2016 Christmas Towels

Overdue start on the Christmas towels for this year, but finally underway.  Yet another different huck lace design. Modified for the loom (Pete) which has 4 shafts, and the yarn/colors. 

Custom bobbin winder

 Pete has a sectional beam with 2" sections which meant winding 28 bobbins with enough yarn for the 30 towels.  In the shot above it was winding white straight from the large cone I bought this year.  Anne did most of these, while I wound yarn into skeins ready to dye.

Slightly modified tension box (with mount for counter)

White a colored bobbins wound

The bobbin rack sits at the right height behind the loom and it only took an hour to wind on the entire warp.

Winding on the Christmas towel yarn

 When I restored the loom, most parts were there although a few key parts were missing. One, the back beam handle is an obvious one, but nothing some vice-grips can't solve.  I'll have to work on a custom handle sometime.

Temporary handle

Heddles threaded and reed sleyed

With the breast beam removed I could sit inside the loom and with a temporary beam right behind the castle I could quickly thread a heddle and sley the reed in one motion. 

The warp is now tied on and treadles tied up. Just a bit of fine tuning of heddle heights and some wax for the heddle frames and I should be weaving.

One Fleece Finished

With just a week break for the trip over to North Carolina I managed to turn out at least a skein a day.  Actual spinning time was about 4 hours from roving to 2-ply yarn. The skeins averaged out at 2 oz. each and around 76 yards.  This fleece was from Azul and had two main colors: a light tan/white and a darker mix going from grey through dark brown.  I didn't bother trying to sort the latter but rather just went for colored or white.  This worked out to about half and half as it turned out as I had 7 colored skeins and 8 white.

2lbs of Alpaca 2-ply yarn

The next project is to get the Christmas towels underway - I will have to dye the appropriate amount of cotton and then get the bobbins wound.

Alpaca processing

With the wedding weaving now out of the way I have been able to return to processing the two alpaca fleeces.

The first step was to split the fleeces in some basic color grouping - white, tan and mixed (darker).  There was over a pound of each.  Then to get rid of the dust I loaded about half of each pile into a home made container - four window screens taped with duct tape with a block on the top!

 With the petrol leaf blower and about a minute of blowing I was able to get rid of about 80% or more of the dust in the fleece.

The, with the weather being very pleasant I set up shop on the front porch and using the box picker went through the 'blown' fleece - breaking up the locks as I went.  Next step, also on the porch, was to run them through the carder and remove the carded fiber as roving, using a diz.

The process eventually gave me enough roving to spin 7 x 2 oz skeins of two ply which took about a week (spinning for about 4 hours a day).

The first lot was the mixed (dark) wool. I have now moved on to the white wool and will tackle the tan last as it is likely be be slower as I can already see it has a lot of second cuts and short locks.

Current skeins

Visit to Crossville

On our way back from a couple of nights with friends in Oneida TN, we decided to drop in to Crossville as it was on our way home.  I currently have two rugs in the Crossville Library Exhibition of rugs.  The exhibit is organised by the Weavers of the Cumberland and one member of the club is also a member of our Scenic Valley Handweavers guild - hence our invite to put works in their exhibit.

Anne was impressed with the number and way the rugs are displayed and that my two get fairly prominent placing.  I was also featured on the front cover of the library monthly booklet.

Standing with 'Framed'

One rug (Turquoise Lightening) is at the center of the main library building - up on the 2nd floor balcony.  Can't be missed as you come through the main entrance.  There are other rugs in the hall, but you need to be inside further to see them.  The other rug (Framed) is at number one spot on the hallway to the meeting. rooms.

Library booklet.

Gifts Gone

Our trip to North Carolina for the wedding went smoothly and we had a great time catching up with the family. We all managed to fit into one large house in a nearby resort.

We had the placemats for the bride and groom, and a baby blanket for the groom's brother and his wife who have just had their third child.  The groom and his two brothers are Anne's nephews.

Philadelphia Eagles baby blanket

Placemats and runners

Placemats finished

With some heavy duty weaving days I have now finished the 'Colors of the Grand Tetons' placemats - well finished the weaving anyway.  They still need to be washed, hemmed, and finished (to bring out the design on the linen).

7 of the 8 placemats straight off the loom

I have to sew in the ends (particularly the silver thread), machine sew the ends, then trim up the waste before putting them in to a gentle wash.  Then they will be dried and ironed and I can then set up the hems for hand stitching.  The the final finish is to wash again and then pop them, still set, in the freezer.  Once frozen bring them out again and under a clean cloth give them a good hot iron.  It really brings out the sheen on the linen and makes the pattern stand out.

As soon as I finished the placemats I started the next project - a baby blanket for another of Anne's nephews.  They have just had their third child and Anne wants to give them a custom colored baby blanket.

On the loom and weaving

I quickly wound the warp (just one blanket and loom waste so not long) in the chosen football team colors.  Next I dressed the loom (back to front) and was weaving again by a little after dinner time.  An all time record for me - the process tends to take a couple of days, but as the deadline for this is the same as for the placemats, i.e. we will see both couples at the wedding, I didn't have much choice.

Next steps are to finish the weaving, tie off the ends, twist the fringe, wet finish and then box it up...

With that and the hemming, I'll be busy.

Townsend Artisan Guild

As previously mentioned I decided to join this guild after interacting with them regularly over the last two years.  Unlike other guilds I have joined this one has 3 types of memberships - all cost the same amount but only one allows the member to promote their work through the guild web site, sell items at the various guild festivals and at the guild gallery/shop in Townsend.

To join as an artist you need to submit items to a jury who decide whether or not it is of appropriate quality to be associated with the guild.  I'm initially only going to apply for the Natural Fiber category - later I may try others - the cost is the same for one or many.

The trick was to select a variety of items that I feel represent my work/abilities.  I eventually narrowed it down to 4 woven items and 4 spun items.

Items ready to pack

These items need to be dropped off at the gallery in Townsend in the next couple of days I will take a trip up there - have a coffee in our favorite coffee shop in TN "the Artistic Bean", drop off the package and drive back.  The actual jury process takes place on the 19th so I should know after we return from the wedding in NC.

Sectional beaming

During my first attempt at sectional beaming I had difficulty controlling the 48 warp ends coming from the tension box through the mini-reed to the beam.  As at 24 epi (48 ends in the 2 inch section) the outside ends wanted to slip outside the section by sliding down the wrong side of the metal peg.  I had to guide the threads in with my finger and thumb and while that worked fine for this particular project it would be quite a challenge for something wider (up to the full 56" width of the loom).

The solution was to fit some loops of rubber hose from one section peg to the next on either side of the section I was filling.  Not a new idea - I have seen this in documentation before and should really have done it for the first attempt.  The warp ends are naturally guided into the appropriate section and are then moved to the next section to wind it.

Modification number 1

The hose is re-purposed irrigation hose and fits perfectly onto the metal pegs. Conveniently they also fit on 'PT' which has 1.5 inch sections and slightly thinner pegs.

As with the first time I put 5 yards of linen onto the loom - in half the time it used to take winding on a warping frame and without a single tangle!  That's definitely a plus.

Townsend Blue Ribbon Festival

For the second time I was invited to demonstrate weaving at the Blue Ribbon Festival in Townsend, TN and I have now been demonstrating in Townsend for over two years at this, and other festivals connected with the Townsend Artisan Guild (TAG).  My connection with the Guild is through the Scenic Valley Handspinners where several members of that are from Townsend.

The Festival is held at the Great Smokey Mountain Heritage Center and is part of a very large Heritage Festival held in Townsend at this time every year.  One downside to that was finding our normal campground fully booked. This year Anne and I travelled up on Friday and returned on Sunday.  Last year I drove up and back on the same day.  Not being able to book into the Lazy-Daze campground turned out to be a blessing as we discovered the KOA campground down the road is, while a little more expensive, much nicer in almost every aspect.

We picked up the TAG Harrisville Design loom - a four shaft transportable jack loom they had received through a donation - on Friday night which made setting up on Saturday a little more leisurely.  Friday night dinner - after setting up the tent and a swim in the campground pool - was at the Mexican restaurant we have been to before and always found to be good.

Setting up on Saturday took no time, after signing in as volunteers.  I was on the porch of the transport building - where I have been most other times. Along with the loom I had brought a folding table and a bag of other examples of weaving and spinning.  Most people who took the time to stop and talk also had a look through the items and liked the variety.

Loom set up in my normal spot. Twill striped demo continues.

There was a steady flow from opening at 10:00 through to 3:45 when we finally packed up.  Anne helped out setting up and with a few other things through the day and was also able to jump on the shuttle and head down to the main site down at the Visitor Center.  She also picked a few things here and there, both free and paid for.


Action shots of weaving on the porch!  Tractors and way in the distance - a cow form part of the backdrop.  The exhibit next to me (inside) was 'Pick Tennessee' - featuring only products produced in TN.

During the day, chatting with the TAG members, I decided to join this guild (finally - I first thought I might about a year ago, but didn't get around to it!).  It is a juried entry system - the artist must submit 3 recent works for each category which are put before a panel of 4 TAG jury members, with experience in the fields they are judging.  I'm submitting in Natural Fibers, and Painting and have been working out what items to submit for the jury process which is the second or third week of next month.  I think I have enough pieces finished to submit.

Color Stripes

The dye process for the weft stripes went pretty smoothly although winding up a 412 inch long multi-thread bunch took a while as the linen likes to twist!  Under tension on the frame it is fine, but once off for the first rinse it takes on a life of it's own.  For subsequent rinses I loosely wound it onto a plastic cone (with holes) and ran water through it.  Then stretched it out in a long line in the back yard.  I then wound the single thread onto the cone, untangling as I went.  Luckily it was easier as I went on.

Dyed yarn on cone - minus one bobbin full.

The color scheme is supposed to suggest the Grand Tetons - we have a picture of the young couple, recently engaged, in front of the range. It's a standard shot of the mountains, similar to the one below.

Typical shot of the Grand Tetons.

The stripe once woven has pretty well all aspects of the picture.

One stripe

There is a stripe at each end of the placemat, with the color scheme reversed (sky towards the center on each).  There is also a silver thread running through the center of the background pattern.  This matches the white gold/diamond engagement ring in our photo.

Silver stripe

I wove the first placemat yesterday and all went smoothly - so it is just a matter of buckling down and doing some serious weaving sessions.  It would be nice if the weather was cold and wet, but unfortunately we're still sitting in the low 90's with no real chance of rain - mostly as it has been all year.

Colors of the Grand Tetons Placemats

The wedding present for Anne's nephew is a set of placemats and a table runner in bleached Belgian Linen with stripes that reflect the colors of the Grand Tetons - a favourite of the soon to be married couple.

The woven structure is one I have done before for placemats and looks particularly good when wet finished and ironed. 

I decided to try a slightly different approach to the 'stripe'.  The last couple of placemats required painting the warp colors in small batches that slightly randomly formed patterns when woven. This time I wanted to control the color transitions more closely to set out the color scheme for each stripe.  To do that I caclulated the weft width (with draw in) and the depth of the stripe and divided that into the zones of color which were (based on a photograph) required.  Basically:
start with Prairie, then prairie and trees, mountain and trees, mountain, mountain and snow, mountain and snow and sky, sky then deep blue sky.

I've used Yarn Barn of Kansas dyes (tiny amounts) along with a thickener (sodium alginate) and soda ash to fix - all mixed up and painted on to the sections.

Painted weft yarn

The yarn is currently wrapped in cling wrap for 24 hours, then will be rinsed and washed and dried before it will be wound on to a couple of bobbins ready to weave.  Along with a couple of shots of silver thread (to signify the engagment rings) the stripes should look good although you never know until it is woven!!

Sectional Beaming

Both the Macomber (BigMac) and the 'restored' loom (PT) have sectional warp beams. BigMac is 2" and PT 1.5".  Up until now I have never used them for the purpose they were designed - rather I have warped them traditionally back to front or front to back, but just tied on to the beam and wound on as the entire width of warp ends.  This has led to some almighty tangling, despite warping under tension and a slow/careful pace.  I decided I needed a spool rack and with it try beaming through a tension box direct to the warp beam (in 2" sections as this is on BigMac).

The first consideration was: how many spools?  Turns out this placemat project with linen at 24 epi would mean I need 48 spools - seemed like a logical start as the only higher epi count would be for something like a kilt which has other considerations and is way in the future (time to build a side rack with another 12 spools or so by then).

I was able to buy all the wood/supplies I needed in Cleveland and the rack itself was a relatively easy frame with some center supports.  I was worried that the holes for the axles wouldn't line up - I measured more than three times.  No need to worry though - the brass rods slipped through from side to side.  I glued and nailed it together and will in slower time fill the gaps and stain/varnish the whole thing.  There are several future modifications to make, but at this stage it was ready for the spools.

The frame prior to glue/nails (testing that the brass rods fitted)

I don't have a drill press (I must get one soon) so to drill out the spool centers from the wooden dowel I had to manufacture a jig for the electric drill to allow repeatable drilling through the center of each dowel.  Managed to get that all working and then made short work of drilling them out.  The next step was to glue and nail each cardboard end - another assembly line job quickly accomplished.  Once dry I was ready to wind some spools.

Drilling center holes

Spool ends (from beer coasters)

I made the center hole the same size as my shuttle bobbins so that I could use the hand winder.  I did have to take into account the spool was way wider than a typical bobbin so ended up mounting the whole set-up on the side of one of our kitchen stools - it included the bobbin winder and a yarn measuring device so that I could tell how much yarn went on to each bobbin - for this project 150 feet each.

Spool winder

With the spools wound and fitted to the rack it was time to take the individual threads through the front and back combs of the tension box, a Nilus Leclerc No.409 I bought second had some years back, then after adjusting the tension and attaching the bundle to the warp beam it was a simple matter to wind 11 turns of the beam (it's approximately 3/4 of a yard), then move it all over to the next section.  The project is only 12 inches wide so only needed 6 sections wound.  Each section is finished by applying some masking tape and then cutting the ends.

Winding on

Each section taped and cut.

The next part of dressing the loom is to thread the heddles and sley the reed.  The tape from the winding out turned out to be a real blessing as it could be attached to a temporary beam immediately behind the castle  so that with a simple reach and peel off of the 'next' thread it could be passed through the appropriate heddle and then straight away sleyed through the reed which I had conveniently place right in front of the heddle frames.

Warp ends ready to sley into heddles (taken from left)

This process took no more than a couple of hours to complete and I'm sure it was way longer when taking each warp end from a cross behind the castle.

With it all tied up it was a quick start to weave on the first couple of inches where I've stopped while the dye  for the weft stripes sets.

Return to Blog

It's been nearly a year since the last entry - not because I haven't been working fiber, but entirely as I have been neglecting to post info regularly - I did save it all with the intention of catching up, and there was the occasional fiber related Facebook post - but nothing like the detail needed.  So back to blogging with my current project which will be a wedding present for a family wedding we are going to in October.

I have done linen placemat sets for weddings before and they look appropriately up market, so it was an easy choice for this wedding.  The young couple are very big fans of the Grand Tetons so the plan is to have the colored stripe reflect the colors of the mountain range (future blog)

The last two times I have woven with linen I have experienced tangles (and that is understating the nature of the tangles) despite warping under tension and every other trick I could think of.  Anyway I decided early on I'd take a different approach (next blog entry).

The loom is dressed and I've woven the first couple of inches and have paused at the start of the colored stripe - as it still needs to set and be rinsed/washed I'll move on to the next blog.