HANDSPUN SHAWL DONE…ALMOST

Posted by Peg in South Carolina

I haven’t trimmed the fringes yet………

I soaked the shawl in hot soapy water for almost two hours.  I changed the water once and kneaded the fabric from time to time until my hands came out.  Then I hung it to dry.

When the fabric was dry I looked at it. It certainly had not fulled and definitely needed a trip in the washing machine.  It certainly looked nothing like the earlier sample I had woven of commercial wool.  Go here to see that sample.

But then I looked again. I felt the fabric.  Yes, the weave was still open, but the fabric was no longer fragile.  And canvas weave is a lace structure.  This is lace!

My intention had not been to weave lace.  My intention had been to create a fabric with floats in both weft and warp to show off the handspun.  And that is what had happened in my earlier trial.  But lace I wove and lace it shall be. Far be it from me to turn it into something it does not want to be.

I then pressed it with lots of steam.  My first round of pressing is always rather gentle.  And then I realize that pressing hard does not damage the cloth at all. Instead, pressing smoothes it out and creates a very thin, draping cloth.  So after that initial round, I did two more rounds pressing hard on the iron with both hands.

My iron is a Rowenta steam generator, so I get lots of steam before I have to add water.   It’s old but still works fine, though I do like some things about the new version.  But I shall wait till this breaks first.

Even though the fringes still needed to be trimmed, I just had to try it on.  It is light, airy, and warm and long enough so that I can swoop one end around my should to the back—the perfect wrap for late fall and mild winter days in the South.

FINAL MEASUREMENTS

Width: at reed: 27.5”; off loom and after washing:  20.5”.   This is 3.5” narrower than I had planned the finished shawl to be.

Length: on loom: 97.5”;  off loom and after washing: 79”.  This is 7” longer than I had originally planned.

PHOTOGRAPHY POSTSCRIPT

For my birthday I am thinking of asking for a tripod.  I have a monopod which works pretty well but sometimes even with that I am shaky.  And taking a clear picture with one hand is impossible!  You should see all the attempts I culled out.

Related Post:   Handspun Shawl off the Loom

“Handspun Shawl Done…Almost” was written by Margaret Carpenter for Talking about Weaving and was originally posted on April 1, 2009. ©2009 Margaret Carpenter aka Peg in South Carolina

TWISTING THE FRINGE

Posted by Peg in South Carolina

Now I am twisting the fringe.  I am using the directions Susan gave in her blog.  Go to her post, “A Good Twist to the Yarn,” to read about and see the process in detail.  I was so impressed by her post, and I had so much trouble with the fringe twister that I have been using, that I ordered the fringe twister she uses.  It is made by Forsyth (where it is called a cord twister).  More information is available here.

Susan hemstitched her scarves.  I did not hemstitch this shawl.  I had found in some of my earlier things where I braided rather than twisted the fringe, that hemstitching was not needed.

I set up my work station similar to Susan’s.  But for my board I used a sewing board that is used for cutting out fabric.  It is already marked in inches and is generally available in stores like Hancock’s and JoAnn’s.

Susan used long pins for blocking knitted lace.  Having none of those, I used the ordinary pins knitters use to pin seams before they sew them. 

Because the woven fabric is so loose and fluid at this stage, I also added the weight of two books.  This helps keep the woven weft from pulling forward, but does not prevent it. 

Also, because I did not hemstitch, I keep the woven warp protector (the white weft shots at the bottom of the shawl) in for as long as I can.  I remove it only from the area where I am actually working.

Here is a detail of the working area with the fringe twister on view at the right side of the photo.

I am twisting two ends in each clip, resulting in a twisted braid of four ends.  I am twisting the groups of two ends 20 times to the right.  Then, when I join them to make the group of four, I twist the 40-end group to the left 20 times.

To place the overhand knot I tried using a very thin crochet hook, inserting it into the untightened knot, placing it where I wanted it to be, and then tightening it, as Susan instructed.  Then I stopped using it because it didn’t seem to guarantee all that much accuracy.  That, however, is not the fault of Susan’s instructions.  It is because I had not yet figured out how to deal with the flimsiness of the fabric.

Related Post:  Hemstitching

“Twisting the Fringe” was written by Margaret Carpenter for Talking about Weaving and was originally posted on March 30, 2009. ©2009 Margaret Carpenter aka Peg in South Carolina

LASHING ON TO THE FRONT OF THE LOOM: PART TWO

Posted by Peg in South Carolina

MASON TWINE

This time the lashing on went without incident.  Also, this time I measured out a generous 8 yards of the mason’s twine instead of 10 yards.  I still had plenty extra.  By the way, I forgot to mention in the last post that my use of pickup sticks to keep the rod from moving around while I lashed on was from a tip I got from Leigh.  Leigh used rulers.  I didn’t have rulers, so I turned to pickup sticks.

When I lash on I go through about one quarter of the warp bouts.  Then I go back to the first bout and begin to retighten the bouts I have just lashed on.  Then I lash on to the half-way mark and go back to the beginning to retighten, continuing the retightening process to where I have stopped.  I do the same thing after I reach the 3/4 point and then again at the end.  I then tie the cord to the rod on the ending side.  Then I go to the front and check the evenness.  This time it seemed quite even without any further fiddling with the lashing cord.

The first photo shows the warp lashed on.  The warp ends were different lengths, but this will not affect the next step.

SPREADING THE WARP

The next step is to throw the initial shots that will spread the warp.  Normally I use fine weft yarn to do this, but this time, because of the few threads per inch, I spread the warp in two stages.  First, I threw two shots in pseudo plain weave (canvas weave has no genuine plain weave possibilities) with a heavy wool rug yarn.  Then I threw four shots in pseudo plain weave with the wool yarn I had used for the sampling.  The second photo on the left shows these initial shots.

These shots have another purpose.  They show me if I have any incorrect threadings.  And they show me if I have any warp threads crossed behind the reed.  The threading is correct.  And there are no crossed threads.  When I am warping with very fine yarns at high epi’s, it is not at all unusual for me to have one or two crossed threads.  This yarn is much easier to work with.

ALLOWING FOR FRINGE

I’m still not ready to start weaving because I want a fringe.  A 10” fringe. This is kind of long but intend either to braid or to twist the ends.  Either process will shorten the fringe some.

To allow for the fringe I repeat the shots I just did, only farther back on the warp. The third picture on the left shows these shots thrown.  Now I am ready to start weaving.

POSTSCRIPT

For an excellent post on lashing on with lots of detail photos, go to this post from Leigh’s Fiber Journal.

 

 

 

Related Post:  Lashing on to the Front of the Loom:  Part One

“Lashing on to the Front of the Loom: Part Two” was written by Margaret Carpenter for Talking about Weaving and was originally posted on March 4, 2009. ©2009 Margaret Carpenter aka Peg in South Carolina

Reflections on the Baby Blanket

The acrylic baby blanket is done and my computer has returned to me. I am celebrating with some pictures, and also with some reflections. Above is the blanket, folded. Below is a detail of the crochet border.

And I just couldn't resist posting the picture of all three blankets my daughter will get, as well as an afghan I knit for the baby. The other two blankets, by the way, are in cotton. I do hope she will be pleased. It should be easy to guess that this will be her first child and my first grandchild.

Now to some reflections on the baby blanket. They center on the finishing. I do like the way the crochet edging turned out. However, the way I prepared the edges with just plain zigzagging on the machine created a small problem. I found it difficult, if not impossible, to remove every little tuft of fiber that broke loose when I simply zigzagged those edges.

Next time, I think I will try a two-step process. First, I will straight stitch the edges on the sewing machine. I will cut as close to that stitching as I dare. Then I will use a stitch on my machine that mimics a serged edge, making sure that the needle actually goes off the edge of the fabric so that, hopefully, every last tuft will get enclosed before I start the actual crocheting.

I could also just fringe the blanket. But fringe is dangerous for infants. And fringe wears thin with wear and constant washing. I do hope these baby blankets will be used all the time, I trust they will be washed frequently!

I could twist the fringe ends as many people do. I have done that, but never have been happy with either the process or the results. I think twisted fringes can look quite elegant on silk scarves. But there is a sameness to them that I do not like. So, when I do finish off a fringe, I use a braided fringe. My braids are not terribly even, for I don’t get the practice that would be needed for really even braids. But they have, in my eyes, a unique look not possible with the polished finish that twisting the fringes gives. Braiding fringe, for me is is not unlike dyeing my own yarns. And there are so many different ways of braiding! It is always fun to try something new. And, perhaps most important to me, it is nice to feel the yarn in my fingers as I braid.

Here are my two favorite books for fringe designing:

Finishes in the Ethnic Tradition by Baiserman and Searle

Finishing Touches for the Handweaver by Virginia M. West