Painted Warps

I spent a windy Thursday with my friend, Vicki, and I cannot say how thankful I am she has a large, well lit garage space. After my Press n' Seal blew off the table and unrolled about a third of it over the yard, and we were just doing prep work, we moved it inside the garage.

We each dyed six warps. It took ALL afternoon. I was exhausted when I got home. Friday was blustery, cold, spitting rain, an all around ugly day, and the warps needed to set for 24 hours anyhow, (I know you don't have to technically let them set, but I like to - I think it deepens the colors). So I washed warps this morning.

I haven't painted warps in a couple years. I used to do quite a bit of it, but times and life change. It's quite a process, not something you can do on a whim when you have a couple hours. First, I wind the warps (these are 8/2 Tencel), then wash and dry them, paint them on dye day, then wash the excess dyes out, dry them again (line drying, of course) and some day this winter, when it's cold and miserable out, I'll be weaving gorgeous scarves and stoles.

So, here's some close-ups of the individual warps. This is the first time I've had black to play with, thanks to my son-in-law, Brian, letting me use his left over dyes from tie-dyeing. It's amazing what a little black does to different colors. I had no idea it's the secret ingredient to a lot of color variation.





These are blues and purples, and a pretty heavy color saturation of both.





Grays and a rose.





Mauve, purple, blue, all of it slightly grayed.





Grays, blues, a very light dusty rose.





This one's a real mix, yellow to green, so you have all shades of yellow in there, plus some reddish, some blue, some purply red. I think this is going to be pretty.





Blues and greens.

They're drying now. Yes, my fingers are sore from washing out. Yes, I will probably do this again. No, I did not get my two 12-yard cotton warps dyed Thursday. What was I thinking? But, tomorrow's another day. I'd like to get these done before winter, and when I come back in November, it may well be winter.



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And the seasons,

they go round and round (Joni Mitchell). After a summer from the Mojave, we got rain in August, and fairly steadily since then, but not, everyone thought, enough to make a difference in fall color. I mean EVERYONE thought we were done, burnt toast, no way. But the amazing fact is, it's been the prettiest fall we've had in years.





Taken at a Conservation Area near my house - my favorite walking site when the ticks, chiggers and snakes head for their dens, die out, or whatever.

There are some color combos to think about in the woods right now. Orange is not one of my favorite colors to wear, but..... It works for some people, and it sure works in nature.

As it happens, I'll be dyeing some Tencel warps tomorrow with a weaving buddy. We'll see what colors I end up with. I like to go into a dye day with some basic ideas, but sometimes they just don't work out. That first swab, on the very end of the warp that won't be used anyhow, sometimes screams ugly things at me. After not listening to it and ending up with a couple warps that I hated from the get go, and weaving cloth that I hated from the get go, I decided life is too short.

I have my car packed - everything from a table to my color wheel, the six Tencel warps are soaking in the soda ash solution, along with a special tye dye project, and I have two 12 yard, 700+ends warps in bags to go into the soda ash as there's room, in case I get completely froggy about this tomorrow.

Dyeing warps is a bit like having a baby - you know, forgetting how much labor actually hurts? I always forget how much it hurts my hands to rinse out the warps, so this time, I over-dyed some shawls in a dyepot a couple days ago, as a reminder, and even after the aches of rinsing those out, I still have the extra warps packed. Glutton for punishment.

I am in a bit of a time crunch with this (and my other projects - more on that later) as I'm headed to Germany for two weeks starting Nov. 1, and I have multiple lists and piles of things to pack, finish, etc. all over the living room, BUT, I hope I can remember that all those warps don't have to be washed out in the SAME DAY. That's hard for me to do - not just work like a mad woman until it's done. We'll see.

So, other projects: I would dearly love to get a batch of soap made before I go, so it can be curing and ready by Christmas either as is, or remilled, again, depending on time. I have a pair of socks to finish for a friend. I want those done by Saturday and hope I get my way on this one.



I'm making myself sit and knit some each evening, which is fine, and would be no problem except last week I also started a knitted purse to be felted. I have the bottom done, ready to go up the sides, and I'm itching to be knitting on it. But the socks come first.

I have the overshot tea towel warp threaded and tied to the back beam, hopefully to be beamed and woven on at least a little before I go.

Several other small trips are in the plans before I go overseas, but that's just life, isn't it?

We had a lovely thunderstorm roll through this evening, and the temperature has dropped about 30 degrees. Beautiful clouds and sky colors. Should be a clear afternoon tomorrow for dyeing.

While walking yesterday, I also found this wildflower. I'm such a nut for purple.




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A look back

A look back at the week, that is. Despite not a lot to show for it, I was quite busy this week. I finished weaving the wool samples. They are cut off the loom and waiting for me to stack sweet potatoes in boxes so I can get to the sewing machine and secure the ends before wet finishing. On the list for this week.

I finished rendering lard for soap. Hopefully, I'll get a batch made in the next couple weeks. Rendering lard inside, in the oven, is not a thing like rendering it outside, in a kettle over a fire. It smells kind of good when done outside, but in the house, it starts feeling like you're breathing grease. I'm glad that job is done and marked off my list.

I nearly have my son-in-law's slippers ready for felting. That's going to be a bit of a crap shoot since his feet are in Germany and I'm here. I'll try to leave them a little large, and hopefully we can finish them once they are united with his feet. I would leave the whole process until then, but they have only a front loading machine - actually, I'm not sure they have any top loaders there - and it's not openable once started. So, most of the felting here, then hand felting in the sink to finish it.

He wears a 13, and the slippers, of course, in their unfelted state, are huge.





That's my felted slipper beside his (different pattern).

I went for my first fall walk in the woods today. It was wonderful, a bright, crisp morning (40 deg.), and my dog and I were the only ones on the trail.

We're supposed to have frost tonight, so I pulled my two houseplants inside this afternoon. Frost means the garden will need clearing, at least the tomatoes and eggplant. The lettuce, chard and kale should be blissful with the cooler weather.

And, I wound warps.





The shiny ones on the back of the couch are 8/2 tencel. There are six scarf/stole warps there. I'll wash them this week, and hopefully, be able to dye them the next week. My friend, Vicki, and I will be dyeing together.

The lower, ochre colored warp chains are 10/2 cotton natural for the next overshot tea towel warp. You can really see the difference in color, huh? I was hoping to get started on at least sleying it this weekend, but it was not to be. Friday was a long and late day at work for our Membership Picnic (moved indoors due to weather) and I was feeling tired, low energy, tired, a bit head-achey, and did I mention tired? on Saturday. Plus it was a cold, drizzly day, which didn't help me feel any better. I knit, wound warps, and read.



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Slipper-y preparations

I've worn felted slippers for several years. The pattern used is made with a double strand of worsted and the slipper turns out quite substantial. Good for general wear, but too thick to weave in.

Then, last winter, my sister gave me a pair of felted slippers made in the style of ballet shoes, and made with one strand of worsted. I was delighted to find I could weave in them. This is a VERY IMPORTANT finding. While weaving overshot, or some twill that involves dancing across the treadles carefully, I am fine weaving barefoot. But with plain weave, or a twill pattern that involves using treadles side by side, i.e., treadles 1, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, 1, I bruise my feet pretty badly. The treadles are close and I can get a good speed up with these patterns, so as I release, say, treadle 1, I'm quickly pressing down on treadle 2. Treadle 1, on the way back up, whacks my foot where the big toe joins. I have had 2" of pretty bad bruising there.

It's not good to continually bruise a certain place, I don't think, so when I wore a hole through the ballet type slippers, I knit some more. I have 3 pair now, (good to slip into a suitcase for travels. I felted these this morning:





Cute, huh? Now I'm working on a pair of the sturdy, double strand type for my son-in-law, at his request.

I have a sample warp on the loom. A friend gifted me some 24/2 wool, which I could never afford to buy, so I stuck on a sample warp of white. It's 10" in the reed, 30 epi and I'm weaving 10" samples of plain weave, single strand weft straight twill, and double strand weft straight twill. My plan is to have 3 sets of these. One will remain as cut off the loom, one set will be hand washed, one set will be machine washed and fulled. Then I'll see what I know.

I still want to get an overshot tea towel warp (sample warp for my next coverlet) on and woven before I go to Germany in November. I'll try some of this 24/2 wool on that, too, just for grins.

I really like coverlets made of all cotton because of the easy care. Throw it in the machines. Even though traditional coverlets are crossed with fine wool, it's never appealed to me because of the care aspect. So, I'll sample it with the tea towel warp, wet finish in different ways, and see if I could live with a coverlet crossed in wool.

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Now for a little prep work

The coverlet is done. I'll try to get a pic of it on a bed up soon - too late today. The rugs are done. I dug my sweet potatoes today after returning from Weaving Guild (which was delightful, as always).




I use raised beds, and these were grown in an 8'x4' bed. I dug them with a hand trowel and my fingers. I LOVE raised bed gardening.

So, sweet potatoes are off the list of urgent things to do. I have several things to do to the house and yard before cold weather hits, but I also need to wind warps for dyeing. A friend and I are going to have a dye day, bring the warps we have wound (or measured, depending on your nomenclature), and I have zero, count 'em, zero warps ready. I want to have at least 4 or 5, but mostly they'll be narrow, so that's not such a big deal. I'll be using 8/2 Tencel. The Tencel gods have decided there will be no more 10/2 in natural available, so 8/2 it is. I'll just have to sett it close enough that my 10/2 Tencel colors will give me the desired effect.

So, about this winding/measuring deal. When I take yarn from the cone and wind it on the warping board in 100-end bouts, I call that "winding." When I put it on the loom, I call that "beaming." However, not all weavers use these words. Some call the process of putting the warp on the warp beam "winding," and the warping board process "measuring." It would be nice if we all referred to it as the same thing... probably not going to happen.....

I still have a lot I'd like to accomplish before I head off on my winter trips. I hope to get another overshot tea towel warp at least beamed, and possibly woven, and the next coverlet warp on. I'm on a coverlet/blanket rampage, and I can't stop!

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Friday odds and ends

I work a part time job - a/k/a/ my day job - at KMST Public Radio in Rolla. I usually work 8 a.m. - noon. Since last Saturday, though, we've been in Drive Mode. Twice a year we go to our membership and ask for money, and as annoying as it may be, we cannot survive without it. So, last Saturday from 4:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m., Sunday noon - 5:00 p.m., and Mon. through Fri., from about 5:40 a.m. - 1, 2, 3 o'clock, depending on how much I felt up to, has been spent at the office. It's much easier to process pledges a day's worth at a time, but I must admit that I left today shortly after 1:00. I am, to quote an old neighbor, "wore to a frazzle." Very tired.
In the meantime, in my pastime of weaving, I've been weaving a rug for a young friend who's getting married.




This is Pendleton worm. I saved my neutrals/solids when I recently cleared my raw product of worms of all other colors. The background is light blue, the window squares dark blue. I warped enough for two rugs, and I'm glad I did. Though difficult to get a good read on until it's off the loom, it seems to be very............uhmmmm, blue. I don't think they have anything against blue, but still, it's really ..... blue.
I felt lucky to get this one completed working late afternoons and evenings this week. Today I sewed other colors together, and will weave another rug this weekend - hopefully less blue. I'm on a time constraint for this gift - no pressure!
I also hope to get the coverlet pieces machine stitched and hemmed this weekend. (I only work from 2:00 - 10:00 p.m. tomorrow, and have Sunday off.)
In other odd things this week, I learned by happenstance that my iPad2 does not actually send photos anywhere when you choose that option and put in an email address. Which means photos of my art entry, which I blithely sent from my iPad a couple weeks ago, never got there. Luckily, I had permission to be late with my entry, and sent photos off last night, using my dinosaur desktop. Note to self: when sending anything important, CC yourself so you know if it sent.
My refrigerator was bereft of food this evening, so I drove to the grocery and picked up supper:




Don't know if you can see, but that's freshly smoked pork steak, slaw and Shock Top. It's going to be great, and my dog is anxiously awaiting the leavings of the pork steak.
Hopefully,next week I'll have enough breathing room to start eating healthier than this week has been. Here's where I'll start: my garden:


But right now, it's take-out from the local grocery and no alarm tomorrow morning. Bon appetit!
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Beginning the finish

The coverlet pieces are off the loom, washed and dried. They've been sitting on my couch for most of this week, looking at me reproachfully as I hurried by them up the stairs to thread and beam the rug warp, as I finally finished the kitchen paint job, as I did a myriad of things that I'm sure were essential. But this evening I finally stood in front of the coverlet pieces and started our conversation.

I had already laid them out on the floor to see if they came close to matching, and they do, for the most part. I think there is actually a snowball's chance in hell of making this one work. I'm pretty determined to give it my best shot. This translates to sewing the pieces together by hand first, matching the pattern with each stitch, before I take it to the machine and make it permanent.

It's important the pieces stay as un-tensioned as possible, so I started out on my zafu and a pillow, so I can sit cross-legged for a period of time and still walk tomorrow, and the floor supports the bulk of the coverlet, so gravity doesn't pull on it. This was my workplace tonight.





Not saying I'm going to stay on the floor. I have it started now, and I know exactly where the needle has to go into the pattern (on both pieces) to make it match (I think). And I think I can keep the correct tension going even if I'm not sitting on the floor. Who knows, maybe I'll graduate to a chair! Whoo-ee! Party Down! (But the zafu is pretty comfortable, too.)

That's all tomorrow, though.

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