Monk

Tags

clothing, colourways, cotton, crafts, handwoven, inspiration, weaving drafts, yarn

It’s taken me a long time to write this post, simply because the project never seemed to be quite done. It still isn’t – but now it’s on hold until I make it round to that end of the circle.

Another non-scarf experiment

Tags

16/2, cotton, testing testing, weave drafts

“Hello, my name is Pia and I like to make weird things.”

I had completely forgotten this experiment that I did after the “dishtowel shawl“. But I guess it makes an excellent filler post while I’m busy with the 21 day painting challenge.

A huck adventure

Tags

16/2, cotton, handwoven, huck, sett

– or the tale of a harebrained designer.

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Everything went wrong that week. E v e r y t h i n g. You say you want the short version? A list, then – or better yet, why don’t we move along as if nothing has happened and just focus on the huck instead.

I have taken a perverse liking to reconstructing weave drafts from photos of interesting fabrics that I come across online. Some are no doubt the work of an individual designer and not prudent to be shared, others are most likely old and traditional, sitting in various books, a variation on a technique which nobody owns.

Pattern testing 2

Tags

clothing, cotton, crafts, experimenting, panels, pink, summer

I’ve been working on sewing patterns again, after not making any trousers from the muslins I developed last year – I wanted to be sure I didn’t grow again this winter and would be unable to wear them the coming summer! My handwoven fabric takes too long to make to be used just once, and I could just buy t-shirts, but then why would I weave? I don’t use scarves, tablecloths or many of the other things I could think of making. And G has declared that he does not want his sofa filled with hippie weirdo COLOURFUL cushions, blech! And for some reason, although fashion does nothing for me, I’m quite fascinated with fabrics and drape and keep collecting images of flowing, colourful clothes. In the end I had to make a Pinboard so that I can spot any personal trends after a while, in addition to the one I keep for clothes from panels. (We’ll get back to that eventually)

Waffle weave towels

Tags

16/2, beginner's mind, cotton

5 shaft / 6 treadle pattern
60 x 90 cm on loom + hems
55 x 82 cm off loom
40 x 60 cm hot washed and tumbled

All the old stained hand towels are moving to the loft or garage, then I’ll see if I need to make more new ones.

I knew I was probably making a mistake on the hems, making them flare too much, but didn’t have enough treadles to make a sensible pattern and didn’t want to change the tie up between each towel.

As for my threading mistake, the result on the one woven with the mistake and the two others where I removed 4 threads getting a more open spacing in that spot was that the first one WITH the extra threads has the least visible error, so I should have kept it that way.

Waffles:

Tags

16/2, 45/10 reed/3pd, colourways, cotton, yarn

One of the things I’m working on right now, when I’m not elbowing my way through a month’s backlog of house and other cleaning. Mucking is exactly the appropriate word! I hope it won’t land me with another month long backache, because then it’ll just be a selfperpetuating nightmare, won’t it.  😉

Loom extension

Tags

cotton, crafts, DIY, equipment, home, loom, studio, tools, weave drafts, woven

I’ve long wanted a few more pattern options on my Lervad no. 9 – not as much since I got the Glimåkra, but still. 8 shafts would require a lot of remodelling (for instance I would have loved to extend all the lamms), so I settled for 6. That means I can work with supplemental warps in designs, at least 3 variations of waffle weave, turned 2/1 twill blocks just to mention a few of the ideas I’ve had over the years.

(slightly) Disappointing survey

Tags

colourways, cotton, fiber reactive dye, poll, procion

45 people viewed the post, “only” 13 voted. I’m not impressed, people, get in the game! It’s just a little mouse click – I expect much better turnout next time. 😉 And now it’s too late obviously, you know me, either I move fast or not at all.

I had another think and decided to change course and not listen to any of you (us), since the votes were so close anyway. Many thanks to those of you who played.

Colour survey

Tags

colour, colourways, cotton, dyeing, fiber friday, poll, yarn

I came upon 4 cones of chenille some time ago and the colour just never made me happy. I simply wanted to know if anything interesting could be made with this type of yarn. Anyway, I decided to get some fiber reactive dyes and see if I could change my aversion.

What’s happening with my weaving?

Tags

colour, cotton, crafts, creativity, fabric, yarn

More or less nothing actually! Which feels really weird after being so obsessed with it for a while, but in fact it’s very natural. I can’t do all the things all the time but I need the occasional shift in focus. Doing just one thing seems like having to eat the same food 3 x 365, even if it’s your favourite.

But I haven’t grown tired of it, in fact it just started out that way, a piece of cloth I didn’t enjoy making and since it required a lot of focus and counting I can’t just get it done and be over with. And then your focus slips away even without headaches. Oh, and did I mention that it’s really skinny thread, the fabric is as thin as fine bed sheets.