I have weaving content!

I've been on a bit of a fall-cleaning binge, so I've only touched most of my crafty stuff to move it around. But I started warping the Flip Sunday (unfortunately, this is as far as I got except for making it into a warp chain).


I think I'm going to like the 'coat rack' idea, but this particular coat rack is beveled so it's hard to clamp to the table. (And it must've been made in China - some of the holes weren't big enough for the pegs!)

I use a dumbbell to hold this lightweight folding table in place (and I put on one the loom stand foot as well, just in case):


And I used one of the nifty raddles DH made for me:


I will be using a second raddle behind the heddle once I start winding on - I have an awful time with warps twisting while I wind on and I'm hoping this will help. I'm planning on winding on today - keep your fingers crossed!



In fun weaving news, eLoomanator is starting a Weave-It / Loomette / Weavette / whatever version you have Weave-along! I have several of these little gems in varying brands and 'styles' - this one still has a project on it:


I had just bought this box to put a Loomette in my car for those times when I'm stuck waiting for something or someone:


Perfect!


These little squares don't usually take long, and I will probably do some of the weave-along squares, but I doubt I'll be able to keep up as easily distracted as I am! But doesn't this look like fun?!!!

Not much to report again

This confounded cold is still hanging on, leaving me without much energy after a workday so I've done no weaving, and not much spinning.

BUT... I just did the math for the next set of dishcloths on the Flip, so hopefully I'll get that warped tomorrow. I'm going to change my warping procedure a bit. Instead of using one warping peg, I'm going to try using a multi-peg coat-hanging thing. If this works satisfactorily, it will be best for wider warps, such as those on the Harp - you will get a more-even warp (I think). Plus DH made a raddle for me to try out.

A commenter asked for recommendations for yarn for towels, and I said I would check The Ashford Book of Rigid Heddle Weaving - and I finally found it (and the notes for the dishcloths I made - whew!). The towel pattern in the book uses 8/2 cotton with a 12.5 dent heddle. These appear to be much thinner than the ones I made. Hmm... I actually have some 8/2 - I'm going to have to make a list of all the things I want to make!


On the spinning front, I only spun at the spinning club meeting this week, though I'll be taking the Spindolyn with me today as we are going to The Big City to shop (whee).

Also, a friend has lent me her mini combs to try. I must say I like how light they are, but they are so SMALL - you don't get much off of one. My spinning friend is going to lend me her Indigo Hound combs Monday so I can compare (while I can still remember what the minis were like) before I decide which type to buy. I don't think I will be sitting and combing for hours, though - even the minis make my hands tired (though it could be that nasty pink stuff I'm combing). I'm attending a spin-in with vendors next month and hoping someone will have combs for sale. And I'm considering doing a combing post on the blog next week.

One question I have is - is this what dyed locks normally look like? These aren't quite as representative, as I might be able to guess which end is the butt end, but wow these are long (6 - 8") and it is very hard to separate the locks, if that is what they are. Some of it looks like felted roving.

I might not have a choice as to combing these - I was hoping to try spinning from the lock but I don't think that can happen. I'm going to try carding a few as well, and see which I like better.


Your nature shot o' the day:

Plants are doing their 'last gasp blooming', as winter will be here soon (we don't seem to have much more than a couple of weeks of Fall).

I have nuthin'...

Well, I do have a killer cold that kept me from doing anything all weekend - I'm just now trying to catch up on e-mails. Thankfully Li in the comments asked me a question about the towels, so I actually have something to post about!

She asked:

"How long does it take to do those lovely towels on the harp? What are the dimensions?"

It took me about 2 months to make these. Keeping in mind I don't craft every night, I'm really slooow, and I've been on quite a spinning kick (and I was avoiding doing the finishing for about a month), a normal person could probably whip out 3 of these in a couple of weeks, if not less. I know the dishcloths didn't take me long at all; maybe two weeks or so.

As to dimensions, finished and washed dimensions are approximately 21 x 17". I haven't held them up to a 'regular' dishtowel yet to see if I like the dimensions, but they look like they should be a tiny bit narrower - but it's all personal taste. The dishcloths definitely need to be wider, but they were a by-guess-by-gosh warp, as my mom would say. :-) The towels were done with a 10-dent heddle, the cloths with an 8; and I can't tell the difference in the hand of them (I think the cloths might be too small to tell). I guess I'm going to have to do a test-drive with them.

I'm planning to do these again in yellows, and I was going to do the math this weekend, but with this cold the most I could do was figure out which movie to watch next. :-( So I'll probably do the math this next weekend.

So the current plan of the week is to finish off spinning that super-hairy sample, start spinning the brown/silvery-gray roving for my "Saturday sweater", and continue on the red Colonial (for some reason I can't spin that for very long). Oh, and something to spin on the Spindolyn - I'll have to think on that - maybe a silk hankie?

I also want to get out a Loomette and finish off the current square that's on that, and get back to doing that project (a bunch of sampler squares in a rayon chenille). And start doing the math for the next set of towels on the Harp and cloths on the Flip - which reminds me, I need to find my notes on this project and put them into the computer. Hmm... wonder how much I'll actually get done?

We have weaving content!!!

The towels are done (almost)!

I've already measured them, so now I need to put them in a water/vinegar solution to hopefully set the colors, and then a wash in the washing machine to see how they hold up (and how much they shrink).

I don't know what I was thinking when I did this:

Presser feet and blind slats don't agree with each other - the slat gets in the way of the presser foot. For one of the towels I had only used one length of spacer-yarn on each side of the slat; but apparently having weaving on both sides of the spacer helped steady it and I was able to remove the slat and then stitch.

I used the same hemming procedure that I used for the dishcloths.

I discovered I need to make wider hems - these were just a little narrow for easy folding.

Top, thread hem; middle, carpet warp hem; bottom, regular weft hem.

The thread hem was of course easiest to stitch, but I discovered the thinner the thread/yarn, the more it pulls in. Also, it was much harder to weave evenly and spoils the look, if you look close enough, so carpet warp or something just a little bit smaller is probably best with this warp.

The hems look like something is missing.

With a little bit more hem to work with, I think I will try running two lines of stitching along the hem (luckily my machine has a two-needle doo-hickey so I don't have to try to keep them even 'by hand').


I think they are a good size for handtowels in the kitchen - at least until I see how much they shrink. The hand is good too; we'll see how they feel after washing.


On the spinning front, I'm currently spinning this Brown Sheep mill end sample received from The Sheep Shed Studio (kind of reminds me of the Hound):

into this single.

The roving is extremely compacted (or sticky - I'm not sure what is the cause) so I've had to draft both lengthwise and width-wise. It's turning into a very hairy single, which I don't care for, and I was hoping it would show more brown so I could use it as an accent yarn in a sweater I'm planning to knit with the brown/grey/silver BS roving. But since the black is predominating, and the hairiness would probably drive me nuts, I'll have to come up with another use for it after Navajo-plying it.


The chain-plyed (correction: I've just learned that this is called "cable-plying", not "chain-plying) Polwarth came out pretty neat, though a bit fuzzy:


More of a closeup:

I will probably make an earwarmer out of this, though there's not much there so I'll have to cross both my fingers and toes and hope that I have enough. :-D

The spinning wheel goes 'round and 'round...

No pictures today, as DH took the camera to work Tuesday and hasn't brought it back yet. I don't really have anything to show though.

I chain-plyed the Polwarth Tuesday, and the yarn is fuzzy enough it is kind of hard to see. I think it looks better than it did as a 2-ply though. (Correction: I've just learned that this is called "cable-plying", not "chain-plying.)

I started spinning the sample of Brown Sheep wool/mohair that The Sheep Shed Studio sent with my order - it is black/brown/white and I've been dying to see what it looks like (so far the black predominates - I can barely see any brown). It won't take long - there is only 4 ounces there. Still working on the red Colonial mix from The Fold - this is taking forever and I haven't made a dent in the first pound yet.

I plan to finish the towels Saturday - I will not let myself spin until I've got them sewn!