Weaving Water
The first warp is off the loom now.
I finally found the watery turquoise blue silk warp that I was looking for and managed to dress the loom (back to front) almost entirely by myself (the DH helped hold the warp while I wound on the back beam)… but not without some hiccups along the way.
The Louet Spring comes with some screw eyes at the back, below the back beam, so that you can tie your lease sticks there and keep them there during the entire weaving process. Well, I tied mine there with crappy lightweight yarn and the lease sticks kept falling off and somehow I ended up pulling the lease sticks out entirely before the warp was threaded, thus losing the ever important “cross”. To add insult to injury, I managed to spread out the warp nicely and cleanly through the lovely built-in raddle on top of the castle … then accidentally pulled a whole pile of warp ends out of the raddle causing silk yarn mayhem. Yarn, yarn everywhere… not in sequential order… oh! the horror!
The silk (20/2 cultivated silk) also pills like crazy when winding on the back beam. So frustrating. That kind of stuff makes me want to switch to cotton or wool, but I can’t get over the beautiful sheen and gloss of silk… the drape… the crunch… I guess it’s worth it.
For the first scarf (twill) I used an entire 50g skein of 20/2 silk for the weft and the final scarf measures 8.25″ x 71″ (not including fringe, before washing). The second scarf was woven in plain weave (tabby) and so it measures slightly wider — 8.5″. I used a half skein of 20/2 slubby silk that was dyed in Procion MX (intense blue) for the weft and ended up with a short (!) scarf at 42″. It’s so short, I’m thinking I might make it into a little pillow for my weaving bench. The lesson here is that I need to figure out a way to keep track of how many inches I’ve woven…
Now, I just need to do all the twisted fringe, wash and press them and they will be ready to wear! Maybe I can wear one to the Sam Roberts/BSS/The Stills outdoor concert next week… 100% silk woven at 30 epi should be dense enough to prevent sunburn, eh?
And thanks to everybody for leaving such fantastic comments for the contest! There’s wisdom in them there internets. The contest is still open until midnight tonight, afterwhich I will be a turquoise-handdyed-and-handwoven-silk-scarf-wearing-grown-up.
Tags: 20/2 silk
Well, for all the warping horrors, the finished product certainly renders them a distant memory! I’m impressed that you jumped right into silk. Me, I’m still in the wool-or-cotton-warp-training-wheels stage…such a newbie.
Your eye for color is astounding. I’m drooling over that lovely turquoise color.
Have a happy, happy, happy birthday!
as always, its more than beautiful.
you’re photos are my favorite eyecandy.
hte color. the light. can’t beat it.
Wow that’s beautiful!
While I can’t claim any experience with weaving, the weavers I saw at our local sheep shearing festival pinned a fabric measuring tape to their work while they wove…. when they were ready to “roll up?” their woven work they spread the tape measure up the length of the work, put another pin into the tape and took the first pin out… that way they always knew how far they had woven.
Gorgeous, but it all sounds very complicated. I agree with Jared - your photos are wonderful.
your weaving and your photos are beautiful
“the drape‚Ķ the crunch‚Ķ”
The scroop!
oh, that is so beautiful! you make me want to go out and learn to weave like that, it is just absolutely … I don’t have words… fabulous! Isn’t it a fantastic feeling, to be able to make something that lovely?
ok, I’ll stop drooling now
love to see your work!
Elisabeth
Lovely color
Must… stay… away… from.. weaving…
Living my crafty dreams vicariously through you!
That silk is gorgeous. It makes me want to learn how to weave.
Happy birthday!
Love the colour. It must feel wonderful around your neck. Have a great birthday.
oh the colors of your woven scarves are so beautiful-reminds me of the deep ocean-i wish i could feel the woven silk! happy birthday and many more years of exploring and creating!
Your weaving is beautiful, I admire it. Did you have your birtday? Mine was yesterday
Very nice and soft combination of colours, looks awsome, incredible. So sweet, soft, gentle, kinda thing. =) You should make some biggers, almost like a poncho…
it will look awsome 
Congratulations from Chile,
=)
Your work is beautiful! That blue is just gorgeous. And have fun at the Sam Roberts, Broken Social Scene, Stills concert. Sam Roberts is AMAZING live, and I hear the same about BSS.
breathtaking
I bet you enjoyed weaving that scarf on your new lovely loom!
I just learned how to dress the loom from front to back and find it sooo much easier. Have you tried that yet?