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Piled Fleece

 So, this is kinda good fun.

I bought two raw fleeces from Tweedside Jacobs, who have a herd of Jacobs and Gotland sheepies over in Newtown St Boswells (I think, nearby anyway)

Nice people, nice wool.

So this is my first wee test of a fleece-staple pile technique I'm trying out.

I was intrigued at the idea of making a tufted cloak fabric, as is occassionally described in saga and ancient law codes of scandinavia. Apparently they had individual staples of fleece knotted into the cloth.
Now I've done pile before, so I figure it's much of a muchness. I am using a normal pile knot, using two warp ends on one side and two on the other. Here I am knotting in the stripes. For one sequence I put the pile in one stripe, then in the other. I count two ends in from the edge of the stripe, then I take the next 4 ends, seperate them and anchor the staple there. Then once finished knotting that row, do two picks and move two threads along until you get to the other side of the stripe.

I also made a wee triangle, but i didn't take a picture of that and it's not exactly well defined anyway, so never mind. I like this technique. I am liking the ideas of Heavyness and Warmth right now. I want to make large, heavy, comforting throws. It's a Good Idea






Comments

heather said…
very interesting post. i like how much thought you put into what you weave and why.
25 October 2012 at 13:33
Carrie said…
It is definately a good idea, says me sitting here wearing a scarf, a big blanket and a hot water bottle. It's not even winter yet!! Will be interesting to see how they turn out :)
Carrie xx
25 October 2012 at 20:18
Andrew Kieran said…
Alright Carrie :-)

you are clearly in need of fake-pile rugs and many layers of shaggy woollen throws.
25 October 2012 at 23:20
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