Sampling

 

The fire warp scarves are washed and blocked.  They're intense!  And I love them.  So now it's on to new things.  

I finished winding the warp for the bedspread, all 840 ends.  I chose a pattern from Lace and Lacey Weaves, by Mary E. Snyder, Project 59, Bronson and Spot Weaves.  The threading for one repeat is 98 threads, and for a full pattern, it's 176.  That would be 4 repeats.

To say that was daunting is understating it.  I mean, look at all that warp!  So I decided to sample it, something I never do.  I wound another warp of 180 threads to allow for floating selvedges, 3 yards long.  I can use it to trim pillow shams to match the bedspread.  But I needed to find out which weft worked best.

I got the warp wound onto Jenny quickly, only to find a lot of threading errors, mostly in the tabby.  I've left it alone for the day, and will fix the errors tomorrow morning when I'm fresh.  But here's what I learned so far:  That rayon-linen blend is very sticky, so winding on a warp of 10 yards and 840 threads onto the loom would be very difficult.  It's also quite heavy, which would defeat the purpose of a summer bedspread.  And I'm not in love with the color, something I would have to look at every day in the summer.  If I dyed it, it would only be darker, though this yarn dyes lovely.  I want a light bedspread, in color and weight.

Also the pattern is very complicated.  Several years ago, I tried to get a group together for a study group to figure out that book.  We had a big turn-out for the first meeting--maybe because I was buying lunch?--but no one seemed interested in pursuing it.  Which is a shame because that book seems like it could be so useful, but I just don't understand much of it.  

This may not be the best picture, but can you see the tie-up?  I know part of the problem is the weaving software I use, but I wonder why it's tied up that way?  And there's no way that I can think of to add tabby to the selvedges.  Plus, it's so complicated a threading, I just can't see doing it four times.  I do love the pattern, so I'm going to fix the sampler warp, and finish it, probably use it to trim pillow shams, but I'm so glad I tried it first with one repeat.  I'd be wasting a lot of time and yarn, otherwise.

I've decided to dye each group of the wound warp, which is two groups of 300 and one of 240, and weave them into scarves.  Ten yards each should make four scarves each, so they will be different colors.  That'll keep me busy!

So, I've gone back to my original idea, which is to use Halcyon Yarn's Homestead Cotton, in white, maybe with pink weft, because I have a big cone of it, and it's pale enough to be neutral.  I'll have to buy more white, and I was trying to avoid buying any yarn, but it's relatively inexpensive.  

I've fixed the threading error on the blue scarf, beaded the edge and begun weaving.  The pattern is not what I expected at all.  On the computer, it looked like Dogwood blossoms, but now as I weave, all I see are the horizontal lines.  I kind of like it!  It just looks very geometric.  The thing about the way I make scarves is that when this one's done, I'll bead it and cut it off, then tie on the next.  That gives me the opportunity to rethread, and I think I will figure out how to get rid of the horizontal line on treadle 8.  I also have different blue-purple beads I want to try, and I want to have a row of Brooks Bouquet a few picks between the hemstitching and the beginning of the pattern.  Picture to follow, of course!

So far retirement for me has been weaving all day and knitting at night, fixing the car and pulling the occasional weeds from the garden.  Wiley and I walk before the sun gets too high, and then he keeps an eye on me for the rest of the day.  The tomatoes aren't ready yet, the squash keep giving and the cucumbers are trying to fruit.  

Last year, the hibiscus were huge and plentiful, but this is the only blossom I've had this year.  June bugs are eating anything beautiful, so please enjoy this one now!