Thursday, March 24, 2011

From 24 shafts to Plain Weave!

Ingrid is branching out and starting to design  drafts to use on her 24 shaft AVL loom.  She is a member of Complex Weavers and has joined the study group called "24 More or Less".  This group exchanges woven samples and drafts once a year.  The criteria is that draft and cloth must use at least 17 shafts; no limit to the maximum number of shafts.  Here is the sample that Ingrid wove for the exchange.  The warp and weft are 10/2 cotton and the warp has two colors - champagne and natural which gives the cloth an extra  visual depth.  The draft is an Ingrid original. 



In order to weave the exchange samples, Ingrid needed to weave off the warp that had been on the loom for an extended period of time (months, a year?)  There was enough warp for a table runner in snow white.  Won't this look great on someone's dining table!  I believe that this is a 16 shaft design.


Jackie is fond of using Alpaca in shawls and scarves.  In her stash she had an array of odd balls from previous projects so she  set out to combine them into scarves.  Using a 2/2 twill, she designed these two lovely pieces.  They were almost feather weight - but will be so very warm because of the Alpaca fiber.



Sue Habegger spent several years in Espanola, New Mexico, studying ChimayĆ³-Style weaving.  She built  her own walking loom that was sturdy enough for the weft faced rugs and wall hangings she was learning to weave.  This type of weaving is somewhat more strenuous than Sue likes to do these days, but she managed to finish up this wonderful wall hanging with a design inspired by a textile seen on the internet. Black is not a color Sue usually uses, but it is quite effective in this piece. 
 


There are still several  more things to share in my next post about March's meeting.  As I write this, it snows.  Nevada county has certainly had its share of winter this year and we can hardly wait for spring!

Friday, March 18, 2011

Handwoven towels make the best gifts!


March found us tucked inside and warm with the rain pouring down outside.  We had lots of people from our group that braved the rain and it was nice to see everyone after having skipped our February meeting.

Several weavers had been busy weaving towels.  (There is simply nothing better than a handwoven towel.) Marcy had a commission to weave towels for a friend who likes having them on hand to give as gifts.  She has a favorite draft of point twill and basketweave, and this time she wove her towels in a neutral color 10/2 cotton and colorful stripes for the twill.  The sett is 24 epi. The draft is in Weaver's Craft issue #17.



Diana also brought a selection of towels that she will be giving away as gifts as she travels this summer.  Waffle weave, plaids, stripes.  I love the textures and colors.

Diana also brought a place mat that she wove from natural colored tow linen.  The design is somewhat hard to see in the photo.  She said that before washing, the mats were really stiff.  After washing they have softened up a bit.  Now, she is looking for more linen.  I have promised to check my stash to see what I have that is similar to the yarn she used.

Gus found a block twill draft for the towels she recently wove.  She had a stack with different weft colors. Don't you love how the colors reverse on each side.



Much more to come in the next posts.