Purple Columns and Peacock Feathers

Can I admit that I love weaving?

I suppose if you've been reading the blog for a little while, you may already know this, but I do love weaving. One of the aspects I enjoy the most is experiments. Last August I warped up a loom with brown rug warp set at 7.5 epi. The plan was to do tapestry work on it.

It didn't work out.

But, this past week, I finally finished the warp.

Cotton Warp; Wool Weft
The photograph above shows my first experiment with wool weft. I've used wool and cotton before, but it ended poorly due to a run through the washer. I wash my clothes on cold/cold; Mom does hot/cold. Wool doesn't mix well with hot water and soap. When I plan to felt something I usually enjoy the results. When I don't plan to felt something, it always winds up bad.

The pattern is two up two down repeated. The photograph below is the same warp with a different weft (teal in this case). The pattern is once again two up two down, but I alternate the pattern.

Cotton Warp; Wool Weft
You can see the pattern alternating in the photograph above whereas on the purple warp it goes up in columns. The end results would be quite different. As I said before, I wash my wool in cold water because it provides enough friction without felting it completely. This way, the pattern contracts, but it doesn't shrink. In fact, I only loss the one and a half inches I normally lose after a wash.

Purple weft; washed cold
 As you can see, the columns created a beautiful check pattern. The contrast between the purple and brown is pronounced, but pleasing. Below, is the teal weft with the alternating pattern. It's result is also striking. I feel the end result is reminiscent of fish scales or peacock feathers.

Teal weft; washed cold
The next project uses a purple cotton warp with a variegated wool weft. The overall combination is less distinct so it will provide a subtle variation once washed. With these two projects, the distinction will be noticeable regardless how the scarf is worn; with the newest project, it will be only noticeable when light passes through it.

Once the project is finished, I will post photos.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Beyond the Scarf - Purses

Image
Creating accessories for my dresses and tops are part of the enjoyable part of weaving, though currently, I haven't actually made a set. Sometimes, I have extra fabric leftover from other projects and need to create items for it. Clutch The above clutch was an example of leftover warp. I ended up using up the chenille weft for the warp, and still had close to 20" left on the warp which I didn't want to waste. Thankfully, I had some wool yarn which went with the warp and weft. Since I had wanted to experiment with Danish medallions again, I decided to use this warp for the experiment, though the wool didn't felt as much as I expected it would. This is an example of beautiful items made from little pieces of material. The material is too small for a scarf, but not useful for much of anything else. At this point, I tend to use the fabric to make purses. One thing to remember when using handwoven fabric for a purse is the need for a lining, otherwise items might
Read more

Spring - it is a'comin'

Image
Someday, I hope. Spring Flowers I took this photograph about two years ago in late spring. I just thought the flowers looked pretty, and honestly, I like the color. This year, winter has taken far too long to leave. We had a snowstorm over the weekend, but it's warming up now. The weather folk expect yet another small storm, but eventually - they assure us - spring will return to Western New York. Thinking of the warm weather makes me smile because I'm tired of the cold. I've mentioned it before, but I didn't live my entire life in Western NY. I actually grew up in the Pennsylvania Dutch Country of Southeastern PA. Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington D.C. were practically in my backyard. Within an hour or two, I could be in one of the cities. Winters were cool and wet, but rarely freezing or snowy. Spring came in March with the crocuses and tulips. According to a recent news account, Buffalo had around 150" of snow this year ... do the math, and th
Read more

Weaving History - Space makes the Difference

Image
I focused last week on overshot coverlets as opposed to quilts. For a brief distinction a coverlet is woven, a quilt is not. Quilts and coverlets co-exist in equal appreciation during the Nineteenth Century, but as the Twentieth Century progressed, quilts became more popular and coverlets less popular. Part of the reason is simply the time  it takes to weave a coverlet let alone setting up the loom. To put this in perspective, it takes me roughly twelve hours from warping the loom to weaving the cloth to finishing off the edges for me to make the two scarves below. Both are around two yards in length. These scarves were done on my rigid heddle loom at a 7.5 dpi. What slowed them down was the pick-up stick pattern. On Helen the loom, I'm weaving at a sixteen dpi plus weaving a tighter weave so it takes longer. Take a look at the two projects below. First is the purple scarf from above before it is washed. Looking closely at it, you can tell that there is plenty of spac
Read more