Shifu scarf with hand-dyed silk warp
October 4th: I tried three setts for the silk warp during the sampling stage and finally settled on 40 epi, doubled to result in 20 working ends per inch. On the shifu sample (shown above) this set shows off the dyed patterns on the warp but also allows the hand-twisted/spun kozo paper yarn to show through. The four rigid heddles on The Quad loom were threaded in a straight draw, which gave me many weave structure options. Dyeing the silk warp in sections on the loom was great fun. I liked the result so much that I turned the sample into a wall hanging, which I call "Blueberry Field--First Snow" (lots of very colorful blueberry fields at this time of year here in Oregon). I dyed some of the paper yarn weft, too, which works fine for a wall hanging but would not be so good for an object that will be washed. My order of hand-made kozo/mulberry paper arrived yesterday morning from Thailand, right on time for the start of the Halloweave event. All afternoon, as I cut the paper and twisted it into yarn, I was humming, "Let's twist again, like we did last summer. . . ."
October 10th: The Witch's Brew group meeting yesterday on Webex inspired me to get busy twisting/spinning more kozo paper yarn for weft. I can't do manual twisting or spinning due to a wrist injury, but using an electric device to "spin" is no problem. I've used drills and bobbin winders before. My latest--and favorite--weft twisting device is an old sewing machine that was given to me by a member of the local freecycle group. It doesn't work for sewing, but, after a few minor adjustments, it works great for spinning. The shifu yarn varies in diameter from about the size of 10/2 cotton to about that of 20/2 silk.
October 16th: The Quad rigid heddle loom is warped. I used my "broomstick method" of direct warping, which keeps the warp tension very even during the wind-on process. (It seemed especially appropriate to use the broomstick method for a Witch's Brew project!) Since I'm using the 20/2 silk warp yarn double in the four heddles, I didn't need to cut the loops to sley the heddles.
October 20th: Several factors came together to help me decide what to do for my project. My dare is to use lots of color--especially
the warm colors, which I usually avoid. The sample started me
thinking about leaves changing color in the fall. I wanted to make
something for my friend, who practices Zen Buddhism. I thought of the brightly colored robes Tibetan monks wear, and I remembered a story my friend told me about how Buddha became enlightened while sitting under a bo tree. Hmmm. So I decided to make a scarf for my friend that incorporates the yellows, oranges, and reds of the robes, and that uses the bo leaf as the main image. (Bo leaves also change color in the fall.) What should I call a Halloweave project based on this design? BO!!!
October 22nd: I've finally taken a picture of BO!!! that doesn't end up as one big glare (the silk warp is soooo shiny). I'm really liking this project. I need to remind myself over and over again to use lots of color. I usually mix about 25 ml of Colorhue dye with 2 ounces of water, but I'm using twice that strength for this project. The colors look way too intense when I first "paint" the silk warp, but, as soon as I start weaving, the natural colored kozo paper weft mellows them.
October 25th: Several people have asked for pictures of my twisting/spinning set up, so I've added two. The first shows the old sewing machine, which was given to me, set on end with the modifications in place. The second shows the modifications: a pen top wedged over the bobbin winder, and a chopstick inserted into the pen cap. I hold strips of kozo/mulberry paper in my left hand and spin them off the end of the chopstick (my right wrist is the one that was injured, so I've become something of a "lefty" over the years). The sewing machine's foot pedal allows me to start, stop, and adjust the spinning speed. Total cost of this great device: $0.
October 29th: Total warp waste for this project: Zero. Zilch, nada, zed. I used my broomstick method of direct warping the rigid heddle loom, so all of the warp end loops were completely even after winding on--there was no need for trimming to even them up (and the warp tension was nice and even, too). Because I used a single loop of 20/2 silk warp for each working end, I didn't need to cut the loops when I sleyed the four rigid heddles. And the warp tied on to the front and back tie-on bars is fringe for the scarf, so there was no waste there. For someone who loves silk as much as I do, and who tries to conserve resources as much as I do, this total lack of waste is a big plus.
I love how soft the scarf is, and--though I never expected that this true blue fan of cool colors would say it--I even like the way the reds and oranges and yellows turned out. So my dare--to use lots of color and lots of intense color--was met. The scarf glows, and it feels as light as a happy thought.
Leaf Sequin Rayon Scarf
I'd had the leaf sequins for a long time and was just itching to use them for this pocket weave. I dyed the rayon in fall colors and dug out the sequins. Then the maple leaf sequins (at the bottom of the picture) turned out to be far too big, so I used the generic leaf sequins (above the maple leaf). They worked. But the tip of the leaf can poke through the pocket and will likely get caught on something. Oops. And then the shape of the sequin is lost in the pocket so oval sequins would have worked just fine anyway. Oh well. I'm happy with it. There really is a maple leaf sequin beneath the other two but it got lost during translation.
Lava Flow scarf
I created this scarf as a quick-and-dirty entry for the Handwoven Sock Yarn contest (which it did not, alas, win). It's a collapse weave shawl in plainweave, with the warp alternating stripes of Cascade Fixation (an elastic cotton yarn) with Knitpicks Bare, hand-dyed in flame colors. Lacking two warp beams, I put the Cascade Fixation in warp chains, then weighted the warp chains individually with relatively heavy weights, to stretch the elastic as much as possible during weaving. The "regular" sock yarn went onto the sectional beam.
I tested several wefts, and finally settled on a variegated red-orange-yellow 2/28 nm (roughly the weight of 30/2 silk) silk yarn that I had dyed for a previous project. To add a touch of glitter, that I thought would be appropriate in a scarf entitled "Lava Flow", I added a very fine metallic gold thread meant for weaving fine obis (Japanese kimono ties).
I'm glad to say that this scarf won second place in the neckwear division at CNCH 2010!
hand-spun angora scarf
I had 10 tiny skeins of natually white hand-spun angora. I dyed bit of all the skeins taupe and then wove it on the rigid heddle loom. I added pick-up huck spots at random. I put little pink slips in the spots as I wove so that I could visualize the composition.
The scarf is lovely, wonderful hand. The huck spots do not add visually to the piece but add texture to the touch.
Baby Baby
I made this scarf based on a mohair blanket I had woven a couple of years ago. It is simple plain weave, but the subtle variation in color due to hand-dyeing and the super luxurious yarns make it nice.
Lava Flow scarf
I created this scarf as a quick-and-dirty entry for the Handwoven Sock Yarn contest (which it did not, alas, win). It's a collapse weave shawl in plainweave, with the warp alternating stripes of Cascade Fixation (an elastic cotton yarn) with Knitpicks Bare, hand-dyed in flame colors. Lacking two warp beams, I put the Cascade Fixation in warp chains, then weighted the warp chains individually with relatively heavy weights, to stretch the elastic as much as possible during weaving. The "regular" sock yarn went onto the sectional beam.
I tested several wefts, and finally settled on a variegated red-orange-yellow 2/28 nm (roughly the weight of 30/2 silk) silk yarn that I had dyed for a previous project. To add a touch of glitter, that I thought would be appropriate in a scarf entitled "Lava Flow", I added a very fine metallic gold thread meant for weaving fine obis (Japanese kimono ties).
I'm glad to say that this scarf won second place in the neckwear division at CNCH 2010!
