Circles, Spirals

 

Yesterday I finished the last scarf on what will be, for the time being, the last scarf warp.  As I set up the spool rack I thought about how life doesn't just circle back on itself, it spirals.

This warp is 100% natural white 2/16 cotton.  Back in the day I would beam 40 yard long warps with 2/8 natural white cotton and then weave that off using various colours to make place mats, table runners, even napkins.

Since those days my weaving shifted into using much more colour, until I finally felt comfortable enough working with colour to combine some hues I would never have dreamed of using back in the 1980s and 90s.

And now?  I circle back to my former favourite colour - white.  

This warp is an effort to use up the last of my 2/16 dyed yarns.  When working with such fine yarn it is easy to forget just how much yarn fits on the spools.  A half pound spool of 2/16 cotton holds about 3360 yards of yarn.  Almost 2 miles.

You get a lot of play value from fine yarns.  Just saying.

There should be enough yarn for 6 warps but I expect to have finished the dyed 2/16 long before I get to warp #6.  However, I have other yarns that can also be used on the same set up - some cottolin (almost gone), some cotton/hemp, some linen.

But my next goal is that dyed 2/16 cotton.  I have numerous half or close to empty spools and if I can get them emptied I could potentially clear at least two more shelves of yarn.

And then I'll potentially look at the 2/20 mercerized cotton.  It's been stored in an ordinary cardboard box for far too long and needs to be used up.  We'll see what I come up with.

Currently reading Fabric by Victoria Finlay - a travelogue focusing on textiles.  Enjoying it so far.