More weaving

The red blanket mentioned at the end of the last post.  Hard to photograph I discovered and doesn't show the many tones and shades of red.  This was to be a stash buster, 1 kilo of wool per blanket in the warp and 350gm angora in the weft of each blanket.  Didn't make a dent on the shelf.  In fact, there is enough of this yarn for at least one more blanket.  Its all hand dyed.  These are now off the loom and waiting for ends to be tasselled.

And for a change of colour scheme, this olive cotton/linen warp was left over from another project threaded 1,2,3,4 so am trying this 1;3, 3;1 stripe with a teal cotton.  Have no idea how much warp is left maybe a metre maybe 2.  Aimee, if you read this, its the same warp you played on but whereas you had the shuttle go over 2 threads, under 2, I'm going over 3 under 1 for the teal stripe and over 1 under 3 for the olive stripe and its the reverse on the back.  Its quite neat to go back to basics as a change from the rather complicated projects I usually tackle. 

What's been happening in the last two weeks

Oh dear, I'm not very consistent with this blogging.  When exciting things happen and I get busy I miss posting about it.

The first thing is I've been asked to be Guest Exhibitor at Creative Fibre Experience at Claudelands show grounds in September.  A surprise invite but excited to be part of the exhibition.  Have included some pieces from Low Tide and a couple of new scarves, one shibori from the warp I quickly wove off recently.  Hope people enjoy viewing the work. 

Fire

                         When we went to collect my work from Low Tide a couple of weekends ago we made a day trip of it with friends and visited the Waitakaruru Arboretum and Sculpture Park for several hours.  This Park is built in an old quarry, has been landscaped wonderfully and the sculptures added a very interesting dimension to the garden wandering.  In summer there is an onsite cafe.  Some of my favourite sculptures.

Parlez lentement by Niko Thomsen

Ups in downs by Matt McLean

Stairway to Heaven (Poutama) finished and looking rather wonderful, I think.  Unfortunately I have to go back to the drawing board as the mohair weft is making the floats too long so now I have to use two shuttles with floating selvedges and two layers.  I've nearly got my chains sorted and the wool for the weft is in the dye pot so we'll see how it goes.       

I was so enthused after my daughter in law brought two lovely friends to see my looms (they are so keen, its wonderful) and Aimee brought her spinning to show me I got my wheel out, dust and all, and produced this.

It was the remains of some sliver from Little Wool Company which I plied with a fine black alpaca thread.  At some stage I had pinched some of the red from the sliver so the very beginning of the skein has a lot of green.  I have just under 500 metres of ?10 ply thickness - what to do with it?  I have to say I enjoyed spinning thick.  I've always spun as fine as I could so the thread would go through my knitting machine but this was very satisfying to have a product finished quickly.

There seems to be a lot of red on this page and there are two more red blankets on the Nitschke loom so I better go finish them while the dyed wool dries.

Poutama

Can you see it?  In the red stripe!  Horror of horrors, a mistake and it repeated with the repeat of the chain and every repeat of the 4 block pattern.  Just what you don't want to see when you cut a complete blanket off the loom and it really only showed on the inside of the fold so it wasn't seen till the end.  One pin was missing from the dobby chain, either I never put it in or it fell out before I got to hammer them in securely.  It was just on dusk as I was finishing off so either could have happened.

Its put me a day behind schedule but I cut each thread and needle wove them back correctly.  Fulled the blanket today and its looking great.  It'll be in Pauanesia before long.

This pattern is Poutama or Stairway to Heaven and, in Maori mythology, its symbolic of a climb made by a dude called Tawhaki to collect three baskets of knowledge from the Gods.

The indignity of it all!

Hi, I'm Ted and I've been woken from hibernation and its still winter.  Guess I've been asleep about 30 years give or take a few.  Been rather indignant at the things being done to me lately; cotton buds up my nose, a soak upside

down in warm water but the bubbles in my eyes were no fun and the worst of it - to be hung on a wire line by ... my ... ears - how undignified!
I must be getting on in bear years, not much substance in the limbs and cataracts on both eyes but I was well loved once and maybe Reggie would like me to keep him/her company in the nursery.

Really enjoyed knitting this garment, haven't done lace for forever.  Of course, I do have two operating knitting machines so don't hand knit a great deal.  The body is all in one piece to the armhole, including the front bands, which saved a lot of stitching up.  The shoulders I used three needles and knitted the stitches together and cast off (what's that called).  I did the same around the armhole which just left the sleeve seam which I used a flat seam.  Not perfect but at least something is finished.

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!

Opotiki Fibre and Fleece

The Opotiki Fibre and Fleece show has been running alternate years for more than 20 years and I've never managed to get to see it until this year. On Saturday a friend and I drove to Opotiki (2 1/2 hours from my place), a pretty drive along the Bay of Plenty coast.

We did a little retail therapy.

 Merino sliver (100gm) from Awakeri Woolcraft.  It looks a bit washed out on this screen, the brown is a rich chocolate and the greens brighter.  Apparently it is becoming very difficult to get merino sliver here as manufacturing is being sent off shore to China.

The exhibition was amazingly well set out with lots of space for every creation.  Most 2 metre tables had just one or two pieces on them allowing you to really appreciate the work.

After lunch we set off for the Theatre where the fashion parade was being held.

I was really taken with the old buildings in this town (old by New Zealand standards), many of them dated 1912, 1914 and this 1926.  Many of our early buildings were built in timber, often kauri, and have not survived.

Images from previous years fashion parades taken through a window, we weren't allowed to take photos on the day.

Home about 7.00 to find DH cooking dinner.  The most fun day I've had in quite a while.

More Echo

Had an enjoyable evening at the Low Tide exhibition opening on Saturday, 3 - 5 pm.  After the speeches that is.  Not my favourite activity and especially when dosed up on antibiotics for infected sinuses.  (That's right, no winter virus but pesky sinuses.)   Got to talk to lots of people and catch up with a few friends, then went into Hamilton and had tea with my daughter at a Greek restaurant.

These are a couple of the extra scarves which are in the gallery now.  I can't figure how to put captions on the photos but the one on the left is lava with a black alpaca/silk 64/2 weft and hand dyed merino warp.  The echo shows quite nicely there, more so than the scarf on the right, Fire, with same warp but deep red, almost burgundy merino weft.  What you don't get in the wool echo weave is the iridescence a reflective yarn such as silk gives.

Another version, rippling water with one warp chain painted and the second plain navy.  I have now changed the dobby chain and there is another take from both these warps.  What I did was leave enough red warp for another scarf, tie the blue warp on and pull through reed and heddles to back beam,  weave the above blue scarf, repeg dobby chain, weave another blue scarf, wind the knots forward through the reed and heddles and weave another red scarf.  Is that all too much for sensitive ears.  I do this sort of thing all the time and don't have any problems so long as the knots are all even.  Pictures later.

I've been working on some samples for the next range of blankets and until I get the go ahead for them I think I'll blob out with spinning wheel and a movie.