Just a quick post to show what I have been working on lately. There is a fiberarts show coming up at Confluence Gallery in Twisp and I am trying to get some pieces done for that. One of the projects is a series of shawls with 20/2 mercerized cotton warp and tencel weft. They are much like the shawls I did a few years back using an extended manifold twill threading in Strickler’s 8-harness pattern book. These will be some new colors and also a little wider. One thing I like about this setup is how you can get different patterns with different treadlings.
The weft yarns are 8/2 variegated tencel (from WEBS) used doubled for the pattern weft, and 10/2 tencel for the tabby weft. It is interesting to see how the tabby weft color sort of washes the whole thing with a background color on the cream 20/2 cotton warp.
Here are the color pairings I selected:
I put on 18 yards of warp and figure I can do 6 shawls. I finished weaving the first three and took them off the loom several days ago. Now have a whole bunch of fringe twisting to do, but they should be done in time for the gallery show.
Wild Grape Combo with rust tabby weft:
Lake Combo with emerald tabby weft:
It’s interesting to see the reversal of light and dark pattern on each side of the shawl.
Mountain Stream Combo with gold tabby weft:
By the way, that’s my new Louet Flying Dutchman shuttle carrying the pattern weft. I had read about it on a couple of blogs and decided to go for it when Puffy Mondaes had it at 20% off with free shipping on Black Friday. I really like it! It takes a larger bobbin than my regular shuttles, so I can get more yarn on. It is lightweight and comfortable to use. The arched wire on the top is supposed to help when weaving a sticky warp (which this isn’t, but some of my “mixed warp” simple scarves with mohairs and boucles can be a problem).
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