Lou Ann mentioned yesterday that she was on her 6th placemat. For those of you who may not know, in JanuaryLou Ann put the challenge out to the Tuesday Weavers to all weave 12 matching placemats to fill the shelves for our fall shows. I have had a warp on the loom for months that would work for this challenge, (I hope!) I even have a plan and some of the weft cut and sewn. What I haven't had is any inclination to sit down and weave!
I went upstairs today, after reading Lou Ann's post, and I was determined to weave at least 1 placemat today! But then I got distracted by my recent purchases, I had metioned them last week and I thought you might want to see them.
The 4 braids on the right are BFL and the single reddish braid in the foreground is Polwarth and the 2 blue and green braids are targhee. All of those braids are well within the limits I have placed on my commercial top purchases. It has to be pretty dyed colors and it has to be a sheep breed I haven't spun yet.
Then my attention turned to my newest acquisition. Last week I sold a piece of equipment I had not used in a long time, and turned around and bought something that I thought I would never be able to afford!
This is a hackle that you use when you are combing wool. What you see on the hackle right now is the last of the Cormo I was processing last week. I was able to fit 4 combs full of fiber on at once! That means that instead of having small nests of finished fiber I can have a ball of combed top that it about the size of a large orange.
I will also be able to blend fibers of different colors and textures with this hackle. I was looking at those braids at the top of the page, and I'm beginning to think that I may be able to combine at least some of them together with this new toy.
Then I decided that I should really at least take a look at the placemat project. I dragged my feet across to the weaving studio across the hall.
When I left some time later, you might say looking at these two pictures, that I didn't really get much done. However, these pictures don't really tell the whole story!
The first thing I had to do was to measure the hem that is at the start of the placemat. I can't tell you how many times I have gotten to the end of a placemat and forgotten how wide of a hem I did at the other side!
Next I had to find the grey 8/4 yarn I used for the hem. (it has been a long time since I sat down at this loom) I then emptied out a rug shuttle and loaded it with the weft that I had already prepared a couple of months ago. It took a minute or two to figure out which direction the twill was going, and then I was finally able to weave 4 or 5 inches of a 20 inch placemat.
By then it was time to go feed the animals and go to my daughters house for dinner. At least I know where I am and where I'm going.
Until next time, Happy Spinning, Knitting and Weaving, Tina
The 4 braids on the right are BFL and the single reddish braid in the foreground is Polwarth and the 2 blue and green braids are targhee. All of those braids are well within the limits I have placed on my commercial top purchases. It has to be pretty dyed colors and it has to be a sheep breed I haven't spun yet.
This is a hackle that you use when you are combing wool. What you see on the hackle right now is the last of the Cormo I was processing last week. I was able to fit 4 combs full of fiber on at once! That means that instead of having small nests of finished fiber I can have a ball of combed top that it about the size of a large orange.
I will also be able to blend fibers of different colors and textures with this hackle. I was looking at those braids at the top of the page, and I'm beginning to think that I may be able to combine at least some of them together with this new toy.
When I left some time later, you might say looking at these two pictures, that I didn't really get much done. However, these pictures don't really tell the whole story!
The first thing I had to do was to measure the hem that is at the start of the placemat. I can't tell you how many times I have gotten to the end of a placemat and forgotten how wide of a hem I did at the other side!
Next I had to find the grey 8/4 yarn I used for the hem. (it has been a long time since I sat down at this loom) I then emptied out a rug shuttle and loaded it with the weft that I had already prepared a couple of months ago. It took a minute or two to figure out which direction the twill was going, and then I was finally able to weave 4 or 5 inches of a 20 inch placemat.
By then it was time to go feed the animals and go to my daughters house for dinner. At least I know where I am and where I'm going.
Until next time, Happy Spinning, Knitting and Weaving, Tina
1 comment:
That hackle is wicked looking!!!! Be sure you take pictures if you decide to do some creative blending with your new braids of fleece!!!
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