It's Coming Along

It's been slow going - but I did get a little more than yard woven last weekend, in between spinning at the Farmers' Market and our monthly spinning guild. I think this is going to work well - a deeper violet, but still has splotches of light. The black thread blends it all together. Here's a close up.

This week I've been spending my time preparing for my trip to SOAR. No, not preparing fiber, but for my classes. I'm taking the two personal days I get each year and heading to the Poconos. I've got the "color the brain" lab run off and ready to go, along with a few other things for my students to do. I plan on having my suitcases packed this weekend so that I can jump in the car and head up there as soon as school lets out on Wednesday. I have to be well rested for the SOAR Market, you know.

On the sewing front, I made Loes Hinse's European pants this past weekend in some nice black cotton/lycra from Wazoodle. I also made the cowl top, minus the cowl and in a shorter length. I tried taking a picture, but this place is so messy I kept falling over things as I backed up for a full length shot! I've lots more black and some navy too. This weekend I plan on sewing up a few more pants and tops. This Bistro Jacket will have to wait until after SOAR and Rhinebeck.

It's Coming Along

It's been slow going - but I did get a little more than yard woven last weekend, in between spinning at the Farmers' Market and our monthly spinning guild. I think this is going to work well - a deeper violet, but still has splotches of light. The black thread blends it all together. Here's a close up.

This week I've been spending my time preparing for my trip to SOAR. No, not preparing fiber, but for my classes. I'm taking the two personal days I get each year and heading to the Poconos. I've got the "color the brain" lab run off and ready to go, along with a few other things for my students to do. I plan on having my suitcases packed this weekend so that I can jump in the car and head up there as soon as school lets out on Wednesday. I have to be well rested for the SOAR Market, you know.

On the sewing front, I made Loes Hinse's European pants this past weekend in some nice black cotton/lycra from Wazoodle. I also made the cowl top, minus the cowl and in a shorter length. I tried taking a picture, but this place is so messy I kept falling over things as I backed up for a full length shot! I've lots more black and some navy too. This weekend I plan on sewing up a few more pants and tops. This Bistro Jacket will have to wait until after SOAR and Rhinebeck.

Out in Public

We had a spinning demonstration for a small group of interested adults and children at the Phoenixville Farmers' Market today. what a nice market. Although it's on the grounds of the old foundry, in the town I grew up in, I haven't taken the time to stop by until today. What a shame. The produce was absolutely gorgeous and all fresh picked from farms within an hours drive. Although it's not a big market, there was a steady stream of people stopping by and asking questions. I could have made a killing if I would have brought some of my handspun, but I never really thought about it. The coordinator was talking about having a small fiber festival next spring, including shearing her sheep and angora goats.

I remembered to bring my camera, but never had a chance to take any pictures. Luckily my sister and nephew rode over on their bikes and took a few shots for me.

Out in Public

We had a spinning demonstration for a small group of interested adults and children at the Phoenixville Farmers' Market today. what a nice market. Although it's on the grounds of the old foundry, in the town I grew up in, I haven't taken the time to stop by until today. What a shame. The produce was absolutely gorgeous and all fresh picked from farms within an hours drive. Although it's not a big market, there was a steady stream of people stopping by and asking questions. I could have made a killing if I would have brought some of my handspun, but I never really thought about it. The coordinator was talking about having a small fiber festival next spring, including shearing her sheep and angora goats.

I remembered to bring my camera, but never had a chance to take any pictures. Luckily my sister and nephew rode over on their bikes and took a few shots for me.

Ready to Weave

I didn't have much time this week, what with Open House, etc. but I got the warp beamed, threaded, sleyed, and ready to go. I got home at 4:00 and spent the last 6 hours grading quizzes and classwork. Guess weaving will have to wait. I'm going to the Phoenixville Farmers' Market to demonstrate spinning from 9-1 tomorrow morning. After that I'm winding bobbins and getting down to weaving.

Ready to Weave

I didn't have much time this week, what with Open House, etc. but I got the warp beamed, threaded, sleyed, and ready to go. I got home at 4:00 and spent the last 6 hours grading quizzes and classwork. Guess weaving will have to wait. I'm going to the Phoenixville Farmers' Market to demonstrate spinning from 9-1 tomorrow morning. After that I'm winding bobbins and getting down to weaving.

Sidetracked

Now that I know I won't finish the jacket by SOAR, I allowed myself to get sidetracked yesterday. With less than 1/4 of the threading done, I decided to use up the leftovers from my attempt at French blue.



This was grey Romney roving, dyed with a mixture of mostly navy and small amounts of blue and turquoise at .7%DOS. I think I need to do another sample set using lower DOS.

Thread, sew, or go to bed early?

Sidetracked

Now that I know I won't finish the jacket by SOAR, I allowed myself to get sidetracked yesterday. With less than 1/4 of the threading done, I decided to use up the leftovers from my attempt at French blue.



This was grey Romney roving, dyed with a mixture of mostly navy and small amounts of blue and turquoise at .7%DOS. I think I need to do another sample set using lower DOS.

Thread, sew, or go to bed early?

Beamed

I was able to get the beaming done before I left for the dance last night. Too bad I didn't bring my knitting as I had bathroom duty. They are down a hall from the cafeteria, where there was a table and chair set up and the sound level was about 50%. I told them I would do it for the Homecoming Dance if they would let me do the same duty!

Back to beaming - I carried my coarse reed over to the loom and put the loom in the beater. I attached the dowel (not the little one you see in the previous picture, that was only temporary) to the warp apron dowel and began beaming. I put my Angel Wings on the breast beam and because my larger dowels weren't sanded smooth enough (that was me, they don't come with the wings) I used my regular lease sticks. They did a great job. Beaming raw silk, which had just been dyed, is no easy task. There were lots of tangles and catches, but slow and steady did the job. I'll try them out on the back beam next time to see if there is any advantage to where you place them.

Beamed

I was able to get the beaming done before I left for the dance last night. Too bad I didn't bring my knitting as I had bathroom duty. They are down a hall from the cafeteria, where there was a table and chair set up and the sound level was about 50%. I told them I would do it for the Homecoming Dance if they would let me do the same duty!

Back to beaming - I carried my coarse reed over to the loom and put the loom in the beater. I attached the dowel (not the little one you see in the previous picture, that was only temporary) to the warp apron dowel and began beaming. I put my Angel Wings on the breast beam and because my larger dowels weren't sanded smooth enough (that was me, they don't come with the wings) I used my regular lease sticks. They did a great job. Beaming raw silk, which had just been dyed, is no easy task. There were lots of tangles and catches, but slow and steady did the job. I'll try them out on the back beam next time to see if there is any advantage to where you place them.

Next Step

I decided to try Carolyn's method of presleying through a coarser reed, rather than using a raddle. She explains it here. I planned on sleying 6 ends per dent in my 5 dent reed, but since I wound two threads at a time it got a little confusing, so I ended up sleying4-8-4-8. When I beam the warp I'll be trying my warp sticks for the first time too. Once wound, I'll thread for plain weave and sley the 10 dent reed for 30 epi.

You know the saying "Lord willin' and the creek don't rise"? I was sort of hoping it would! There's a small creek on either side of our school. I woke up to torrential downpours and heavy winds. I am supposed to chaperone the back to school dance tonight (theme "we're still on the beach") so I guess you can see where this train of thought is going. It's 3:00 PM now, and the rains have stopped. I haven't chaperoned dances in about a year, but the discipline code was rewritten and I'm giving it another chance. Let me just give you an idea, by citing two of the dance rules, "no fondling", no "straddling", need I say more?

Next Step

I decided to try Carolyn's method of presleying through a coarser reed, rather than using a raddle. She explains it here. I planned on sleying 6 ends per dent in my 5 dent reed, but since I wound two threads at a time it got a little confusing, so I ended up sleying4-8-4-8. When I beam the warp I'll be trying my warp sticks for the first time too. Once wound, I'll thread for plain weave and sley the 10 dent reed for 30 epi.

You know the saying "Lord willin' and the creek don't rise"? I was sort of hoping it would! There's a small creek on either side of our school. I woke up to torrential downpours and heavy winds. I am supposed to chaperone the back to school dance tonight (theme "we're still on the beach") so I guess you can see where this train of thought is going. It's 3:00 PM now, and the rains have stopped. I haven't chaperoned dances in about a year, but the discipline code was rewritten and I'm giving it another chance. Let me just give you an idea, by citing two of the dance rules, "no fondling", no "straddling", need I say more?

Side by Side

I couldn't wait to get home from school yesterday and see how the warp turned out. Every drop of dye had exhausted and I got a nice deep violet. I'm not sure if the little bit of black I added had much effect. There were a few little patches of natural showing through, not where I had loose figure eight ties, but probably just where it was a little dense. I stirred a few times, but really didn't want a tangled mess. I think it will be fine, you can see that there were a few undyed spots in the painted warp too. Once the the black thread crosses it will gray these areas. My goal was to get a stronger value, and I think I got it!

Side by Side

I couldn't wait to get home from school yesterday and see how the warp turned out. Every drop of dye had exhausted and I got a nice deep violet. I'm not sure if the little bit of black I added had much effect. There were a few little patches of natural showing through, not where I had loose figure eight ties, but probably just where it was a little dense. I stirred a few times, but really didn't want a tangled mess. I think it will be fine, you can see that there were a few undyed spots in the painted warp too. Once the the black thread crosses it will gray these areas. My goal was to get a stronger value, and I think I got it!

Dyed the Warp

Last night I put the warp in warm water with a teaspoon of synthrapol and let it soak. The warp weighed 375 grams. Since I want a deep, rich color I used about 725 ml of violet and 70 ml of black. This will give me a little more than a 2% DOS.

I dissolved 30 grams of citric acid in 10 liters of water. Then I poured in the dye solution, put the slightly wrung out warp in, and set the turkey roaster for 150°. After 30 minutes I stirred gently and upped the temp to 180°. I stirred two more times at 30 minute intervals and then let it go for the last 90 minutes. When I turned off the roaster the dye was almost exhausted. In the not-so-good light of the basement it looked pretty bright! We'll see how the black worked at toning it down slightly. I have to remember that I'm using the black mercerized sewing thread as weft and that will shade it too.

Stay tuned for pics! I know you're on the edge of your seat

Dyed the Warp

Last night I put the warp in warm water with a teaspoon of synthrapol and let it soak. The warp weighed 375 grams. Since I want a deep, rich color I used about 725 ml of violet and 70 ml of black. This will give me a little more than a 2% DOS.

I dissolved 30 grams of citric acid in 10 liters of water. Then I poured in the dye solution, put the slightly wrung out warp in, and set the turkey roaster for 150°. After 30 minutes I stirred gently and upped the temp to 180°. I stirred two more times at 30 minute intervals and then let it go for the last 90 minutes. When I turned off the roaster the dye was almost exhausted. In the not-so-good light of the basement it looked pretty bright! We'll see how the black worked at toning it down slightly. I have to remember that I'm using the black mercerized sewing thread as weft and that will shade it too.

Stay tuned for pics! I know you're on the edge of your seat

Sanuk Jacket

I finally found something I could make with the painted silk warp from last year. It turned out too small for a vest, which is good because I don't wear many vests! I knew as soon as I saw this jacket made up at Creative Strands that it would be right.

The fabric ended up 11" x 80" so I redrew the pattern pieces a bit and figured out how much fabric I needed to finish the jacket. This is new for me ... actually planning ahead. I wound a 480 end 7 yard warp out of the same 15/3 raw silk. Next up, planning the dye bath. I was going with black, but I think I'll try out a very deep purple, maybe violet, navy, and black. If it doesn't work out I can always overdye it black.

Think I'll have it ready by SOAR?

Sanuk Jacket

I finally found something I could make with the painted silk warp from last year. It turned out too small for a vest, which is good because I don't wear many vests! I knew as soon as I saw this jacket made up at Creative Strands that it would be right.

The fabric ended up 11" x 80" so I redrew the pattern pieces a bit and figured out how much fabric I needed to finish the jacket. This is new for me ... actually planning ahead. I wound a 480 end 7 yard warp out of the same 15/3 raw silk. Next up, planning the dye bath. I was going with black, but I think I'll try out a very deep purple, maybe violet, navy, and black. If it doesn't work out I can always overdye it black.

Think I'll have it ready by SOAR?

Four Generations

We had a picnic on Saturday and we got to meet the newest member of our family. Here's our family's first four generation picture. I never got to meet any of my grandparents, so it's a big thrill to be able to take this picture. Seated are my nephew Stephen, his son Andrew, and my mother. Standing behind them is my sister Susan. Oh, and here's a picture of my nieces: Goddaughter Kori (left) with her sister Morgan.

I spent the rest of the weekend sewing and finished two more dresses, a skirt and another pair of slacks. I tell you, I love these Loes Hinse patterns. I just ordered three more tonight. Now let's hope I have time to sew with school starting up! (that reminds me, it's 12:15 and I have to get up at 5:30 - YIKES)

Four Generations

We had a picnic on Saturday and we got to meet the newest member of our family. Here's our family's first four generation picture. I never got to meet any of my grandparents, so it's a big thrill to be able to take this picture. Seated are my nephew Stephen, his son Andrew, and my mother. Standing behind them is my sister Susan. Oh, and here's a picture of my nieces: Goddaughter Kori (left) with her sister Morgan.

I spent the rest of the weekend sewing and finished two more dresses, a skirt and another pair of slacks. I tell you, I love these Loes Hinse patterns. I just ordered three more tonight. Now let's hope I have time to sew with school starting up! (that reminds me, it's 12:15 and I have to get up at 5:30 - YIKES)

Last Day

As I try to squeeze in all the last minute things I meant to do this summer, I dropped something and looked under my desk. Now that picture pretty much epitomizes my summer, follow along --

→jar of Tiger Balm for when I painted too much (was supposed to be worked out, but that didn't really happen all that much)

→ruler with yarn wrapped around to show all the fiber work I've planned, not always done

→note from Kate that fell off my bulletin board (although most of my conversations were virtual, I did get to see Carolyn, Kate, and Marie in the flesh this summer)

→my slippers that are supposed to stay next to the loom but I always forget and wear them into the office

→a bottle of Jose Cuervo (uh, never mind)

Back to power washing the lower deck, washing more fabric I bought, and trying to figure out how my list will fit into the next 8 hours!

Last Day

As I try to squeeze in all the last minute things I meant to do this summer, I dropped something and looked under my desk. Now that picture pretty much epitomizes my summer, follow along --

→jar of Tiger Balm for when I painted too much (was supposed to be worked out, but that didn't really happen all that much)

→ruler with yarn wrapped around to show all the fiber work I've planned, not always done

→note from Kate that fell off my bulletin board (although most of my conversations were virtual, I did get to see Carolyn, Kate, and Marie in the flesh this summer)

→my slippers that are supposed to stay next to the loom but I always forget and wear them into the office

→a bottle of Jose Cuervo (uh, never mind)

Back to power washing the lower deck, washing more fabric I bought, and trying to figure out how my list will fit into the next 8 hours!