Yes, some serious warp chicken has been going on! 🐔 Now the loom sits empty until I work out what I want to do next. But let's back up on this project to the start for now
I tend to weave up complicated drafts and sometimes there's no place to go but back to basics. Back to simple. I wanted a nice long warp, easy treadling and to use up some small part cones from the stash. So here's the answer to that.
6 shaft herringbone twill with a pop of colour where I doubled the colour accents. Using all 8/2 cottons, I used two threads treated as one, sharing one heddle and one dent in the reed.
I found neutral colours worked best as weft: taupe, ivory, a medium blue... and one towel with royal blue to match the edges. My favourite? The taupe weft. One might be appearing in my kitchen soon.
The warp was wound to 9.5 yards and laced on to save warp. Sett is 24 epi and I only weave 5-6 shots of a scrap yarn between towels. The towels are woven to 36 inches each on the loom.
The cloth roll got nice and chubby! Very satisfying.
Between warp and all the weft yarn, you become aware of the weight of it all when you roll it off the loom. So I wrapped it all up tight and weighed it. 3 lbs, 3 ounces!
My old White serger, running well after a tune up, chugged through all the cotton as I separated the towels. A wash and dry, followed by a steam pressing and then they were prepped for hemming. I'm a fan of hand sewing hems as I'm not a fan of the stitch ditch line. It breaks up the flow of your patterns. More honestly, it also shows I can't sew a straight line! 😁
So I was able to eek out 9 full-sized towels but no samples this time. I can live with that! So here are some of the beauty shots....
One of the ivory weft towels is on its way to Georgia right now as part of a towel exchange in honour of dear departed friend Padre Wayne. He would have loved this..... and also be annoyed he can't join in. I'll post my exchange towel next time...
The towels are soft and generously large 21" by 30" so big enough to wrap around a large bowl. They would suit any kitchen decor and be a fun colour accent. Practical and pretty.
So what have I been up to lately? Well, I have been enjoying my Hansen spinner! Here's my first rolag experience.
Today my most immediate project is to resolve this hole:
This is where my large Tissart tapestry loom was. Its on a ferry going to its new home on Cortez Island right now as I write to a very excited new owner. I'm going to rearrange some items in the studio and so free up more room near the Spring loom. It feels a bit crowded over there and I'd like more room to manoeuvre when warping the loom up. I still have a Mirrix Little Guy tapestry loom so can play with that.
Simplifying things. Its been part of my plan for time now as I downsize to what I really need and will use. It feels good!
