Posted by Peg in South Carolina
I couldn’t wait for the washing machine to be returned. I soaked the samples in very hot water with a bit of Johnson’s baby shampoo for 45 minutes. Then I squeezed and churned them for a few minutes with my hands. I rinsed them twice, each time squeezing and churning them a bit more. The last rinse was in cold water—to shock the cloth just a bit more.
No more window screening!
They are fulled and soft. Most have a great deal of nice texture. But the texture inhibits the drapeability and so are not really suitable for the shawl I am planning. However, my handspun is more airy than this wool, and I am taking that into consideration in my decision.
This sampling is the group that I beat to death. It did turn out soft but very heavy. This would have its uses—think upholstery. Not meant for a shawl or scarf.
The second photo is of the first half of the more softly beaten group of
samples. There is nothing here that I am particularly fond of for the shawl that I am planning. I don’t care for the color effects and the fabric is still quite heavy. It would be very very warm!
In the middle, however, is a sample I really like. It is woven with white weft. I like how the weft appears both on the white and on the blue. I also like a bit the sample below it. It is treadled slightly differently, with blue weft, and has kind of a quirky basket-weave effect that I like. I like the color effects in both: when the blue and light gray combine, I like that the two colors seem to appear in non-equal amounts. That is true of the sample at the top as well.
So I am thinking right now that I like that white on blue and I think I might like the identical treadling with blue on white. So I could envision the shawl as either all one color warp with a different color weft. Or I could envision it as large blocks of color.
Meanwhile I’m off on a new threading.
And I have ordered the silk yarn for the next crackle shawl, a project that is coming up quickly but needs more thinking and planning to be followed by more dyeing.
To learn a bit more about how to full woven (or knitted) fabric, go to this essay on All Fiber Arts. To learn quite a bit on the history of fulling, go to this essay on Wikipedia.
"No More Window Screening" was written by Margaret Carpenter for Talking about Weaving and was originally posted on January 20, 2009. ©2009 Margaret Carpenter aka Peg in South Carolina
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