Overshot in Tencel - An Epic Fail :(

As I work my way through my list of things to weave this winter, I've come to Tencel. I've never used it before. When I began warping, I loved the feel. So soft and light and shiny. When threading I was amazed at how easy it was! The Tencel is very smooth and very strong. I thought threading pearl cotton or linen was easy, but Tencel makes it a breeze. 

I used 8/2 Tencel in natural for warp sett at 20 epi, or 2 threads per dent in my 10 dent reed. 

I used the pattern Wreath Rose from Estes' Original Miniature Patterns For Handweaving, Part II. Here is my draft.....

Threading in progress, 1/2 way done...

Fixing a threading error :(........

Here is 16/2 Bockens Linen as pattern weft with the Tencel as tabby....

Nice, but the linen isn't thick enough. 

Next up, 5/2 pearl cotton in purple.

Still not completely happy with the 5/2, I then tried 3/2 in black.....

I like the look better. The 5/2 sample is woven more to square than the 3/2 but I'm hoping that it will even out when off the loom and after wet finishing....if it ever makes it off the loom. 

Fast forward a bit and my warp threads are breaking like crazy. 

I think there is too much draw in at the fell, but I don't have a temple that small so I'll try to make one. 

Fast forward another day, and I've given up on the overshot for now. My homemade temple just didn't work right. I'll re-thread in a straight draw and see if I have better luck with a 2/2 twill. 

Happy Weaving!

Deviating From The Pattern

I've been wanting to try the Fulled Wool Scarf project from Weaving Today for a while now and just never got around to it. The pattern is by Madelyn van der Hoogt.

I didn't have enough wool for warp, so I warped with 3/2 pearl cotton at 10 epi. Here is the initial sampling using various wefts...

I ended up using 3/2 cotton in a silvery grey as weft. 

For the next scarf, I changed the tie up and treadling and got a herringbone type pattern. I used linen for weft.  The pattern was a bit squished so I added a tabby pick after each pattern pick.....

Using the tabby really makes the design pop and gives it an almost 3D look. 

I can't wait to see this one after wet finishing 😀

Happy Weaving!

Summer & Winter Weave On 4 Shafts

I've been wanting to try summer & winter weaving for a while now. I started drafting patterns in early January. When the last warp was finally finished, I wound another 11 yard warp, this time in 5/2 pearl cotton. I used a sett of 15. For overshot, using 3/2 as warp, I used a sett of 10. The recommended sett is 12-18. I figured that for summer & winter, since it's also a tied weave with a thick pattern weft, I should do the same with the 5/2. It's recommended sett is 18-24 so I used 15. Next time I might open it up even more to 13 or 14. 

Once threaded and tied on, I decided to sample each treadling available when using 4 shafts. I have included the treadling sequence in brackets below as blocks A & B. Tabby, shafts 5 & 6, is used alternately with every pattern pick. 

From top to bottom, 

1. Dukagang (A 1111/2222  B 3333/4444)

2. Brick (A 1212, B 3434

3. O's (A 1221, B 3443

4. X's ( A 2112, B 4334) 

I went with X's (which gives you O's on the other side) and used Brown Sheep Fingering wool in a gorgeous teal for pattern weft. 

I LOVE it!!!!! 

 

When I finish this scarf I'm going to do one in Kauni yarn but I haven't decided which color. I'm going to use the brick method for more crisp lines. I can't wait to see what it will look like!

Happy Weaving!

Overshot, Rose Fashion

Still working off that 11 yard warp, I decided to play around a bit. I decided to weave off the rest in rose fashion. I corrected my threading error and changed the threading on the end to work with the "rose" pattern. I also added a twill border, 2 repeats of 4 threads on either side. 

Here is the draft......

My tie up was : 4&3, 3&2, 2&1, 4&1 and using treadles 5 & 6 for tabby.

Here is a piece using Kauni yarn as pattern weft.......

I really have to get a better replacement pin for my temple ;)

This piece has a dk weight alpaca/wool knitting yarn as pattern weft.....

I'm trying to finish this warp, but as you can see, it's quite chilly at the loom today. 

Hopefully I'll finish it tomorrow. Up next, summer & winter scarves.

Happy Weaving!

Overshot Coverlet

I'm currently working on the 2nd panel of what will be a pretty large overshot coverlet. 

The warp is 3/2 pearl cotton sleyed at 10 epi. The weft is Cascade 220 heather blue. 

Here is the draft.......

I lost the pin for my temple and was trying to make due using a screwdriver but it was too fiddly and I ditched it. 

I cut the 1st panel off the other day....

I finished the 2nd panel last night. As you can see from the picture, I had some tension issues on the left side of the 1st panel. I was much more consistent with my tension and ppi for the 2nd panel. This resulted in about a 4 inch difference in length :(. 

Not on to be discouraged, I decided to seam them anyway. 

As my husband says, it looks good from far, but is far from good. I plan to try and stretch and iron it flatly into submission  after some wet finishing. 

Though I only could find one mistake with the actual weaving, there were some fatal flaws from the beginning. #1, I skipped 6 threads in the pattern while threading. Happily it was a symmetrical mistake which is why I didn't catch it right away. 2nd, I should have added one extra thread in the pattern for the left edge of the panels, the edge to be joined. Since there was one too few, the seam is even more obvious. 

So, what have I learned from this gargantuan project? Double check the threading several times, constantly measure motifs & ppi to ensure consistency and when a master weaver says that they never weave overshot without a temple, listen!!!!! 

I did wind on a massive warp so I hope to get a 2nd, albeit smaller, coverlet out of this learning experience. Since the 1st coverlet was done in star fashion, I'll do the second in rose fashion. 

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Weaving!