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.