Got the blue warp weaving this evening. One sleying error, spotted after completing towel #1. It was one of those threads that simply did not weave into the cloth and rode along behind, invisible until I looked at the back of the cloth.
Oh well - it will go to a good home as I have several friends who will adopt my 'orphans'.
On the last 2/20 merc. cotton warp I used 40 epi and could not beat the weft in to square so this time the set got changed to 36. I'm having to coax it a bit, but the twill lines are about 45 degrees and the pattern isn't at all elongated so I think it will be okay. Depends how much the cotton contracts compared to the linen during wet finishing.
The design seems particularly appropriate - a scattering of snowflakes and snowballs - even though we are having unseasonably warm weather. The snow is melting away as though it's March not January and Sunday I slipped and fell on the ice.
Since I'm blessed with 'big' bones I just have a few scrapes and bruises - nothing broken. Don't know what I'd do if I broke an arm! Guess I'd have to put a wide warp on and use the fly shuttle.
Currently reading Mean Streets - a collection of four novellas including Jim Butcher (one of my favs). The other three are new to me.
11 comments:
Love the blue tea towels - beautiful! Weaverly yours ... Barbara
Mean Streets is a great collection! I checked it out from the library because of the Jim Butcher story and wound up liking them all just as well. Remy Chandler is me new favorite character.
Oh, know what you mean about the ice. Here's my recommendation - Get a Grip Ultra. Have dealt with this co. several times over several years. These cleats pack pancake flat in a homemade bubble wrap bag and get carried around if I'm at all suspicious of what's underfoot.
Thanks for the info on the Norway selvedges on your Weavolution blog.
--Sue in MA
I love the X and O border. It's a very lovely pattern - soft and gentle.
I'm really happy with this warp, too. :)
I'm enjoying Mean Streets, and will look for Kat Richardson at the library. Not too sure about Simon Green. Haven't gotten to the last story yet. :)
While I don't use floating selvedges myself, I also don't weave weft faced rugs. If I did, I think the Norway selvedge treatment is excellent.
As for the border, I wanted to isolate the motif in the centre but felt it needed something to 'catch' the eye at the edge. :)
Cheers,
Laura
who thinks the grips are a really neat idea! Weather continues unseasonably warm for two more weeks which should melt the rest of the ice - for now....
I was so happy to see you're using a boat shuttle. I can't afford to spring for an end-feed shuttle et al so have tried to get a rhythm and keep the weaver's angle going. I appreciate all the teaching you do in your blog. I now have a premeasured strip of bias tape running up the sides of my towels and a contrast weft between them. I have ordered a towel-sized temple but it's back ordered.
I much prefer my boat shuttle to a hand efs. :) Call me a dinosaur, I guess. :D
Cheers,
Laura
Dear Laura your towels look fabulous. I'm curious that it looks like overshot but is obviously a twill. I hate to pick your brains but how did you do that? and is it 8 shaft? because maybe I could try that. It looks very classy
The weave structure is twill blocks. The main motif is threaded over 12 shafts, the background area is threaded on an additional 4 shafts. I have 16 shafts, so have a little more leeway when it comes to messing about with how I thread a pattern. :)
I'm sure you could do something similar with overshot but it would have longer floats, not necessarily suitable for towels. Would make a nice table runner, tho.
Cheers,
Laura
You are warm and we are cooooold. Well, colder than usual until today. Today we are about back to average for a few days. And of course it's all relative.
That pattern is very very nifty. I love what you do with 16 shafts!
I'm having a struggle deciding if I want to bother with a warp. I think the yarn has gotten too old and is not good because I've had four threads break already (nothing is crossed - they just seem to have weak spots) and the warp was fiddly winding on. The thing I hate is that the six inches of towel I did get woven feels really good so I hate to lose the warp. On the other hand... all that breaking thread is driving me crazy and I'm not even sitting down at the loom - which means nothing is getting woven. grrr
Hi Sharon,
Try some sizing - Leclerc makes a warp dressing, or you can brush on some starch or even try using a hairspray! Something to give the yarn a little more stability.
Been there, know how frustrating it can be!
Cheers,
Laura
Post a Comment