Polymer Clay, Reenactment Costumes, and Weaving

Here's a hodge-podge of photos from this month:

My friend at Needles and Knots here in town hosted an Altoid Tin Decoration Contest.  It was lots of fun trying to come up with a way to use the tin and then to decorate it.  The end result is basketweave in polymer clay baked on the tin.

 I started and finished a corded petticoat.  I've found that they did a great job of keeping long skirts from winding around my legs when I wore them at Conner Prairie.  This one is for the 1700's costume I'll wear at the Feast of the Hunters' Moon in October.  I'm not sure if it is period, but I don't intend to show it to anyone while I'm wearing it!

This is my latest set of handwoven towels.  They are woven on a 20/2 cotton warp, use a 20/2 cotton tabby weft and a very fine, handspun cotton weft.  The purple/blue towel uses three strands of the handspun together to create a thicker yarn.  The multicolored wefts are all single strands.  There are three towels missing from this photograph.  They were woven on the same warp, with the same tabby weft, but used a brilliant blue, handspun cotton.  Much to my dismay, the blue cotton bled and discolored the towels.  It was so disappointing!

Working with the fine (to me--I usually use 10/2 cotton) cotton was, well...fine.  The biggest challenge was that I put on a longer warp than usual and tied on to the previous warp, making for more weaving to be done.  I was very happy when these knots came back up over the back beam!  Whew!

And lastly, a very sad farewell to an old pair of potholders.  I got these through an exchange at the Wabash Weavers' Guild---years ago!  They were well used and well loved.  I've replaced them with some wool ones I made, also quite some time ago, but these old ones that I think were made by Helen will have a special place in my memories!

18th Century Bed-Jacket

The Feast of the Hunters' Moon is going to be here soon (Oct. 4th) and I needed a bedjacket as part of my costume.  So, I made one!

The pattern is available for free (here's the link) and is straight forward to follow.  The fabric is handwoven.  It's a bit of yardage that I wove with a network drafting design I made.  The warp is 10/2 cotton and the weft is a dark blue bamboo. I had just enough yardage to make this short bedjacket.  If I had more yardage, I would have extended the length another 4-6 inches.

The arm construction includes gussets.  Look at the mess of threads unravelling on this gusset.  It was awful!

I used one of Daryl Lancaster's finishing techniques from her monograph "Seams and Edge Finishes", and the edges covered in tricot binding not only look better, but feel more sturdy too!

Sheep-to-Shawl Contest

This year's Sheep-to-Shawl contest took place on Aug. 17th in the sheep barn at the State Fair.  The teams of spinners and weavers have four hours to transform washed wool into a woven scarf or shawl.  This year there were four youth teams making scarves and two adult teams making shawls.

As judges, we look at the drape of the piece and how it looks on a person.  That meant that we got to try everything on!  This shawl was from the "Serendipity" team and won first place for the adult teams.  The warp (pre-spun and warped prior to the contest) and weft are both Shetland wool.  The shawl was lovely and wonderful!

 Here is the entry from the "Dream Team".  This is a group of younger adults who had previously been on some of the Conner Prairie youth teams.  The undulating twill and warp colors were lovely!  They won second place.  Someone commented that the amount of work required for the shawls is soooo much more than for the scarves the youth teams make.  It's true.  The shawls are twice the width and about ten inches longer than the scarves. That takes a lot more yarn!

 the "Dream Team" (and a "Pirate" head off to the right)

 "Serendipity" with many of the youth teams visible in the back

 This spinner from "Serendipity" has a flick carder in her lap.  The "Serendipity" team all used the flick carders; the other teams used hand cards.

 This is the moment where the scarf is off the loom.  Any errors in the weaving need to be found and fixed.  The fringe finishing needs to be done and then it is turned in for judging.

The finished scarves from the youth teams.  From the left is the "Lady Bugs" (2nd), then "Silent Spinners" (1st), "Pirates of the Treadle" (4th), and "Wonder Wheels" (3rd).

One of the amazing things to me about this contest was the amount of process engineering that is required to know how to make this woven piece in a short amount of time.  As a spinner and weaver, I often fill a bobbin or two one week, ply them on another and weave with the yarns a few weeks (or years) later.  This contest requires all that to be done in just four hours!  The spinners never filled their bobbins.  They spun enough to fill a one inch section on their bobbin, and then changed bobbins so the plier could use the little bit they had just spun.  With four spinners, a plier, and a weaver it didn't take long before everyone was busy, busy, busy!  And, everyone was busy until the end!  Whew!  What an amazing process!

Indiana State Fair

 I entered four items in this years' Home and Family Arts "Open Class" in the Indiana State Fair.  This is the first time I've ever entered items in the fair.  In fact, it's only the second time I've ever been to this fair!  Today I finally had the opportunity to go and see how I did in the judging:

My handwoven towel in crackle weave earned second place. My friend Donna's towel got first place!  

The hat I felted for my daughter won first place and Sweepstakes!  Wow!! (The snow in the photo is just the reflection of dust on the glass of the display case.  It looks pretty though!)

My handspun, handwoven blanket with handspun knit trim won first place in its category.  I love this blanket!  It went with me to the pioneer day demonstrations and kept one or two children warm when the weather turned unexpectedly cold!  The grey yarns are wool/mohair blends and the greens are 100% wool that I dyed.

And, item #4, the sweater I knit for my youngest.  It's done in a top-down technique called "contiguous knitting".  I was really pleased with the style of knitting.  I must admit that I had to ask permission from my daughter to be sure she was ok with me borrowing her things to show at the fair.  Luckily, she granted that permission!

Butterflys and Other Things

It is officially butterfly season around my house.  The zinnias are in bloom and the butterflies love them.  This amazing butterfly has beautiful yellow and black tiger stripes on the other side of its wings and this amazing black and yellow pattern on this side.  I wasn't fast enough to catch a photo of the wings closed!

I follow Laura Fry's weaving blog. She is an experienced weaver and has lots of wonderful insights about weaving and the life of a weaver.  This week she had a post which included a phrase or two that sent me on a mission.  She said, "Now that I've twigged how to easily convert overshot patterns into twill block designs, I may explore that a bit more.  I like the large graphic nature of the the overshot translated into twill blocks."

So, I've started looking at using twill blocks to weave overshot patterns.  I think I understand the basic idea.  I've used twill blocks on 8-shafts before and like way  4-thread 1/3 twill vs. 3/1 twill shows up in a woven piece.  But, as I've been looking at this, I've wandered into an interesting bit of twill weaving knowledge.  

Crackle weave is just one of many advancing twills.

How's that for a random connection? I've done two presentations this year on crackle weave.   Thinking about twill blocks lead me to my copy of "The Best of Weaver's Twill Thrills" where I found articles by Bonnie Inouye (Fancy Twill Extravaganza on Four Shafts, p.102) and Ingrid Boesel (Advancing Twills, p. 38).  Bonnie presented the idea of non-independent twill blocks where "two blocks must always weave pattern together".  Ingrid's article included the line "twills can be straight or point or other twill orders..."  And she discussed the use of incidentals to allow for weaving plain weave.  My notes include the comment (in capital letters, no less!) Why is crackle not an advancing twill?"

What do you think?  
Why do we handle crackle weave separate from advancing twill?


I love how there is so much to learn in the weaving world! 

Current Projects

These towels just came off the loom today.  10/2 unmercerized cotton for the warp and weft.  Warp sett is 30 epi.  The weave structure is M's and W's with tie-ups and treadlings from Strickler's 8-Shaft Patterns (I think it's #158).

Finding the right weft color for this warp was challenging.  The reddish-burgandy weft shows up well as did some pink wefts--as long as they were not identical to the warp colors!

Three little monkeys.  These are drier balls that have been needle felted, but not wet felted yet.  I did one of these monkeys in all grey and it was cute, but I like them so much better with more colors!

Special "Twin" project:

Marching band camp had "twin day" for their spirit theme today.  Last night my daughter and I made an outfit for her doll (that I made for her years ago!).  It was fun to draft a pattern and make the clothes together.  The doll's t-shirt is from the same program (but a previous year) as the one my daughter is wearing!

Felted Drier Balls

 I have a group of drier balls ready for the upcoming Farmers' Market.  I thought you'd like to see them before and after final felting.

Here they are ready (or almost ready...note the color of the bird's beak) for final felting:

Then they get stuffed into an old stocking or two.  I use twisty ties between drier balls to keep them separate.

The balls get soaked in a bucket of water, squeezed to get some water out, and then they go through a cycle in the clothes washer and the drier.  After that, I do a little bit of touch-up needle felting and they are ready to pair together and use.

Farmers' Market...The Experiment Continues

I was at the Farmers' Market again this week and a friend sent me this photo that she took.  This was my third time at the Saturday market.  I had some plans change at the last minute last week and my husband invited me to spend the day at the market, so I did!  Both weeks the weather was beautiful and the crowds friendly and full of familiar faces.  One of my favorite aspects of the market so far is the number of old friends and acquaintances that I see!

On the experimental side...the addition of my new sun umbrella is a big bonus.  It is a "joeshade" umbrella, designed for parents attending unshaded sports events.  It's just the right size for my little set-up.  I'm using about 50 lbs of sand divided into three bags to keep the base stable.  Dryer balls have been a big hit.  Some people are buying them to test the concept.  Others buy them because they are pretty and will make good gifts.  Towels are also selling.  None of the towels sold the first time I was at the market.  People weren't prepared to spend that much money that day.  But the last two weeks I have sold towels as well as the dryer balls, and most of the sales have been to people who saw my things previously and came prepared to buy this time.

I'm not expecting to get to the market again until the second Saturday in July.  I have a new set of towels to weave and more dryer balls to felt, but I'm enjoying the experiment so far!

Pixie Claws/Wool Combs

I have a new set of wool combs!  These are "Pixie Claws" made by Beth Duncan.  I picked them up on Wednesday, and immediately got to work with some Border Leicester fiber I had washed.  The combs do a great job of opening the fiber, removing vegetable matter, and making ready-to-spin top.  I was  thrilled!  I ordered my set of combs with two rows of tines on one comb and three rows on the other.  My hope is that this will give me the extra combing power of multiple rows of tines, but the lighter weight of a comb that only has two rows of tines.  So far, I have kept the three row comb stationary and have used the two row comb in my hands.

 Here is the Border Leicester after a few passes (I think I was doing a total of four passes, then dizing the fibers off).  You can see the "D" shaped handle on the comb in the back.

 The combs have a holding block that allows them to be used as a hackle.

  Turning one comb upside-down on the other  gives a safe way to store the tines.(which, incidentally are not sharp, just pointed.)

 One comb has two rows, the other three (my preference).  These are the medium tines.

Ouch!

Check out what I'm wearing these days.  :(  It's a wrist brace to help keep my hand in a neutral position to help my poor overworked wrist to heal.  Last week while getting things ready for the Farmers' Market, I hurt my wrist--just doing regular stuff, I had just done too much.  It hurt so much I immediately stopped working and put ice on it.  Ouch.

Now it is doing better.  It's better enough that it is often easier to use my braced hand than it is to slow down enough and use my left hand.  That means I am using it again.  I have to keep reminding myself that the body needs time to heal.

Research and Experimentation

Today was the first phase of my latest research/experimentation.  I had a booth at the local Farmers' Market! The weather was beautiful-sunny, warm, and dry--perfect for being outside!

My "booth" is a 2'x4' folding table.  I was selling my handwoven towels in two sizes (19"x29" and 10"x15") and felted drier balls.  The drier balls were a hit and sold.  The towels were considered "beautiful" and "lovely", but none sold this week.  I'll be back at the market the second Saturday of June and will run the experiment a second time.

Bicycle Spinning Wheel

Someday, I would like to have a great or walking wheel.  In the mean time, my husband and I put together this bicycle wheel.  I hope to use it for the 4th Grade Pioneer Day demonstration in May.  

The wheel has a frame built from 2x4 lumber.  All pieces were screwed together using long (~3") deck screws.

The bicycle tire rim is attached to a short section of angle iron which had pre-drilled holes.  Our first version had short (1") screws holding the angle iron to the upright, but it was not stable.  The longer deck screws do a much better job of holding it securely. The axle from the bicycle tire rim is bolted through one of the holes on the vertical side of the angle iron.

The upright is an "L" shaped piece with a slot in it.  It is able to move back and forth and twist a little to tension the drive band.  It is held in place by the wing nut and washers on a bolt that comes up through the 2x4 of the frame.

The spindle is a knitting needle.  I originally used a us#10.5 needle, but recently swapped it for a us#9, because the 9 fit into a straw, which I am using as a bushing to make it easier for it to spin.  The drive band is waxed linen from my leather toolkit.  It does a good job of grabbing onto the slick needle and making it turn.

Many thanks to the following blog posters for their contributions:

 Rosemary Knits --proof of concept that this type of wheel could work!
 Ed Jenkins --beautiful walking wheels, and the idea for the L-shaped upright.
Alden Amos --I discovered Alden's t-frames after constructing the first version of this wheel.  This is cheaper, but I imagine that his require less fiddling! (And they look so pretty!)

Color Blending for Fiber Artists

I was thrilled to have students sign up to take my color blending class at the Fiber Event this year.  My four students blended their own 12-hue color wheel, each color blended from combinations of red, blue, and yellow.  We spent some time identifying colors in photographs and discussing different ways to use those colors in a fiber project.  It was a fun class!  A big "thank you" to all my students!

Supplies ready to go for the Color Blending class at The Fiber Event.

Here are some photos from a color blending project I finished this week and took to show my class.  The little baggies in the center contain fibers.  The bag on top were the original colors.  The lower bag are the colors after I blended them.  I ordered the original colors into an approximate color wheel and then blended each color with some of the colors to each side of it.  50% of the blend is the "main color"; 25% of the blend is from the adjacent colors.  I love how blending the colors ties them together!

The scarf is a modification of the pattern "Wingspan" from Ravlery.  It was once a free pattern, but has been expanded and is no longer free.  I liked having the information on how to tweak the pattern that is included in the paid version.  The scarf is a series of shifted triangles which gives it a tendency to curve.  It didn't take much to make the scarf into a circle for this photo! -- The cast on color is the red; the cast off color is the red-purple.

Here's a closeup of the colors of the Merino fibers.  As dyed on top; as blended on the bottom.

My turn! Fixing Errors with a Warp on the Loom

See my lovely pile of extra heddles?  I took them off my Mighty Wolf recently.  I've read about how challenging it is to have to remove heddles with a warp on the loom and tried really hard to avoid this!  Unfortunately, the way I eye-balled the warp didn't work.

This warp is 32" wide on a loom with a 36" wide weaving width.  As I threaded, I tucked extra heddles throughout the warp, hoping to avoid having to remove heddles. By the time I was tying on to the breast beam, it was obvious that I'd need to do something more.  The warp threads at the left edge of the loom were being pushed in by the extra heddles at the side of the shafts.  Time to remove heddles!

Before removing the heddles I threaded the top, the eye, and the bottom  of each group with a piece of cotton thread and tied them securely.  This should make it easy to put the heddles back on the loom later.  Keep your fingers crossed!

Now to go put the heddles away in my collection of weaving tools so I can find them when I want them back on the loom!

A Little Bit of Lots of Stuff

The above photo is of a baby blanket woven for some friends.  The warp is a burgundy color, the pattern weft is a light pink (both in 10/2 cotton) and the tabby weft is a wool/angora/nylon yarn that I recycled from a sweater dress and is dark purple.  I love the hand of the blanket!  The recycled yarn softens the hand of the crackle weave significantly!

Check out these little samples:

 They are about an inch and a half tall by one inch wide.  I'm doing a custom piece for an individual and we needed to determine color order for the stripes.  I had wound a larger piece before I realized that maybe the colors should be in a different order and started winding the tiny tests.  Well, after the fifth tiny test I had found a combo that I liked and paused for a moment to run some calculations.  With five colors the number of color combinations are 5! (five-factorial), which equals 120 possibilities!  Half of them are reflections of each other--ABCDE is the same as EDCBA, which brings the number down to 60 possibilities.  Gasp!  Still to many to manage!  My fiber enabler came to the rescue and did some programing so that I could see all sixty color combinations.  Whew!  What a challenge!

Here's another little project on my first structo loom:

 It's a plaid fabric for Conner Prairie.  They are working on recreating a piece and this is one of many plaids that will become a part of the finished project.
This is how it looked going on the loom:

And, just because I'm excited about it, check out the new little structo that has come to stay at my house!  This is not the one being used to weave the plaid, it's another one.  :)  I keep hoping that one day I will find a way to teach weaving, so I am starting a collection of these little looms. 

Short Term Visitor

We had a short visit from a weeble-wobble type friend before school let out.  My 5th grader said to me at four in the afternoon, "And, Mom, my last bit of homework is a gift for the exchange at school tomorrow."

Argh!

I did a few quick calculations and decided that if I worked quickly and figured driving time as "free time", then I could probably needle felt a gift within the price range of the class gift exchange.

So I got to work.  First I consulted with the 5th grader.  We talked ideas.  We made plans.  Then I set to work.  There are details--like the blue eyes and very red (cherry red, mom!) nose that were definitely beyond my liberty to change--but overall I thought he was cute.  And the felted friends in the cupboard enjoyed their visit from Santa very much!