Thursday, March 25, 2010

Indoor Activities

I finally got Maudie Mae warped and am weaving dishtowels again. This time I used the variegated yarn for warp that I used for weft in Little Sharon's towels. You can see how the colors drift but don't pool. I warped back to front, now that I'm comfortable with the steps, and was surprised at how quickly and effortlessly the warp was on. I didn't have to comb out the tangles as I wound on, and I also caught a threading error while I sleyed. I think I'm a convert.
I am back to the M and W twill pattern. I love how subtle it is until you catch the right angle and then you see the hidden treasure - diamonds!

My current spinning is in prep-
aration for weaving a rug. I found a couples of sacks in the studio - white border leicester locks and brown Romney locks. They were washed so I carded them together. I have somewhere between 2-3 pounds of yarn already spun. My goal is to have enough that when the weather finally does warm up, I'll be ready to overdye everything with natural dyes in the still of a morning.
I have pounds of luster long wools in the garage, partial fleeces from spontan-
eous purchases years ago before I understood that they're just not great garment wools. My goal is to use them up - rugs take up much less space than storage bins!

11 comments:

Hilary said...

Love the towels.......
I warp sectionally, so I always warp from the back, and I HATE warping from the front.
Nice pattern too.

Theresa said...

Looks great, so glad the back to front warping is working for you!
Wow, you really do move right along with the spinning. Looks like some lovely rugs coming in the future.

vlb5757 said...

I can how you love that pattern. I can see the subtle color changes. Looks really nice. Are you going to sell your rugs?

Beryl Moody said...

Yea, another back to front convert. Can't tell you how much difference it made to my wanting to weave once the warps started going on smoothly.

bspinner said...

Towels sure are pretty. The color and pattern are great.

What color are you going to dye your yarn?

beadlizard said...

Love the diamonds!

Have you woven rugs from handspun before? I found myself increasing the twist a lot after the first one I wove went all fuzzy. I had to take more frequent breaks, too, because the beating wore me out.

Can't wait to see what you create!

Robin said...

What a beautiful shade of blue!

~~Sittin.n.Spinnin said...

I have a few fleeces that I don't know what to do with, if you run out (haha :) let me know, I will bring em your way.

Fiber Floozie said...

I'm envious. I'd like to be home weaving and spinning away. :-) I have so many projects I want to work on and finish. Darn work, its getting in my wayof my art projects
Heidi

Leigh said...

The towels are wonderful! Beautiful warp, and it works so well with the weave structure.

I find warping B2F easier too. Plus I seem to get more even tension that way.

Gosh, by the time I get back to weaving I'm going to feel like a beginner again!

Life Looms Large said...

I so admire your ability to look at a project like a rug and decide you can spin for it and then weave it. For me, I know that would take me about 20 years of stops and starts, and by then I probably wouldn't even want the rug!

Sue