Sunday 9 January 2011

Sunday 9th January 2011

Firstly I would like to wish all fibre fanatics everywhere a very belated Happy New Year.  The Christmas season overtook me and the bad weather too has meant very limited time for posting.

As I write I am looking forward to trying out some new weaving patterns this year and have been wandering through my pile of Handwoven magazines for inspiration.  I should very much like to add a larger floor loom to my workroom this year, but must first work out the logistics here, especially with number one daughter using the sofa bed when she comes to stay, at present the Julia loom pushes easily aside but another loom may present problems.  I love the Julia loom but would like something with more width, currently being limited to 26 inches is a bit fustrating when wanting to weave larger items. Many visits to the Loom Exchange anticipated here.

My spinning consists of working through my stash of alpaca fibre and then using the yarn in my weaving and knitting.  I find that washing the fibre first works best for me as the dust from the unwashed fibre gets into my throat.

I am about to warp up my loom to weave a frilled scarf.  By using yarns that react differently to fulling, I am using merino and rayon in alternating stripes in the warp and merino and a small amount of rayon in the weft, when washed the scarf will "frill" up as the merino will full or shrink more than the rayon.  I shall try and remember to post photographs here.

I am looking forward to the evenings getting longer and lighter and the days becoming warmer so I can get some fibre dyed up to create some different colourways in my weaving.