A Memorable Weekend

We had a wonderful weekend with musician friends with whom Don worked off and on for many years. Some came from Kansas City, MO, Cleveland, Ohio and Mobile, Alabama. We met everyone at a local restaurant on Friday night and then again on Saturday about noon in order to set up music equipment and rehearse. There were approximately 20 musicians there. Not all played but so good to see them all. There were about 150 guests there. Some have attended every time this group of friends has gotten together to play and visit. Each year, we are afraid might be the last we see some as all are getting older and some in poor health. One came (and sung) who we had not seen since 1975. What a joy to renew an old acquaintance and meet his family.

Winding a Skein into a Ball

Remove and save the label for sett suggestions or gauge. Open up the skein. Ideally, you will own an umbrella swift and ball winder and these instructions are assuming you do.  Insure that the skein is not twisted, then place the skein on the swift bringing the swift up to meet the circumference of the skein. Locate the beginning/end of the yarn; this is where the beginning and end were tied together. Cut this loop (last) and the remaining tie-bands off the skein. Caution: This step should not be done prior to placing the skein on the swift.  Wind off a couple of rounds to see if the yarn is going to feed evenly and insert the end into the ball winder and wind into a center pull ball. If the yarn seems like it is tangled, it is probably just a kink in that spot. Resist the temptation of weaving in and out as it misaligns the yarn. Usually, if you will give the yarn a little pop close to the skein, it will loosen the kink and you can proceed to wind into a center-pull ball. If you are using a hand dyed yarn and using more than one skein, lay one skein on top of the other to insure the color is running the same direction. Then, be sure you wind in the same color order.

Publishing with New Laptop

If you are a follower, you might have noticed that I posted approximately 30 pages in the last few days. Most are from my old website which presently resides on my old desktop. We are in the process of clearing the harddrive and I will be posting from my new laptop. I could not publish from the laptop and hopefully, this change to the new blogger interface that Kim recommended will help.

Mother Bunny and Bunny Love

Thanks for bearing with me while I transfer files from my former website to blogger. There will be many files that I hope will be helpful to weavers.

In addition, here are the latest rug hooking projects I finished and gave to my sister-in-law who loves bunnies. They were designed by Karen Kahle of Primitive Spirit Rugs and were a lot of fun and fast to hook.

Knitting or Weaving Yarn?

I have often heard yarns referred to as knitting yarns or weaving yarns. I've heard it said that yarns on a cone are weaving yarns and yarns on a skein or ball are knitting yarns; that stretchy yarns should not be used for weaving; that knitting yarns are pre-washed and weaving yarns are not pre-washed. An educated guess is that a dyed yarn has been pre-washed.

It can certainly be confusing but the truth is that none of these factors define a knitting or weaving yarn. These are only conditions of the yarn that should be considered before knitting or weaving a project.

If you are in doubt of whether a yarn will make a good knitting or weaving yarn, first consider how you will use it. For example, a stretchy yarn might not make the best warp. But, it might be used for example. Or, if in doubt, and you want to use the yarn, use it as weft.

If you are using a hand dyed yarn, consider that it has been fulled some and sett it closer than a mill dyed yarn. If knitting, knit a swatch with 3 to 4 sized needles and wash the swatch to determine the needle size to use for the finished product.

In addition to how you will use it, consider the qualities you want in the finished product. Would you like a scarf that is lightweight or heavy, warm or cool accessory, nice drape or very light? Qualities of the finished product are largely determined by the fiber content of the yarn and structure of the fabric.

For a lightweight scarf, go with a laceweight yarn. For something a little heavier, a fingering weight and even heavier, a DK weight. (If you go any heavier, you're going to have a saddle blanket around your neck. Ask me how I know! )
For a lightweight, warm scarf, consider a protein (animal) fiber such as wool, silk alpaca, etc., or combinations of the same such as Jaggerspun Zephyr Silk/Merino. Melody Superwash Wool or Harmony Laceweight Merino are also good choices for warm, lightweight scarves.

For a lightweight, cool accessory with nice drape, tencel is a good choice and can be used for both knitting and weaving warp or weft. For something a little lighter, knit or weave with 5/2 perle cotton.

By considering the structure, any of the examples above can be knitted or woven so that you have an airy scarf or one that offers more warmth and drape. Choose knitted or woven lace for an airy scarf, stockinette or twill for a heavier scarf. Change the gauge or sett to suit the fabric you desire.

Knit or weave with the yarn of your choice and enjoy the process!

Warping Board or Mill?

I prefer a warping board as does at least one master weaver and another production weaver I know. They both have their place. If you have nowhere to mount a warping board, then a mill might be the answer. It has its advantages and disadvantages. For long warps with very little color change or for limited physical space, they are very good. You might consider a door frame with removable dowels if you have limited space. Just don't wind a warp over a door that you will need to enter or exit! When you've finished winding the warp, remove the dowels from the door frame. Be sure the dowels are of maple or oak or they will bend and break. Ask me how I know. If you can't do that, you might consider warping pegs as they are portable and inexpensive. These are good for short warps.

The "tickets" to good selvages:

Keep your weaving space midway between the breast beam and beater - known as the "sweet spot." It's where you get the best shed. Only weave for about an inch and advance your warp often. Don't try to get your money's worth from an advance of the warp by weaving as close as you can to the breast beam and as close as you can to the beater. Your selvages will show it when you take your warp off the loom. And here is the reason why: the arc of the weft is different at the breast beam than it is at the beater. So, narrow the space in which you weave.

And do not fool with the selvages as you weave. It will loosen the tension on your selvages so that when you take it off the loom, the selvages will "wave" lengthwise.

Strive for an even beat. Get in a rhythm with throwing and beating. When you get up from the loom, loosen your tension and tighten when you return to weave - unless you are going to come back in a few hours. Even then, when you sit down to weave, beat before you throw your next pick as the pick will have "traveled" ever so slightly toward the breast beam so that when you hold your weaving up to the light, the beat will be uneven - even after washing.

Don't overload your bobbins as it puts pressure on the selvages. Throw evenly and, again, with rhythm. You will always have one selvage that is not as good as the other. It's universal as most of us are not ambidextrous.

More About Color

Once upon a time, I didn't like yellow - or any derivative of it - like yellow orange, orange, yellow green, olive, etc.. I could not bring myself to include yellow, yellow orange, orange or even a bright turquoise in a handwoven garment. Something was missing from my fabrics and I really couldn't put my finger on it. After all, I was choosing colors that I loved that "went together." This must have seemed a problem to a lot of weavers as Marcy Petrini, friend and weaving teacher, taught a portion of one of her classes entitled "How to Make an Ugly Color Disappear." We were instructed to bring the colors that we liked the least. Everyone showed up with some fairly hideous colors, in my opinion at the time. (I have since taken a liking to all colors.)  I took along a very shiny rayon of which I had space dyed in complementary colors, turquoise and orange. It even had the "benefit" of a little brown where it wicked in the middle. My thoughts were 'let's see what she can do with this.' (-:  With a little twisting of yarns in the more conservative colors that I loved and in varying amounts, I was pleasantly surprised! The twist of yarn in the colors I loved was no longer dull but full of life! I planned a project with just a highlight of that shiny turquoise and orange and the fabric was so alive that I used up the remaining of the yarn in other projects and had to dye more!

Since then, I have had opportunity to do a lot of testing with color and have found that I generally want a little spark or highlight in hand painted yarn so that the resulting fabric will be warm and friendly. If I don't add it into the colorway, I try to add it by using a highlight of mill dyed in the warp or a warm weft in a handwoven or knitting two together in a knit. In order to make life easier for times when I don't want to do a lot of color planning for the end fabric, I find it best to add a small section of highlight in the dye process, adding only a little so that the resulting fabric will have an appropriate amount of spark.