Category: Yarn and Fiber

Warp speed

PiaWeaving

In case y’all wondered just how fast that really is, I can tell you it’s right around snail pace.

Spent a couple of hours last night threading the heddle with those colourful warp chains, then I had to finish making dinner so it went up on the wall to be cat safe. Getting some use out of my homemade adjustable warping board too.

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Needless to say, I’ve been rather dreading how to get this mess wound on straight to begin weaving! I’m as yet undecided whether I’ll be making squares with black lines intersecting or use a more wabi sabi saori approach. I’ll know when I see the first passes. Maybe. There will be three panels that are to be joined side by side, but even if I think I do make even squares there really is no guarantee they will match up completely at this point in my journey. Rigid heddle looms are not the most precise creatures I suspect.

Now, since I did not get it done over the weekend, I was debating whether to try this on my own or wait for an assistant. My immediate response is usually the former, but it’s not always a wise choice. 😉 But it was preying on my mind, distracting me from my other tasks of the day, so I thought I could at least tie it to the beam.

huge messy warp!
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the end!

Now it’s 3.30 pm, I’m knackered, the house needs tidying, the dog needs walking, so the loom is back on the wall and I hope to get back to my paints during the week. I just wanted to have a project started that doesn’t need as much light, quiet and equilibrium. Well, it’s started!

Winding away

PiaChit Chat

Just a twirly sort of day yesterday. Winding bobbins, shuttles, warp chains and plying. Still have some tapestry bobbins and a stick shuttle to wind, then I’m ready to thread the loom and paint some more! Very colourful blanket coming up.

As I was finishing the muted yarn I finally, after two years of just looking at the fiber, figured out how I would have really liked to spin and ply it! Isn’t that just typical…. Where’s that Ctrl+Z when you need it?

twirly
Not really happy with any of these yarns, but now they’re done and that’s how it goes.

rainbow_warp

During breaks I get to play with this:byld

Big brown pony is recovering from a monster abscess in his left hind hoof. Very ouchy, swelly and gooey. I’ll spare you the sight.

No socks

PiaChit Chat

Somebody asked me why I don’t knit socks. The answer is same as why I don’t make my own underwear: I don’t have to. With my crafting time so precious, my knitting so slow and all the crazy childrens’ socks I can get in a bundle for a few bucks, it’s just not important to me. Besides, they’d probably itch. Possibly it also has to do with having to make two of the same…? (btw I do draw the line at spiderman socks)

sox

So tell me, why DO you, or not, knit socks? They’re rarely seen outside the house (unless they’re drying) and not something you notice as much as a nice sweater for instance.

I was going to make a post about how much fun I’m having with painting lately, but then I began to rush to have something to show you and suddenly I was struggling again. I wouldn’t say that I’m on a roll yet, just one day off can block the way forward, but it’s definitely very close to the feeling of flow as I know it, verging on bubbly. When I’m not distracted by sick pets. Gets me every time.

Swift but not big enough

PiaWeaving

I knew when I made the purple warp that it was too long for my swift, which only takes 2 meters. And I didn’t make a cross, so I had to wind it into a ball somehow!

Well, I have the long poles for warping. They have holes in them the same size as the rods I used for the swift, including the one in the middle! I have clamps, coffee, sleepy kittens, what could go wrong?

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So anyway, enough of that, I’m still playing with paint these days, just had to try this out before calling on the help of a person with long arms.

Yarn tools

PiaChit Chat

I love it when things can be made from the “what’s in the woodshed” principle as well as having more than one purpose. I’ve previously shown you my blending hackle, here it is without fun fur on. I made the tines from welding rods and sharpened each one by hand, they’re very strong:

hackle2 hackle1

I also have a homemade swift. I tend to never get to the point where I polish and paint these contraptions, although I do love beautiful tools. I’m simply too busy using them, that’s all, and I know I’m not much of a carpenter anyway.

swift1

I use the pegs from the swift with these crude pieces of lumber to warp both directly and  – eventually – indirectly. In summer I’m going to find a wall space outside to fix them vertically, as this will make running the yarn back and forth much easier on my back than leaning over the table.

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direct warping a wide loom with multiple pegs

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Measuring  a 3 m. Ø skein for space dyeing a pooling warp (or so the plan goes). By moving the pegs AND the bars further apart, I can make virtually any length of warp I desire, there are 8 pegs total. One can hold the cone of yarn!

I can also use the pegs and bars to strap poles onto if I want to make a navajo style warp for my large tapestry loom.

I meant to include an image of my homemade tapestry loom, but we ran into a small problem and didn’t get it finished on Sunday. I’m going to have a look at it and see if I can come up with a new idea for the last bit. It’s functional as it is, but I want to include multiple leash rods I think they’re called. Homemade shedding device kinda thing.

I also made a few spindles before I got my wheel. I don’t use them very often now I have to admit, but they work very well, especially the 14 g which I used to make a lace shawl. I too dream of Goldings and Bosworths, but I’d rather have more fiber.

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