Navy teal possum wrap

The wheels of weaving wind slowly.  (And blogging even slower!)

I posted this picture on facebook weeks ago and got great reaction but have been very slow to tell you about it.

Slow partly because I couldn't figure out how to finish the ends.  The warp is alternating threads of navy and taupe and the weft a teal.  The tassels just didn't look right.  Took me ages to figure out I could add a thread or two of teal to the fringe and that pulled the wrap together.  The tassels now look like they belong.  I can tell you it took ages to undo the navy taupe tassels.

The fibre is possum merino silk and look at the twist in the untasseled threads; makes me want to try some shibori as it would hold the texture.

Wrap woven as an echo weave.

Shibori cotton

 I have a problem in that I can't for the life of me dye cotton with Procion dye.  I almost get hysterical at the prospect and when I try the dye doesn't take.  Acid dye on protein fibre, no problem but cotton, hopeless.  I have several big bags of cotton that I've acquired over the years thinking I would overdye to more desirable hues but .. see above!

This rust cone I have given away twice and it comes back unused so its time came to try an experiment with watered down bleach.
The fabric was about 20" (51cm) wide before pulling the resist threads.

 The first pic was taken as the soaked sample went into the solution so it is darker than in reality.  (A light bulb just went off here.)  The second pic is after four hours of soaking and I just realised that that is also darker than it would be when dry.  You can see the edges have really bleached out to a dirty white.

This is the first glimpse as the resist threads are released.

This is the above stripe sample washed and pressed showing that even deliberate stripes come out very organic.  The bleach solution was painted on one side of the sample only.

The next sample was covered in the bleach solution and left soaking for two hours.  It has 6 rows of tabby between resist threads which I like better than the samples I did with 4 which is a bonus timewise.

I think this last is my favourite but the one above does look a bit reptilian.  I used a weaker solution of bleach for this and I'm liking the three degrees of colour, the original rust, an orange and its tint.

So now I think I'll tie on a couple of metres of navy blue cotton which I know bleaches out to purple and see what I get before putting on a long warp.  This is all unmercerised cotton.

Click on all pics to bigify.

Recent creations

'Karapiro'

Karapiro blanket and cushion went to Inspirit Gallery a short time ago.  Warp mainly wool and alpaca and weft mohair, all hand dyed.  Woven two layer twill.

'Pipis and Paua'

As selection for the Bay of Plenty Area exhibition happened yesterday I can show what I entered.  This lamp shade has a very open knitted base fabric attached to the frame and crochet shells attached.

'Fire'

And I couldn't resist entering a shibori scarf "Fire".

'Fire' close up

What have I been doing?

What have I been doing?  Probably not what I should be.  Lets see, knitting.  I started knitting this jacket

(Vogue pattern) last winter but had to put it aside through the summer as it was just too hot to have so much fabric sitting in my lap.  Picked it up again in the autumn and finished the body but now I find the armhole slits are in the wrong place.  I could graft the slits shut and open for armhole in the middle of the garter stitch band but I just am not interested.  Have gone right off the garment!  Its in the frog pile.

So started knitting this jersy loosely based on a pattern from Rowan magazine.  What's with those plaits?  They'll have to be stitched at the least.  Gone off that too.

So now I'm knitting a jacket for baby Reggie, due in December from bamboo yarn, size 3-6 months with length for the next size up.  I'm enjoying this and it does seem to be proceeding OK.  What are the best seams to use on babywear, anyone?

Weavingwise, I've done about 200 samples [well 8] (a miracle for me) to work out a pattern in Summer and Winter in two layers, joined at one side, with the pattern following through correctly on the reverse side.  This is an order from Pauanesia and the colourways will be chosen by them.  I used scrap yarn for the samples.  Also the more astute will see its not true S & W as I have put alternate thick and thin wool threads in the warp to reduce bulk and the weft is all mohair as I didn't want to use two shuttles with two layers - that would have been too much.  This sample was made to get the fold correct so I threaded the least needed to test.  The bands will be wider and the vertical and horizontal areas equal in the project.  You'll have to put your head on the side, the fold is down the centre.

The shock of so much sampling, and the thought that my dobby loom will be tied up with the above project for some time I quickly designed and put on a warp for three shibori scarves and am weaving my way through them at present.  Will pull up and dye at a later date.

See the diamond and "X" shapes that will hopefully offset by the dye process.

While putting the photos on here I've taken a second look at the knitting and maybe it is worth persevering.  Rather than frog the jacket it could be a blanket!

Shibori scarves

Grey shibori scarf threaded and treadled in overshot.

Green shibori scarf with resists both vertical and horizontal.

Shibori using thicker yarns

I like to weave with fine threads, TEX 74/2, 110/2 sett at 24 - 30 epi but because I was doing a little teaching of Woven Shibori I thought I should experiment using thicker yarns. This wrap, measuring 40 x 190 cm, has a warp of 8 ply knitting wool sett at 9 epi and a boucle mohair weft. As you can see it has taken the dye well though the weight of the fabric has caused the texture to flatten. The boucle loops reflect the light adding a different dimension. It was woven in a network drafted twill and the shibori resist lines follow the twill line.