Dish Towel Exchange

This weekend went zipping by.  Thursday I got out the yarn for the Dish Towels, it's not 8/2, some of it is labeled 20/2 and some 16/2 but it might mis-marked as the yarn looks to be 8/2. What ever it is, I'm using it. It's unmercerized, so it will work.

It wrapped 13 touching in a half inch so I will warp at 24 epi, using a 12 dent reed.  I decided to put on 8 yards which I would normally go front to back but I thought I would try the AVL warping reel on thicker yarn.        

The sections on this loom are 2 inches so I need 48 ends.  This is the first run and I'm not too pleased with it. The edges pook out into the next space, I will probably unreel it after I try again.

Second run going smoother than the first. There is a small comb between the highest bobbin and the next one to it's right, it acts like a rattle.  On the first run I put 2 ends in each section, on the second, I measured 2 inches and figured out how many ends should go in each section. I ended up putting 2 ends each in the two edge sections on each side and 3 ends in the balance. This helped to keep the yarn from pushing out into the next sections. I also put the reel up on bed risers, this made it easier on my back. Now I will have to build a little platform with wheels.  The bed risers make it hard to line the yarn with the sections. Casters will help. A job for another day.

The second run is much smoother and the tension much better. The first will have to be redone. 

This was all I had time for, looking for more time next Thursday.

Shifted Gears

The stripe material is taking more time than I thought so I have decided to wrap more cards in the evenings and warp my loom with dish towels.  Our guild has a once a year dish towel exchange and I decided not to wait until the last minute, again. I never make fancy towels for these exchanges as I like a nice thin towel that actually absorbs water. My last year's towels were wove with hemp, they looked terrible but worked great. After a few washings they didn't wrinkle as much.  This year I'm using 8/2 cotton.

Just My Yarn and RedFish DyeWorks

Since I wanted stripes for this shirt instead of random color, I thought I should wrap some cards to see how my chosen colors would work with each other.  I very seldom do this but in this case I'm glad I did. The colors worked fine, however, the pink hand-spun silk was too fuzzy.  I traded it out for the same color in 20/2 silk and it looks much better. I have also decided to sley the 20/2 two to a dent and the 60/2 three to a dent, it will still be sheer but the difference in the stripes won't be so great.  I will work on wrapping new cards tomorrow. Maybe

Life

Sometimes life just gets in the way of fun. Tomorrow is another day.

Just My Yarn and RedFish DyeWorks

I have all the yarns wound on spools and ready to start if I had a plan. I think I will make a shirt to go over a sweater.  Probably 6 yards will do it but I really should sit down and do some drawing and figuring.  I have to stay out of the studio tomorrow morning as the piano turner is coming and it drives me crazy to listen to him. I am beginning to look forward to Thursdays and Fridays, I will draw and figure in the morning and start in the afternoon.

This is Yellow Cat. He appeared when he was a kitten and stayed under the guest house for the longest time. I put food and water out for him and told him this wasn't going to be a permanent situation. Three years later he is still spending the winters with us, the summers he spends Tom-Catting, only coming back when he is wounded badly and expects to be fed while he recuperates. I keep feeding and doctoring but I still tell him this isn't going to be a permanent situation.

Just My Yarn and RedFish DyeWorks

New project this week.

Yesterday I laid out the 3 skeins of yarn I purchased from Just My Yarn www.JustOurYarn.com and looked at them off and on all morning.  In the afternoon I started adding RedFish yarns to fill in the warp.  I decided I wanted a lot of color in stripes and a sheer fabric. 

 This is what I have come up with so far. The pink on the left is a hand-spun silk I had RedFish dye a light pink.  Because it is hand-spun the color is very streaky, which I love. The 6 little skeins are RedFish 60/2 100% silk in stock colors. The 2 skeins across the top are RedFish 20/2 silk in stock colors. The 3 skeins on the right are Just Our Yarn. The one to the left is tencel, the middle is 30/2 tencel and the right hand side is Rayon. I might add more colors later, I'll have to wait and see

I will be using my Schacht floor loom which has 2 inch sections. I will use the AVL Warping Reel as I think I will make each section different. 

May haps I best decide what this rectangle will turn into and figure how much warp I need. This is always a great idea! Back to the drawing board.

Mummies & Silks

Today we took a field trip to see the Mummies of the World at the California Science Museum.  We made the trip to downtown Los Angeles in an hour and fifteen minutes, almost a record, and even got a parking place. The Mummies were, well Mummies.  Very interesting but the bog people are still my favorite.

My friends Debbie and Lisa and I are all on a cleaning spree.  Studios are being cleaned and of course we all get first pick of the others throw aways. Today Deb brought me a bag of silk when she picked us up to visit the Mummies.  I don't see how she could part with these, some of the pieces are over 5 yards. Now they are in my stash.