A fiber mill.

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I bought an Ashford drum carder, because I really need one, and it should be here soon. After moving back home I began collecting fiber to spin; interesting roving by the mile, a palette of solid wool colors for blending, artful hand-dyed braids too, and novelty fibers to explore, as I was very anxious to get back into Tweed Chronicles, to blend and spin till the cows come home.

To add, earlier this year a friend gave me a raw fleece. I let it soak outside for the month of April, before rinsing it and letting it dry, not wanting to bring it into the house until it was completely clean and odorless, which it was not, it needs still further washing. Since May it has sat in that tub outside, a dry fluff of wool that the birds have enjoyed for nest lining. I realized that my work space and creative flow had become “fiber bottlenecked”, and can not allow it inside. I really hope this new addition to my loft studio will inspire me to get things flowing again with blending and spinning, and making.

Juno, who hangs out with me in the loft, agrees that it is about time I joined in on the fur fun !

first backstrap weaving

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I am humbled all over again, after rants of frustration, breaking warp threads, redoing the string heddles a few times, inserting a new section of warp after I was fooled by the “false cross”, tired shoulders, and to add, a bit of defiant arrogance. I was all ready to give up, but then remembering Laverne’s words in her tutorial video about backstrap weaving being such a special thing (which it very much is!) and to get frustrated and give up would be a shame. Those words hovered in my brain and made me take another look at the situation and yesterday late afternoon I put it back on the lasso and gave it another try. Well, things started to miraculously come together, finally!

The small swatch is not that much to look at, the selvedges are poor, and I have had to weave in through the back a lot of broken warp threads, but here it is at last, just what it is, my very first weaving, and an excellent test sample from the yarn that I made myself (see this post). What is the best that came out of this is overcoming frustration, seeing the finished piece, and an eagerness to warp for another weaving project. Another weaving on a backstrap loom may need to come around after I get a bit of perspective.

♣   Weaving Notes  ♣ 

  • First and foremost, credit where credit is due; I have been following Laverne’s blog on Backstrap Weaving for some time, and I believe it is her work which has given this style weaving a very deserved mark of excellence. Do see her most artful blog here:  https://backstrapweaving.wordpress.com/
  • This piece was a very stressful, and I have a new deep reverence for backstrap weavers!
  • I wanted to try my best at the Andean style, I used my hand re-spun wool, and wove very tightly, but still am learning about how the two-color-warp and false cross works, and I did end up having to warp over and insert some warp threads after bad mistakes in set up. 
  • Several times getting up and wriggling out of my backstrap, the whole weaving would flip sideways and I did not secure the shed rod or sword and so they fell out then I lost my shed, had to go back to the default cross and get it set up again. A lot of explanation for the ways I was clumsy need not be written, but I think I would like to take a break from warp-face weaving, as I really crave balanced plain weave, and not to mention, a loom that is secure in place as I like to get up and walk away for breaks a lot. 
  • This 12″ backstrap loom is the smaller of two (the other is 20″) and was the loom I ended up sending to Ro in Mexico shortly after my rigid heddle loom arrived.

Inkle band no.2 , and Notes For Ro

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Band #2 , plain weave, and 100% cotton. I’m not sure I really love working with pure cotton. I think I would in pure linen, as it is crisp and alive, but cotton’s worst enemy it seems, if woven without a lot of muscle and confidence, appears slack and lacking resilience. Next project will be pure wool, which I have a lot of. Anyway, learning something new can be more fun when shared with someone else, and fortunately for me Jeff’s daughter Rosanna and I are learning to weave together ! We’re both absolute rank beginners, starting on our Ashford Inklette looms and graduating soon to backstrap looms made in Guatemala. I’ve had a head start by a couple of weeks, while she is waiting until she gets back to Mexico. I thought I might take notes as I weave and post here so she can benefit from my experiments, therefore I will be including Notes To Ro as footnotes at the bottom of my weaving experiments . . .

♣   Notes For Ro  ♣ 

  • Ro, you’ll want to read the basic instructions that come with our Ashford Inklettes, about how to warp the loom, and to make the leashes (I’ve done these in the lichen green color, so you can see) and starting with the little pieces of cardboard, which I cut out of the box that our looms came in. From there I go to Laverne Waddington’s Backstrap Weaving Blog for instruction.
  • For this band I wove the same plain weave as my first band using color separation for upper & lower shed –held together, side by side without crossing — see Laverne’s video on warping this way, on a narrow warp, what she calls her Plain Weave 2nd Method, shown: Basic Warping for Backstrap Looms. Instead of using warping pegs to separate upper & lower sheds, your inkle loom IS the warping pegs, and you separate the upper/lower (dark/light) as shown on my last project ) On my second band here I am working a variation, what I’m doing different is this: 4 warp threads of dark (rust) on the upper shed/4 light (rose) on the lower, I turn my hand, twisting the threads at the starting peg, thereby switching the colors to be 4 light on the upper/4 dark on the lower, then twist back again for 4 more dark on upper/4 on lower — the edges are the same as the weft thread, 4 upper/4 lower of blue on each side.
  • The yarn I am using is Curio#3 (which I sent to you) is 100% cotton, sturdier than the Dishie and has a sheen, so every detail shows off my lackadaisical inconsistent warp & weft tension, beating, and especially my sloppy selvedges. Cotton behaves differently than on my last band which was woven with a wool/cotton blend. Cotton really takes muscle, I should have pulled the weft more, and beat with more force.
  • I have been getting in the habit of lifting and lowering the lower shed with my fingers of one hand, then slipping the shuttle in to secure the clear shed, then beat, it is terrific feel-good hand work with minimal fussy tools. I tried using too many tools on my first band, and confused myself !

A new adventure and humble beginnings.

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It was inevitable, and I gave into it. For years I have longed to be weaving. I have visualized the varied movements, pondering the most ergonomic way my arms and body would move almost mechanically to work warp and weft, and I have craved to move to this rhythm of weaving. There was just no point in waiting, or putting it out of my mind any longer, but one thing was for sure, I needed to start small. So, these are my first weavings, on a tiny little little loom, the Ashford Inklette.

This thing is addictive, and I think this little loom is a good first step to take to understand how warp sheds work, how to manage tidiness in the selvedges, learn warp-faced weave — how to manipulate the threads and yarns, before I move on to the backstrap loom & beyond.

I’m all about the little baby steps now, I am taking one small step and getting a bang out of it! I managed to finish this in a few hours, and now enjoying a celebratory cup of kahve . . .

Backstrap Loom

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I had to seriously ask myself; do I want to just dream about one day weaving, or do I want to just weave? I suppose I was held back by fear of being a rank beginner, and for years now I have enviously read weaving blogs and watched weaving videos, and still I wasn’t ready to begin, to wheeze and strain against the learning curve, new frustrations and aches. So here is my hand-made backstrap loom, from Guatemala, one of two I bought from a charitable organization on Etsy, one for myself and one for Jeff’s daughter. I am going to sand it a little bit and condition the wood too, and then I’ll be ready to warp. I am eager to share my experience here as a rank beginner, un-confident, but like a wobbly kneed colt, I am putting one stride before me, my first step in what will hopefully become a journey.

Patamanta Sleeves

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The most recent addition to Patamanta, a pair of super soft thumbhole “sleeves”, knit in 100% superfine Simply Alpaca. As I had got quite a stash of it last Autumn I can explore my ideas unhindered with actual knitting, and I am enjoying it all, every minute. Particularly these, part of the eventual Patamanta pattern collection. The pattern will also include legwarmers, and shorter mitts, although as yet I haven’t knit up those, and being nearly the same idea as the sleeves, I may not need to. Leg warmers, sleeves, and mitts all have the same charts, just a matter of how many repeats in the round and in length. I still have a few more things to knit up from this small little collection, so I’m just enjoying the calm knitting pace, and letting inspiration come in little waves, and also staying very busy outside this Springtime.

A little felted pouch…

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A felted phone pouch I’ve just finished, made from the new augmented Patamanta charts, and in a cheerful bright Peruvian colorway. The new charts are not quite available yet, not until I finish the other things from the little collection I am putting together under the Patamanta name, then I’ll round it all up and update the pattern, I promise! But really, I’m just taking my time, enjoying the knitting, and in no rush. I took the opportunity to add this little pouch to the pattern because I badly need a phone pouch as I have a new phone that I need to start keeping with me when I go for hikes up here in the wild as I never know when I’m going to trip over another fallen tree and injure my foot again, or if I will need to scare away preying wildlife with the funky ringtones, or ? Now that I think about it, before I take it out on the trail, I am considering giving it a bath of onion skins or tea to tone it down a bit and make it more earthy!

Patamanta Minis

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I have taken a pause from new design project, to put together a gift for a friend’s grand-child who is turning three soon, and taking this opportunity to augment my recent Patamanta pattern into a small collection. Not sure, probably will just add some thumbhole “sleeves” or long fingerless mitts & legwarmers, as well as more variations of the original chullo, with augmented charts and sizes. I managed to sample these mini sizes just by using the smallest of the sizes and odd bits of sock-weight yarn. Thus far at least I have the present ready on time, but as yet I still must knit some adult sized samples in heavier weight un-dyed alpaca, before it is complete. Who knows what else I will knit from it, because I am unable to stop as these little colorwork pieces are so fun to knit, and completely addictive!

In a winter wonderland!

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A winter wonderland like I’ve never seen up here, and we are officially snowbound. Even more snow than I remember seeing when we started building our original house in 2001, and I reckon possibly not as much snow since the 1990’s. Juno’s first real snowy landscape to play in, and she is off with Jeff clearing broken trees off of the road, and I am enjoying the warmth inside, looking out. Last week I nearly broke my foot, trailblazing through a tangle of big fallen trees, and although it is getting better, its still swollen and sore, so I can’t go out walking in it. But it is really nice, having to stay home because of the snow, not something we experience that often in our part of the world, but going to enjoy it, and for now being in this much snow is just magical!

Click image to go to slideshow . . .

Patamanta

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Recently I’ve not had any deadline knitting to do, and I happen to have a lot of alpaca yarn stashed so I managed to write a pattern for this old chullo I posted about originally almost six years ago in “Old Beloved Brown Thing” …

Old Beloved Brown Thing

Although I was taking my time, planning on making a collection from this chullo, today I realized it is an actual anniversary, a decade since I started designing, so I decided to pull this first one together and submit my modest work this late afternoon, to celebrate. Truly it is modest. It is a tribute work, not so much about my designing, merely my version of a vintage original, shown knit up in aran and dk weights. Later I will add to the pattern, but it is to be found on Ravelry over here — and it is only my interpretation of the original. I’m naming it “Patamanta” as it means ” from the top ” in Quechua, the native language where it was very likely made, perfectly named I think.

Patamanta

Adélaïde

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Celebrating my finish of Daughter of Redouté Roses, and having a Turkish coffee!

A “mini me” you could say, to the beautiful mother design Redouté Roses . . . or perhaps better described as “a daughter”.  Born out of necessity, or, just because I wanted every mother and daughter duo to be able to wear one together, or, because I really do think the slim-fit version of this big oversized sweater would be amazing too. I think I shall hand this one over to Jeff’s grand-daughter who is eleven, but also, I could knit one in a thicker worsted-weight to fit me, and which I very much plan to do!

Technically speaking, the Daughter is a smaller variation of the original, having only 9 repeats of the rose chart in the yoke, instead of 12 like the original, and the colorwork motifs have been redrawn to make a shorter yoke also, as well as far fewer stitches in the body and sleeves. Also I drew a special rose border chart that is smaller, and rather darling too. Otherwise, the construction exactly as the original, and I’ve included my signature gauge substitution chart with the pattern, so that more sizes can be made from child to adult.

Now, brace yourself for a coincidence, but with a tiny bit of research since finishing the sweater yesterday, I have discovered that the namesake of the design — Pierre-Joseph Redouté — actually did have a daughter! Indeed, so this two-pattern download is a now a complete tribute to Pierre-Joseph Redouté . . . AND. . . his only child, a daughter, whom he very affectionately called Adélaïde.

Portrait of Pierre-Joseph Redouté and his daughter Marie Louise “Adélaïde” Redouté

You simply must see

The Botanical Illustrations of Pierre-Joseph Redouté

Daughter of Redouté Roses (cardigan & pullover) pattern can be found as a second download with Redouté Roses.

See all posts in this series

Out in Autumn

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Many weeks have passed since my last post on the equinox. I guess I just wanted to let October drift through the days without attention to anything in particular. Now comes November, and the most Autumnal month in the year it seems to me, and rain came yesterday, then this morning the chill was upon us. How could I resist going out with Juno and my camera to walk through the woods and say hello to our overgrown trail? Sniffing all the lovely smells, the spicy moist bay leaves and moldy musky smell of rained-on wild hay, crunching through fallen leaves and over thousands of acorns, kissing the awakened moss and climbing over yet more fallen trees, and admiring the grey clouds hanging by themselves in an otherwise blue sky. Its as though the landscape swells and sighs, as I do, into the moist cool healing after a difficult hot summer. Now home, the grey clouds are gathering, promising perhaps another shower, as a good mood, with cozy knitting with coffee inside . . .

(click the tree to go to the slideshow)

Sun Into Libra

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Sun has transitioned into Libra, on this day, my absolute favorite day of the year. The light & shadow look so dramatic and dreamy from this angle looking up into the rafters & roofbeam, and thus this place has become my signature Autumn Equinox photo for five years (not including the two years we were living in the Tiny House) and it is remarkable how each year the photo is different for one reason or another. It is thoroughly healing to see it as at last become so similar to the first. Happy equinox everyone !