Thursday, April 25, 2013

New Fibers


The first weft I tried was the purple from the small stripe.  Let me say that I've just learned I'm not a fan of little stripes.  The purple didn't work for me so I unwove it.
So then I tried the green, and I tried it in a twill which was way to fiddly for my taste.  I unwove it.  Tencel isn't all that forgiving and the weaving was hard on it.
Then I decided to weave it in simple plain weave.  I figure if Sara Lamb has made a weaving reputation as the Queen of Plain Weave, that's good enough for me.  The selvedges are out of control.  I had floating selvedges since I started  in twill and decided to lose them both.

I fought with the green selvedges and then realized that I need a sample of handwoven fabric for a class I'm taking at the Conference of Northern California Handweavers next month.  Guess what I'm taking for a fabric sample.  Moving on to the next scarf, I went to the pink and I think the predominant color in the warp makes a much nicer weft.
Again, the selvedges weren't playing nice.  The left side is perfect, but the right.  Oy!  It wasn't until I changed my beat that it began to resolve.  I know you're supposed to beat on a closed shed so I was trying to follow the instructions.  Finally I decided to beat on an open shed, which is what I do for towels.  Problem solved.  The last two inches here look pretty good to me.  Ignore the color.  My camera is a liar and is going to go to camera hell very soon.
I finished my skein of art yarn and I'm more interested than ever in learning how to make my own batts.  I realized that the book Rae Stuart loaned me several months ago on spinning art yarns is by Lexi Boeger and last night I discovered that she's an instructor at the weaving conference I'm attending next month.  I was able to make a class switch today and will be attending one of her sessions. 
This is the commercially prepared batt I spun made by Cottage Creations.  I'm sure I can make up something equally messy from all the stuff I've managed to acquire over the years.  I'm taking a bag full over to Mim's tomorrow after lunch and get her take on this whole thing.  She took a class from Lexi last summer. 
I've knitted a hat from the yarn which is tame compared to the stuff in Lexi's book.  Still it leaves me wanting to make my own batts and see what I can come up with.  There's always something else to learn.  I'm trying to get my head around how I would weave with this.  Obviously I can weave with it, but I guess what I'm looking for is how to weave to the highest and best use of the yarn. 














5 comments:

LA said...

I think it's interesting how we adjust our weaving to the item that we are weaving. I've also noticed that after wet finishing, my selvedges straighten up a bunch! Your art yarn will make great weft for a scarf!!!

Hilary said...

Every project is a learning experience.....and I object to the rule about beating on open or close shed...I think you have to find what feels right and works for you.
with rugs, I beat twice. once open, change feet, once closed. It's fast, TAP Change TAP.

heather said...

it is so funny that you posted about beating with the shed open or closed. when i first taught myself to weave from books, my natural instinct was to beat on a closed shed. i have done it that way forever.but i was watching a weaving video a few weeks back and noticed they were weaving on an open shed. i immediately wondered what the difference would be and have been thinking about a one shuttle towel warp to practice on. when i read your post i chuckled and thought...either great minds think alike or you and i both fell through the weaving rabbit hole together! keep me posted on your observations while i plug away on my 10 yard overshot warp.

Benita said...

I like the green yarn best in the weaving.

That batt looks like some fun spinning and I love the hat.

Playing with a carder is lots of fun and there are so many different combinations you can do with them to make some fun yarn. I can't wait to see what you do with one.

Laura said...

Selveges are a booger. I realized that I do different things with the shuttle on the left and right. When I consciously do the same thing, the selveges are the same. Turns out I was lifting the shuttle straight up on the left, and up and back on the right (as the shuttle exits). So now I try to go up and back on the left as I beat, and they're better.

Tencel is a booger, too. Very slippery slidey. I've only ever used a rayon slub, which isn't as bad.

Like the colors, though!!