More Turned Taquete

I thought i would continue with some pictures of my tie/beam process.You can see that the ends are bundled into 1 inch sections i attach 2 sections onto the leaders with a larks head knot(my sectional beam is in 2 inch increments) 

Next, I tie onto the front apron rod. This is where I adjust the tension and get my warp nice and even. Note the old repurposed broom stick. It is made of hard wood, and other than being a bit bulky going over the front beam at the beginning of my project it has never given me any trouble.

When the tension is as good as i can get it,this is how the back looks. This colorful waterfall of cotton is a thing of beauty!

And here is the turned taquete! I love how beautifully square this is weaving :)

Here is a close up of the weave structure. It is just lovely :) For the weft  I'm using a slightly greyed blue called "heather" from valley yarns. This color combo is ok, but I would like more contrast and the colors are a little "muddy" The next towel I plan to try a deeper more saturated color and see what that produces.

And finally a parting shot of the current view from my loom.Traditionally we pack up our Christmas decorations on New Years day,so today is the last day to admire our beautiful Christmas tree. Out with the old and in with the new :)

May God bless you and send you a happy new year!

Turned Taquete

The turned taquete towels are going on the loom! I've been really excited to try this colorful pattern that Sharon so graciously shared with me. Her towels are so beautiful! I just had to try them :) Now that the move is over and christmas is over, I am determined to ring in the new year weaving.

This warp is 384 ends uki 5/2 cotton and double sleyed in my 8 dent reed at 16 ends per inch.

Before i thread my heddles i lift the shafts and slide in an old shuttle on each side. This raises the heddle eyes level with my reed and it is easier to thread.

This pattern is a straight draw and so simple to thread. Because my reed is double sleyed i do have to make sure that i am pulling the color sequence correctly. A major part of the magic of this pattern happens in the color sequence in the warp.

Threading is going quickly and i hope to begin winding on this evening.

Best wishes!

Traditions new and old

We are all moved into our new house!  So much work, but it is worth it to have so much space! Our newer contemporary home is so different from our little old farm house. At first i was hesitant about the move,(i loved our charming little slice of history)but i have to admit that i love how light bright and new everything is!

We are no where near unpacked, but the tree is up and we found the ornaments this weekend so it is no longer naked.You can just see my (still naked) looms getting adjusted to their new digs.I really want to put my towel warp on Lucy(norwood) and i have some great ideas for some new rugs on Murphy. (for the new house of course)

Here they are in the same room for the first time ever! Alas i have to keep unpacking,presents need wrapped,holiday baking has yet to be started and Christmas dinner still needs planning.For now i just walk by run my hands over the wood and whisper promises to them about the new year.

Just a closing shot of the gingerbread men that my mom made for me years ago when we moved into our first house.Growing up, this was the decoration that my younger brother and i would argue over. were they centered? should they be straight or swagged?One year my mom made us each a set of our own to share the tradition with our own children. I love these little men. It feels like home now that they are up for the holidays. :)

a twisted end

                                                    Does this ever happen to any one?

This never happens on my Murphy counter balance loom because it has an apron. It always happens to my warp ends on the Norwood.

My Norwood loom has a 2" sectional beam and every time the warp ends travel over the back beam the twists surface. It is total operator error i know. I have paid close attention and tried to prevent this, but these pesky knots and leaders always twist on me. I slide the lease sticks in to keep the cross and it allows me to weave to the end of the warp.Some how, this narrow sample warp twisted particularly bad.

The overshot sample is cut off the loom and being finished. no pictures just yet. The loom is sitting naked amongst boxes at the moment.

why???? 

Because we are buying a new house! we have long grown out of our little 900 square foot starter. The new house closes just before thanksgiving and is over double the space! Most importantly, it has a formal dinning room that will hold both my looms and all of my weaving equipment :) Dear hubby has started calling it Heathers loomy bin lol. i have plans to install an 8 shaft loom in the next year...shhhh i haven't broken that particular news to the hubby yet. lol baby steps.

so no weaving going on at the moment, just packing and more packing.

my overshot samples have been washed and are waiting to be pressed and sewn into little pincushions. I packed all my yarn shuttles and books first because i know a new warp would have snuck its way on the Norwood. Thats all for now.I have to get packing. So much to do in the next few weeks.

laundry day = weaving

Sunday is laundry day at my house. Which means...weaving in between loads :) i wonder if anybody else has found a new appreciation for laundry because of weaving/laundry breaks.

The wine color is ruby glint and it went nicely with the champagne warp,but i love the blue :) The blue is valley yarns 5/2 cotton and the color is called nautical  .

 

If anyone was wondering about the book reference in the previous post,this is it. It is a fabulous book and i highly recommend purchasing it. The printer used high quality materials and it as a pleasure to sift through.

I am finding overshot to be a rewarding weave structure. It is fun to see how quickly the pattern builds.While i'm not ready to go out and design my own overshot patterns yet, with a little more experience  i can see how it would be quite tempting. I'm learning quite a lot with my little samples. Next time i will choose a looser sett. My weaving is not as square as i would like. I am also interested to see what a dark warp and light weft produce.

playing around with overshot

Here is the Juliet 2 draft woven as written. i'm just playing around with this draft. i wanted to use up some of this 5/2 uki cotton from another project. The green is called "evergreen" and the golden yellow is "champaign". Isn't this overshot pattern pretty? I like it! it's fairly easy, but the treadling pattern is long enough that i'm not bored. Next i plan to use up some wine colored cotton. i also need to work on the selvages. The green thread is leaving little bumps. I'll be sewing this fabric into little pincushions,so the edges really won't matter.  On the other hand, i want to produce the best quality my skill level is capable of. Thanks for stopping by!

summer weaving

summer vacation is over and school started back up last week. i was able to get two warps on my loom and woven off this summer.

the first warp you might recognize as the turned monks belt project in issue 26 of weavers craft. i love plain weave and this draft turned out lovely. thank you Jean Scorgie for inspiring so many weavers with your fabulous publication!

the second warp was also inspired from the weavers craft publication vol 1 issue 2, however i played around with the treadling and tie up so they are not a complete match.

i actually wove 4 towels on the turned monks belt warp and 6 towels on the point twill warp,but i gave some away before i remembered to take pictures. here is a picture of the ones i have left and took for show and share at my local guild meeting last night.

currently i have an overshot sample on my Norwood loom. i just bought the book: Weaving Designs by Bertha Gray Hayes Miniature Overshot Patterns. this is design 76 Juliet 2, but im not treadling as written. im just playing around with the pattern.  i might turn this sample into pincushions or gift bags.

next in line is a draft that Sharon from "in stitches" sent me. here is my small warping board with the beginnings of a 4 1/2 yard warp.you can see her beautiful weaving at In Stitches. thank you Sharon for sharing this weaving draft with me :)

yummy bowl of warp chains waiting their turn on the loom.

this vintage casserole my dad gave to me was the color inspiration. thanks dad!