6-Shaft Flowers in Slubbed Tencel and Rayon

If you read my last post, you will know that I have not been weaving or spinning for a bit, but I finally managed to finish a project I started last summer, that had been sitting on my loom being ignored or, rather, just admired.

This started with a draft I downloaded from www.handweaving.net, Draft 49712.  It is only 6 shafts, in an advancing twill pattern, which I changed very slightly to make it work for me.



The next step was deciding what colors to use and what yarns I could use from my stash.  I was determined not to purchase any new fiber, since I have way too much for my own good.  I settled on a slubbed Tencel I had purchased some years ago to make some yardage for a top, which I have not worn in a while.  While making that project, I actually had to purchase a little more Tencel to finish all the yardage for this top, so I was left with one large cone and one medium-sized cone.  I had two colors of turquoise and one of rust, the latter of which had not been used in the top.  I decided to use one of the turquoises and the rust for the warp and decided to use an off-white 10/2 smooth rayon yarn, that I also had in my stash, for the weft.

I tweaked the pattern in Fiberworks until I had it where I wanted it and to an appropriate width for a scarf at 24 epi, using a 12-dent reed.  Because the weft was not quite as hefty as the warp threads, I ended up weaving it at somewhere around 28 ppi, which gave a fairly balanced weave.  I call this draft 6-shaft twill flowers, because it reminds me of the little flowers on my tea trees in the backyard.

It never ceases to amaze me how much patterning one can get from so few shafts. Of course, this is especially true of crackle weave and summer and winter, not so often true of twill.

Once done with the weaving, I hemstitched the end, twisted and tied the fringes and put the scarf on a delicate cycle in warm water with my wool wash to help settle all the threads, so I could cut off the ends where I had started and ended the second pirn in my shuttle.  I did not completely dry it in the dryer, but hung it to dry the rest of the way, then ironed on a low setting but with steam, to bring out the silk-like sheen, bringing it back to its original width with only a very slight loss in length. It is about 66 inches end to end without the fringe length, which adds another 10 or 11 inches, and just shy of 7 inches in width.

Now I have to think up another project!  Maybe it is time for a 16-shaft pattern, since my 16-shaft table loom has been sitting idle too long.

Huge skein of 2-ply yarn on one gigantic bobbin spun on Hansencrafts Mini Spinner

I have been going through a dry spell regarding spinning and weaving.  Purchased a new Bernina sewing machine last summer and have been exploring all of its many possibilities as much as I can.  Updated my Bernina software about a month prior to that and had many, many lessons to work through to get the hang of it.

Remaining Fiber with Inglenook Fibers Label

However, this past week, with sewing machine in the shop for an update and upgraded part, I returned to spinning and weaving.

To begin, I had purchased a couple of beautiful rovings from Inglenook Fibers, one of my favorite Etsy shops.  The first was almost entirely rust-colored, a Fawn Alpaca/Silk, 70/30 combination.  I plied that with a multi-colored singles yarn that was Merino/bamboo/tussah silk, 50/25/25 combination.  I used all 4.1 ounces of the alpaca/silk and about 4.2 ounces of the merino/bamboo/silk to create a 2-ply yarn that is 7.2 ounces - I know that does not compute, but after washing, that is the final weight of this skein of yarn.  This skein is about a DK weight of 562 yards, the longest skein I have ever spun.


This was a bit of an experiment, because my wonderful hubby purchased an electric Hansen's Mini-Spinner in walnut last summer at Black Sheep Gathering in Eugene, OR, much to my surprise and delight.  He purchased it with their new lace flyer assembly, which has wonderfully lightweight draw-in. However, being used to my WooLee Winder on my Schacht Matchless wheel, I almost immediately contacted Nathan Lee of WooLee Winder, to see if he had one available in walnut for the Mini-Spinner.  He immediately shipped me off one.  When I received it, I was amazed at the size of the bobbin's almost 10-ounce capacity and decided to put it to the test, which is how this project came to mind.  I had about a fourth of the bobbin left that I could have filled with even more fiber and had absolutely no issues with plying from start to finish.  My only issues were actually since I hadn't spun much in a while, re-educating my hands to the art of spinning.


Now I have to find a project to use this yarn!





  

Finished Skein

For those who do not spin yarn, it is very Zen-like and meditative.  This skein, while not perfect, is so amazingly soft, and I have a feeling that it will bloom because of the alpaca fiber in whatever project I use it in, developing a soft halo of fiber over time.