Put To Good Use

At the end of this month the Chilliwack Spinners and Weavers Guild is saying goodbye to two valued members. Both ladies are moving to new communities where they will be closer to family members. We will miss them here, but wish them well in their new adventures.

As always seems to happen with a move, some downsizing and purging is done. I was the recipient of one departing member's destashing of some cotton yarns. I'll put them to good use! I made the above fringed cowl using a lovely cotton/linen yarn that was part of that destashing. It was put up on bulky large core cardboard tubes and I felt the best way to store that was to not store it at all, but to use it immediately.

I'm going through the smaller remnants of cotton with a similar thought, making up mixed colour warps to empty as many of the cardboard cores as I can. The first warp is for a run of plain weave towels in colours I'd not likely want to use for clothing.

I also pulled a few colours that happen to coordinate well with the floral print of pinafore I sometimes wear. This Inkle band will be made into another interchangeable band for my medical information tag.

Thank you ladies for the time you've spent with the guild and the service and friendship you have provided. You shall be missed.

Monsoon Calamity Indulgence

I was given a lovely gift of a huge 1050 yard cake of MonsoonCalamity gradient yarn in the "I Must Be Crazy" colourway. It's a fingering weight yarn made up of 4 finer strands held together. The colour changes gradually throughout the ball.

As soon as my loom was free I wound a warp to coordinate with it.

I put a few stripes of the gradient yarn into the warp and then for the remainder of the warp I chose mercerized cottons that harmonized with it.

The warp was then woven with the lovely gifted yarn as weft, keeping the colour gradient in order.

Final result after wet finishing is 16" wide x 4.72 yards in length. Or in metric terms it is 41cm in width and 4.32 metres in length.

I haven't decided yet what to make with the finished yardage. I think ti could be lovely clothing of some sort. It's soft, has great drape, and washes up beautifully by machine.

2020 Tour de Fleece

Spinning outside on our first really nice day this summer. Not too hot, not too cold, not too windy, nor raining. The mosquitoes weren't even too bad.

I'm participating in the "Tour de Fleece" this year. For about three weeks spinners spin along, most years while watching the Tour de France bicycle races. The actual races were postponed until August this year but the Tour de Fleece will go ahead now, since for this event social distancing is entirely doable. 

I'm spinning wool and wool blends on my Majacraft Little Gem and cotton on my Mahatma Gandhi Centennial Charkha.  

Lovely Soft Cotton

The organic cotton warp I was working on in March has come to an end. I managed to weave three long table runners each in a different natural handspun cotton. No dyes used! There is Sarepta Brown cotton on the left, natural Acala cotton on the right, and natural green cotton at the bottom.

After washing, the colour transformation in the green was quite remarkable. The punis and storage bobbin below show the natural green as it looks before washing in hot water or soaking for 30 minutes in ammonia. The runner is an example of the "after" wash colouring. 

The runners are all woven to a generous length for either my kitchen table or a couple of display chests I have in the living room.

I'm very happy with the way they turned out.

When the runners were complete I still had some warp left and played around a bit with other weaving techniques including a pick up lace and traveling inlay. 

Natural Green Up the Nose

A pound of natural green cotton arrived early this morning.

Of course I had to get spinning it right away! I must say it's a little different than spinning the Acada White or the Sarepta Brown cotton. I had more trouble getting started and my results, at least so far, are a little less consistent. I'm sure that will improve with practice and experience.

I also noticed that I'm getting a lot more airborne fluff flying about clinging to my face and getting up my nose. I think it would be wise to wear a facemask while spinning this. 

Of course with all this CoronaVirus hysteria going on the chances of being able to buy a facemask right now are practically nil. I guess I'll be looking up the home sewn variety before I continue.

And Now the Reverse

Another table runner, this time with the colours reversed. 

2 ply handspun Sarepta Brown cotton for the main weaving, 2 ply handspun Acala White cotton for the stripes. A small portion at each end done with singles to make hemming less bulky. 

Weaving Handspun Cotton

I've spun and I've spun over the past few months, spinning up at least 2 pounds of cotton now, but this is the first time I've actually used my cotton. Now that I've tried weaving handspun cotton I'm definitely hooked. I really love the way it looks and feels.

This is the beginning of my first weaving. I cut it from the loom to use as a wet finishing sample when I spotted a mistake in the threading. It's marked on the right there with a pin. Two threads were in the same heddle. I've since rethreaded and have continued weaving.

I've already woven enough to complete quite a long table runner but I have plenty more warp to work with. This prewound Saori warp was a Christmas gift from a very generous friend.

The warp is organic cotton in varying thicknesses in natural undyed brown, green, and white. The weft is all my own handspun! Such a pleasure to weave with it. The first runner is predominately handspun Acala white with three stripes of Sarepta Brown at each end. I think I'll weave a second runner with the opposite combination. 

Unusual Fibre Arts Tool

I've joined the ranks of power tool users. Though I can't grunt like Tim Allen of "Home Improvement" the thought is there.

This cordless electric screw driver is not borrowed from my husband. It's brand new and it's mine, all mine! It's a gift from a wonderful husband who understands that there are more thoughtful things than flowers.

Although perhaps my use of it is a little unconventional?

I'll be using it to speedily wind the cops of cotton singles from the limited capacity (about 0.25 oz) charkha spindles to a storage bobbin that will hold much more length. When the storage bobbins are full I can then place them on a Lazy Kate and use my wheel to ply two or more together.

Storage Bobbins

The cotton spinning continues but lately I've been transferring the singles to Bobbins-Up storage bobbins and allowing them to add up so that plying will result in bigger skeins rather than the tiny half ounce ones that come directly from the charkha spindles.

 

The protruding "bits" of these storage bobbins fit directly into a standard drill for faster, easier transfer from the spindles. Later the bit is removed and the bobbins can be placed on a Lazy Kate for plying on a spinning wheel.

Twilight Fuschia Squid

The "Twilight Fuschia" yardage has now found its way into a garment. I've sewn it up into a Saori top/dress that is, amongst Saori weavers, commonly called "The Squid". Usually it's a shorter top, I've lengthened my version.

I really love the draped collar on this design. It's great for showing off interesting fringe treatments like the "finger fringe" I've done here. 

Finger fringe is tedious and time consuming to weave, but the results are, I think, worth the effort.

My Squid is 100% cotton, mostly 2/8, but with some 2/10 and 2/16 included as well. The wandering pattern is "travelling inlay" done in commonly available "kitchen cotton", the kind used to knit dish cloths.

The Squid design is based on a folded layout that makes the front completely on the bias, 

while the back has one side with the warp situated vertically and the other side horizontally.

I'm very happy with the way my "Twilight Fuschia Squid" has turned out and I'll be wearing it often. There will be more variations on this theme in my future, I'm sure.

Dreamy Cotton

I'm so pleased with the little skein of 2 ply natural brown cotton!

It spun up beautifully! I have a whole pound of it to work with and it's so delightfully soft and squishy that I think I'll spin it into a 3 ply for knitting. But for now -- back to the white cotton I was working on.

Nine Ribbons

I entered 8 exhibits in the 2019 Chilliwack Exhibition and managed to win 9 ribbons! 7 firsts, a second, and a Best in Show.

Firsts for a "counted cross-stitch on aida",

an "adult hat and scarf", (my Year in Temperatures Scarf with a hat to match)

a "recycled article with a major style change", (a tunic made from duvet cover)

"Spinning - any natural fibre, plied" (a 2 ply cotton)

"Collection of 3 or more decorative items", (16 of my Stitch Meditations")

"Yardage of woven material", (my travelling inlay Saori yardage)

"Wearable article woven with recycled material" (my coat from denim strips).
The coat also won a "Best in Show" rosette.

And in the "Scarf or cowl" category I received a second place. 

Khadi Khanoo

Such a funny yet fun name for a shuttle, The Khadi Khanoo. What a gorgeous shuttle this is in the African Bubinga wood.

It's specially designed to accept a loaded spindle rather than the usual boat shuttle bobbin. This way singles can be woven straight from the charkha spindle rather than being rewound first onto a bobbin. 

I purchased it from NewWorldTextiles.com but apparently they are made by BlusterBayWoodworks.com.

First Cotton Skein

My first skein of handspun cotton. I'm so pleased with the way it turned out.

I filled 3 spindles on the charkha (about .25 oz each), placed them on a charkha spindle lazy kate that my husband is making for me (not quite finished but I got to take it for a test drive), and then plyed them together using my Majacraft LittleGem wheel. 

The resulting skein weighs 20gr (.705 oz) and is approximately 80 yards long. I forgot to measure WPI before skeining it, but it looks to be about a fingering weight. So soft and cuddly! I love it.

Charkha

The Mahatma Centennial Charkha I ordered from New World Textiles has arrived. Let the play begin!

Spinning cotton on the charkha is much easier than I expected. It will take some time and practice to get good at spinning a consistent thickness and twist, but after watching the basic beginner portion of the "Spinning Cotton on the Charkha" DVD I was able to produce a passable cotton thread. 

Yesterday a friend dropped off a stash of cotton that she is no longer interested in spinning -- 

-- and I also received over a pound of cotton that I ordered. Lots to keep me busy for quite some time!

Naughty Tales!

As we were taking down and packing up the exhibits from the "Fibre Flair" display at the Art Room there was a last minute sale. This lovely young lady was helping with the dismantling of the show and she tried on my "Naughty Tales!" waterfall vest.

It looked fabulous on her and ended up being the item she chose as a birthday gift from her grandmother, who is a member of our guild and one of the members of the art show committee. 

This had been a last minute finish for me, only completed the night before the deadline for jurying of the submitted items. 

I only remembered as it was about to go out the door today that I had never taken the time to photograph it. I like to keep a photographic record of all things I make so I was very happy that she agreed to model it for me.

This is an all cotton vest with travelling inlay and clasped weft patterning. It is sewn in the waterfall style with a hi/lo hemline and the added interest of knotted tails, hence the name, "Naughty Tales".