Another hand dyed warp

This is a warp for a shawl. The yarn is Aunt Lydia's Bamboo Crochet Thread that is a light fingering weight. The dyeing was deliberately uneven after the successful with the tencel scarf. I wound the warp in 2 groups hoping that with only 2 groups I could get patterning across the entire warp. I will find out for sure when I beam it but I know I got some patterning. This afternoon was sunny so I spread some poly navy fabric I inherited on the driveway and spread the warp out.

More info about how I dyed the warp:

After winding the warp I soaked in for a while in water, rung out most of the water and dumped it the standard soda ash/water solution for surface application of dyes. I then rung out most of the soda ash solution and lined up the 2 warp bouts. I laid them on the upside down lid for a plastic container zig/zagging the yarn 3 or 4 times so it all fit on the lid. I mixed the dye with warm water in a container and used a syringe from the farm store to apply the dye to the yarn. I put the dye on one side and then flipped it over to make sure both sides got enough dye. After the dye was all applied, I added a bit more liquid since I was aiming for low water immersion kind of patterning. After a bit I folded the warp up and put it in a smaller container I could put a lid on and move easily.

More weaving

I haven't posted pictures, haven't taken many pictures but weaving has been occurring. Last month I wove 2 shadow weave alpaca scarves with Henry's Attic Prime Alpaca in the Silver and Misty Grey natural colors. The 2nd one went to a friend.

In January and February I wove a shawl with royal blue Frog Tree Alpaca Sport Weight 100% alpaca warp and Mini Mochi Baby Face (pastel rainbow) slow color change sock yarn for weft. This shawl came off the loom on February 8 and is finally finished. I don't have a finished pictures yet, this picture is on on-loom picture taken at the cloth beam to show both sides of the fabric.

I have 2 more scarves that have come off a loom. The first is red xie bamboo warp and black 8/2 tencel weft, the 2nd is a self striping sock yarn in black/grey/cream for both warp and weft. The red/black scarf fringe is twisted on 1 end. I think I will wash some of the sock yarn and see if I can avoid fringe twisting.

Mother Daughter Scarves

Yesterday I finished a mother daughter scarf set that I took off the loom Thanksgiving weekend. The scarves have stripes of 2/1 and 1/2 twill. The warp is Debbie Bliss Rialto 4 ply and the weft is Poems Sock. I added twist to the warp yarn and blocked it before winding the warp. The 2nd picture is a closeup to show detail.



These scarves are for friends who are from a warmer climate and experiencing the cold of a northern Utah winter for the first time. I thought a wool scarf would help them stay warm.

Deflected Double Weave

I just finished a class in Deflected Double Weave. I have several samples from others as well as the samples I wove. The draft for my second sample can be downloaded in pdf and wif. I will get pictures of samples posted.

Projects

I finsihed weaving a chenille shawl for my niece the last week of February. I am waiting for DN to decide if she wants a cream shawl or if she wants me to dye it another color. I ordered some rayon seam binding on Friday to finish the ends. I used some tricot to finish the edge before sewing a narrow hem on a chenille shawl I wove for my Aunt last spring. It really turned out nice for a no-fringe finish.

I am alomst done with the royal blue dress. The lining is done and the dress just needs the bottom hemmed and a final press.

I started a sample with 2 white rayon boucles, 1 smooth white rayon, 2 black rayons and a unknown cellulose black yarn in the warp. The 2 black rayons are small (20/2 I think). I am using the smooth white and a black rayon yarn for the weft. I am finally using the 2 bobbin shuttle I bought at SOAR 2+ years ago.

Show Entries and Rayon Chenille

My weaving guild has a show “Utah Fiber Celebration” this spring. Here are pictures of the scarves I entered. For more about the show, check out the article in a local paper.

The scarves in the basket are square silk scarves I dyed. The other scarf is a rayon chenille shadow weave scarf. This was my first finished chenille piece. It is so soft after wet finishing.

I have since woven 2 plain weave rayon chenille scarves. The first was woven with the silver used in the shadow weave scarf. I didn't take a picture before I gave it to a friend.

The second was woven with white chenille. After wet finishing, I plan on dyeing the scarf. I have a shawl on the loom and warps wound for another shawl and 2 scarves.