Something new

Here it is almost March and time for the Hawthorn Makers Market to start for the year.  For the past few years the March market has been part of the Glenferrie Festival and we had 2 good years in our tent on the street, followed by a not so good time last year when it was exceptionally hot and we almost had trams in our tent.  Fortunately this year we will be back in our usual venue at the Hawthorn Arts Centre, just a couple of minutes’ walk from the main part of the festival.  The weather this year is forecast to be much kinder than last year but I still think I’d rather be indoors.

I’ve been working on something new – some waffle weave face washers. 

I’d done some waffle weave as part of my weaving certificate years ago.  Perhaps it was the yarn I’d chosen but it certainly wasn’t one of my favourite weaves.  I saw some waffle weave bath mitts in a recent Handwoven and knew I had some of the same 6/2 cotton in the stash. 

I thought face washers might be good and had the warp on and off the loom in almost no time.  I realised that waffle weave was much better than I thought.  It was rewarding to weave and any mistakes were obvious and easy to correct.  I’ve made 9 for the first batch,

I wonder if they will sell?

I haven’t been doing a lot of weaving as I’ve had a sore hip and shoulder.  I convinced myself that it was either weaver’s bottom or some other strain from too much weaving but when it didn’t improve after a break from weaving, I eventually sought some professional help.  I don’t have weaver’s bottom, I do have some exercises which I’m doing diligently.  I can see some improvement already and have been told that as long as weaving doesn’t cause an increase in discomfort, it’s better to keep moving.  There was another bonus – the kilo weights I needed for the exercises were just right to weight the face washer warp, it was one of the straightest and best warps I’ve had for a long time

I treated myself to a copy of Marian Stubenitsky’s book, The Stubeninsky Code and have been making some teatowels.  I finished the first one and wet finished it because I knew that the cotton shrank quite a lot and I wanted the motifs to be round not oval.  They were close to round, pity about the error, just left of centre, which showed up more in a photo that on the loom. 

I found that I had missed one thread, so I fixed it and tied the warp back on.  They are now threading error free, can’t guarantee that there will be none in the treadling and I will have to keep the first for me, its drying qualities will be unaffected by the threading error

A few weeks ago a friend and I went for a drive towards the area where the bush fires had been.  While we were out a fierce hailstorm came through my neighbourhood.  It broke both my skylights, narrowly missing my sewing cabinet

and somewhat surprisingly, they were sealed with what looked like sticky tape – very good quality sticky tape – and they have not given me any problems while I wait for the replacements. 

The one over the carpet is sealed and the one in the bathroom leaks just a little on to the tiled floor. 

My friend was not so fortunate, her car had so much hail damage it was a write off.  All we were trying to do was celebrate her birthday

While I was having a break from weaving, I decided to do some sewing as I needed a few new things for the Summer.  Vogue patterns were on sale at a very good price and I went shopping for fabric in my own stash. 

I ended up making two tops,

and two jackets each with a co-ordinating top, one in a jacquard weave

and the other in a Japanese linen with little birds on it

and 2 pairs of exercise pants.  The patterns, trim and some interfacing cost about $30, so a very economical new wardrobe.

I was reading an article this morning by a writer from the UK confessing, with a little embarrassment, that she had started to stockpile food in case COVID -19 starts to affect supplies.  Then it struck me – what if I ended up in quarantine at home, well enough to weave but not well enough to go to work and there wasn’t enough yarn and fabric in my stash?  For a moment I even contemplated sending off a yarn order, but then I relaxed, I know there’s plenty of yarn and fabric for a couple of weeks.  There’s probably enough for several months, although by that time, I might have to work with some interesting colour combinations.  Hopefully it won’t come to that.

Helen

Colour surprise

At last I’m back to the loom and have something to show for my efforts, just as well as I'll be at the Hawthorn Makers Market in the morning.  Scarves have been selling quite well and I needed more stock.  There was quite a lot of rayon chenille in the stash so I wound a couple of warps, one in blues and teals

with a boucle rayon yarn in the same tones, and another in warmer tones. 

I made 3 scarves from each warp, using 3 of the warp colours for weft with the intention of having 3 related scarves in each colour way.  My vision was for them to be like fraternal triplets – similar but different. However with yet another colour surprise, I’d have to describe them as more like identical triplets.  Interesting how much the colours blended once they were wet-finished.  I took photos of each colour way but when it came to choosing the best ones, I couldn’t tell the colours apart, so one of each will have to do.

I’ve been working on the garden.  Most years I look at my vegetable patch in January and decide that it’s really too late to start.  I was determined to do better this year and here is a picture from about 6 weeks ago. 

Everything is growing well and I’m pleased to report that I'm now self- sufficient in salad leaves and rocket.

And finally, here’s the clematis on the back deck putting on a great display

Helen

Whew!

In the past few weeks I have finished the Tencel scarves on the 8 shaft loom and the glasses cases on the 4 shaft loom so that I could weave fabric for my entry for this year's Sheep Show in Bendigo - that's about 25 meters altogether

The Tencel scarves were a success and have the expected drape and shine – I do wish that I could take photos that do them justice.

Based loosely on scarves in Handwoven March/April 2006, and with a silver grey warp, there was one in pink,

probably my favourite,

one in slate with diamonds

and one in greyed teal with waves.

The warp on the 4 shaft loom – a weft faced plain weave for glasses cases – was inspired by the distinctive stitching on cricket balls and I couldn’t come up with a better name for it than ‘Cricket Tragic’. 

Hopefully some of the finished cases will become gifts for Fathers’ Day, celebrating on the first Sunday in September in Australia.

I’ve been to the Hawthorn Makers Market in June and July with reasonable to good sales.  It really seems to be settling down well back in its original location.  Even better they've finally finished adding an air look to the door where all the cold air was getting in on cold days, and that door is closer to the carpark than the one we've been using the past few months.  Much appreciated when moving out at the end of a long day.

My entry for the Sheep Show is still under wraps but was finished and delivered to the pick-up point at the Guild with at least 45 minutes to spare.  I managed to catch a cold that turned into laryngitis a couple of weeks ago.  I had no voice at all so couldn’t work but felt well enough to stay home and weave, maybe not such a bad thing

Next weekend is both the Sheep Show and the annual optometry conference and trade show and I really want to go to both – why does everything happen on the same week end?

Helen

Back in action

Finally Christmas is over and I’m having a few days off.  As happens every year I have delusions about how much I can accomplish in a few days but this year I didn’t put too much on the list and have already crossed off quite a few items and have reached the one that says ‘blog’.

Things were a bit quiet around here on the weaving front for quite a few weeks.  The plaid towels sat on the indoor 4 shaft loom, almost finished, for far too long and it was too cold to weave out in the garage.

The weather finally  improved, except for rather more rain than usual at this time of year and both looms are now back in action.

First up was a scarf in an 8 shaft spot twill from some yarn I had spun.  It was a wool/silk mix in shades of grey, plied with a fine grey silk and then overdyed in blue and turquoise.

I wanted to wear it to a function in Canberra to celebrate the centenary of the Optometrists’ Association. I did manage to get the scarf, and the matching dress finished in time and was happy with it.

It was a great celebration, especially the after party where it seemed that the more people drank, the more exaggerated the stories of dealing with the bureaucrats became.  They even made a fuss of me for being the first female president of the association, perhaps more than when I doing the job.

I took an extra couple of days off and planned to have a short holiday.  The first day was great, visited my favourite Canberra gallery – Beaver Galleries – visited the Canberra Spinners and Weavers Guild and in the afternoon went to the War Memorial. One of the main reasons was to replace the poppy next to my great uncle’s name on the memorial wall.  I wrote earlier that he had been part of the inspiration for my Red Crosses and Poppies coat, a new poppy was the least I could do for him. There are lots of poppies on the lower part of the wall but if your name is near the top, it’s only relatives who make the effort to get poppies that high.  There was a staff member on duty who very kindly fetched the steps – and then told me that I was climbing them. 

I wonder what occupational health and safety rule says that it’s not safe for the staff to climb the steps but it’s OK for visitors, perhaps 40 years older, to do it. At least she took some good pictures.

By the end of the first day in Canberra I knew I was getting a cold – and almost 4 weeks later, it’s still not gone completely.  It was a really nasty one and made the Christmas preparations seem like a lot of hard work.

The next project was a white on white table runner for a Christmas gift in 20/2 cotton – not surprisingly it was a slow project and hard to work on for long periods.  It was almost finished in time and while I had taken a photo of the beginning so that I could make the other end the same, unfortunately I had the photo upside down and managed to make a runner with non matching ends.  I guess I could call it a very large sampler and I did actually take it to the intended recipient to make sure it would fit the coffee table.  There was plenty of warp and I’ve already done a couple of repeats of the pattern, only 15 to go.

I warped the 8 shaft loom with tea towels for gifts and for the next market.  I’d planned for broken twill blocks, white with grey stripes and warp in different colours.  The variegated blue was a bit close in colour to the grey

so it was followed by black, red and terracotta. 

Since then I’ve done a couple more black ones, a taupe one, a mint one and an aqua one. 

There are still a few more on the warp, not sure how much warp I’ve wasted with all the cutting off.

One of the things that absorbed my spare time was a car accident probably just after my last post.  My car was 18 years old but not giving me any major dramas and suited my needs – transport to and from work, transport to the craft market and occasional country trips, very well.  I was driving to work one morning when someone parked by the side of the road opened his door without looking and very neatly trimmed off my side mirror. 

There was a dent in the door and a scratch on the glass but it was driveable and fortunately no-one was hurt.  Too many phone calls later after the other driver finally remembered the correct name of their insurer and their registration number, their insurer decided that my car was a total write off so my old car went off on the back of a car carrier

and I’m now driving around in a new red Honda Jazz,

just perfect for driving to work and with so much room in the back that the first time I packed it for a market I had to consult my market list to see what I’d forgotten.  As it turned out everything was already packed and there was room to spare so it all turned out well in the end.

Somewhere in the middle of all that was the Hawthorn Makers Market December Market.  We did quite well which was great as we've not done well at the Christmas Market in the past, perhaps things really have settled down well at our new (old) venue

In my spare time I did all the usual Christmas baking, here's a small sample of it

Tomorrow, I’m off to the country to visit a couple of friends and to give the new car a long trip, time to start packing

Helen

Next!

Three posts in a week – that must be a record for me.

With the Bendigo Sheep Show over for another year it’s time to tidy up, make a plan and get on with it.  The first thing I did was to tie the warp back on to the small loom and, as I straightened up after dropping the fishing weights on the floating selvedges, I felt my back go.  Fortunately, my physio could fit me in the next day and strapped it back together, not sure if the effect is real or psychological like giving a band aid to a small child who’s not bleeding, but fortunately it’s all back to normal.

I decided to finish the trial jacket I started for my entry for the sheep show last year – it just needs the facing and the lining attached so not a lot of work there – so I had a look in the mystery cupboard under the stairs and found the bag with the pieces, but I got distracted and there hasn't been any progress yet.

While I was looking in the cupboard I found another bag of weaving UFOs and as there is a market this Sunday and not enough time to start anything new, I decided to investigate.  There was a black and red scarf, just the thing to go with the new coat and with the sort of long floats that mean that it’s all mine because selling or gifting it to someone is just not an option.

The next thing I found was an almost complete advancing twill scarf with a handspun weft – all the fringe on one end and about 2/3 on the other end were done.  It just needed the rest of the fringe done, a few repairs and a wet finish.  At least there will be something new for the market.

I looked a little further and found an acid green alpaca scarf which had been beaten too firmly so that it was more like a table runner than a scarf.  The alpaca yarn was too good to discard so I took it apart and used it with the warp on the small loom, beating gently this time. 

It should be done by the weekend as long as I don’t have any more of the surprises I got when I released both rachets on the loom at the same time.  The remainder of the warp unrolled itself off the back beam almost instantly, then fell off the rod as well.  I managed to restore order, the tension is a bit tight on one side but should hold OK for the last few inches. Some fringe, a quick wet finish, hope it will dry overnight and there should be 2 news scarves for tomorrow. 

Then, after the market on Sunday I can move on the tea towel warp, inspired by the lorikeets in the garden.

Helen

Lessons from the stash

A couple of weeks ago I saw some yarn advertised by someone who was sorting out her stash and knew that I could use it.  I’d made some simple scarves using a yarn from Spotlight – Moda Vera Fiordaliso, a mix of wool, acrylic and viscose – now discontinued, and colours more like those in the picture of the scarf below

I kept one of the scarves and it’s one of my favourites so when I saw the yarn at a reasonable price, I decided to make some more of the scarves.  I had a look in the stash and found some fine black wool for the warp and the stripes.  I started to make the 10 m warp and that’s where the trouble started.  I hadn’t got 2 lengths on the warping mill but had had several breaks.  I looked more closely.  I hadn’t wound off short lengths from bobbins back on to the cone.  There was no sign of moth damage.  I was using yarn from 2 cones, one already doubled to get the weight I wanted for the warp.

I tested it for strength and even the doubled yarn broke with almost no pressure at all.  I’d read that yarn does get past its use by date, particularly black yarn because of the chemicals needed to get a good black.  The horrible truth dawned – I had about a kilogram/2 pounds of yarn, definitely past its use by date – and not even strong enough to be used as weft in something I hoped to sell.  I guess there’s a lesson there, yarn doesn’t just mature in the stash sometimes it ‘over matures’  I’m reminded of the labels on the yarn I used to get from Village Spinning and Weaving in Solvang CA, where they had re-purposed food labels which said something like ‘refrigerate after opening’

My other concern is that I think the yarn in question was left over from the coat I made as my final project in the certificate of hand weaving.  I really like it but probably only wear it about once each winter.  I’d better start wearing it a lot more.  Hopefully as it’s been wet finished, there aren’t as many chemicals in it and my favourite coat won’t collapse

All was not lost however and there was more black yarn in the stash so I made my warp and got it on the loom as soon as I finished the last scarf on the warp I’d used to make a scarf for the Geelong Scarf Festival and a couple extra.  I did mention ‘frog hair and yarn chicken’ a couple of posts ago.  Here’s what was left from the warp of one after I’d had two broken warps,

not that bad in 7 metres plus of frog hair yarn, or for that matter how old the yarn was.  My guess is that it was from the 1980s, another reason why the problems with the black yarn surprised me.  Photos of the scarf will have to wait til the festival opens in a couple of weeks.

We had another good market last month.  The new venue is settling down well.  Our stall has been in different parts of the market each time and in June we’ll probably move again, hopefully to a regular spot  in what might well be called ‘fashion corner’, just inside the main door. The other good news is that the stall holders who were somewhat isolated down in a basement area, remote from the rest of us in the main area, will be re-joining the main market from next month.

I can’t believe that it’s a month since the last market already and that I have only managed to produce 2 scarves, the one below, aptly named ‘Tiger Eye’

and another from the Fibonacci blocks series, this time with a weft of 2/20 tencel doubled to make a very classic scarf.

I've also been planning an entry for the Sheep Show and survived a major computer upgrade at work, maybe next month will be more productive

Helen

It’s almost Mother’s day

It’s hard to believe that it’s almost a month since the craft market returned to its old home under its new name – Hawthorn Makers Market.  It was a great day for a market – warm and sunny but not too hot - and plenty of people. There were of course a few teething troubles as we got our bearings in new surroundings but eventually we all found our places and were ready to start trading at 10. 

One of the major problems was with the café.  They just didn’t understand the 9.45 coffee rush where the stall holders have got everything in from the car and arranged to their satisfaction, and there’s a 15 minute opportunity to grab a coffee before the doors open officially.  I suspected that they also underestimated the number of people and the amount of food needed so we made sure we had lunch early.  Hopefully things will be a bit easier for everyone for the market on Sunday.

Wendy and I had a good day with a reasonable number of sales – tea towels this time but no scarves.  Here are a couple of happy stall holders,

thanks to Gerlinde who paid us a visit, for the photo, and another photo of our stall bathed in morning sunshine

Over the past few weeks I’ve finished and delivered my scarves for the Geelong Scarf Festival, but it’s a long wait until they open and even longer to see if they have sold

I’ve made a new shop fitting for our stall.  For the past couple of years we’ve had 3 cardboard boxes clipped together with a black jersey cover sitting on the back edge of the table to raise the display a little and provide discreet storage for phones, cords, stationery, scissors, bits and pieces and of course cups of coffee.  The cardboard boxes are bulky to carry and almost past their prime so I decided it was time for a change.  I already had 2 folding IKEA boxes, some cord and a toggle. I bought a piece of thin laminate and some firm black jersey fabric. I cut 2 narrow pieces from the laminate, just a little longer and wider than the 2 boxes, cut the jersey just a little smaller to make a firmly fitting cover, put a hem round the edge and inserted the cord and fastened it with the toggle.  I’ve now got something that still provides the discreet storage but is easy to cover because it’s flat with the boxes folded. 

Best of all it will probably save one trip to and from the car when setting up the stall.  I’d include a photo of the finished masterpiece but black boxes are hard to photograph so here it is ready to be transported, including the food container which was just the right size to fit between the 2 boxes and also to hold out ‘office supplies’.  It will probably save one trip in from the car and one another back to the car at the end of the day when every extra trip really counts

As it’s Mothers Day next week, I always like to have some potential gifts at the May market.  I’ve been playing with block twill and eventually found this cone of yarn on the bench, almost within arm’s reach.  The warp is fine black wool and the yarn on the cone was a fine slightly textured viscose.  I used the yarn double and finished it last night.  Off the loom it was a bit firm but after a wash, a press, a cold mangling on the stone benchtop and a few minutes in the spin dryer, it feels just the way it should. It's hard to capture the sheen in the picture of the scarf but it shows up nicely in the detail shot - by the way, the waves are from the drape, not from dodgy weaving

I almost hope it doesn’t sell as there’s not enough of the viscose yarn left to make another and as it was probably a mill end, I don’t think I’ll be able to get any more

There's time to finish a couple more bags before tomorrow, I'd better get on with it

Helen