Twisp of Fate

Wow, I can’t believe it’s already January 31.  It has been a productive month in the studio for me, so here are the things I have been working on.  Warning, this is a weaving-centric post!

Weaving

I finished the first set of “mixed warp” scarves using a discontinued Missoni yarn called Bombay which I picked up in a stash reduction sale, who knows how long ago!  I only had enough for about half the warp so I alternated 2 strands of Bombay with 2 strands of coned rayon Rik-Rak in 2 colors.  Here is the warp as it shows in the fringe:

and the 9 scarves that were woven using a variety of DK weight handknitting yarns and rayon chenilles.  These are all out at the Confluence Gallery in Twisp and the Winthrop Gallery.  There was a 10th scarf at the end of the warp that came out shorter (about 54″ not including the fringe) and I am keeping that one.  It was woven with Elspeth Lavold Baby Llama, and is quite yummy feeling

I put a second warp on using 16 different yarns in reds, browns and some gold.  I am weaving these 8″ wide at 8 epi so I need 16 ends (threads) in each 2″ section on the warping beam.  I rotated through groups of 4 yarns in each section to mix up the colors and textures some.  The warp is 24 yards long and I can comfortably get 11 scarves woven to 70″ under tension from that.  They shrink about 10% in each direction once off the loom and washed and pressed.  There is a 4″ unwoven section at each end of each scarf for the fringe, and I am hemstitching the ends in groups of 3 or so threads to keep the edge wefts in place.

I used a lot of Henry’s Attic natural color superfine alpaca as weft on these, as well as some rayon chenilles.  Here is the first one being woven, using black alpaca and beat gently (more of a press, really) to get about 8 ppi.  I also used a light gray, light camel, and chocolate brown in the alpaca.

Here they are drying on the rack yesterday.  Today I will trim and press and label and then they will be ready to go out to the galleries.

Now I have put on a third warp using blues and greens and again a mix of 16 yarns in a variety of textures.  I am finding it is best to put a thinner smooth yarn in between the stickier and larger mohairs and boucles.

I wove the first one yesterday afternoon using a teal Rowan DDK wool and it is really pretty!

Ah, almost forgot.  A couple of weeks ago I finished 4 more rugs using Pendleton selvages, to re-supply the galleries.

R245

R246 & R247 (two alike)

R248

Knitting

Here are the most recent Mosaic Mojo hats.  I have knitted 22 of these since early November and am now ready to give it a rest!

These 2 were done using a solid Cascade 220 wool yarn paired with Noro “Haniwa”, which is 50% silk and makes for a nice, light-weight but warm hat.

These two were done with some yarn I got in a door prize drawing at spinning camp on Orcas Island last year.  It is a handpainted Clun Forest (sheep breed) from Solitude Wool in Virginia.  They had a booth at the Madrona Fiberarts Winter Retreat in Tacoma last February, and will be there again this year.  The Clun Forest is a little scratchy but I paired it with Cascade 220 for the solid color, and using that for the rolled edge worked really well to keep it soft against your forehead.

This last one I made for myself!  I used 2 colors of Cascade 220 for the solid color, and Noro Silk Garden Sock held with a strand of Rowan Kidsilk Haze for the variegated yarn.  I picked through the Noro yarn to pull only colors I wanted in this hat.