OK. This is a great idea ... I think!

I'm a beginner. I took a 5 day class from Tom Jipson at Harrisville Designs at the beginning of the summer. He is a terrific teacher and the location can hardly be nicer!  I have been playing with my looms (yes I already own more than 1) making "samplers" since then.  So, now it is time to actually make something from beginning to end.

So that is my dare. I will plan and create a shawl using my 45" JL Hammet loom. On October 31st it will be ready to mail to my sister for her birthday.

Leigh

 

Comments

B P (not verified)

Welcome to Spook of the Loom!

That's a great dare Leigh, we'll be cheering you on!

Looking forward to hearing all about the design of this shawl for your sister's birthday.

Beth

Karren K. Brito

We are making shawls in Las Catrinas, why don't you join us too!

leighv (not verified)

I wasn't sure which group to join with my project so I chose the broadest sounding group. I'm sure if I will end up with stripes. Can I still join your group? Can I be in 2 groups with one project? Double the pressure to complete, but also double the encouragement and help ... hummmm.

Karren K. Brito

or 3 or four...

Easy when they are small like now.  I'm going to make a striped rebozo/shawl and I'm in the two groups. I hope it doesn't get to be too much to read.

leighv (not verified)

Awesome! I think I will be joining other groups! 

Thanks Karren. You'll probably see me lurking around. Good luck with your rebozo.

Leigh

marlenedg (not verified)

 My project is almost white , does that count? I am going to finish a grey rug from a pattern. Well almost from a pattern,my version of the pattern in Janet rug book that is reversed on the back side with just one color weft. First time to follow a pattern and first time for one color wedt. We will see how it goes.Had to stop for a while today to freeze purpe green beans. Now when the dishes are done I can go back to my project. Pictures soon.

What do we do when we finish our projects? is there going to be a special page to post them?

Marlene and Tyler(my dog) in Oregon.

 

B P (not verified)

Hi Marlene and Tyler

Welcome! A white project for Group Spook sounds suitably ghostie!

Beth

leighv (not verified)

Okay, so I'm gathering supplies for my shawl. Using 8/2 cotton. Have lots of one color but want some others. Pulled off some of it and used Rit dye to remove the color and to make it a new color. Looks great but did I condition it somehow? Now it looks different (thicker) from the stuff still on the cone. I dried it in the dryer. Wasn't sure about that but did it anyway. Did I mess it up?

Karren K. Brito

Most 8/2 cotton is soft spun and blooms quite a bit when washed.  It will all look that way when your done.  I justed dyed a about 10lbs of it and it looks georgous dyed!

The one you dischaged with color remover and dried in the dryer is now pre shrunk.  Make sure you combine it with other pre shrunk yarn; if not you will be in "revenge of the shrunken head" with differential shrinkage.  The part that is not pre-shrunk will shrink when you wash it and the pre-shrunk yarn will not shrink again so it will pucker.

 

 

laurafry

Karren is right - the yarn you have discharged and dyed has now been processed (and bloomed) more than the rest of your yarn.  If you wind a warp with stripes of the different yarns you might well get cloth that behaves quite oddly when you wet finish it.  If you distribute the different yarns thoroughly throughout the warp there will be less tendency for 'seersucker' type stripes to happen.  If I were you I'd skein off all the yarn and get it wetted out to match the yarn you have already discharged/dyed.  A little more work up front, but more consistent results in the end.  :)

cheers,

Laura

leighv (not verified)

I was wondering if that was the case. Just for my own education, which did the "blooming"? Getting the cotton wet or putting it in the dryer? If it is the wet step, that puts a whole new spin on dying.

I will need to ponder this as I stir my cauldron filled with yarn!

Leigh

laurafry

Blooming happens when the fibre gets wet and swells with the absorption of the water.  If there are any of the natural oils or waxes in the fibres, scouring that out will help the yarn to bloom as well.  Before dyeing you do need to scour out the impurities.  I'm sure Karren will have more to say about dyeing yarns - she's the expert.  :)

cheers,

Laura

leighv (not verified)

OK. First lesson is that I'm very bad at planning a whole project. This is partly because of the newness of each step of the weaving process and mostly because of my own impatience to get going. So far this is what I have done and found out:

  1. Pick what to make - a shawl. No real problem with that. Figured out general size but finalization will be dependent on material.
  2. Pick materials from stash - found a large 'inherited' cone of wool in a non-shawl-like color but enough to do the project. Will dye it - new process to me so chose to use kool aid for ease and expense reasons.
  3. Since needed to wind off for dyeing thought I would wind off for warping and then dye each bout. Have been having trouble winding a proper warp with makeshift pegs clamped to things and around chair legs so decided to make a warping board that could wind 4 yards. Not a woodworker so it isn't pretty but it worked.home made warp boars
  4. Wool wrapped out at 7 epi so wound out 4 bouts of 50 ends thinking that I would dye 4 different colors for the warp and use the existing color as weft, working to make it warp faced as I weave.
  5. Dyed the bouts. Interesting results. After overdying one of the bouts a second time because two colors came out too similar. I am mostly happy with the results.

This is where I am as I write this. I have 4 batches of wool drying and I am looking at how everything will mesh. Not sure I like it with the warp in 4 big stripes for a shawl. Might be better intermixed. Also not sure weft with original color will be good. So now what do I do?

Actually, after taking the picture (sorry for photo quality - only phone camera avail right now), the colors aren't too bad in stripes!

Maybe, I can really do this! I guess the next step is to warp!! And join the stripe group!

Respectfully,

Leigh

B P (not verified)

Leigh...bravo!

Excellent progress; and thank you for the story so far. Your skeins of wool yarn have dyed up beautifully, and btw I think your homemade warping board looks just the biz.

As you say, check out and join the 'Stripemanics of Transilvania'...they'll give you lots of help with stripey info.

Beth

endorph

I agree with Beth your colors are beautiful - can't wait to see the finished project! Tina

leighv (not verified)

Thank you for your encouragement. I'm actually really growing to like the colors. I was originally going to use cotton, but changed to wool since I seemed to be able to control the material better during the dyeing process.  Besides, I couldn't resist doing some of my first color experiments with Koolaid!

Respectfully,

Leigh

marlenedg (not verified)

Ok Today I finished my project! I did a rug from a pattern. I really did 4 rugs cause I had a lot of warp on the loom. But here is the grey spookie rug from the pattern. Here are both sides. I am very pleased with this rug!

Marlene

Karren K. Brito

You need to know the proportion of each color. This can be done in B&W.  For example a pin stripe might be 18 background color, 2 ends contrast color, repeat.

Then I use a piece of matt board, tape and make a wrapped sample made from your dyed yarns.  Is is easy to mak e changes on the wrapping.  Here is a first wrapping, then a modification that I actually have half threaded on the loom.

Wrapping is quick easy way to develop ideas.

 

 

For each

B P (not verified)

Marlene, your rugs look very smart! Thanks for posting the pics.

Beth

msthimble

Dear Fellow Spooks,

Hi, all, I am joining late!  I am daring myself to weave an item and enter it in Convergence 2012 exhibit.  I am also daring myself to weave/work on project daily.  My project is going to be handwoven leather.  At my job, they were throwing out a box full of knotted leather handles for handbags that never got made.  The leather is dark chocolate brown, and is fine Italian glove leather.  In order to use it, I must unknot the handle, unpick the chainstitching that is wrapping the leather over a knitted cord, strip the interlining out of it and trim the perforated needleholes off the edges with an exacto.  Each handbag handle yeilds 16 yds of leather stripping. I want to back the leather with 6mm stain ribbon, possibly in multicolor satin ribbon in ombre effect, neutral-ish colors.  I have not decided if this will be off loom woven or on loom.  I want to combine macrame within the weaving, so it may not be possible to weave on the loom.  I'll post photos of the handbag handles deconstruction tomorrow!

XO Gail & Fog

msthimble

Dear Fellow Spooks,

Hi, all, I am joining late!  I am daring myself to weave an item and enter it in Convergence 2012 exhibit.  I am also daring myself to weave/work on project daily.  My project is going to be handwoven leather.  At my job, they were throwing out a box full of knotted leather handles for handbags that never got made.  The leather is dark chocolate brown, and is fine Italian glove leather.  In order to use it, I must unknot the handle, unpick the chainstitching that is wrapping the leather over a knitted cord, strip the interlining out of it and trim the perforated needleholes off the edges with an exacto.  Each handbag handle yeilds 16 yds of leather stripping. I want to back the leather with 6mm stain ribbon, possibly in multicolor satin ribbon in ombre effect, neutral-ish colors.  I have not decided if this will be off loom woven or on loom.  I want to combine macrame within the weaving, so it may not be possible to weave on the loom.  I'll post photos of the handbag handles deconstruction tomorrow!

XO Gail & Fog

B P (not verified)

Hi Gail and Fog...fab recycling project! Looking forward to seeing the photos.

Beth

PS If you plan to work on the project daily, perhaps you might like to join the 'The Daily Spider' group also??

crosstownshuttler (not verified)

Finally! I get to work on my HalloWeave dare! (I've been on the 12 hour overnight shift and too tired to think much less weave.) I am daring myself to finish this scarf that's been sitting on my loom since April (I think). 

Here it is at 18 inches out of the planned 72 inches. It is Habu 20/3 Bamboo at about 5400 ypp.

I'm having draw-in and therefore tension problems. I've tried several versions of the weighted temples. The grippers I've tried (Bulldog paper clips, alligator clips, ridged magnetic clips) just slide right off the scarf. Paper clips leave loops if I put them at the very edge and don't spread the selvedges if I put them in about 1/4 inch.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Carie

crosstownshuttler (not verified)

Half way there. Still having selvedge issues but they will have to wait for the temple to arrive. I'm learning that I really need practice with consistent beating. Bronson lace really shows the inconsistencies. Oh well, I'll just have to keep this scarf ;^).

Carie

Karren K. Brito

will even out some irregularities, so don't judge until you've finished the piece.

Group Audience