Schafenfreude

Yeah, it’s been a little while since I’ve posted, but it’s not for lack of productivity.  Since finishing the sample for Jacey, I’ve been clearing the decks (both physically and mentally) in prep for the Handwoven work.  None of it is particularly inspiring, but I’ll share it here just as a talking point.

First off, placemat samples for the shop:

The owners are always looking for simple rigid heddle projects and these fit the bill nicely.  Big, chunky cotton (machine wash and dry!) and a little bit of finger manipulation to make it interesting.  The pattern is an adaptation from The Weaver’s Idea Book to use yarns we carry, so the write-up is just enough to describe the yarn substitution changes.  I liked these, actually, and they were my first chance to make use of the table loom.  Total overkill for plain weave, you might say, but I liked the fact that I could just flip levers and not worry.  And no mental stress when learning the quirks of the Jane.  These go to the shop today.

Second was the end of the Long Towel Warp.

It’s my own adaptation of the Keep It Simple towels and there are 13 of them there.  Plus some other treadlings because I was losing my mind after a while.  Also, a bit at the end to keep as a sample for color possibilities in the future.  I’ll be cutting apart and hemming these babies this weekend (one or two are already sold to my neighbors) and the rest go into the bin for Art Fair.  I’m more than half way to my total, so two more long warps and I’m done.  I think I’ll make it.

Separately, I’ve been knitting like crazy on a Knit, Swirl! sweater.  It’s big, white, and there’s lots of mohair.  The knitting will get done tonight, then I can wash and block over the weekend while the weather is good.  It’ll also serve as a foil for getting the sample warp on and off the loom for the vest, washing Edith (finally!  It’s only been a year.) and generally trying to ignore the fact that I’ll have a lot of time to myself next week.

And who thought that Plaited Twill would get my brain pinging so hard on Blocks?  It’s just crazy making, I know.  I think I need a separate brain for percolating and one for actually weaving.

As you so rightly point out, Lynn, it’s May.  The good news is that this means we’re smack in the middle of Q2 and I’m not yet totally hosed when it comes to getting things done.  And, with the added revelation that my two article pieces aren’t due until July 1st, I’m breathing a big sigh of relief.

I’m going to go ahead and put the project notes for Ply here, with a mind toward keeping a virtual record and having a link to which to point people if they end up asking about it once the magazine comes out.  And, here’s a picture of the finished piece:

Ha!  Fooled you, didn’t I?  I’m such a stinker that way.  On the other hand, I can show you a picture of this:

an empty loom.  I cut the finished piece off yesterday morning before heading in and the only thing left to do before finishing it is twisting the fringe.  Initial plan was to borrow the fringe twister from the shop yesterday but I forgot it – so that’s on the list for tonight.  I did, however, wash the sample and I couldn’t be happier.  It feels magnificent and I think it’s just lovely.  So, for posterity, here are the details:

Yarn:  2-ply point-of-twist-spun English BFL combed top
Colors:  Warp left natural, weft dyed light turquoise to match the “mood board”
Grist:  approx. 5,000 ypp (roughly 18/2)
Sett:  30 epi, three ends per dent in a 10 dent reed
Beat:  30 ppi (as much as possible!)
Warp Length:  3 yards
Warp Width:  200 ends, 6 2/3″ in the reed
Woven Width:  6.25″ on the loom, 6″ off the loom (unfinished)
Woven Length:  72″ on the loom 69.5″ off the loom (unfinished)

Sample post-finishing:  5 3/4 – 5 7/8″ width.  I think 5 3/4″ is where the FO will end up.

Pattern is a 4-harness “Fancy Twill” that is a mixture of Network and Advancing Point twills.  Treadling is all Advancing Point twill.  I’ll be supplying a .WIF along with the article text.  The design was a compromise – but I still wanted to give 4-harness weavers a nudge.  Jeane called the design “sophisticated”; I’m mentally transferring that to “complicated”, but I don’t think that’s true.  We’ll see how it goes.

Separately, Jagger called me back this morning (still processing a lovely female voice attached to the name “Chuck”) and they’re popping yarn in the mail today for the vest.  I’m going to say a bit more about it here because it’s not finalized (colors are, but still) and the planning stage is important!  We’ve settled on an 8-harness plaited twill from A Weaver’s Book of 8-Shaft Patterns.  There are a few that are related to crepe weave and that should yield a good fabric for sewing.  I’ll do a short sample warp to make sure I’m happy with sett and then off to weave.  A test-drive in Fiberworks gives this:

I’ll most likely turn the draft once I settle on a fabric because I want something that’ll be quick to weave off and not prone to mistakes.  A complicated threading is fine; but straight treadling makes for quick work!  The warp will be two colors, wound together and threaded semi-random.

If I get the fabric done quickly, I’ll head down to Palm Springs for a weekend with Jeane and we’ll sew together.  She gave me high marks on the first vest, and a few tips for improving the finishing, but they require pattern modification and I’m a bit loathe to do that on a piece that has a deadline.  I’m totally happy to just make what I’ve already made, with a minor improvement in execution, but it’d be nice to update the pattern in general.

So, that’s where things sit.  This week will be weaving off that loooooooooooooong towel warp so that I can reclaim the Gilmore and, hopefully, put on a cotton warp for an origami shirt.  I need to make that so that I can test-drive for my Summer Project.

All this weaving has made me deliriously happy.  I can see real improvements over where I was even six months ago – and that is chalked up to actually making stuff.  Don’t tell Sara, but I think she’s right.  Even if it’s not perfect, it needs to get finished.  Because that’s when we really start to learn.