for choices in reed (dent) sizes, but I’m going with the too-small, even though each pass of the weft requires a bit of fussing to separate the sheds, I am strumming and carefully coaxing it into a real gorgeous thing!

I think the big boxy check color pattern is an excellent way to practice the balanced plain weave, striving eventually to have the same number of warp threads horizontally as weft threads vertically, and I’ll be the first to admit how completely entertaining the check pattern is! I’m quite happy with this, my second weaving project, although I miscalculated on the size of the check pattern, the squares were supposed to be 4 inches but are not-quite 3.5 inches instead, and it isn’t quite centered in the reed, but who cares, right?

♣   Weaving Notes  ♣ 

  • The way I weaved this piece is pretty much the same as the one in the last post but with two colors,  A Very Late Introduction to A New Loom and the process will be my plain weave check standard.
  • This piece was my 2nd project on the loom, and as I had not yet understood the importance of correct reed/dent size (like knitting or crochet, you need the right “gauge” needle for each weight yarn) , and as I only had a 15 dent (smallest reed size for this loom)  the yarns are far too squished together — should have been woven in a dent size two sizes bigger, like a 10 dent reed to allow the tweed yarn to relax and bloom, therefore having more of an open weave, and creating a nice “drape”, and just be a nice wrap to wear in the cold months. 
  • When I took this piece off the loom, I was actually disappointed because it was far too densely woven to be a scarf,  and not the appropriate yarn to have made a table piece, so it is not yet finished. Maybe after I finish it and it gets some movement in it, it will soften.
  • Since this piece, as of Autumn, I have a nearly complete rigid heddle reed selection, with dent sizes 5, 7.5, 10, 12.5 and 15, and am able to weave more intentionally for the yarn I use. 

A very late introduction of a new loom…

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I think it was in June, but may have been early July, a new Ashford Knitters Loom arrived, but just like a too-early guest to a party, I wasn’t quite ready for it; so I made it comfortable, expressed such happiness that it had come, and then promptly left it to attend to other things. July and August flew by and I hadn’t found the right time to warp it up, knowing very little about weaving, and even less about warping! But finally, on September 1st, I managed to warp the small loom, with the help of a very small instruction manual and warping peg that came with the loom. I found this “direct warping” method not at all difficult, quite genius in fact, but now I need to practice . . . lots of practice.

I chose this little 20″ folding rigid heddle loom because I think it is a good starting place to learn basic balanced plain weaving, and I am absolutely loving it, preferring color play to be the main focus rather than multiple shaft patterns. For that I think the rigid heddle loom is utterly perfect. Oh, and if you remember this post you’ll understand my colorway, and I’m using Venne Cottolin, and making a predictable first weaving of an Autumnal table runner… or something.

♣   Weaving Notes  ♣ 

  • After choosing the colors, I adhered to a sequence, starting with gold, then blue, then green, then rust, across the warp, ending with gold which would frame the edges in the same color.
  • In the same sequence I wove the weft upwards. If it were completely balanced weaving, there would be the same number of weft rows as warp threads, and the intersections of color would be square. But as I think it is more important to have squares than the same number of rows as threads, I wove up until the blocks were square, then changed color. 
  • It is not yet finished, when I take it off it is pretty open and draping, so I guess being cotton-linen blend (cottolin) that it will shrink and the fabric will become a little more dense. I will probably just sew a hem on each end.
  • Linen is rather stiff and scratchy until it is washed, and eventually softens, whereas cotton is instantly soft, and only gets softer, but the cottolin is a lovely blend of both, and I really love it! Linen is a very long strong fiber that is part of the “stalk” of the plant and processed from roots in the entire length,  whereas cotton is a very short and downy fiber, as it is the fluff in the seed pod of the plant, so you can understand why they are very different.
  • This size is 22/2 very fine yarn actually, and it was woven with the smallest possible 12 dent reed, and still had airspace between the weft & warp. Once washed and dried I hope it comes together and is less open. Next I will attempt to weave with 8/2 cottolin. 
  • I am learning that weaving yarns are very different from knitting yarns and especially so in the sizing standards, which I don’t know a thing about yet. 

My summer fields: predrafting from rolags.

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Just look at these delicious whipped up light woolly confections! I am learning that big fat rolags off of the drum carder or blending board spin so much better and smoother when I do this pre-drafting technique, basically stretching the rolag (in little jerking motions) out into a longer, much more airy variation that has released the bound up energy so fibers can slip through so much better, not having to tug at the rolag.

From this rolag, firmly pulled-off-the-carding-drum, a woolly larvae of sorts . . .

Metamorphosized into this long limp airy creature . . .

And finally into this lightly wrapped beautiful whipped confection ready for woollen spinning.

(( See all posts in this series My Summer Fields Project ))

My summer fields: carding.

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I’ve been busy since the resident carder came earlier this week, down in the tiny (wool) house, raking through the fleece that, after washing it twice, and putting through the box picker twice, I gave up on it as it still had way too many weedy bits, still smelled bad, and was still greasy. The last thing I need is a moth attracting sweater in my wardrobe, so, after cleaning the greasy grime that was fast accumulating on my brand new Ashford carder, I started over blending color with commercial white corriedale/merino top roving I had on hand, and added still more marigold, honey, and dark caramel hues.

However, I made the mistake of pulling off the rolags from the last carding without test-spinning ~~ I am so out of practice ~~ no recipe, just improvising, honing my instincts, and from this point forward it is going to be what it wants to be. I am planning on this first sweater in my wardrobe, to wrap me in the warm memories of golden summer fields all winter long. As I changed course in the middle of carding, I have no idea how much all these rolags weigh, but I’m guessing well over 600g . . . and now for the spinning!

See all posts in this series My Summer Fields Project

The resident drum carder . . .

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. . . has arrived!

I am busy down at the tiny (wool) house, figuring out methods, weighing carefully, taking notes and taking a leap of faith in color, learning how to use the hand-cranked carder (feeding with left hand, cranking with right) and calculating percentages of mixes.

Back down in the charcoal forest, away from the internet, I am hunkering down . . . with a return to Tweed Chronicles, engaging my creativity with a bit of hard work, and making the effort for the yarn.

(( See all posts in this series My Summer Fields ))

High summer.

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This morning I went for a walk with Juno, in the hot . . . dry . . . toasted-in-the-sun wild grass of high summer. I so very much want to capture it and knit it into a sweater! These are moments of this afternoon, as my ideas begin stirring, testing all gold tones together, trying to grasp the emotion I feel about the summer landscape that is elemental to my life on the mountain, and translate it into yarn.

See all posts in this series My Summer Fields Project

Tiny (wool) house.

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Those of you who have been following my blog since at least four years ago do not need to be reminded about what the tiny house is.

But for those who don’t know; after the wildfire Jeff, me, and our dog Emma lived in it while our house was being rebuilt, then Jeff’s daughter stayed in it during the pandemic. It has been vacant now for a couple of years, spiders having it all to themselves, and having become weathered from the elements, I cleaned it up and decided to inhabit it for the purpose of wool processing, and carding!

While fresh air blows through all the open windows through the entire summer, the place is feeling wonderfully clean, neutral, and cozy, and so I am making plans as I await the arrival of the Ashford drum carder, due in a few weeks from New Zealand. I have pulled out the box picker and decided to get a head start picking the fleece mentioned in last post.

I was rather surprised in myself to purchase the drum carder, as I really just didn’t think about how it would create dirt and dust in the house from carder fly-off, especially with home-grown wools, so it became evident a shed would be needed, then I remembered about the tiny house, it just called to me!

Such a sweet place to ponder in the afternoon, a short walk from the house, down in the charcoal forest, and having spent some hours in it today, mostly cleaning and then bringing down the wool picker … I made a cup of coffee, wrote down ideas, and picked wool. I very much enjoyed the warm and inviting personality of this space, remembering its womb-like feel. Anyway, I am hopeful that I can do something special with the tiny (wool) house, things happen for a reason, and well, here I am.