Wednesday, December 30, 2009

NEW YEAR LOOK FOR MY BLOG

Posted by Peg in South Carolina

Check it out and let me know what you think.  Of course, I should be weaving instead of fiddling with my blog………


"New Year Look for my Blog” was written by Margaret Carpenter for Talking about Weaving and was originally posted on December 30, 2009. ©2009 Margaret Carpenter aka Peg in South Carolina.

Sunday, December 27, 2009

HANDSPUN SCARF MODELLED

Posted by Peg in South Carolina 

Tao wearing scarf

 

Tao wearing scarf2

"Handspun Scarf Modelled” was written by Margaret Carpenter for Talking about Weaving and was originally posted on December 27, 2009. ©2009 Margaret Carpenter aka Peg in South Carolina.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

FINISHED HANDSPUN SCARF

Posted by Peg in South Carolina

Finished Scarf

I had intended taking the photo of the scarf on me.  Time, however, prevented me from learning how to use the delay timer on my camera.

Merry Christmas!

 

"Finished Handspun Scarf” was written by Margaret Carpenter for Talking about Weaving and was originally posted on December 22, 2009. ©2009 Margaret Carpenter aka Peg in South Carolina.

Monday, December 21, 2009

SUMMER WORKSHOP

Posted by Peg in South Carolina

After discussing it with my husband, I had decided to sign up for the Complex Weavers’ Summer workshop being held in Albuquerque this summer.  Then I learned that it had filled up within something like five days of registration having opened.  My husband wanted me to get on the waiting list.  But I figured that the waiting list was already pretty long.

Undaunted, I checked summer workshops in the area where I live.  Not only did I find one.  I found one that I would rather enroll in than Complex Weavers!

It is being held at the J.C. Campbell Folk School. Here is the description of the workshop:

Warp It! Paint It! Weave It!
June 6-12, 2010
Instructor:
Kathie Roig

Want the beauty of a hand-painted warp but don't have the space, time, or equipment? Explore different methods of painting your warp (and perhaps the weft) using fabric paints, spontaneously adding color to yarn for functional or art pieces. Be ready to experiment with color, texture, and weave structure. Students must know how to dress a floor loom. Limited instruction will be given on warping, specific to the warp-painting process.

Does this sound heretical for someone who dyes her yarns?  Actually, I have no intention of stopping dyeing or substituting painting for dyeing.  What I do want to be able to do is to add painting to the dyeing.  There are fabric paints that can do things that dyes cannot do.

I have been thinking about trying this for a long time.  In fact, sitting on my loom right now is a small jar of gold Setacolor by Pebeo that I purchased recently in Asheville, NC.  It is on top of my loom because I am thinking of trying to use it on my upcoming silk crackle piece.

I am now registered for the workshop.


"Summer Workshop” was written by Margaret Carpenter for Talking about Weaving and was originally posted on December 21, 2009. ©2009 Margaret Carpenter aka Peg in South Carolina.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

WET FINISHING THE HANDSPUN SCARF

Posted by Peg in South Carolina

I followed the same procedure as I did for the sample.  I fulled it a tiny bit more so it was both a tiny bit narrower and shorter than predicted.

Final Width:  6”
Final Length: 65”

I let it dry and then steamed it with lots and lots of hot steam.  Never touched the iron to the fabric.  I simply used my hand to gently press at the just steamed areas.  It is lovely.

Will trim the fringes and get a picture up next week.  I want to learn how to use the delay timer on my camera.


"Wet Finishing the Handspun Scarf” was written by Margaret Carpenter for Talking about Weaving and was originally posted on December 14, 2009. ©2009 Margaret Carpenter aka Peg in South Carolina.

 

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

SAMPLE WET FINISHED

Posted by Peg in South Carolina 

WET FINISHED BY HAND

In the first set of images, the sample has been soaked for one hour in hot soapy (Johnson’s Baby Shampoo) for one hour, then massaged or otherwise tortured by hand for about three minutes.  The second image  is a detail view.

Sample hand washed

Sample hand washed detail

The width has stayed the same:  7”
The length has shrunk from 15” to 12”

The sample has lost some of the fragility it had when it first came off the loom.  But it is still quite delicate and soft.  Very feminine in its delicacy.  It needs to be washed again since this is to be a present for a man.

WET FINISHED IN THE WASHING MACHINE

The next set of images shows the sample after it has been washed by machine in hot water with Johnson’s Baby Shampoo for four minutes. I put it in a nylon lingerie bag.

 

Sample machine washed Sample machinewashed detail

 

The width has now drawn in to 6.25”
The length has shrunk down to 10.75”

The sample is still a bit delicate, but not at all fragile.  The fulling process has thickened it up just as bit, as well as softened the fabric.  I would be tempted to try fulling it just a bit more, but then I think it might start getting thicker than I want.  Plus it would be getting way too narrow.

Based on the on loom measurements (7” x 15”), this represents a widthwise loss of roughly 10% and a lengthwise loss of approximately 22%.  This means that, should I wash the scarf itself for the same amount of time, its length would shrink from from 88” (measurement on the loom) to roughly 68.5”.

The lengthwise shrinkage is in reality not that much.  The drop of 3” in length of the warp represents simply that the yarn was stretchy and stretched quite a bit as I beamed it on.  Likewise the length of the scarf  off the loom went from 88” to 78”. 

I had anticipated this kind of shrinkage from the beginning.  Even when I wound the yarn on the warping board, it snapped back probably about 5” after I removed each bout.

Related Post:  Winding the Handspun Warp


"Sample Wet Finished” was written by Margaret Carpenter for Talking about Weaving and was originally posted on December 13, 2009. ©2009 Margaret Carpenter aka Peg in South Carolina.

Monday, December 14, 2009

HANDSPUN SCARF OFF LOOM

Posted by Peg in South Carolina

Mended but not washed.

Scarf off loom

Actually, there was no real mending to be done.  Simply trimming off the ends left from changing bobbins.  I will trim the fringe after wet finishing.

Measurements:

Width: 7.25” (same as on loom)
Length: 78” (on loom, 88” = approximately 11% loss)

Dave Daniels commented on my last post:

FOURTEEN? Wow, good for you for getting that much extra out of it. Amazing!

The reason I could weave so close is that I have a big loom.  It is a Nilus II LeClerc with rear-hinged treadles and from front beam to back beam measures 47”. 

The longer warp length also reduces stress on the warp ends. That is why I can weave under high tension with little or no warp breakage.

Small looms are wonderful for little spaces and for travelling.  But nothing beats weaving on a larger loom.


"Handspun Scarf Off Loom” was written by Margaret Carpenter for Talking about Weaving and was originally posted on December 12, 2009. ©2009 Margaret Carpenter aka Peg in South Carolina.

Friday, December 11, 2009

HANDSPUN SCARF: END OF THE LINE

Posted by Peg in South Carolina

apron at heddlesDave guessed that I would be able to weave a sample four inches long.  His guess was off by 14 inches……  Above is the apron spread from back beam to the heddles.

Waste at back: 17" x 98 ends = 1,666" ÷36" = 46 yards

Is this too much?  In this case, no, because I had more than enough handspun.  Still 46 yards of plied handspun seems like a lot to me. But the fact that I could weave as far as I could on the warp will cause me to think carefully next time as to whether or not I will use a dummy warp.

And here is a close up that shows just how close the rod came to the heddles.

apron at heddles closeupActually, too close for comfort.  The back rod was rubbing against the heddles and I didn’t like that one bit.  Had I been really intent on weaving as much as I could (and I could have woven possible two to three more inches), I would have taken the trouble to move the rod and apron back a wee bit.  But this was only a sample and I just wanted to finish the weaving.

The amazing thing was that this last bit of weaving created a great deal of tension on the warp because the warp ends, when sheds were created created terribly great angles when a shed was made.  But not a broken thread in the bunch.

And no floating shafts!  Why do I have trouble with floating shafts in my complex crackles and no floating shafts in plain twill?  It does not happen because of unequal distribution of warp ends on the shafts.  Give or take one end, there are always the same number on each shaft.

Related Posts: 
Floating Shafts
Handspun and Dummy Warps


"Handspun Scarf: End of the Line” was written by Margaret Carpenter for Talking about Weaving and was originally posted on December 11, 2009. ©2009 Margaret Carpenter aka Peg in South Carolina.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

HANDSPUN SCARF IS WOVEN AND I HAVE A QUESTION

Posted by Peg in South Carolina
Final hemstitching Here is the scarf, still on the loom.  On the loom, it is 88” long and the width is 7.25 inches (the width at the reed is 8.0 inches.

I have done the hemstitching…..after re-checking the directions! I find it amazing how easy it is to hemstitch this fabric as compared to hemstitching my 60/2 silk pieces.  And how much better the hemstitching looks here.

And now I have a question.
Last Bit of weavable warpI wonder how long I will be able to make the end-of-the warp sample I would like to have for testing wet-finishing?




"Handspun Scarf is Woven and I Have a Question” was written by Margaret Carpenter for Talking about Weaving and was originally posted on December 10, 2009. ©2009 Margaret Carpenter aka Peg in South Carolina.

 

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

ALMOST DONE WEAVING THE HANDSPUN

Posted by Peg in South Carolina

Back rod over the beamI have removed the raddle so that the back rod could move up onto the top of the back beam. 

I have woven 80 inches so far.  I plan on weaving only six more inches. That may (or may not) give me space to weave a short piece that I could use for sampling the finishing.

I have decided, by the way, that I like the sheds I get better with the raddle off the back beam.  So for the next warp, I will remove the raddle after I am done threading. Then, of course, I will leave the lease sticks in.

Related Post:  Finished


"Almost Done Weaving the Handspun” was written by Margaret Carpenter for Talking about Weaving and was originally posted on December 9, 2009. ©2009 Margaret Carpenter aka Peg in South Carolina.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

TWILL LINE

Posted by Peg in South Carolina

Twill line visible

I am working at getting 12 picks per inch.  What I had intended to do was to use my right angle rectangle to place against the fabric to check the angle of the twill.  But this fabric is so busy with all its nubs that I cannot see the angle. At least not when I am looking straight down at the fabric.  For all anyone might care, this reads simply as plain weave.

But I wanted to weave twill, because the twill structure, even though the fabric does not read as twill, will allow the fabric to hang nicely around the neck.

I discovered quite by accident that if I looked at the woven fabric on the loom from a certain angle, I could clearly see the twill line.  So I tried to get it on a photograph.  After many failed attempts, I finally got this one.  If you look at the left side of the fabric, the twill line is visible.


"Twill Line” was written by Margaret Carpenter for Talking about Weaving and was originally posted on December 8, 2009. ©2009 Margaret Carpenter aka Peg in South Carolina.

Monday, December 7, 2009

BEATING THE HANDSPUN

Posted by Peg in South Carolina 

When I beat, I am used to slamming the beater into the fell.  Indeed, I have equipped this beater with a weight to take some of the work off my arms.  Adding the weight really goes back to my early years of weaving rugs.  I keep the weight on because it helps very much in beating my fine silk pieces.

But this is neither a rug nor a 60/2 silk piece.  Instead of using the beater to beat the weft into the fell, I use it to gently place the weft where it needs to be.  This is a two-step process for me:

1. I raise the shed, throw the weft, and bring the beater a couple of inches away  from the fell.

2. I change to the next shed and carefully bring the beater towards me to place the weft where my eye tells me it needs to be.

Actually, “bringing the beater towards me” is usually not quite accurate.  Because the beater is generally tipping more or less towards me (and remember that the beater is weighted), I am actually holding the beater away from the fell and then allowing it to go to the place I want it to go by resisting the force its weight is trying to exert.


"Beating the Handspun” was written by Margaret Carpenter for Talking about Weaving and was originally posted on December 7, 2009. ©2009 Margaret Carpenter aka Peg in South Carolina.

Friday, December 4, 2009

WEAVING FINALLY BEGUN ON HANDSPUN WARP

Posted by Peg in South Carolina

Birdseye view of fabricThis is a bird’s eye view of the piece.  It is still window screening.  Clicking on the image will raise it full size;  then the window screening will really show!  But it is window screening as it ought to be.  When the scarf comes off the loom, the fabric will close together a bit.  Washing it will close it up still more.

I have decided to weave this piece with a temple.  I think the selvedges will look better.  I think the whole piece will look better.  Despite the fact that I move the temple after 8 shots…….  I’m getting used to it, though.

If you go to the related post on temples, you will see that when I wrote that—in July of 2007—I said that I had never used a temple on my handspun, only on silk warps or wide warps that needed to be beaten very tightly.  A girl can change her mind…….

Related Post:  Temples


"Weaving Finally Begun on Handspun Warp” was written by Margaret Carpenter for Talking about Weaving and was originally posted on December 4, 2009. ©2009 Margaret Carpenter aka Peg in South Carolina.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

RESLEYING THE HANDSPUN

Posted by Peg in South Carolina

After I had spun the yarn, I soaked it in hot soapy water for 30 minutes, rinsed it well and let it dry. The yarn did not “bloom” though the textured bits did.  So I think I need to treat this as a worsted rather than a woolen spun yarn.  But I still need to account for the texture.

I once again used Asenhurst’s formula to figure out the maximum sett for twill and I got 10.72.  Well, I’m throwing Asenhurst out.  What I see on my loom does not support this sett at all.  So I am going to go for 12 epi.

And here is what it looks like sleyed at 12 epi.

Warp resleyedMuch better.  Clearly handspun is its own creature with its own demands.  Sampling is clearly in order.

The blue mohair is woven in plain weave and I have made no attempt to get the picks per inch correct.  I wanted only to get the selvedges pulled in the right amount and to see how the warp spacing looked.  This looks like a twill treadling is going to work very well.

Related Posts: 
Handspun Sett Still Too Open
Interlude


"Resleying the Handspun” was written by Margaret Carpenter for Talking about Weaving and was originally posted on December 3, 2009. ©2009 Margaret Carpenter aka Peg in South Carolina.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

HANDSPUN SETT STILL TOO OPEN

Posted by Peg in South Carolina

Sett too openI went to the loom this morning ready to begin weaving the handspun scarf.  I threw some plain weave shots (visible at the top of the photo) with the purpose of drawing in the selvedge to where I wanted it to be when I started weaving.  And I had my hemstitching instructions at the ready (I always need to refresh my memory on how to begin the hemstitching).

Looking at what was happening, namely how easily this was going to become a weft-faced piece, I began having second thoughts about the sett.  Then I looked, really looked, at the warp.  Clearly, clearly, these ends were still too far apart from each other. Even taking into consideration the textured bumps in the warp.

So, time to pull out all those blue threads and get to work on resleying.

Related Posts: 
Determining Sett for Handspun Scarf
Handspun Sett Change


"Handspun Sett Still Too Open” was written by Margaret Carpenter for Talking about Weaving and was originally posted on December 2, 2009. ©2009 Margaret Carpenter aka Peg in South Carolina.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

WEIGHING THE SKEINS

Posted by Peg in South Carolina

weighing the skeins

Sitting on my triple balance scale in the kitchen are the three latest skeins of 60/2 silk I have wound for dyeing.  Each skein consists of 1200 yards.  Together, They weigh 109 grams.  Divided by three, that means each skein weighs 36.3 grams, which, for practical purposes I will round off to 36 grams.

Why not weigh each skein individually?  I think I might get more accurate results this way.  At any rate, it is just simpler.


"Weighing the Skeins” was written by Margaret Carpenter for Talking about Weaving and was originally posted on December 1, 2009. ©2009 Margaret Carpenter aka Peg in South Carolina.