New project thoughts

I think the next project is going to be a bag. Probably also a sampler, to make for a decent length warp, but I'll see what sort of threading ideas I come up with.

I think I want to use something like mercerised cotton, whatever size is easiest to get hold of. At least two colours, maybe only two.

Slack at posting

The blanket has been basically finished for a month now. (There are a couple more mistakes to fix that I spotted after washing, but nothing too awful. Also, the fringing is not all the same length at the moment).

And I still haven't taken a photo of it. I'll get there eventually, but I'm really struggling to force myself to do it sooner rather than later.

I'm also not sure what the next project will be, although for various reasons I don't know that I'll manage to get much done over the next six months. (I'd like to, and I'm itching to get something new on the loom, but I've got a whole bunch of other non-weaving stuff that I actually have a deadline for.)

So, short version: Next post should be blanket photos, but may instead be optimistic dreaming about the next project.

I guess I'll have to wait and see...

Actually done something.

Finally got around to working on the blanket again. I think most of the mistakes have been fixed now, and I'm a quarter of the way through twisting the fringing. I appear to not be able to count though, so I had to rearrange the spacing a little bit.

Will check for mistakes again when the fringing is done, and if I don't find any then it might just about be washing time.

Oh dear...

I really have been very slack. Still nothing new on the loom, and I haven't even finished fixing up the mistakes in the blanket.

In my defence I have been kind of busy with other stuff - I've managed to come up with a few sewing (and embroidery) projects with deadlines. There may be some related weaving, but that will depend how the sewing goes, and what else crops up.

It seems a little sad having my loom sitting in the corner of the lounge all naked and unloved, but I really want to get some of the embroidery out of the way before I expand the project to include weaving.

Blanket!

Is off the loom. No accidental linking of layers, but there are at least a few mistakes/skips to fix up.

That is all. No idea what comes next.

Finally weaving again

After weaving a couple of inches I realised that I'd messed up the treadling order, so the loom got ignored for a while.

Tonight I undid my few inches, and have redone them plus a bit more. And as a bonus I modified the way the fold was sleyed (stretched out to half an inch wider). Looks like it's still pulling in a bit more than it technically should, but I'm not really too concerned about it.

I'm not in any particular hurry at the moment - I now need to refill my bobbin, but I'll soon be up to the next colour, and I don't have more bobbins yet (collecting them on Saturday).

Or not...

Monday night I dealt with the tie up. Last night I tied it all up and did 4 shots of waste yarn. And then I realised that I'd tied it up wrong. I'm aiming for double width huck lace, but I failed to tie every second treadle the "other" way. So I was basically getting a very dense 3-1 twill. Sigh.

And I think I may have already broken a warp thread (hit by the shuttle, I think).

I guess tonight I will be retying 4 treadles and trying again (maybe with slightly more shuttle control, and probably more care).

I have a funny feeling this may turn into a nightmare project, depending on how easily my warp breaks...

Progress! But no photographic evidence...

I managed to get the heddles all threaded by the end of Friday (Hurrah!). On Saturday I sleyed it, and yesterday I tied all the ends so all I need to do now is tie it onto the front beam. Maybe tonight... And then I'll have to start organising (and winding) shuttles. Oh, and I've just realised that I still need to sort out my tie up.

I have no photos though. I think I have taken some, but our home internet is currently down, so no uploading will be happening until Thursday night (at the earliest).

I have been slack.

I said in the last post that I hoped to have the loom threaded by the end of the week. It still isn't done. It took me a while to even get the warp wound on, and I broke half a dozen threads in the process.

I then had to actually work out what my threading was, which I did last night. And then I started threading. I got about 10% done, and it took me just over an hour (I think). Which isn't too bad, I guess. I'm aiming to get a bit more done tonight, and then I'm hoping that I will in fact be able to get it all done by the end of this Friday (another day off work).

And as a complete aside, Geodyne gave me this


Of course, this means I'm supposed to do things like nominating more people for it. Only problem is, I think most of the blogs I read have already seen it. So to anyone out there that hasn't, I'm sorry I missed you - you're welcome to take it.

Results of dyeing

Dyeing is all done now, and I (finally) have photos.

First attempt:


The pink on top is what the yarn started out as. It's a linen/synthetic blend (2 plies, the pink is synthetic, the linen is pale brown)

The one on the right was supposed to be much more purple - this was closer to the burgundy I wanted to make later (unfortunately I wanted a different quantity of that).

The not-really-purple was then overdyed with some more blue, and at the same time I dyed the burgundy:


The green is my favourite. And here is a closeup of it, to show how different the two plies are.


This photo shows the sheen on the linen to some extent, but it is actually even prettier.

And last night I got nearly half the warp wound. I'm hoping that I can get it all ready for weaving by the end of Friday.