Natural dye day

The Scenic Valley Handweavers Guild (scenicvalleyhandweavers.blogspot.com/) dye day was held today at R&M Yarns (www.rmyarns.com). Being a fine day we set up outside in the carpark.

My contribution was to conduct a mordant guidance lesson at a guild meeting a couple of meetings ago, so that everyone who wanted to attend could prepare their yarns suitably prior to the day.  That worked well and we then posted out the e-copy of the handouts to everyone so that if they signed up to attend they had the instructions too.  Which it could be noted was a cunning way to avoid having to hear me drone on for an hour about all aspects of mordanting...

I also compiled a few fact sheets for the various dyes that were finally chosen for the day.  Facts including their various names, where they grow, what results are likely (cotton and wool were the main focus), based on the use of alum as a mordant, the procedure and cleanup afterwards. 

I brought the indigo dye pot and another guild member contributed a walnut dye ready to go.

The more active part of the 'dye committee' managed to pull together 4 dyes: barberry, blackberry, iris, and coreopsis and pots, buckets, samples, burners, rinse buckets, after dye dips of vinegar, baking soda, and copper plus a whole lot of wool and cotton samples

4 of the dyes, walnut and indigo out of picture.

 The dyes minus indigo needed to have the dye material in before bringing up to a simmer and held at that temperature for an hour.  This involved everyone adding little labels to their goods which included a fair mix of cottons and varieties of wool.  The indigo pot was at 120 degrees and was held close to that for the extent of dyeing.

Indigo pot looking good prior to dyeing.

We managed about 5 dips of various combinations of dye material in the indigo with good colour throughout.  To dye the final batch I did add a little Thiox and let it develop a bloom again.  Afterwards I sealed the lid on with a square of rubber and used a bungy cord to hold the lid down to bring it home and have now fed the pot with some madder and bran so that Anne and I can do some further indigo dyeing here at home.

The various colours achieved.

In the photo above there are wool examples of (in front) indigo, coreopsis, coreopsis with baking soda, then (behind), blackberry, barberry, walnut, iris, coreopsis, and indigo.  Variations were seen between different commercial wools, definitely between cotton and wool, and between wool with an after dip of baking soda or vinegar.

While I was getting the ingredients ready for the indigo pot I discovered 4 oz of madder that I had forgotten I had.  I'll have to try that soon.  My dye efforts were only a sample skein of handspun alpaca (from NZ) each of walnut and indigo. Both turned out lighter than commercial spun wool, but both have a much nicer sheen to them.

Everyone washed and hung their various dyed materials and we all sat down for a shared lunch.  Plans are afoot for next year...

Loom restoration

As previously mentioned I'm now in the loom restoration business.  The Townsend Artisan Guild had been given a couple of looms, one of which was in pieces after a considerable time in storage.  I was first asked to have a look at it some months back but it wasn't until I was in Townsend to help out at the Blue Ribbon Country Fair over the weekend that I was able to do this.

The loom can be restored without too much difficulty - it's only missing minor parts, and has a small amount of damage and wear and tear.  It's a 36" (maybe nearer to 39") 4 shaft jack loom that appears to be home made with commercial heddle frames/heddles so it may have been a kit or a loom to build at home from commercial plans.  I initially thought 1960's or thereabouts, but the reeds come from a company that may not have been around then as it traded much earlier than that, so it could be anywhere from 30's through 50's.  I'll be trying to get some more of the back story to complete that part of the puzzle.

All the pieces.

The first task after unpacking here in the valley has been to identify, measure, photograph and document each part.  This is the only way I can assess how much work will be required and thus give a fair quote, and also identify what is missing and will need to be purchased to identify to the guild approximately how much the 'and parts' segment of the quote will be.

The parts that are missing are mainly nuts, bolts, and screws.  The wire heddles and tie-up chains will need replacing entirely, but they are available and come relatively cheaply.  I will need to fiddle with the warp beam ratchet release as it is not obvious where it was fitted previously, but the solution may be to replace it entirely with a friction brake.

I said after restoration I would weave something on it as a test, so after doing that I may make further recommendations that might help make the old loom better but keep it in character.

The bulk of my work will be sanding down the old wood and then refinishing in something appropriate.  The guild is happy for me to take my time which pleases me as I would like to ensure I do a thorough job getting this loom back to working order.

Blue Ribbon Country Fair

My day in Townsend started well with a very easy drive north on the 411 through Maryville to Townsend where I arrived early enough (as planned) to visit the Artistic Bean coffee shop (see: http://theartisticbean.com/) before my first meeting at the studio to look at the donated loom.  Anne and I had found this coffee shop when we were here for the wool festival in spring.  They have very good fresh roasted coffee and even know how to put a fern design on a latte (rare over here in SE Tennessee).

Once suitably caffeinated, I headed back down the main street to the studio where I was able to have a close look at the loom that had been donated to the Townsend Artisan Guild.  They wanted me to do so and see whether or not it could be restored so that they could use it in a 'working display' mode at the Heritage Centre some time in the future.

That first quick look (I had only seen a couple of photo's previously) was enough to pack it all up in the truck, reasonably confident that it could be put back into service.  More on that topic in a future blog.

From there I headed to the Smokey Mountain Heritage Centre to set up the weaving demonstration that I was to man for the day.  I was lucky in that someone else had dressed the loom, a Harrisville 24" 4 shaft jack loom (see: http://harrisville.com/weave/22-floor-loom-4-harness-6-treadle/), so all I had to do was open it up from its folded state and set up a display of some weaving odds and ends before the first visitors began arriving at 10:00 AM.

The weaving display

The loom was set up with a cotton warp in blue and white stripes and was (I was told) about 3.5 yards long.  The person who had set it up had woven about 6 inches to check it out then basically left me to weave as I pleased.  As I had two shuttles I decided to do weft stripes at the same size as the warp.  After four stripes of tabby I then moved to a twill and did 4 stripes to the left, then 4 more tabby and 4 twill stripes to the right.  After another 4 tabby stripes I then began zig-zagging the twill left and right each time the color changed.  As I didn't have floating selvedges I had to plan the 'entry' side carefully for twill and especially the zig-zag to ensure that the outermost thread was caught on each pick.  Added a level of complexity that I don't normally have!

The weaving so far...

I had a steady stream of visitors who enjoyed just watching at one end of the spectrum right up to a few who were willing to have a go at weaving a few picks.  I didn't finish the whole warp so I guess I talked rather a lot.  I do recall being able to give some tips to a couple of beginner weavers, and had quite a few (mostly males) questioning 'how it all worked'.

I packed up about 4 and was safely home just after 6 after a busy but enjoyable day.  The loom was easy to weave on and the ability to pack it up (with warp still on) and throw it in the back of a car is a definite plus.

Ongoing llama processing

The llama processing is now turning into a fairly smooth routine.

First part of the process is to wash and dry batches of wool.  We are handling the brown wool at present - it comes in several shades, but we are blending it as we go to produce a fairly consistant color.  Next we remove the guard hairs and pick through the locks to make the carding process easier.

Removing guard hairs

This is typically done on the coffee table while watching something on TV - seems to work OK.

After picking (opening) 2 oz we card two 1 oz batts.  Initially we then removed the batts and to spin I would rip lengths off and stretch it out before beginning.  Lately I have been using a diz and removing directly from the carder as roving.  I had tried this before without too much success, but it now seems to be going smoothly.  I'll take photo's and post in a future blog.

Llama wool

In the photo above there is washed wool drying on the rack, a spun skein on top of a 1 oz batt.

Next guild challenge finished

It took less than an hour to weave 4 coasters to complete the guild challenge (complementary colors, twill and tabby).  However, it took more than half a day to wind the warp and dress the loom!  Then after cutting them off the loom, an extra hour to stitch the hems.

Coasters still on the loom, ready for hemstitching

I stitched the first hem on the loom, and then cut the cloth off and stitched the remaining edges before removing the spacing cardboard.  Seemed to work OK.

Finished coasters (mug rugs).

The challenge due date is not until the October meeting, but it was better to get these done so I can focus on the llama spinning which so far, is going well.

Townsend Artisan Guild

Clun Forest felted scarf.

This is the felted scarf made by a member of the Townsend Artisan Guild and currently in a local exhibit.  She bought all the batts I took to the last guild meeting so I expect I will see more work from her.  At least it is proof that Clun Forest wool felts well.

The other potential work in Townsend is to look at whether or not an old loom can be restored.

Old loom shot 1

Old loom shot 2

From the pictures it looks like a 4 shaft jack loom probably 36" or so wide.  The wood has some water damage and the wire heddles look a little worse for wear.  That being said I should be able to check the actual condition of the wood and what is there/missing when I visit on the 26th of this month.  After that I should know if it is worth restoration.

Otherwise I will be demonstrating weaving at the Blue Ribbon Country Fair (http://www.gsmheritagecenter.org/2014/07/blue-ribbon-country-fair/) for most of the day.

Wool processing

1 lb of Clun Forest batts

I attended the Tennessee Valley Handspinners guild meeting yesterday in Knoxville and took the 9 batts of Clun Forest wool along as at the last meeting I went to one spinner bought my complete stock.  Anne and I finished the 9 batts above on Friday after spending some evening TV time flick carding washed locks.

Before the meeting had even started all 9 were gone to a spinner from the Townsend Artisan Guild (they host the Smokey Mountain Fibre Arts Festival each year - this year I did spinning demonstrations and sold a little bit of product there).  She had tried my Clun Forest wool before and has in fact made a felt scarf from it, which is entered into a fibre show (photo's to follow).  She loves the way it felts and takes dye and has great plans for this batch of wool.

Also at the meeting I was asked to do weaving demonstrations at a one day fibre festival in Townsend and while there look at an old loom the guild has been given, to see if it can be restored back to use.  If so, can I do it for them.  There may be some work in that exercise.

Today I have started back on the llama fleece.  First job was to sort it into light and dark colors.  There is a total of 3.8 lb of raw wool, but after blowing out the dust, scouring and removing guard hairs, then carding there will likely be 2.5 lbs give or take a bit.  That will still produce nearly 20 skeins which is the largest order to date.  More to follow as the processing continues.

Llama sorted by color.