What's on my looms?

Busy around here has recently included 18" of snow, and a 24 hour power outage.  24 hours certainly beats days (and twice in the 24 years I've lived in this house, weeks) without power.

I spent part of that time figuring out how to get some weaving done by the light of the small casement window.  The big Macomber is the only one in a room with any outside light, so I worked on the Peaches & Creme baby blanket.

This one is the Goose Eye Baby Blanket from the Nov/Dec 2017 issue of Handwoven magazine.  I actually managed to get a handle on the pattern repeats by the time I had to stop.

These are my loom dogs!  The two Aussies (Penny, red tri full size Aussie, and Jasper, red merle mini Aussie) are the only two dogs that will come downstairs into the basement with me.  The two Border collies, River and Remy, refuse to come down.

Today, after spending far too much time shoveling yesterday, I managed to make progress on warping the Baby Wolf, and beginning to wind my next warp.

This is the warp on the Baby Wolf.  It took me about a week (the warp was already measured, wound, and chained) to get this into the raddle, wound on the back beam, threaded through the heddles, and sleyed in the reed.  Today I tied on to the front beam.  The yarn is Maurice Brassard 8/2 cotton from Lofty Fiber.

This is the pattern - twill blocks, the Masters Towel pattern from Lunatic Fringe yarns.

I also started winding the warp for my next project.

These are shades of gray from the previously-purchased Gray Matter kit from Lunatic Fringe.  This pattern will use the five shades of gray, plus white, for the pattern.  It will go from dark gray to white, then back to dark gray - 11 sets, with black outside edges and thin black stripes between the colors.  I will be using black for the weft as well.

The pattern draft for this is the Jack Hearts draft from the Ashford New Zealand website.

This is the progress on the baby blanket after my weaving-in-the-semi-darkness episode.  This is about half done, if not more, and I will be putting the gray Hearts towels on this loom (the big Macomber) next.

Following this (and the finish of the Artist towels on the Baby Wolf) I am planning to start a set of Pinwheel towels in white and Peacock blue cotton.  I may go ahead and warp this while weaving these other projects.  The draft is from A Weaver's Book of 8 Shaft Patterns by Carol Strickler, #59.  I saw a Ravelry project using this draft, and the same Peacock blue cotton that I already have, and it was spectacular.

Progress

Yesterday I received three new reeds for my Structo loom, from Gowdey Reed Co.  I am delighted with the quality of these reeds, and the service received from the owner, Jim Wilson!

Here is a photo of one of the reeds, in the spare beater for my Structo (the other beater is currently in use on one of my current weaving projects).  It fits perfectly!

They arrived in perfect condition, despite UPS's attempts to do God-knows-what with the box.

I also received a new handle for my Structo last week, ordered from an Ebay seller.  I had one handle, and was using it on the back beam.  I came across this on Ebay, and am delighted.  It fits and works perfectly!

I have been making progress on both of my weaving projects.  On the Structo, my challenge has been using levers instead of treadles to operate the harnesses - a very slow process at first, but I'm getting a little faster.  I've also had to learn to be gentle with the warp.  I am learning to beat gently (or, as some say, to place the weft rather than beat the weft).  There is an obvious difference in the scarf fabric where I decided to try something new.

I've made significant progress since then.  I also had a problem with the cardboard I was using to leave space for fringes.  The cardboard collapsed unevenly around the narrow breast beam, resulting in uneven tension in the warp.  I unwound the cloth beam and rewound it without the cardboard, and I'm much happier with the tension and progress now.  I'll plan to make the first scarf (and possibly both scarves now, as there should be enough warp for two) without fringes.

On the Macomber, I have now finished the third Rosepath Plaid towel, and am working on towel #4.  I am not sure how many I will have, as I am making them shorter than the original draft intended.

No sign yet of my Baby Wolf loom.  It's not due until about Feb. 2, but I can hope it shows up early!

More weaving

As we deal with the coldest start to the new year in decades, I am working on my looms.  I finished winding the warp for my Masters towels in blue, and realized I was not going to have enough yarn to weave the towels (7-1/2 yard warp), so I am waiting on weft yarn (Brassard 8/2 cotton) from Lofty Fiber.  It should be here today, but I'm not ready to warp up the Masters towels yet, so a day or two won't matter much.

I am continuing with the Rosepath Plaid towels on the Macomber.  Yesterday I finished towel #2, of 4 (I think).  I may end up with 5 towels, as I am now making these shorter than the original pattern.

I chained off the Masters towel warp, and wound a warp for a "Scarf of Lucky Colors" from my new book, Next Steps in Weaving. This one is Jaggerspun Zephyr (laceweight wool/silk) in a medium and very light gray, and a navy yarn about the same size, of unknown materials.  I suspect it may be acrylic, but I think it will work just fine in this scarf.

I'm planning to warp this on my vintage (1937, I think) 4 harness Structo loom.  I recently ordered some new reeds for this loom from Gowdey Reed, and I'm waiting for them to arrive; it probably won't be for another week or two, but in the meantime I will get the loom warped up.  It has had a recent cleaning and I gave it a nice coat of almond oil.

I should be able to get the heddles threaded, and wind on to the back beam, while I wait for the reeds.

I also plan to order a new Schacht 8 harness Baby Wolf loom soon.  I want something portable, so that I can hopefully use it for demonstrations.  The Baby Wolf can weave up to 26" wide, and that sounds like a great size for the towels I like to make.  I really want the option of 8 harnesses (my Macomber has 10, although I have only done two sets of towels on it so far).  There are so many awesome 8-harness patterns!  I'm keeping the Macomber, because it is heavy-duty enough for rugs, and because it can weave up to 40" wide - a great size for baby blankets.

Last but not least, I have been enjoying my Cotton Clouds towel kits enough that I signed up for another round!  The kits I have done so far have been great.  The instructions are all available in easily obtainable downloads; my previous kits all came from two Interweave booklets.  And they all include plenty of yarn to finish the projects.  I have been very happy with the quality of the Aurora Earth 8/2 cotton as well.  This time I signed up for the Choose Your Own Kit club, for the whole year (one kit per month).

I picked all towel kits, in some awesome patterns and colors, including one repeat from my last set of kits - the Roller Bird Bumbaret towels, which are probably my favorite weaving project ever - although the Keep It Simple towels I wove probably 10 years ago are a close second.  Looking forward to doing that kit from the 2014 club soon!  In fact, that one (Keep It Simple), being a single-color, easy-to-follow weave, would probably be a good one to warp up for demonstrations.  I still have some of those towels around!