My Structures Study Group has moved ahead to another weaving technique. Before we head over there, here are a few more photos of my Color and Weave adventures. Changing color order in the weft changes the direction of all the little stripes. This swatch is 16/2 cotton sett at 30 e.p.i. The draft is an 8H Shadow Weave, #271 from Stickler. Here is an experiment using variegated yarns at regular intervals in both warp and weft. The draft is the same. This warp is 20/2 cotton sett at 35 e.p.i. These colors really sing, don't they? These two photos are another warp of Stickler #271. This tim ..read more

Cottolin Towels woven in 8H Gothic Cross Shadow Weave It’s a rare rainy July morning and I'm Back-Blogged. I've simply lost track of the order of recent projects. I wove these towels months ago and can't remember what came before and what came after them. Checking my records will set it right. Piles of recent work with my camera perched among them cover our dining room table awaiting attention. Lots of weaving time has been one of the few benefits of being stuck in since March. That and lots of gardening time. But since the virus hit my husband has been working from home and ..read more

A group of scarves from the same warp various weft colors and color orders 8H Shadow Weave, Strickler #271 Sometimes yarns come to me without a clue to their source or history. Several large cones of a yarn marked 8/2 “Rayon Slub” have been on my shelf for rather a long while. There is no knowing how long they sat on the shelf of an unknown weaver before they found their way to me. These are yarns with a mysterious past. I have woven with this 8/2 “Rayon Slub” before and it made a lovely, soft, lustrous cloth. But this time around I noticed something new. The draft for these scarve ..read more

The two latest color ways of my Color & Effect Cottolin Towels I played with contrast in a few of the hems on the blue towels. They were fun to weave and are nice to use, too. I need to send a reply to Cindy who commented on my post “Conundrum Solved” from Jan. 14, 2015. She wanted help learning how to balance an Overshot block as in my Swedish Kitchen rework of Davison’s Nordic Kitchen draft. I found the solution and an explanation of why blocks wind up unbalanced on pages 41-42 of Madelyn van der Hoogt’s book “The Complete Book of Drafting for Handweavers”. Her information is ..read more

Kitchen Hand Towel Navy & Natural 22/2 Cottolin, Color & Weave Effect After Samitum my Structures Group turned to Shadow Weave. The topic was soon expanded to Color and Weave Effect. A draft that caught my eye is in a wonderful book titled “Favorite Scandinavian Projects to Weave: 45 Stylish Designs for the Modern Home” by Tina Ignell of Scandinavian Weaving Magazine. For my study group project I chose the draft “Black and White Hand Towels with Color Effects” found on page 62. On my shelf for some time now have been several full tubes of Cottolin plus many partial tubes of ..read more

This line (with apologies to Dr. Seuss) kept running through my head and adding to the fun of weaving Samitum. Samitum Dresser-Top Runners 20/2 Perle Cotton Warp 10/2 Perle Cotton Wefts Here you see Samitum runners intended for my grandchildren’s bedroom dresser-tops. They were woven way back in November. That is how far behind I’m running. I hesitated to send them because they have a tendency to curl up along the selvedges. That is how it sometimes goes with an uneven density between surfaces. Ah, well. I’ll think about it some more. Several Cottolin towels are fresh off my loom and w ..read more

Samitum Sampler While the rest of my Weave Structures Study Group continued with Turned Taqueté, I decided my next logical step was Samitum. The difference between the two weave structures is slight. Using the Summer & Winter threading, add a third tie-down on shaft three and weave without throwing tabby picks and you have Samitum. Samitum Sampler - Detail I had only a tiny bit of the lavender-colored yarn. In this way I managed to use it all. Taqueté requires two shuttle tosses per pass. It is double-faced and reversible. But Samitum, because it has three tie-down warps, requ ..read more

Sunshine Table Runner - Taqueté (unturned) The piece on the right is a swatch exploring border possibilities Although this winter has been mild, it has been unusually dark and rainy -  altogether gloomy. At last a few daffodils are blooming as are some of the early flowering trees. Seeing color return to the garden lifts my spirits. Weaving with happy colors does the same. Today at a guild meeting my friend Linda said, “You haven’t posted on your blog for a while.” No, I haven’t. Why? I needed to take photos (Isn’t that a silly excuse?). Someone I care about noticed my silence. Talk about ..read more

The year is rapidly slipping away. Tomorrow we begin anew. Slowly and surely daylight is growing longer. We look forward. It is an exciting time. Little Grandbaby beneath his Wee Pine Tree CoverletAs 2019 ebbs I had to share one more photo. It is my precious Grand beneath his Wee Pine Tree Coverlet. This time the “Summer” side shows. This is the side that was up on the loom when I wove it. You can see how the slightly darker threads running through the tree trunks create a pleasing secondary pattern. I like that. I enjoy weaving. Color is such fun! Very best of all is sharing my weaving ..read more

Waves of Waffle Weave yardage The color here is far from accurate, check the next photo for a better idea. Waffle Weave with plain weave, Detail The color here shows a bit better This waffle yardage was the next project after Ketchup & Mustard. The draft works well and is satisfying to weave so I simply wanted to continue with more of the same. Lately, making use of yarns already on hand has been a recurring theme among my weaving friends. Collecting yarn is easier than weaving with it and we are mostly of “a certain age”. Also, sadly, the members of our guild are aging and leaving yarn ..read more