Red scarf

That inspiring title was a result of this skein of handspun yarn.  As you can see it ranges in tones from deep red through hot pink with flashes of orange.  I think it was spun after a workshop with Tracey White of Inspired Fibres quite some time ago.

There wasn't much, about twelve threads of warp length so I combined it with other textured yarns, ribbon, velour, thick and thin.  The fine background threads are angora, alpaca/silk and wool.

 Used the same threading of recent scarves; tabby on shafts 1 and 2 and the textured threads on 3 and 4 which means I could make a feature of the textured threads

 as seen in this close up.

Very soft and interesting to wear.

This week

The secret project was progressing well until I ran out of yarn.

Will pick more up on Thursday when I go to the Cambridge Exhibition and trade day.

 In the meantime I am still playing on the table loom.  This shibori sample uses the same threading as was used for these scarves.  The bottom part of the sample uses one thread for weft and where the end sticks out the left side I changed to a double thread giving wider stripes.  I tried and tested various yarns I have to hand by draping bits around my neck, smooching under chin etc and thought this merino/mohair blend would be OK but N O.  Once woven in the sample it was obvious it couldn't be worn as a scarf so off the loom it came.

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 Warps have been wound in lovely fine yarn from Anna Gratton but thought I'd weave a few more striped scarves before closing up the sett.

I took this image for colour inspiration, its a flower from a bromeliad but if you enlarge it you'll see a sharp barb on each of the florets - nasty thing, it got me several times!

Kotare or kingfisher

New Zealand's sacred kingfisher or kōtare is a cousin of the kookaburra in Australia. It’s ancestors flew here from Australia around 10,000 years ago.  Kingfishers are found widely in New Zealand in a wide range of habitats, the key ingredient being an elevated position for observation.   The Kotare is a distinctive bird with a green-blue back, buff to yellow undersides and a large black bill.

 My interpretation of Kotare in this blanket would cheer any cold bleak day.

Textured scarves

Sorry about the silence in blog land recently.  

We had a 4 day trip to Auckland where Peter is helping our daughter and son in law with a renovation. Instead of working on the 2 knitting projects I took with me, I became the builders lacky apprentice and scrambled up and down ladders, held timber, quoted the ruler, wielded  a hammer and removed nails with a crow bar.  Got home in time to make the beds for the other half of my family who just happened to have 2 birthdays to celebrate.  Can't believe Zoe is 2.

In weaving land I've been working on a big project which will be secret until about August but it involves approximately 46 metres of fabric.  I'm now over halfway so think I'll take a break and weave some blankets for a change.

Last month I had 2 days back to back working at The Cargo Shed so thought I'd take my table loom in.  Goodness me, it still had the warp from Stacey Harvey Brown's Dimensional Weaving workshop last year.  I got out the notes and decided to weave off a few more samples and while doing that I realised I could use the same warp to highlight some of my fancy textured yarns.  Basically shafts 1 and 2 are tabby and shafts 3 and 4 have the fancy yarns.  Couldn't be simpler but very effective.

 black with textured yarn

Mahogany scarf.

I have also realised I can use the threads on shafts 3 and 4 as shibori pull up threads so that will be a project for the future.