Blue Wrap

My latest creation is this wrap in bamboo with panels of dark blue Bronson lace in slub cotton.

The main warp is bamboo and it took quite a while to decide what to add to it to make it interesting.  On its own it was not quite wide enough for a wrap and also I felt it looked quite flat and bland even though it is multi-hued.  At Festival I found some nice dark blue slubby cotton on the DEA stall. I intend it for another use but stole a bit off the cone to make the lace stripes and even used it for the weft. I'm very satisfied with the look of the result.  It is quite light and drapes well.  I'm not too sure about the bamboo though.  It seems to crease quite readily and I suspect it might pill.  Time will tell.

The Long and Short of It

This is one result of a short investigation into shrinkage and wrinkleage.  A new book 'Magic Materials to Weave' by Lotte Dalgaard covers cruel and unusual punishments to make perfectly beautiful fabric into wrinkled and distorted caricatures of itself. Some methods use yarns with differential shrinkage and others, as here, include 'kinky' yarns that behave differently when washed.  I think I am over it now.  I really love perfectly smooth merino fabric.

Today I would have had a wrap off the loom if it wasn't for phone calls, visitors and a visit to the opera . . . Rigoletta from the New York Met, set in Las Vegas in 1960. A perfect setting for the story but I would really like to see it set 400 years earlier. Some fabulous singing from people I've never heard of. The music will still be going round in my head when I'm weaving tomorrow.

Festival 2013

Just back from having a great time at Festival. Stayed in a house with 10 other people where we were very comfortable. 

Here are the three pieces I had accepted for the exhibition.

 I was pleased with the way my fabric was hung - in fact all the fabrics were well displayed.

The long linen runner earned me a Merit certificate from the Linen Trust.

This one is shorter and is a mixture of linen and cotton. Both were displayed flat, which was nice as several table pieces, of necessity, had to be hung on a wall . . . one of the problems of exhibiting in a gallery.  On the whole the exhibition was great - only one or two things I would have displayed differently.

Magic Mushrooms

Received confirmation that the three pieces I sent in for the CF National Exhibition have all been accepted - Yay!  As I don't have a photo of them to post I will show what has popped up in my garden during the weekend . . .

Never a dull moment!

Red Wrap

It has taken a while but I have finally finished the red wrap. I'm very happy with it and love the yarn - 70% alpaca, 30% silk.

If you wonder what the funny shapes are, it's because I draped it over the back of a chair to let the light through.

Next plan is to do some experimenting on a LONG white scarf warp that has been sitting around for years.  I have a new book, 'Magic Materials to Weave' and it has prompted me to use some shrinky/stretchy yarns to see what effects I can get. So here I go sampling.

Back to Something Like Normal

Whew!  My entries for the National Creative Fibre Exhibition are not only in the post, they have arrived in Wellington. I always forget what a long involved process it is to remember . . . and find . . . and use . . . the sew-in labels necessary and the form filling and packaging. This time I was clever enough to fill in the packing slips at the same time as the entry forms, but it's still a hassle and takes ages.  In the bustle I forgot to take a photo of the length of fabric I sent, but here is a look at the linen I finished recently. I sent 2 pieces - one very long white one and a shorter natural-colour in  linen and cotton.

The napkins are still haunting me. Four more to hem . . . and then what do you do  with a dozen or so napkins with a threading error!  I did sell a couple at the Co-op shop in Picton but I have now finished my association with that in the meantime. It was well worth being involved but I'm not prepared to participate during the winter.

Today I cut off a red alpaca/silk wrap which I wove with a delicate lace pattern (3 thread huck rather than 5 thread). I'm dying to see it washed but need to finish  the ends first and it's a slow process. It's a good excuse to make the most of the last lovely sunny Indian summer days we are enjoying while I sit and fiddle with the fringes.

April Spools Day

Thanks to friend Meg and her quirky ideas this is April Spools Day (much more fun than the alternative) where weavers get to show the spools and bobbins they use for weaving.  Mine go Way Back, starting with the bobbin winder made from an old sewing machine motor, adapted to take commercial fly-shuttle pirns, , , though I don't use a fly shuttle. For these I have 'custom built' end delivery shuttles of the rather robust variety.

I have two sizes of pirn; Quite Large and Even Bigger!  Here they are, with also a view of the end, hence the creative fitting on the motor.

Even though these pirns, have done sterling service over 30+  years, I now use for preference some plastic bobbins for a couple of very nice Le Clerc side delivery boat shuttles I acquired a couple of decades ago.  They don't quite fit the machine  but if I hold everything right I can manage quite well. This system has served me well and never broken down over the decades and I am counting on it to continue for many years yet.

Some years ago a lovely lady gave me a beautiful damask double shuttle.  I think it is intended to take paper pirns but I discovered a now obsolete sewing thread spool (Drima) fits it well and I keep my eyes open for them at garage sales and op shops.  I haven't used this shuttle nearly enough and this might be resolution time to make more use of it.  These little bobbins have a purpose made adapter to fit the bobbin winder. Half of it is used (somewhat drunkenly) for the bobbins above, but here it is as it was intended to be used. (There is a bit of willow stick protruding from the right hand end to bridge the gap.)

 And here is the lovely shuttle

Thank you Meg for prompting this discussion.