weave4fun

But only a little bit. It's been mad busy over here the last few weeks, been in late every day and on saturdays too. I've finished weaving the first viscose colour sampler and got it cut up into samples. Think there must be something like over 100 samples from that warp, they're only little. Really pleased with the amount of different shades I can get from one warp colour simply by changing the structures and colours about. Going to choose my favourite shades and combinations then try mixing them together in double weave on the next viscose warp, from the previous post. While I'm thinking about that I will be continuing to work on a warp of silk as detailed below Silk 60's, 16 shafts in eight shaft blocks of about 1.5" each. 1600 ends at 90epi, sleyed 4 ends in a 42 reed (scottish system) I've been at the threading for a little while now and it's starting to do my brain in, but I'm nearly through. Should get it finished tomorrow afternoon, then ...

Here's an interesting thing. So those of you who use blogger.com to throw portions of your brain at the internet may have noticed that they've changed their layout and suchlike for the account settings page. I hadn't of course because I'm a bit slow and I've also posted all my recent blog posts (the ones that are basically a photo and caption) from my phone, which is a very convenient way of throwing images at the web but not much use for writing long screeds of text because of it's tiny little keyboard. I plan to buy a bluetooth keyboard for the thing sometime in the future when I have some money, but don't hold your breath, that day may never come. Anyhoo, that's enough rambling introduction. Here's the thing I noticed. They have statistics on the main page. And mine are fairly expected, it's hardly a high-traffic blog, I don't promote it anywhere and I rarely comment on other people's blogs (and that's where most of my visito...

To thread a 1440 end warp. 440 heddles I had to make myself, and they're a little too tight so don't move very easily. That's 3 whole days. Not counting the half day it took to build and wind the warp. I swear I'm getting slower, It only took me two days to do the last warp. To be fair, it only had 576 ends, but still. I had to resley almost the entire reed. Twice. Once when it was still attached to the shafts, and then again while I was halfway through tieing on. a 48" warp at 30 epi in a ten dent reed. Next time I make this cloth I'll just up the epi to 32 and sleigh it in an 8 dent reed instead, probably save me a lot of hassle. Nevertheless, this still promises to be the best cloth so far. I've used this yarn a lot before and I know exactly what I'll be getting in terms of drape and handle. It's lovely stuff and it weaves up easy enough without too many broken ends (during the last warp I was having to get up and retie and end every few ...

So I finished weaving the last warp 2.5 weeks ago or so. And I made a throw for my mother out of it, and there was a bit left over. So I started on the next warp, which isn't threaded yet because I didn't have enough heddles, so I had to make 500 string heddles which took me all day, there must be a better way of making string heddles. Anyway, I went on a wee break, got a bit of work at a festival and skanked to the Amphetameanies for an hour or two, which was nice, but very tiring, which was OK cause when I got back the family was on holiday so i couldn't get a lift up to the loom anyway and I was too tired to go. So I've spent the week alternately playing computer games and sewing. So far I've made 3 large throws, a couple of very bulky experimental scarves, my first shaped bag with lining and one very dodgy hat which was, frankly, a disaster. Well, not a disaster, as no-one was killed and there was very little in the way of property damage, but ...

So yeah, it has been suggested to me that what your average person (not me, but most people, apparently) likes in a scarf is a feeling of bulk and airiness (not airiness, but fluffiness, maybe?) which is obviously something you get a lot of in a knitted scarf, because of the inherently loose structure of a knitted fabric (it's full of air, that's why it's so warm, but it's full of air which is why it doesn't provide a great wind barrier, but that's what your coat's for) So the lady (who is worth listening to, 'cos she knows what she's on about) suggests that i should use a nice loose weave, like hopsack or something like that. But for some reason I'm really at a loss. I'm only working on 4 shafts and 6 pedals you see, as opposed to the 24 shaft dobby loom to which I've become accustomed. And instinct tells me to make twills, because I really like twills, and I'm very visually orientated, so I tend to work with colour a lot more ...