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

New toys

The first new toy, one that has taken up quite a lot of time, and the reason why there’s not been much weaving, is a new and very small electric spinning wheel. 

Back in December last year I decided to back Maurice Ribble’s Kickstarter project for a very small electric spinning wheel, known as the Nano.  I looked at all the online reviews and everything was very positive.  I followed the design process, the manufacturing and even the shipping – who knew there was a website to track ships?  

Finally the package arrived, probably within a week of the estimated date, and it did have to come all the way to Australia.  Fortunately there were no problems with Australia Post or customs unlike some German backers who were summoned to the customs office, shown their new wheel and told they couldn’t have it because it didn’t quite meet all the regulations.  Other German customs offices were less rigorous and happy to hand them over.  How annoying would that be?

It worked straight out of the box but like many others I tried changing a few things to see if they improved its performance – some worked better, some didn’t.  I converted a Decor plastic bucket into a light rigid case/lazy kate for travelling and made a cover using a remnant of fabric from a window display at work and some lighter fabric from the stash.

All I know is that I haven’t done as much spinning in years, and I learned to spin in early 1976.

Here’s my new toy posing with my large Ron Blyth wheel for scale. 

They make a great team, using the Nano for spinning but the large wheel with its large bobbins for plying.  

Here it is at the craft market

And here’s all the yarn I’ve spun in the past 6 weeks,

including the cowl I knitted because the yarn was just crying out to be knitted

There hasn’t been a lot of weaving around here with all the spinning and the marathon effort for the Sheep Show.  It’s still a bit too cold to weave in the garage and I’ve had a sore shoulder.  It hasn’t improved at all with a break from weaving so I can now keep weaving without feeling guilty.

I did manage to get a warp for glasses cases on the 4 shaft loom and decided after the success with the warping valet for the bigloom, that I needed something better for warping than draping the warp over the loom bench weighted with a bottle of water.  I had a nice aluminium mop handle and bought another, unfortunately not an exact match, but it wasn’t expensive and I will get a matching one and use the odd one as the bar as they’re very smooth and the warp runs over it easily.  I slid the mop handles into my folding loom so they rested against the wood at the back. 

My loom was made here in Melbourne by the Druva family but I’ve always suspected a common ancestor with the folding Dorset and Schacht looms.  I tied the handles to the most convenient part of the loom

and suspended a rod from the ends.  I weighted the warp with a bottle of water and had it wound on in no time,

much better than draping it over the loom bench.  The warp is black cotton and gold chainette, nothing like a bit of bling, even if the bling doesn't show up well here.

I should go and get on with the weaving but there's some very nice roving tempting me from the stash

Helen

Sheep Show 2019 - Part 2

Here’s the second part of this year’s Sheep Show report with the details of my jacket for all those who want to know a bit more about it.

I wrote earlier this year about making a pattern from a jacket.  I bought the original jacket years ago in the US.  It was made in a very drapey polyester georgette, and has been a wardrobe favourite, great to wear over something sleeveless when it's hot. I thought the shape had possibilities for other fabrics, especially handwoven ones.

I traced a pattern off the first jacket and made it in much stiffer upholstery fabric. 

The latest woollen version is actually a better balance between body and drape

I had taken Nancye Whitman’s workshop on Iridescent Weaving at the Guild’s Summer School, and with some information from Heddlecraft May 2018, the 4-colour Echo weave issue, and Bertha Grey Hayes Jitterbug draft as a design line, I came up with a draft.  I had to search to find 4 colours that I thought could work together and added a strand of silk or viscose to the wool yarns to give a bit of extra shine.

Here are the colours for the warp

The warp itself

Weaving, with a black weft, in progress, 

helped somewhat by a few days off work with laryngitis. The echo weave is really starting to show here (thank goodness!)

I based the bands  on a weft face weave I’d used for glasses cases but  if I were doing it again, I would look at a different glasses case draft to give softer stripes in the band. 

I calculated carefully and used 2 repeats so that the band would have stripes inside as well as outside, see picture of inside below.

I finished weaving and wet-finished the two fabrics. I didn’t even have enough time for my usual trick of rolling it onto a cardboard tube to make me think the fabric is ‘store bought’ but I did make sure I measured everything at least twice, if not more, before cutting it.

I’d made the jacket before so the construction went smoothly and the jacket was completed and delivered to the pick- up point at the Guild with at least 45 minutes to spare. 

I showed a couple of the runway shots in the last post but here are a couple posed on Polly, my model, with the 'oil on a wet road' effect of the Echo weave showing up well, especially on the larger area of the back.

Here's the inside. I managed to find some silk/viscose fabric, probably meant to be a garment in its own right, but it was just the right weight and colour to make a great lining and it feels very luxurious

I should probably start designing something for next year now - maybe I can deliver it to the Guild with more than 45 minutes to spare.  I see in the catalogue that the theme for 2020 is 'Vision'. I can probably come up with a few ideas for that one.

Helen

Sheep Show 2019 Part 1

Here's the promised report on the 2019 Sheep Show.  I left Melbourne bright and early on a beautiful Winter morning, and it turned out to be the warmest Sheep Show I can remember. Halfway there, I felt I needed a break and left the freeway but didn't find the next entry ramp so went to Bendigo via the scenic cross country route.  I arrived in time to meet Norma and Virginia at the parade as we do each year. I don't think I got a photo of every hand crafted garment on parade but I've got quite a few of them. I was too busy taking photos to record the names as well but a look at the catalogue, including the results might help.

Our male model and his daughter stole the show, and the crocheted rabbit was very cute too.  Have a look at the front of the catalogue for a better picture of the rabbit

 This one was the most beautifully knitted cable cardigan with a multi coloured removable neck piece

And just one more garment and I do know about this one as it's all mine.  The body is in Echo weave with warp faced plain weave bands. I'll write more about the details in the next post but the judges liked it and it came first in the Handwoven Garment section

After the parade we did a little looking and shopping until it was time for lunch so we met in the dining room for a hearty country lunch of roast lamb and vegetables - delicious!

Then it was time for a bit more shopping and a final coffee.

Here's my haul for the day

- I keep saying that I really didn't buy this much, in fact I was quite restrained but I bought some raffle tickets to support the Woolcraft Committee who work hard to bring the Woolcraft competitions to us. As I was sitting drinking my coffee, the phone rang and a Committee member told me that I'd won a National Wool Museum rug and wanted to know where to post it.  I was able to tell her I was just a few steps away and she didn't need to waste money posting a heavy rug as I could take it home with me.  The yarn on the right was part of the prize for the jacket

I'm sitting writing this post with my pink pixie slippers on - very cosy and comfortable

And I'm already thinking about what I can do with the painted rose fibre braid which I bought from Mosely Park

because I thought it would co-ordinate with the rose fibre and cotton yarn, under the braid here, I bought in Canberra last year

I had time to drive over to Castlemaine to have afternoon tea with my old friend who has moved into aged care since last year.  Then it was back to Bendigo to collect my jacket and carpet and home to Melbourne.  Fortunately everything went smoothly this year, not flat batteries as in 2017 or bad accidents like last year.