A Messenger is done

My son asked  if I could make a messenger for him.
I have never made this kind of design before, so my hands are shaking a bit.

I made a simpel sketch and here we go.
A combination af double-weave in cottolin and linen 16/2 and leather.
Few months ago, I was lucky, somebody gave me a 16 shaft computer-loom, I want to use it for this project in double-plain-weave.
I made a block pattern that will require 16 shaft.

I will use the border at left for the strap.
The warp was made in brown and unbleached cottolin and I wanted to use the same colors in linen 16/2. Well, I didn’t have the unbleached 16/2 linen, but I had some lintow 6, almost the same size as the 16/2 linen. It is not the same size, I can tell. The brown part of the warp got a bit flappy and caused trouble with the weft. Luckily, it’s the bright side I want to use. All the faults are on the backside.
I went to the leatherstore, it’s like being in a candystore, so many choises to make. I chose a dark/burnt orange, it was a small piece.
Lesson learned, remember to bring your pattern with you.
I had a pretty little helper.

The piece of leather showed up to be too short for my design, so I had to make a redesign.

I didn’t use the border for the strap, It was too much fabric, so I used leather instead. I used the border as the top of the linen.

I made a pocket for pencils in some thin leather.

It was meant....

I had to realize that I have become something of a cloth-weaver. How is it then was. So when I need to try something new, it often end up with tea towels, they are so useful and I suppose you could never get enough. (Wish me an extra drawer in my kitchen)

I came across a pattern in the shadow weaving at Eva Stossel's Weaving Blog, which I thought looked very exciting. Think, think, what to weave with the pattern? Yes, the tea towels are always good. I dress the loom with cottolin as warp, 8 threads / cm and I wove with 16/2 linen. It looked so great in the loom, I was happy.

When I cut down, I stood with a rather stiff and rough piece of cloth, but by the way, it will probably be soft and manageable after a trip in the washing machine.

Hm, it was not much softer after washing, drying.
The bottom line is that it was not for tea towel. I took a trip to the city, and visited Skindhuset, spent a fortune and went home and pulled the sewing machine forward.

Flowing inspiration

When I was a child, I was living nearby the sea. The sound and the smell of salt water is a big part of my memories.
I spend hours, just sitting and glance at the water, pure meditation.
It’s just so inpiringly.



An undulating twill, I have done this before in pure white.
This time it’s a striped wool warp in blue and a merino-silk blend as weft.

If I hat 8 arms

I could do this

Colors, colors and colors

I think I've been talking about it before.
All about colors.
Here we go again.

Colors and dramatic

Probably I wasn't the only one, here in Denmark, who watched the sunset view a couple of days ago .


The sky is just stunning.

Well, How is that related too weaving?
A lot.
Inspiration.

Yesterday, I cut off my guest towels.



Today I have to cut of cord ends, before zigzag between the towels, bend and hemming.

Here are the leftover from the first operation.

From Wraps to Weave

It wasn't difficult too choose.

The battle was between the red and the red-brown.

And the winner is:

Stripes, wrap samples and the Golden ratio

I'm doing some guest towels.

I want to add a stripe of plain weave.
How should this stripe be.
Where should it be.

Then the math-geek replies: the Golden Ratio.

The golden ratio has fascinated Western intellectuals of diverse interests for at least 2,400 years. Wikipedia.

As you can see above, I had to Google and I found a formula.

The calculation gave me a stripe 5 cm high, 8 cm from top/bottom.

I took my yarn and cardboard and vent to my Yarn-pusher. She has knitting party in the garden during the summer  It was rather cozy, sitting fiddle with the wrap samples and talking and meeting new people.

Then it's time to choose.

Impressions from an exhibition

Yesterday I visit  a weaverly exhibition i Viborg, Denmark.
9 great projects from 9 brave women, who jump into the deep water and make it through the last course. Now they are graduates weavers.

Here are some pictures.

Yes, I'm still weaving

I've been lazy for a while, when we speek of blogging.

I'm in progess. My crepe project.

Worsted yarn as warp and Noro multicolor as weft.

Width in the reed: 120 cm (c 47 inch)

Only one for help when beaming.

Ask my husband for help, I need a "little helper" in danish "pådragningsknægt".

PVC pipe, a plank and some rope and the work is done.

I made 3 warp, 40 cm each

That's what (hand)weights is intended for

The work is done

The advantage of a "a little helper" is quite clear that the weaver can beam at their own pace.  

The idyll at the family is intact.

Towels again and again

Usually I say, that lives is too short for homemade towels, anyway one is allowed to make a new (and better) decision.

My sister has ordered these towels. ( It's, in fact, my first order). It has been very funny making different designs. The colors were given by my sister. She decided on a design I had made before in another colorcombination.

I used Spot Bronson

Every handwoven towel need a special loop

A rainbow of wintry colors

Sometimes you see a spectacular color combination when you are out in the nature.
As at a winter day, whit frost in the air and at the time for sunset. Looking at east, the sky are deeply blue, when you ran your eyes over the sky towards west, the color turns lighter blue into turquoise before it went white just before it meet the colors of the sunset. Pink and Purple.

I really want to use these colors.
Until now, I haven't know what to weave.
However, I have already done it:

I have another blog Rasminnas Hverdag (sorry, it's in Danish).
I got a nice comment: It's a kind of Winter Rainbow"
Yes it is!

Playing with crepe

I have a small amount of some Sekku yarn from Noro that I could imagine transforming into some woven textile and then sew something portable.

Which pattern should I choose?

I've never tried crepe, so it must be it.

I know the Sekku yarn is a weft yarn, however I want to try different yarn types / colors in  the warp, but I find it difficult to determine which and there are also more freedom to choose if I use Sekku'en as a warp.

So I did! The first break in the warp thread was already on the warping board!

There were 2 broken warp threads before I had woven 20 cm. But then the warp was steady  the following meter and then there was just 3 broken treads in the last 20 cm. So one can be learning it!

I wove 2 different crepe patterns, both 8 shafts and 8 treadles.

First tie up is from Mastering Weave Structures.

28/2 worsted

Drops Lace - Merino and silk

The second tie up I found in Varp och Inslag (Warp and Weft)

The sett is too close, so there is not as much movement after washing, as I could wish.

After washing the pattern from Mastering Weave Structures looks like this:

The samples from Varp och Inslag have more structure

I have decided to continue working with the brown worsted yarn.
Next move will be a new sample weave with worsted yarn as warp and with more loose sett.