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.