Rocky Top Weaver

My lesson in color taught me another lesson...mistakes can sometimes be a good thing.  The yellow that I chose to make the second set of star towels at first didn't look like it was going to be the right color for this project.  As it turns out the yellow was perfect !  The towels together make for a cheerful display in the kitchen. Summer is a time for county fairs and to support our local textile display I was convinced by a wonderful, very experienced young (92 years) weaver to enter a couple weaving projects.  So I did.  Little did I know that it would garner me my first blue ribbon ever!     Needless to say I was shocked and it took a little convincing that it really happened.  I have only been at this about a year and a couple months, so there is a lot I have to learn.  This lesson in color that I thought was a failure turned out to be a wonderful success not only in my kitchen but the judge thought so too!  Yippee ! My list...

OK, so the learning curve is starting to show.  I have a lot to learn about color.  Earlier I had made some blue "star towels".  They turned out very nice and I thought that some yellow towels would be fun to go with them.  I am not as impressed but will keep them going.  The yellow and white bleed into each other so the stars are not as prominent.  Still they must be finished and a color lesson learned.

One more interruption, but a good one.  The kitchen has a new floor with some furry yellow decorations.  It used to be a linoleum that was a dark green tile look and was looking dated.  This new dark distressed walnut look is a lot better. Flowers from my dear friends Margaret & Tom, complete the fresh look for the dining area. The new doggie treat jar fits in just perfectly.  This was a "covert" gift from my artist friends who planned, sneaked and made the treat jar to match the kitchen.  Good job girls !! The yellow furry decorations are already testing out the new floor -  Now back to the loom !!!

Just thought some flower postings would be pretty.  This is a walkway that goes up to our new Pergola on the deck.  It smells wonderful!

Since my construction endeavor, I have gotten back to weaving.  One of the first handwoven towels I had seen was a Star Towel.  I was in love with the pattern the moment I saw it.  It was just a matter of time before I would try it. I did and I have ordered more yarn to make more.  They are made of cottolin (50/50 cotton-linen) and worked up very well.  They are soft and absorbent.  Five towels in all were made in this round, can't wait for the next color!

One more view, just for fun ! Adding shade cloth over the top will keep things cool. Now that it is stained and sealed....ready for some mornings with my coffee. Weekend project - not weaving for once ! Season for the next couple of weeks, then can stain and seal. The Wisteria will have a new home to climb !!

Final Result... This one is a hard one to display, so it looks good.  It is very soft and drapes very well.  Bamboo was a very good fiber for this summer scarf. My latest endeavor is a lace weave scarf that is made from Bamboo.  This is a wonderful, soft and easy to work with yarn.  I have put enough warp on for two scarfs and hope that they are good enough to give one away as a gift. So, I am off to a good start !

Here is the result of the 6 towels that I had alot of fun making.  The pattern turned out beautiful, and yet was so simple to weave. Color Palette  Another view Now on to another project, but the next set of towels will be the same pattern but a new palette.  Here is a start of the colors. Spring is here today, so not much weaving will get done.  My flower beds are calling me.

The last towel is in process.  It is called "Tobacco Brown" but when you put it with the white warp it looks more of a gold color.  I think I will have enough to do the full 40" for the towel and if not it will be a slightly smaller towel.  The lighting is a bit off on this one. My little helper ~   More of a true color.... Now on to the finish !!

The last an final towel is just "Basic Black".  Thought it would still fit in with the other colors, because black goes with everything.  Loving the results of just black and white!! It can be a bit dizzy !

Towel #4 is what I call, Mellow Yellow.  The name of the color is really Spectra Yellow.  It is a hard pattern to see, since the yellow pretty much blends in with the white. Closer ? Think the next color I will do will be black.  Easy,  but would show pattern definition better than the yellow.

Towel #3 is a Cinnamon brown.  Didn't think I would like it, but the more I weave I do.  For the color palette that I have chosen, it fits in nicely. Up close and personal....

One towel down, 5 to go.  The first towel done in a Mediterranean blue was a better color as a towel, then on the spool.  So, on to the next color Lime green.  So far it doesn't strike me a much as the blue, but I will continue with it.  Color variety is part of this project.

Finally, I have gotten another project going.  They are cotton 8/2 towels from an old pattern from the 1940"s.  It is simple in the treadling, but the pattern is very eye catching and is all in accurate threading of the heddles. Below is the mess that it takes to get it started....warp, warp and more warp. 8 yards of white 8/2 unmercerized cotton for the warp, then the weft will be a variety of colors that I have on hand and think would look good with this pattern. Then after all the setup the towel starts to take shape and color.  :-) Close up.... Now, there are 6 of these to make (if I measured right) so I better get busy.  Stay tuned.

After much time and hesitation, I have finally gotten the scarves done !  It has been a learning experience since the treadling was on 8 harnesses and I was using Alpaca and Silk. But the end results are beautiful, if I don't say so myself. Thought it would show up better on the white chair. Never having done fringe before, it was fun to find out there are many ways to do fringe. Now, on to the next project....

This week I have been working on getting my loom dressed with the warp for a winter scarf.  The warp is Silk Noir and the weft is Alpaca/silk.  Having never worked with Silk before for the warp, I found out very quickly that it is not as strong as the 8/2 cotton I worked with on the towels.  Only 2 broken warp threads so far and that happened when I was dressing the loom.  The scarf will have a 6 inch fringe on each end and the scarf itself is 7 1/2 inches wide.  The pattern calls for a total woven length of 72 inches.  It will be a while before this is finished. As you can see,  12 inches so far...lots to go ! Fringe at the beginning with cardboard insert.