July 2021

 

From the bin to the spool rack, the next warp is in the works.

After much thought, I decided to not use that bleached white for weft.  I should do a burn test on it to confirm it is, in fact, cotton, but if so it is mercerized cotton and fairly 'stiff'.

5/2 mercerized cotton (or Perle if it is DMC brand cotton) was engineered for embroidery.  Therefore it is dense due to the fibres being aligned parallel, then firmly twisted.  As such, it has less bend or drape to it, and - most importantly for a towel - less absorbency.

In a rummage in my yarn stash I was reminded that I have four cones (about 1 pound each) of 16/2 cotton of the right shade of turquoise.  

This yarn is thinner than the warp, but 2 strands of 16/2 cotton plied together will be about the same thickness as the 2/8 cotton, and I have a spinning wheel, so...

Right now we are in the  middle of an extreme heat event.  This is more serious than a 'wave' and high  temp records are being shattered up and down the west coast of North America, all the way up into the Arctic.  Not just on North America, either, but in the north on the other side of the globe.

Fortunately my studio is in the basement and I'm able to go down and get some relief from the heat.  Yesterday I reached the end of the last warp and got set up to beam the next.  I'm playing a bit of yarn chicken with this warp.  I'm pretty sure I have enough of the main colour to wind the warp, but I won't know until I actually do it.  So I'm thinking of reducing the length a bit, which will mean one less towel.  However, since I'm not entirely sure I will have enough of the 8/2 and 16/2 yarn to do 16 towels, one less might just be good planning.  Or a lucky happenstance.  

Beaming the next warp today is a lucky happenstance because today is supposed to be even hotter here than yesterday, but the forecast says the heat dome we are living under will begin deteriorating and the temperature begin to go down tomorrow.

So today I will begin beaming and maybe even threading.  I may not start weaving until Thursday though when the temps are supposed to be merely hot instead of extreme.

Currently reading The Fabric of Civilization by Virginia Potrel  (need to check the spelling of her name) while I wait for my next library book.  I'm finding the book dense with information and I tend to read it in short bits so I can think about what she is saying.  Just now reading about mathematics and weaving, and seeing familiar names - Carrie Brezine, Tien Chiu - and getting a little frisson of delight at nuggets of information.  Yes, I will do a 'proper' review but I'm only at about page 55 or 60 with a lot more to come.  Lovely!