posted by Charleen at 12:10 AM
Happy New Years! And Happy Anniversary to us! DH and I just celebrated our 30th anniversary. Sometimes it seems like just yesterday, but then I look at our four kids, 27, 26, 24, 20 and I can easily see where the time went :-)
This is what I'm working on now.
I
finished threading it and tieing up and gave it a good spray of starch. Someone
at spinning recommended spray starch for sticky doubleweave warps. She said
that all the starch will wash out, and that it really slicks up the yarn and
allows it to gide past each other.
I was a little worried about the fold, but I really didn't want to use a fishing line floating selvedge as I was afraid I would mess up the over/under thing. One of the hints in the Handwoven Doubleweave Issue (J/F 2002) was to thread the last two ends on the fold with 25# fishing line and tie it to a 2# weight. I just happened to have the foam covered weights that you can strap over your hands (haven't used them for working out in ages) so I put them right to work. Then I suppose I just slip the line out when I'm finished. I'm hoping that will keep the fold even.
After some help from the Weaving List, I've got my Idiots Twill doubleweave worked out, so with any luck I'll get to that next week. Pretty high goals considering I'm back to school on Thursday, huh?
posted by Charleen at 12:15 PM
I didn't get much done in the way of fiber yesterday, but spent awonderful day with my family. Lots of laughs and waaaaay too much food. After a few errands I'll be back spinning and winding my warps.
I've been enthralled by one of the squirrels in my yard. He has been so persistant trying to get past the baffle I put over the bird feeder. This morning I watched as he sat on the branch above the hanger trying to figure out a new way. He climbed down the hanger, hit the baffle, and landed about 6 feet below on the ground. Not to be denied, he tried over and over again. Unfortunately I didn't get to my camera in time to get that picture, but here's one of the result of all that trial and error!
Caroline in NH, and anyone else who's interested, I put the Christmas breakfast recipes up. You can click the link right above the Tag-Board.
posted by Charleen at 8:45 AM
We had the first White Christmas since my freshman year in college. It was beautiful, even if it was messy driving into Mom's. We had a wonderful morning - grown children mean that you can open presents at 11:00! I made baked French toast and a breakfast casserole the night before so when everyone woke/arrived I popped them in the oven and they were ready for brunch when we were finished.
SPINNING
I love the BEAST!! I ordered 3 pounds from John and I'm having so much fun spinning it up. I was thinking of a blanket with Lambs Pride as a warp, but both of my sons have fallen in love with it. They want a big bulky sweater. It is incredibly soft, despite looking like it would be coarse and scratchy. (close up picture)
I
spun a bobbin on Christmas Eve and another one last night. I spent less than
2 hours spinning and about an hour to ply it all. I think they call it Tiger
Cat too. It has streaks of brown and black, along with gray and white wool and
mohair. It's great for immediate gratification!
WEAVING
I've brough down bins of yarn from the attic and I'm sorting through them today. I know I have enough for a few blankets, so I'll get them divided and in bags according to projects. Tomorrow I'll start winding the warps so they will be ready to go.
I've done one doubleweave, but I didn't use a floating selvedge on the fold. It was a little tight, so I pulled out two warp threads and it looked pretty good. (I also forgot that I needed to put another stripe right on the fold so it looks a little funny spread out - however, it is usually bunched up on the sofa so that's not a problem) This time I think I'll try fishing line, but I'm worried that I will have to pay too much attention to going over and under it. I guess it's worth a try.
This afternoon we do another Christmas celebration at my sister's. If I eat much more I won't be able to get in my loom to thread!
posted by Charleen by 11:10 AM
I've
been playing with this sage variegated
roving and think I know what it wants to be. I plied it with a single of
brown romney and like the results. I think I'll do an EZ sweater and I know
I'll have enough to do the body and sleeves up to the yoke. If I run out of
the sage I have another variegated and a rust which I can play with the brown
(I have plenty of the brown) so I can switch on and off on the yoke.
Dyeing Update: Now that everything is dry, I do see a difference between the two batches. The batch that was on the right burner of the camp stove is darker. It was getting dark when I finished up outside and I realized the pot on the auxiliary burner wasn't exhausted - probably because the temp wasn't as high on that side. I was planning a big barn jacket, so I think I'll do the ribbings, collar, and maybe the sleeves with the slightly darker yarn. I think that as long as I don't mix them across the body it will look fine. Or I could alternate rows, but that I'm lazy and that seems like too much work!
I'll have to find my big canning pot, that probably would have fit all of the yarn at one time. Oh well, live and learn.
posted by Charleen at 10:30 AM
Here's a better picture of the dyed yarn. They all really DO look the same! The two skeins on the right are showing the true color. Luckily it is still breezy and sunny today, so I could put it outside to finish drying.
Hey Carolyn - I'm making the Veggie Chili with Cashews tomorrow. Can't wait!
posted by Charleen at 7:30 PM
Had my first try at dyeing today. It was sunny most of the morning and the temps were about 50, so I thought I'd give it a try. I used Cushing's Perfection (Cardinal) on the gray romney I've been spinning. I was going to try a wash at half strength, but then decided to just go by the directions for the first time. Also I didn't know if I could divide the powder equally between the two pots, so I just used a package a pot. I had just a little over 2 pounds of 2 ply romney.
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| I had seven skeins of this gray romney. I washed it myself, but then sent it to Ohio Valley, since I had 7 pounds of it! Couldn't see carding that much :-) | I weighed them and split them into two groups. After fiddling I was able to get the two groups within 1.2 oz. of each other | |
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| I set up the camp stove with a propane adapter. I dissolved one package each in a 16 qt. and 20 qt. pot with a little water. After it dissolved I added more water, vinegar, and the yarn. | About half way through - I don't know why the back is cloudy, maybe the steam. | |
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| Here everything is, dripping in the sink. The light isn't too good in the laundry room. | ||
My daughter wants to weave a scarf. I bought a 16" rigid heddle loom with
a stand, but 
thought
I should warp it and give it a try before I warped it for her. It's harder to
weave on than my Macomber. My shoulders and upper arms were killing me this
morning. It only has a 10 dent reed. I'm using Top of the Lamb sport for both
the warp and the weft. I'm thinking an 8 dpi reed would have been better. It's
really rubbing the singles and making them catch. I've been advancing the warp
often to keep the shed clear.
Hopefully I'll be able to get that 8 heddle table loom that my guild was selling. By the time I called all of the looms were gone but this one. Someone had mentioned they wanted it, but the equipment chairman said if she didn't call for it this week, that I could have it. I think my daughter would like weaving with that better than this rigid heddle.
I'm planning on trying out my new Harrisville Warping Reel and winding some warp chains. Someone suggested that when I have time, plan out and wind the warps, then when I'm really busy with school, it won't seem like such a daunting task to just thread it up and start weaving. Thanks to Carolyn I now have a good use for those drop spindles I never use! She said to use them when you have a broken thread, rather than a film canister. Gives enough weight, and easy to wind off more thread when you need it.
posted by Charleen at 6:23 PM
KNITTING AND MY KIDS
You might remember that I took my youngest daughter (almost 24) to Stitches
East because she was interested in learning to knit. She bought 2 skeins of
Koigu and some wooden needles and off she went. She didn't have time for me
to teach her anything but cast on and knit! I got a frantic phone call and was
able to tell her how to cast off over the phone (she lost the written instructions).
She finished two scarves and is almost finished another one. She has also taught
6 other young women to knit. One of her friends started with 20 stitches and
is up to 56, but she said she'll just keep on going - she likes shawls! Sarah
wants me to come to her apartment this weekend to give a lesson in purling and
- as she puts it - increasing and decreasing "on purpose" 
|
Koigu |
Sarah's first scarves
|
Noro |
Here's my oldest son, Dan, modeling his new hat. I used Jo Sharp (merino/Border Leicester) yarn. The design, King Charles Brocade, is from the Harmony Stitches (Volume 2, I think) The yarn is incredibly soft and silky, but still shows off the stitch pattern.
posted by Charleen at 1:00 PM
WEAVING
Ahhhh, success. I'm not saying it's perfect, but I am really pleased with the
towels I just took off the loom. I wound 6 yards and was able to weave through
all of it. The tension was even throughout the length and width of the warp.
My first two projects were pretty successful, a
mohair throw and a doubleweave throw. Then I
put on 7 yds for the towel exchange expecting that to go just as well. In retrospect,
I think that I wound and beamed the warp the same as the throws, but being more
than two times the length and many more epi, the problems that didn't really
show on the throws were compounded to the point that I had to just cut off the
last yard or two.
(left)
broken twill, 6/2 natural warp, 8/2 green weft, 20 epi, see the close
up for more detail
(right) another tie-up, click on it for a larger view
I was able to weave 6 towels, and a sample from the six yards. I sampled some
slubby multi-colored cotton (20 wpi). I think it will make a great summer throw.
(see
below right) The close up
shows the texture a little better.
Now that I've had some success with the towels, I may try the false damask again. It really is pretty, even though the uneven tension caused missed threads, etc.
Here is the false damask, with white weft on natural warp (left) and rust weft on natural warp (left)
I've been using them and enjoying them, despite the obvious mistakes.
SPINNING TOO!
I picked up some handpainted roving from Tracy Bonkers at Stitches this fall.
It's the first 
time
I've spun superwash merino. It has a really silky feel, but I'm not sure I like
it. It's almost too slick. Maybe I'll knit a hat and see how I like it then.
SNOW DAYS....
We were expecting a big ice storm to hit around 9 this morning. Most of the schools around here closed in anticipation. It doesn't seem that bad, although I must say I haven't been out! But it's the third snow day so far (two last week), which means as of now we are in school until June 23rd. I'm enjoying the days off, been playing with fiber most of the time, but I know I'll be crying in June.
