Sunday, April 17, 2016

Anne's sliver

About this time last year my friend Anne passed away having put up a grand fight against cancer.  
I was gifted some of her stash (thanks Peter) including this sliver of 75% corriedale, 25% silk from Anna Gratton Ltd.
I spun a single and plied it with navy cashmere commercial yarn.
I don't know what this style of spinning is called (except not very good) but I held the commercial yarn straight and let the handspun semi wrap around it; except when Blindspot got exciting or when I fell asleep and then I found myself reverting to regular spinning.  
What, don't you keep spinning while you sleep?
My plan is to knit myself a Pfeilraupe wrap so I'm off to make a tension sample.

Friday, April 15, 2016

Ann's kitchen towels

This post is really a record for me.  The photos are awful but if you look at the light stripe on the outer edges you will see the treadling line followed.  Threaded in 6 shaft echo, 28 tpi, 2 threads of 20/2 cotton together, charcoal and rust alternating.
My brief was the colours in these bracelets.

 Below, echo weave, pohutukawa green weft. 2:1 twill

 Below, turned taquete, apricot weft, two shuttles one with single thread the other with double thread.  The pattern is not very distinct.
 Below, 4 colour double weave with white and green in weft.
Below, 4 colour double weave, apricot and green in weft 
 Below, apricot weft, echo.
 Below, echo, white weft, treadling line same as threading
 Below, echo with 2:1 twill (which I just read is called jeans twill)
 Below, echo with pale green cotton/linen weft
 I think this last is echo again with a cream weft. 
 I seem to have missed photographing one which I'm sure was 4 colour double weave.
 Out of 9 towels there are just 2 left, 5 will go to the States and 2 are off to France.

Bottom of the pile!

I'm pretty sure something I want to use is in that banana box at the very bottom of the pile.  
Question is, how much do I want it??
And know, I don't have a chain saw in the cupboard but no clue what's in that box.