Schafenfreude

Point: Knitted fabric is not like woven fabric. Knitted fabric, unless one is planning to full it, is effectively done as soon as it’s knitted. It gets a wash, it gets blocked, but the transformation is not normally something dramatic (lace aside – but that’s a blocking thing, so not quite the same). This week, I added another tool to my weaving toolbox.

I think you all might remember my Horoscope Shawl that I brought along to SOAR last year. I dyed the colors myself and the yarn is a 14/2 Alpaca/Silk blend from WEBS. I did the shawl in plain weave – and the sett was aimed toward a balanced cloth. I wanted something that was warm and that would drape. When it came off the loom, I washed it by hand, let it dry and then gave it a good press. Here’s a reminder:

And then the disappointment set in. It was itchy. I had a harsh feel to it. And, as if to mock me further, the unwoven yarn that was dangling as fringe was as soft and lovely as it could be. Grump.

I showed to Sara and also mentioned that I had more yarn. Her advice was to wind another warp, sett it more tightly and then weave it off with something fine. You know, like silk. (shocker!) Also, wash the original cloth in the washer and really give it the what-for. I filed that away for future reference and started plotting my next move.

Fast forward to a month (or so) ago and my first weekend in Palm Springs. We all brought samples of things that we had woven and I threw in the shawl as an example of a failed piece. I brought it out, explained what it was and what I’d done, added in Sara’s recommendations for follow-on work and then asked what others thought. Jeane promptly took it out of my hands and stuck it in the washer. We put it through a cycle and then hung it to dry. That softened it up a bit, but it was still a bit harsh. And, then I promptly forgot it at Jeane’s place.

I was down there again last weekend and we pulled it out. Next thought was to give it a brushing to see if that would raise the halo of the alpaca. So, into the washer it went again, we spun it out and then we gave it a good, firm brushing. I’d not done this before so the thought never occurred to me. That said, once the brushing was done, we gave it another firm steam press and – WOW. It’s still not what I’d call buttery soft, but it’s absolutely a different fabric. Again. It’s supple, it drapes and the halo on it is incredible. Amazingly, I now actually *like* it! We then started talking about what do to with it, since I really didn’t like it as a shawl, and we started plotting about garments. “If only you had a few more yards, we could make a jacket.” said Jeane. Somewhat coincidentally, I’d taken the leftover yarn and wound it into a warp before heading down. I added a counting thread as if to sett more densely and that would have yielded something around 13″ wide after finishing. Yes!

It’s not a horoscope this time; rather, it’s a collection of stripes that let me use nearly every scrap of what was left. I added some spacing with some more of the leftover yarn that I used for dyeing, which is a lighter gray than the previous piece. I also decided to sett it the same as the original as Jeane found a cone of some tweedy wool (though it feels like there’s silk in there as well) in a navy blue color that is a similar weight as the alpaca/silk. I threw the whole thing on the Gilmore (yay for getting something on that loom! and that’s a whole separate post) yesterday and started to weave it off. You know? I love it!

There are some really interesting stripes in there. The copper and blue one, just to the right of center really catches my eye:

The red/green/olive one in the middle is also quite dramatic, but I just can’t get a good picture. You’ll just have to wait to see it in person. The weaving is all done; I’ll be cutting it off the loom today and putting it in the wash. If I can find the scrubbing brush, I’ll get Chris to help me brush it as well. Or, I may leave it – as a contrast. It depends on how that weft reacts to the washing.

So, I’m well on my way to having something for a jacket. The garment will be slightly structured, but still casual and perfect for just throwing on and knocking about in. I should have just over four yards of 15″ wide fabric by the time it’s done, so I think I can manage it. We can piece the sleeves and other bits and it’ll be another good exercise in the pattern drafting department. This will most assuredly be ready for SOAR (not for CNCH, but I’ll bring the fabric along!). It can’t go in the gallery as none of it is handspun, but it’ll be worth talking about regardless.

I must admit, it’s been great to have an opportunity, on a regular basis, to sit with other weavers/knitters and really brainstorm and think about possibilities. This group has been full of surprises – each of us learning from the other.

With all the horrible weather going on, it seems appropriate that I settle into the studio and do some weaving. I’ve a commission for a dozen dishtowels that will coordinate with the requestor’s kitchen. She invited me over about a month ago to have a look and get me started. Fortunately, she’s patient (I said March-end!) and now that taxes and such are behind me, I’m happy to get back to it.

Her kitchen is beautiful. It’s done up in a European style; a mixture of what look like Italian, Spanish and French influences. The main color is white – cabinets, walls and shelving are all painted white – with strong accents of cobalt, tomato and a deep yellow. One wall has a set-in shelf that’s framed by an arched opening and the back wall of the shelf is done in a yellow/cobalt tile. All the knobs on the cabinets are the rich tomato red and the countertops are a deep olive/blue. There’s some unfinished wood for the worktable, but otherwise, that’s the deal. Other than saying that her favorite color is green and she’d prefer “no pink”, it’s all on me.

My plan is to do two sets of six. That means two warps and I’ll weave off towels (likely) in pairs. The first warp will be red-focused and the second either deep blue or deep green. I’ve just finished winding the first warp this morning and I’ll have it beamed, threaded, sleyed and tied-on by mid-afternoon. I’ll be rewarding myself with a trip down the hill, away from the cold and rain, and I get to do so once the loom is ready.

I played around with colored pencils quite a bit to get the stripes how I wanted them. The colors, of course, are pure Sara – red, gold, purple. I used the yellow to make the purple “pop” and as an edging to the wider bands of red. When designing, I divided the towel into three equal parts and then put the stripes in among them. I needed to do some balancing on the two outside panels so I increased the width on the selvedge, which made the inner band a bit narrower. Since they were butting against a wide stripe of red anyway, I was fine with it.

The threading is dead easy; thread a straight twill until you come to a color change, then reverse it. Reverse again next color change, and so on, and so on, across the warp. I made sure that each band is a multiple of 4 so no figuring of heddles – it all comes out even in the end. I just grab the next in line and off I go. As a hedge, I played with the setup in PixieLoom to make sure that my thought process was a good one. The software said “yep” so now I’ve leapt off the bridge. Here’s a close-up of the direction change at a stripe.

Naturally, I don’t have enough of the red yarn to weave off all six. That’s actually a blessing in disguise since I can do two (or three) and then weave off the other two in some other color. I think the purple will be spectacular.

And, because I’m so excited about weaving again, I’m going to wind off the rest of the yarn I dyed for my Horoscope shawl that turned out so scratchy. FWIW, I took it along when I went to Palm Springs two weekends ago and we put it in the washing machine. Very little difference in the feel of the fabric so it’s time to try something else. I’m going to sett it at 30 this time (the first was at 24) and weave it off with something fine – like that 30/2 (that’s actually 60/4 – or, 60/2/2) that I’ve left over from my other shawl. Anyway, we’ll see how it goes.