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!

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!

Maltese Cross Overshot

Now that I am obsessed with overshot, I thought I'd share my latest endeavor; Maltese Cross.

Here is the draft......

I warped 205 ends of 3/2 pearl cotton at 10 epi. I used the cotton for the tabby weft and Kauni yarn for pattern weft.

I've got to work on a more even beat, but all in all, I'm really happy with it. 

Happy Weaving!

Weaving With Sock Yarn - 2 projects

Here are the results of my latest weaving experiment; using a plain wool warp with variegated and self striping wool sock yarns as weft. 

I used what was left of a cone of Nature Spun Fingering wool (2800 ypp) in natural for my warp. I threaded at 15 epi. When I last wove with this wool, I used a set of 20 epi. The fabric was gorgeous, but I wanted to open the sett a bit. For weft, I have a ball of Kauni 8/2 wool and for another variation, I used Done Roving's Frolicking Feet "Apple Pickin".

I threaded in a rosepath (4,3,2,1,2,3,4,1,2,3,4,1,4,3,2,1...,). For the Kauni yarn I wove "tromp as writ" according to the threading. 

Here is the Kauni yarn weft...

I love love love this yarn! The colors are amazing and it finishes up so soft. Just gorgeous.

Now onto the Frolicking Feet. This was so much fun. I wove again in rose path. The results were awesome. 

When I got to the 3rd color change in the yarn, I changed the treadling.

I finished with the rosepath and then some plain weave. 

Here are the finished products.....

The Kauni yarn is now a beautiful table runner. It is for sale in my Etsy shop at: www.etsy.com/shop/LSGCrafts

Here is the Frolicking Feet yarn made into an infinity scarf. I love it! It is so soft and warm. 

A word of warning about the Frolicking Feet yarn. The last bit of this yarn was white and yellow. As soon as I put the scarf in hot water, the water turned red. I rinsed and rinsed, but the white became a peachy color. Actually, I am happy with the result because I think the white & yellow were too much of a contrast with the other colors, but be forewarned: This yarn bleeds!!!!!

Adventures in Overshot - Take 1

I have always admired overshot weaving. Growing up in Bucks County, PA, a place rich with Colonial history, you can see fabulous examples of overshot all over the place. 

My 4 shaft loom was de-accessioned from the Holcombe/Jimison Farmstead Museum in Lambertville, NJ. I promised them that I would make them a period correct woven piece to go in the ca. 1750's home in the property. Overshot is the obvious choice. The only caveat.....I've never woven overshot before. 

Always one to bite off more than I can chew, I found an overshot pattern by John Landes, a weaver of the late 18th century. I can do this, I told myself. 

Here is the original pattern:

I decided that, before tackling this 18th century challenge, I would thread a sample piece to experiment with overshot.

I am using an Orange Peel overshot pattern.

This piece will have 3/2 black pearl cotton as warp and tabby weft. I am going to use Kauni wool as pattern weft. I also have some Pima cotton for pattern weft. I am interested to see how the different colors will interact with the black.

I think I am starting to understand this block weaving thing. I had 4 extra threads when I got to the center of the loom and I knew I had counted my threads and dents very carefully. I instantly thought, I must've skipped a block. So now I'm thinking in overshot 😉

Well, I'm 1/2 done with the threading and now I remember why I haven't done a black warp in a while. Aaaahhhhhh!

Happy Weaving!