Yarn Bits

Nuit Blanche

  There should be a t-shirt that reads "I survived Nuit Blanche".  All kidding aside, last night was great fun.  So many people enjoying spectacular art in all its many forms.  I lasted until about 3:30 a.m. and Josette stayed the course until 7:30 a.m.  I knew a few hours sleep was absolutely necessary before returning today for the regular 12:00-5:00 shift. Bravo to everyone at the planning level.  Our "Wrapped in Art" exhibit was enjoyed by many and Josette and I answered numerous questions and gave many explanations for the various techniques used in the show pieces.  Visitors were introduced to knitting, nuno felting, shibori, screen printing, machine embroidery, stitch and slash, dyeing and weaving, of course. If you can, come and see these wonderful wearable art creations for yourself.

Can anyone guess the material the wrap in the closeup is made of?

The Return of the Blogger

I have been down and out for the past couple of days with some troublesome flu virus, so no blog postings.  Why is it illness strikes when you can least afford to lose time??  Like it or not I had to get at it today because the MarieJosette studio/gallery had to be cleaned thoroughly which also included all our floor to ceiling windows. So off I went with my trusty crackers and gingerale. Tomorrow night "Nuit Blanche" arrives and with it our "Wrapped in Art" exhibition of wearable art wraps, shawls and capes opens.  We did finally get all the wonderful work hung and displayed beautifully, if I do say so myself. Josette and I hope that many of you will be able to come and see all these artwear pieces.  There is weaving, of course, and knitted creations, dyed and pieced work and some spectacular Numo felted shawls. I'll try to get some pictures tomorrow.  The exhibit will run until the end of October. 

This image shows you the final fringe on the stole that I wove.  A few postings back I talked about going to Mokuba, the fabulous ribbon store in Toronto, to find some additions to my fringe because it needed some black to mingle with all the browns, rusts and orang es.  Here is the final result.

Deadlines

This was supposed to be a day away from business and it was for a little while, but a looming deadline nibbled at my conscience until I had to tear myself away from playing and entertaining our new one and only grandson.  Poor me!!  So Don and I returned to the homestead early this evening and I went back to the loom and worked for a bit on a handpainted chenille warp that will make 2 scarves and then I'm left with only 2 more to have woven this week to meet the deadline of the end of September.  I use 1450 yd/lb chenille for these scarves; sett 12 epi and 11 picks per inch and have found that setup works well. Next     month there will then be a new deadline to attend to, but one at a time, please.  Yarns Plus no longer sells handpainted chenille scarf kits, but we will always fill orders for anyone who would like some of the chenille warps.  It's just that you would have to allow us some time to dye them because we don't keep them in stock. 

New Swatch

I have finished knitting the swatch using Yarns Plus new 3/5 Tencel yarn which I mentioned a few posts back.  I cast on 40 stitches for this piece. I used 3.75 needles for this sample and really liked the results with this size needle.  I just knit a variety of stitches, stocking stitch, seed stitch and yarn over stitches.  I like the result of knitting with different stitches in the same piece, rather than only one type of stitch for the entire project, besides which this approach keeps me interested.  I used some handpainted Tencel--"plum".  It does its own colour patterning quite effectively.  I particularly like the way the seed stitch softens the colour mixing as compared to the good old faithful stocking stitch. I measured the finished swatch before and after washing and drying in the dryer and blocking each time and found there was absolutely no shrinkage.  The gauge worked out to be about 5 stitches per inch and 5-6 rows per inch.  The finished sample was lovely and soft.  It really becomes soft and silk-like after washing.

Design Resource

"Threads" magazine may be familiar to many of you, especially if you do sew wearables.  I don't often buy this magazine, but I always check it out and pick it up if there is something I feel I could use in that particular issue.  The most recent issue, November 2007, has a few articles that are quite adaptable to sewing with handwovens or knitted pieces for that matter.  There is a vest pattern which is made from a rectangle 72" x 27".  It has to be cut in 2 places to give it it's shape, but it is quite interesting and worth trying.  I do have a couple of extra pieces of handwoven fabric that have been patiently waiting for some time to be developed into a unique wearable and this could be it.  I need to measure the pieces and see if there is indeed enough handwoven or if I would need to add some commercial fabric to the mix.  Either way it would be worth a try. The 'Threads" vest is shown with a fringe which my fabric does not have, so I guess that would mean another trip to Mokuba for fringing materials.  That would be such a hardship--NOT!!

There is also a pattern review and illustrations of other patterns with details of the brand of pattern and the exact name of each one.  Many of them would easily work for handwovens. I picked up my copy at Shoppers.  Give it a look see.

Inspirational

I'm going to introduce you to an amazing blog-site.  It belongs to a knitter named Jane Thornley who resides in Nova Scotia.  I found her on the internet and since have had several conversations with her.  She has been selling her wonderful knit creations from the MarieJosette studio/gallery www.mariejosette.com  In the Spring Jane visited Toronto to deliver her work to the studio and at the same time to do some teaching at the Lettuce Knit shop in Kensington Market. (More about this delightful yarn shop next time.) I was fortunate to be able to take one of Jane's classes and just love her attitude and approach to knitting.  The image shows a sleeve from the shrug I'm working on following the Jane Thornley method. She describes her method as "free-range knitting". There really is no wrong way when it comes to this knitting process. On her site you will find a truly inspiring blog with fabulous images that illustrate how she chooses her colours and textures for her project yarns. Enjoy your visit to www.janethornley.com 

Computer Frustration

There was no post yesterday as I couldn't get the images to download from my digital camera card.  Who knows why?  (just a rhetorical question)  I did try many, many times, but the computer seemed to have a mind of its own.  This morning I did everything as I would usually do and lo and behold, it worked perfectly so I could insert an image into my last post.  I guess yesterday is a miss as far as this goes.

It was a day at the studio finishing chenille scarves for a wholesale order.  I find twisting the fringes on chenille just doesn't hold well so this is how I've been finishing a chenille scarf for many years.  I weave the entire length of scarf leaving no unwoven area for fringe.  I then wash and lightly press the scarf.  Next I unweave the length for my fringe, about 1 1/2".  Because the fabric has been wet finished the unwoven fringe has a lovely "crinkly" fringe. Lastly, to be sure the scarf will not begin to unweave itself any further, I machine stitch one row of straight stitching close to the edge of the woven area. This process seems to work very well.  I suggest dry cleaning, but a very gentle hand wash would also be fine.  A lot of agitation would drive all the chenille bits from the fringe and you would be left with only the core threads hanging--not a pretty sight. Check out the image and remember you can enlarge any of the images with a single click on them.

Mr Fix It

It was somewhat of a day away from business until this evening.  My Leclerc Weavebird needed some attention. I had jammed it and I needed a little help with the repair, so, of course, I called on my "Mr. Fix It". Don to lend a helping hand.  It didn't take very long to unjam the cable and check to see if it was weaving as it should and it was.  The real test will be tomorrow when I am weaving for a good length of time.  Hopefully I can finish off the warp which will give me a couple of new scarves for the upcoming season.  Josette and I will be at "The Moose Show" in November at the CBC Atrium in Toronto.  It is a fabulous show of crafts and fine art.  The work is of the highest caliber.  Check out their website www.mooseshow.com

Washing Day

I began the day winding new warps to handpaint.  I also had some warps dyed yesterday that had to be washed out.  I use Procion MX powdered dyes because they don't require heating, so my dyeing work can remain completely out of the kitchen most of the time. The handpainted warps or skeins need to be batched. I wrap them in plastic and then in an electric blanket set at a medium temperature and leave them all snug overnight.  When washing out these dyes, Don and I have developed a modified system that makes the process a little quicker.  We first wash out the warps or skeins, or sometimes finished woven fabrics, in cold water.  Then we wash in the hottest possible water and leave the work to soak for at least 15-20 minutes.  At times we become involved in other activities and the soaking goes on for a far longer period of time, which is not a problem.  Following the hot wash, we then wash again with cold water.  If we find there is still some dye washing off the yarn, we will put the work through another very hot wash, followed by another cold wash.  This is the only disadvantage I have found with these dyes.  Some of them take a fair bit of work to get rid of the extra colour that has not been absorbed into the yarn.  It depends on the strength of the colour and the amount of dye stuff that is used.  Some colours are particularly difficult-red, red/purple and turquoise.  These colours we will actually simmer in a stainless steel pot on the stove  for about 15 minutes.  That seems to force off any loose dye. The results are always worth the effort. If you have any questions about the dye process just give us a call and we'll try to help 1-877-448-4544.

You could also send along your questions within the comment area of this blog.

I'm off to set up my loom for some chenille scarves to fill a wholesale order.  The deadline is fast approaching.

The Day After

                                         Don and I are just sorting out the various bins of yarn following yesterday's weaving seminar in Mississauga.  A huge thank you to the Mississauga Handweavers' and Spinners' Guild for organizing and hosting this great day.  It is always a lot of fun to re-connect with all your weaving friends and find out just what has been happening in their lives over the past year, because this may be the only time you see them until another year passes.  It is such a huge undertaking to make all the arrangements for such a day.  The coffee and delicious muffins were most appreciated as most of us vendors were up before the crack of dawn to be ready for the attendees who expect to see an array    of wonderful colours and textures.  It was also hugely helpful to have some helpers who quite willingly lugged the various and sundry bins and boxes for everyone.  All in all a most delightful day.   

You can view all our photos more clearly and in a larger format by simply clicking on the photo.  It's definitely worth it.

Almost Ready

                                     

        Much of today was spent preparing for the 5-Counties seminar on Saturday.  I was washing out handpainted warps and Don was washing out some skeins, as well as continuing to wind off yarn onto half pound tubes.  It was a glorious day outside, perfect for drying yarn, thank goodness.  We have everything ready to start packing up tomorrow.  Now it's time to check signs and handouts, the paperwork.  The yarn you see in the photo is handpainted 3/5 Tencel.  We are experimenting with this 3/5 weight, both for weaving and for knitting.  We asked the mill to twist the 3/5 for us to try out before ordering any large quantity.  We have about 20 pounds on hand if anyone else wants to try it out.  It dyes well, as does all the Tencel yarn. Later this evening I'll knit a swatch to see how it behaves.  

Ribbons Galore

Yesterday I visited a fabulous ribbon and trim source in Toronto on Queen Street West called Mokuba.  The shop carries only ribbons and trims.  You have never seen such a collection; silk, rayon, polyester, fur, beaded and on and on. There was every colour imaginable in a variety of widths.  I had woven a stole with handpainted silk warp in browns, rusts and coppers and then used black tencel for my weft thread.  When I was knotting the fringe I did not add any black tencel into the fringe and so it just didn't seem to belong.  I was searching for some black ribbon of some sort to add to my fringe.  I chose a black twisted ribbon and some glittery, slinky copper fine cord and some sheer, slightly gathered fabric to embellish my fringe.  When I have it all pulled together, I'll post a photo. If you are in Toronto, be sure to visit Mokuba.

Behind the Scenes at YarnsPlus

Don and I would like to invite you to join us behind the scenes of YarnsPlus.  We will be sharing some of the trials and tribulations, joys and fun of the yarn business.  Of course, you will also hear all about my adventures with my weaving projects and my attempts at knitting. At the moment we are both busy preparing for the next show, the 5-Counties Weaving Seminar, which will be at the Rivergrove Community Centre in Mississauga on Saturday, September 15. I am trying to prepare a good selection of our handpainted tencel warps, while Don is busy winding our tencel and chenille yarns onto half pound tubes.  It is always a little stressful getting everything together for these shows. Too much to do and so little time to do it.