Hi Group, I would love to see all of you post about the project you are working on, no matter what stage you are at and pictures would be great to see.  I have shared my projects, including the first failure and am on to the second project  I think prizes should be awarded to the most adventurous!

Dawn

Comments

Fri, 10/07/2011 - 12:32

EvaHall

I have posted my project under the halloweave projects, and I will be following up as I go.

http://weavolution.com/project/evahall/halloweave-scarf

Just now I am sleying, and as I have also decided to challenge myself with a denser sett than usual (for me), it takes time.

Maybe I should warn you that next week I will be travelling without internet and definitely without my loom, but I will be back.

I will miss my loom.

Tue, 10/11/2011 - 14:08

Belinda (not verified)

Just sleying my reed with shrinky project after finishing a 5 yard piece of lace weave. Am anxious to see how I like working with a fine weft.

Wed, 10/12/2011 - 14:11

B P (not verified)

Hi Everyone

I'm warping up my small loom at the moment for the next shrinkage project. A positive differential in shrinkage is what I'm hoping to achieve with this piece of weaving. I'm using a "felting" wool yarn and a Supersheen acrylic one. I'll post progress photos soon!

Beth

Wed, 10/12/2011 - 19:41

ruthmacgregor (not verified)

My HalloWeave project has now been posted -- even though it's still very much "in-progress".  I think I shared my draft before I left town for a week.  Here's the latest development (to be followed by others very soon):

Felt sample for diff shrinkage

That may not look like much, but it really eased my mind!  When I discovered I didn't have any good "shrinkable" wool yarns on hand, I decided to spin some merino for my scarf -- and after spinning enough for the project, had the sudden fear that the wool roving I'd used had been processed into a Superwash wool (i.e., not feltable).  ...Making a little swatch of felt took just a few minutes and calmed my fears.  It felts!  It shrinks!  All is well!

Ruth

Wed, 10/12/2011 - 21:42

Dawn McCarthy

Ooooh, looks like cotton candy!  Can't wait to see the finished scarf Ruth.

Dawn

Wed, 10/19/2011 - 16:38

B P (not verified)

I have just updated my current project with photos of the first sample. Pleased to say that shrinkage did occur...phew! (Good old black "felting" yarn came up trumps.)

Beth

Mon, 10/24/2011 - 15:28

ruthmacgregor (not verified)

There's progress on the scarf front.  My original plan was to weave a shrink-ruffled twill scarf -- but the loom I was planning to use for that has been rather abruptly given another assignment (I really need to note sample exchanges in my calendar so I don't forget about them!).  So... I'm opting for something on a smaller scale which will, at least, let me know how these yarns work for differential shrinkage.

Here's what it looks like in progress:

The pink merino (unmistakable) in the central stripe is set at 8 epi, while the silk sections on either side are set at 16 epi.  The weft is a smooth silk in deep greyed purple, and I'm hoping the merino won't see it as an impediment to shrinking and rippling.

The full project notes are here.

It's weaving up at an amazing rate -- I think I'll be cutting it off and popping it into the washer in just a couple of days (how exciting!!).

Though that brings up a question:  my washing machine has a drum that's on its side (it loads from the top, but tumbles the clothes and water the same way a dryer does).  Will that do the felting-and-fulling I'm hoping for, or should I plan on a waulking session in my bathtub?

Ruth

Mon, 10/24/2011 - 17:20

Dawn McCarthy

I would hand wet finish it, that way you can judge mid process if you need more or less!  The machine would work well, but it only takes a little too much washing for the end result to change dramatically.  I used hot soapy then cold clear for a couple of hand washes, I could see the appearance change and decide when was enough.  I did however, throw it in the dryer for 5 mins, then another 5 mins until the desired result was accomplished.

 

Dawn

Mon, 10/24/2011 - 19:16

laurafry

Yes - although the action is different, it will still full.  But like Dawn says you might want to full by hand to make sure you get just enough fulling for the effect you desire.

cheers,

Laura

Tue, 10/25/2011 - 08:14

kerstinfroberg

just to be contrary... IMHO hand fulling is difficult. It is all too easy to over-full one end and under-full the other. A washing machine will "work" the whole length at the same rate. (But perhaps I should admit that I "ruined" several scarves when sampling for the best way to achieve what I wanted on a production scale. I learned: 1. washing machines are different 2. yarns are, too (sometimes different colours of the same yarn behave different) 3. the load will make a difference (more washing -> more fulling).

Tue, 10/25/2011 - 11:32

Dawn McCarthy

Kerstin, I can see your point.  As it was one sample scarf I wanted to determine just when enough was enough - the difference between the fulled and felted scarf I made was one hot soak (2 for fulled and 3 for felted).  My washer's quick cycle is 30 mins long and cannot be interupted.  

I have even considered buying a portable agitating washer just for this purpose.

Dawn

Wed, 10/26/2011 - 01:02

Weeweaver (not verified)

I once knew a lady who used a bucket with a plunger for a washer. Perhaps that will work?

Wed, 10/26/2011 - 12:57

ruthmacgregor (not verified)

Thank you all for this interesting information on fulling and its variations!  I have a feeling I'm going to try them all, because this is pretty fun stuff.

For the scarf in question -- nervous as I was (and excited!), I decided to hand-full the scarf in the sink.  I used the "gather it up and fling it down" method (I think I've seen a video of you doing this, Laura), and it worked nicely:  the fulling is even the full length of the scarf.

Here's how it looked just after being cut off the loom:

And here's how it looked after fulling:

It made ruffles!!

Now I think I'll do another scarf, making slightly longer merino floats -- just to see if I can get amplified ruffling.  (It's fast.  It's fun.  Why not??)

Ruth

Wed, 10/26/2011 - 13:19

kathy (not verified)

I love this and I love the color. 

Wed, 10/26/2011 - 13:41

B P (not verified)

Wow Ruth, your scarf has ruffled so well! (Shrinking weaving is good fun as you say.....it kinda grows on you!)

Beth

Wed, 10/26/2011 - 14:07

Neshobe (not verified)

Had to spend some time away from the loom, and am just getting started again-- have a project in progress. I'll tell you about it but first: Ruth, that scarf is amazing. The ruffles are wonderful, and the colors perfect.

While I was fighting a bug, I set aside a 500 thread shawl project because I really wasn't up to doing it. I decided to challenge myself to do something with my mystery stash, and became intrigued with all the talk about differential shrinkage. I was going to do a scarf, using some chartreuse felted 2 ply warp, and some light gold single ply, with some red accents, hoping it would texture up and give me an interesting texture. I did a sample, and loved the texture, but decided it wasn't going to be a scarf; the weft wool is a bit too stiff and scratchy. Since the weft is what gave the texture, I decided to make the warp wider and shorter to make a table topper instead. I believe these yarns are handspun except the red, so that adds to the texture too.

 

I posted pics of the sample and notes in projects under Halloweave. Here's the link because for some reason I can only post by disabling rich-text. http://weavolution.com/project/neshobe/sample-scart-table-topper

Wed, 10/26/2011 - 19:41

laurafry

Hi Ruth, yes I posted a video of this on You Tube.  It's a great way to work out frustrations, too.  :^)

cheers,

Laura

Wed, 11/02/2011 - 22:00

Belinda (not verified)

Cut my scarves off the loom today. Will be twisting fringe tonight and washing tomorrow. Hope to post some pictures to go along with all the other wonderful projects.

Thu, 11/03/2011 - 01:51

graciela (not verified)

Fantastic. Really very very nice, and so romantic.

Sat, 11/05/2011 - 15:32

Belinda (not verified)

My project is on the Halloweave page. Not too much shrinking, but thanks for letting me take part. Belinda