Blooming Leaf Overshot Variations

I made a sample a few weeks ago of a fabric that I loved!! Until I looked underneath and saw the huge floats. It is overshot but this version is called Petit Point. As the name suggests, the pattern is formed by small "points" of color with no floats on the front of the fabric. The front of the fabric was dense and very stable so I knew immediately that this fabric would not make a good scarf but would be excellent for upholstery or pillows. 

Here is my sample done in black 3/2 cotton with Cascade 220 as pattern weft. The petit point sample in on the bottom.

I wanted to use the Blooming Leaf pattern for pillows but the one that I found, by Madelyn van der Hoogt, had 323 ends which is way too wide. Since I'm using 3/2 cotton as warp sett at 10 epi, I reduced the draft to 159 ends. 

I got 1/2 way through the threading and realized that I made a mistake. Grrrrrr! Well, here is pillow #1 using Tangier by Cascade as pattern weft....

I like the petit point, but the gorgeous color of the yarn got too muted in my opinion. It also weaves a bit more rectangular than square. 

Next up, traditional blooming leaf in star fashion using, of course, Kauni yarn as pattern weft 😉......

I hope this wet finishes well because it is stunning! The floats are very long so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. 

I couldn't decide what colors to use next. Then I thought of a picture I took early this morning.....

I grabbed a rainbow skein of the Kauni and voila, a blooming leaf inspired by spring.....

Happy Weaving & Happy Spring!

The draft and treadlings that I used were adapted from Madelyn van der Hoogt's e-booklet; Overshot Weaving.

Homemade Sourdough Bread

Before I was a weaver, I was a baker. I've been baking for as long as I can remember. I watched my grandma carefully and I'm so happy that I did. Though she's been gone for almost 7 years now, whenever I make one of her recipes, it's just like I'm standing next to her in the kitchen. There wasn't anything that she couldn't make. Well, there is one thing. She never made bread.

Though making bread is baking, I consider it a completely different art. With most baking, ie. cookies, pies, cakes, etc., you use baking soda or baking powder or both as leavening agents. The results are fairly predictable and can be reproduced easily with consistency. Bread, on the other hand, is completely different. Yeast, an essential component of bread, is alive. It will react differently to humidity, temperature and a slew of other variables. I've tried making bread a few times over the years with relatively little success. 

I did find a good, dependable recipe for a challah type bread a few years back. I made one last week and it was fabulous! Feeling empowered by my success, I wanted to try something different. I was doing a little reading and found a recipe for a sourdough starter. When I saw how easy it was, I decided that this would be a good project for both my kids and myself. 

For the link to the instructions that I used, click here.

This is the starter

I didn't take pictures of the starter on day 1 or 2, but here is how it looks on days 3 - 5......

Here is the yeast dissolving in water and the next picture is the same mixture with the starter added as well.

Here is what is referred to as a "shaggy mess" in the recipe......

When the dough came together, I put it in a warm place for the 1st rise.

Here it is after rising for 1 1/2 hours.....

Next comes the shaping....

Now, into the oven and.......

So good!!!!!! I should've used smaller loaf pans, so the bread isn't as tall as I'd like, but it is soooo tasty. Now that I have a ripe starter, if I maintain it properly, I can make bread whenever I want. 

Well, Granny, this loaf is for you!

More Summer & Winter

Before I show another project, I though I'd show you some finished work. Here are the other two runners that I made in my 1st attempt at summer & winter. Both used 5/2 cotton as warp & tabby weft and Kauni wool yarn as pattern weft. 

This runner was treadled 1-2-2-1 or 3-4-4-3 (with tabby). 

This runner was treadled 1-2-1-2, or 3-4-3-4 (with tabby). 

I did learn an essential thing about this weave, after of course, I had been weaving for about 30 inches. You must balance a summer and winter weaving draft with an additional thread on the left of the piece. In this case, I should have threaded one more thread on shaft one. Bearing that in mind, I planned a new warp for pillows in summer & winter. 

I wound a 6 1/2 yard warp of 3/2 cotton, 207 ends, including 2 for floating selvedges. So far, apart from the Kauni color changing yarn, which is actually a bit too thin to use as pattern weft with 3/2 cotton as warp & tabby, my favorite pattern weft is Cascade 220. The color spectrum is spectacular and the pattern fills in nicely when wet finished. 

I planned on eight pillow tops. Then I broke out the yarn stash. Another favorite yarn of mine is Tangier also by Cascade. I first wove two pillow tops in the 220 in different shades of blue. Then I realized that the Tangier skein I had happened to coordinate perfectly with either shade of blue. Yes!!!

Treadled 3-4-4-3 and 1-2-2-1

One of my favorite things about Sunner & Winter is that if you start with 2 colors, you end up with 3. As you can see from the plain weave off-white border, the colors range from off white to the main pattern color to a muted shade of the pattern color. 

Happy Weaving!

Accepted!!!!!

I just got notice that my work was accepted by the PA Guild of Craftsmen and that I will be at Makersfest in Lancaster, PA on June 5th!!!!!!! I am sooo excited! They said that they want me to sell my pillows. I just can't believe it!!!

This is the 1st real evaluation and feedback that I've been given on my weaving and I can't be happier. 

Im not quite sure how I am going to design a pillow display, but I'll figure something out. I'm going to get a bit sneaky and add a few other woven items to my display as decoration and I'll be sure to take one of my handsewn canvas tote bags with me that day ;) 

Here is the link to the fair's page ...  http://www.pacrafts.org/fine-craft-fairs/june/

Happy Weaving!

50 Shades of Grey....Wool

I've never used Kauni wool yarn as a warp before, so after the tencel disaster, I thought I'd go back to the tried and true. Since I can't draft a color changing yarn, I was interested to see how this would work. I threaded birds eye sett at 10 epi. I used the Zebra color scheme, which is, as it sounds, varying shades of white and black. The yarn never goes to a true white or black; it is heathered. I was hoping that I'd get solid areas of color that accentuate the pattern and other areas of blended color that mute the pattern. That way I'd end up with 50 shade of grey. 

It's funny, I always seem to lose my place, in treadling, when weaving simple patterns. I can't tell you how many times I had to unweave to get the pattern right again.

Overall, it had the effect I was going for. I had to use a very light beat to keep the fabric from being totally warp faced. Now I'll twist the fringe and wet finish it. I'm hoping the diamonds will pucker a bit during fulling to add some more texture.

I had a bit of warp left so I tried plain weave for about 10 inches with 3/2 black cotton as weft.....

I like this effect much better. The sample looks a bit like snakeskin. 

My next experiment with color will be to use the same yarn for warp and weft. I just got this in the mail.....

So stay tuned for some crazy colors. I'll have to wait a bit for the color experimentation, as I've got a lot of pillow fronts to weave. I'm threading 200+ ends of 3/2 cotton for some large scale summer & winter. Should make gorgeous pillows.

A side note, I may soon be the owner of a 12 shaft 48" Macomber loom. If this comes to fruition, I'm not sure my brain can handle it! I'm just now beginning to see the intricacy that is possible on a 4 shaft loom. I'm trying not to get too carried away, but I'll admit, I've already drafted several patterns for this, hopefully, new loom. My head is just swimming with ideas. 

Happy Weaving!

Tencel, Take 2

So, it took me a few hours, but the loom is now re-threaded and my back is warped ;)

          Re-threading in progress

Before I re-threaded, I tightened up my loom. Thankfully, there were no threading errors. 

I sleyed at 20 epi again, and started weaving 2/2 twill. At 5 inches, I did 3 picks of plain weave, then reversed the twill for 12 picks. Then I did 3 more of plain weave. It resulted in a nice textural change and broke up the monotony of the the twill in white. I threw in a section of blue. 

I seem to have eliminated the draw-in somewhat, but I am still breaking the right hand side floating selvedge thread about every 4 inches. Now I'm thinking that it's not the Tencel but that this loom needs a good tune up. 

Happy Weaving!