50/50 Silk/Camel Sample

Once again I'm weaving on Thursday! Spent a good 3 hours and got the silk/camel sample thru the reed. Decided on 36 epi, 3 to a dent in a 10 dent reed, 10 inches wide. This yarn is very fine, so the sample should be shear.

Packing the truck

The truck is almost packed for the Southern California Handweavers Guild's WeFF show tomorrow.  SCHG is the first Guild I joined and it's fun to do a show when you know practically everybody. I have to set my clock back and get to bed early to get up at 3:45. The joys of a traveling silk merchant.

Just get on with it!

I have come to the conclusion that no matter how many cards I wrap I'm not going to like any of them. I am just going to pick one and weave it.  This is a booth sample for sett and hand, it has nothing to do with my color preference, I was given these colors and told to weave so I'm going to weave. And it's raining. 

50/50 Silk/Camel Sample

Fall is not my most favorite time. The daylight hours are less, of course, but the light also changes as the sun gets lower in the sky, creeps me out, with that said, I will continue with life.

Our traveling season will be over after this weekend with the Southern California Handweavers WeFF show, it's a one day show but very large and fun.

Note:  I have not stopped working on my P2P2 project, I'm still braiding, braiding, braiding.

Now on to my sample. We like to have samples, both woven and knitted, in our booth to show how our yarns work up and I am getting behind in my sample making so it's catch up time.

I will be working with 50/50 Silk/Camel, it's very fine yarn at 800 yards in a 50g skein. I have never worked with this yarn so if all works out I will have a scarf plus a square sample for the booth. I will also work in colors that are not inside my comfort zone to see what I can come up with.

Project:  Scarf 8" x 72" + sample square
Yarn:  RedFish DyeWorks
Colors:  P4d, BG4d, YG3b
Sett:  36 epi, 3 per dent 12 dent reed
I wind my skeins onto 4" cardboard bobbins with my bobbin winder. I use a plastic swift because the yarn doesn't stick to it as it does with the wood ones. Put the yarn on the swift, wind it off to the bobbin, takes about a minute and a half per skein.







I usually work with paper and colored pencils first but this yarn is so fine it doesn't translate well to paper. I will continue to wrap cards until I find a combination that pleases me.

Contemporary Handweavers of Texas

T-Shirt yesterday: She who dies with the biggest stash is dead! When's the estate sale?

Temperature: 74. Humidity: 82

Pack up at noon and move to the next stop. Seems like we just left home and the road trip is half over!


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Location:College Station TX

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

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.

Weaving

Stats for Pink and Yellow Sleeveless Jacket.

2 skeins Sea Silk, 70% Silk and 30% Seacell (r) from "Hand Maiden fine yarn". It's a hand dyed yarn from Canada. Color Melon.
2 skeins 60/2 Silk from RedFish DyeWorks. It's a hand dyed yarn from right here in my backyard. Color YO1b.

I used my 36" Schacht Floor Loom, threaded in a point twill. I used only 4 of the harnesses and tied 1 harness to 1 treadle.

Wove 25" wide at 15 epi. Warp was 2 1/2 yards long. This loom has a waste of 20 inches.

The whole project went very quickly. The Sea Silk is very soft spun so it needs to be handled gently. The yarn label says hand wash only.

I'm not in a sewing mood so I will start another warp.

Weaving

I'm glad it's Thursday again, but it has been so hot and humid that I don't think I had the energy to do anything except thread my loom. Slowly.

I'm threaded and knots are tied.  This is a very nice yarn but you cannot handle it too much as it is loosely spun and pills easily.

All wound on.  To me this is the most important part of dressing the loom.

  I'm ready to tie the front knots and lash on.

I might not get to weave tomorrow as RedFish will be in Camarillo Saturday for the Ventura Spinning and Weaving Guild's annual Harvest Festival and Sale.  Packing to do and lunch to make.                                                                                                                                                      

Trails - Albuquerque

Ready to hit the road, almost.  I just have to fill the cooler in the morning and we're gone.  I know a lot of weavers across the country and it's really fun to get phone calls and emails as everyone is "converging" on Albuquerque.  And, I get to see the painted desert again! Maybe in the rain.

Last night while packing the truck, we had a visitor. She was so beautiful and hung around long enough to let me take her picture.

Trails - Albuquerque

Down to the last week before leaving for Convergence Albuquerque, things are getting manic around here.

Trails - Reno

Lupines by the Walker River

After going through my pictures of the Reno trip, I find that I didn't take many photos. Must have been having too much fun.

Some owls we met in Bridgeport.

A nicely dressed silver longhorn.

Mono Lake from above. The island is an island again.

Had a hard time with the pictures not going where they were supposed to. 

Trails - Reno

Tomorrow morning RedFish is heading to Reno for the Quilting, Stitching and Crafting Expo.  This is the first time for this venue, hopefully it will be a good show.  I decided to take 2 days to drive and most likely will camp tomorrow night around Bridgeport.

Enjoy the Summer Solstice.

Just weaving

When someone asks me what I do, I say I am a hand weaver. I have been reflecting on this for awhile and have decided I cannot say this anymore unless I actually weave.  I own a weaving shop, I teach hand-weaving, I buy and sell weaving equipment, both new and used, but I never have the time to do any weaving. So, I have started weaving again. Yeah! I am a hand weaver.

I learned to weave 35/40 years ago, the 70's. Everyone wove in olive green and orange wool. It was horrible, the colors were horrible, the wool was horrible, the finished product was horrible, we worn it anyway. Slowly I found sources for fine silks and cottons and my weaving life was changed forever, no more wool for me!  Jump forward 40 years and my first project in becoming a hand weaver again is WOOL. Not the thick, scratchy, ugly wool of the 70's but a fine beautiful silk and superfine merino blend. RedFish DyeWorks needed a sample of this yarn so I was going to throw a warp on and zip it off in no time flat, right.

Color choosing was easy. When weaving a sample, I always go to my favorite colors - turquoises and reds. In this case 4 shades of turquoise and a coral. All 50/50 silk/superfine merino 2 ply hand-dyed by my other company RedFish DyeWorks.

I wanted this to be quick, a scarf and some sample squares so I measured a mixed color warp, went through the reed, through the heddles (point twill) on 4 harnesses. Wound on, gently, don't want to stretch the wool. This is moving right along.

I wove several inches with the #4 turquoise, the darkest, and didn't like it so I took it out and tried the #1. Didn't like it either, took it out, tried the #2, liked it only I had a problem. Things I didn't remember about weaving wool, thick or thin; you cannot tension it like silk. The warp was too tight, weaving then unweaving twice, then weaving again, sawed my warp at the heddles. Many broken threads and the rest were very, very thin. So much for quick. I managed to get the warp advanced and retied. I am weaving again, the tension is like a hammock, I'm weaving 8 shots, then advancing. Very slow going, but I'm going. Even though I haven't woven much in the last ten years, in my mind I'm still a weaver. I just need some practice.

Trails - Packing

We are in high gear with our packing. Leave first thing in the morning.  CNCH is a fun conference as we know tons of people there.  We will be staying at the Extended Stay, our home away from home.

Life

I am without a computer! I feel like my right hand is tied behind my back and I'm running is circles.  I use a laptop and right in the middle of a nasty letter to at&t, my screen went blank! The battery is over 5 years old so I ordered a new one, hoping that is the problem.  Having to use a work computer is annoying, it has a mouse, I haven't used a mouse in years. We leave for Santa Clara Wednesday, if the battery is not here by Tuesday, I'm heading for the Apple Store.

We will be at CNCH this coming weekend, then from there we go to Phoenix for IWC.  Two weaving conferences in a row. I'm excited.

Chinese Braid Embroidery/Goldwork Embroidery

We had monster winds last night complete with rain that turned to sleet. This morning the mountains around us are covered with snow, very beautiful but cold.

Anyway, my Goldwork Embroidery class is coming up and I thought I'd better show some progress or they might kick me out. After doing a practice gold piece, I decided to do a cuff incorporating embroidery, goldwork, Chinese braid embroidery and maybe some beadwork.  I had seen a Chinese Braid Embroidery stand at a weaving conference last summer and had thought I might like it as I enjoy Japanese braiding. As in most of my projects, there is always something missing that plays a key part in the whole project and in this case it was the stand. I called a friend who does woodworking and after putting out heads together we came up with a wonderful stand. It's very plain but as with most wooden things that are finished perfectly, it's a joy to use.

Since it's very cold out and I have a new toy and a warm fire I have been happily braiding away on a grey and pink silk braid for the first section of my cuff.

I used some bobbin lace bobbins and tied washers on the ends for weight. The silk is RedFish DyeWorks 60/2 using 4 strands as one on each bobbin. Chinese braids are used to embroider with and are usually of a simple design.  This braid is 1/8 inch wide and fairly tight using only eight bobbins.

Today, I will try to get my embroidery frame set up.  Which is another whole project in itself.

Trails - selling

Stitches West 2010
The trip from Acton to Santa Clara was very beautiful, everything was green and the almond trees are all in bloom. It rained once we got North on 5 and rained part of the way on 152.  All in all, not a bad trip.

Stitches West

The rains came back, more mud.

RedFish DyeWorks is leaving for Santa Clara, home of Stitches West, the 23rd. This is our first show of the season and we have lots of new yarns and colors.

Taquete Kimono

Things are moving along. I have the AVL warping wheel clicking off warp threads but can only work for short periods as the studio is not heated and it's very cold.  It has been raining for several days, the temperature is dropping, so we have snow on the mountains all the way around us. I hope it stays there and not in my yard.

The warp on my loom is for the Katazome Kimono. I am putting it on hold for awhile and putting the new warp over the top of it.

I love this stand that my husband made for me.  It's stainless steel and has a wide base so it won't tip over, but the arms are close to the ground so I don't trip over them. I can also put more than one swift on it at a time.  I love great tools!

My pile of silk for the project. Eighteen skeins of 60/2 silk, hand-dyed by RedFish DyeWorks, my other business venture.  I have about a quarter of this pile on the loom. I'm happy to be warping again.