Monday, June 22, 2020

Pandemic Weaving

Not 2 Square Weavers have been meeting monthly for many years.  All of a sudden, the pandemic put all of that to an end, at least for the foreseeable future.  So, like many other groups, we have reverted to Zoom meetings.  

The first few meetings were a bit strange because we are used to passing around our month's work, asking questions and feeling the textiles with our hands. But, after several meetings now, we are getting used to the new format and still want to share what we are doing with other weavers.

This month, Diana shared a stunning scarf with us.  She delved into the world of supplementary warp and used a pattern from an older issue of Handwoven. 

Here is her description and a photo of that scarf.

Structure
Ground Warp- plain weave and Atwater-Bronson lace
Supplementary Warp - Overshot

Fiber
Ground warp:  8/2 rayon in pale yellow and natural
Supplementary warp:  20/2 rayon doubled, in teal
Weft:  8/2 rayon in pale yellow

Sett
24epi (48epi in supplementary warp areas)

Finished size
8 1/4" W x 73"L + fringe

Notes
When winding the warp, add at least 20% more in length to the supplementary warp than you have wound for the ground warp.


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Ingrid has been weaving scarves, and like Diana, is trying out new weaving ideas.

Here’s a picture of the new scarf.  It was woven with 10/2 tencel from Just Our Yarns (different color-ways for the warp and weft), sett at 36 epi.  The structure is an 8-point M’s twill, the tie-up is 2-2-1-1-1-1- twill.  It wove up beautifully, didn’t shrink much and felt nice and soft after a gentle machine wash and laying flat to dry.

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Wendy-Marie has moved out of the area, but the fun thing about Zoom is that she can again participate in Not 2 Square.  This month she had a couple of adventures to share.

"This month I worked on a scarf based on Sarah Jackson's "Brasberry Scarf," (Handwoven, May/June 2019).  Since she used analogous colors and I did not, I was not sure how it would turn out.  But the blocks came out fine.  In the Jackson pattern, the weft changes color 4 times, and the blocks expand as the scarf progresses.  I think I will re-do using only one weft color and only one block size.

My second project was a boundweave rug based on Wendy Bestor's design, but not her colors.  This uses Collingwood rug wool (900 ypp).  I found it came out better for the weft if I wound three threads of wool together on the bobbin than to throw the yarn three times in one shed as suggested by the pattern.  I did not achieve anything like 14 ppi, so ran out of warp.  My weaving buddies tell me this is because I was using my Baby Wolf and suggest that I weight the beater next time round.  Despite a number of weaving errors (including accidental asymmetry), I like this rug a lot.  It is very attractive and sturdy."