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The Thing about Houndstooth

9/12/2017

 
Picture
or any checked pattern for that matter,
is that these squared off weave structures allow weird mixes of yarns
to become balanced lengths of cloth.
Picture
yellow = handspun 3 ply Cormo with weld; red = machine spun 2 ply Columbia with madder/cochineal; light green = Blackberry Ridge 2 ply fingering; grey = Quince and Co 4 ply Finch; Pink = Quince and Co 3 ply Chickadee (I think)
Sparked, perhaps, by slightly cooler temperatures,
I've been dreaming of thick tweedy fabric--
something spongy but light,
sturdy but... well, I'm not quite sure of all the characteristics I'm after,
but I'll know it when I see it. And feel it.
 Actually, I don't even know what I want to do with said cloth,
other than find out what I'm after.

But they only way to learn
is to start
because pictures on the internet just don't cut it,.

To that end, I've been grabbing dibs and dabs of leftover yarn from my stash,
filling  a couple of gaps with the odd skein from The Yarn Underground (four blocks from my  house),
spinning a bit,
and weaving them all together.
Picture
10 epi
One of the most delightful surprises has been
 how readily the backstrap loom accommodates the hodgepodge--
quick to warp and easy to set up and put away,
it allows me, as part of that loom, to subtly shift the warp tension with my hips
to allow for different weft needs. 

All in all, it's a lovely, low stakes way to mess around.
I  get to ditch a few prejudices and internal rules I didn't know I had:
things like combining hand and mill spun yarn in one piece of cloth. (I know.  Horrors!!!!),
and is also good practice in noticing what I like,
which is not always (indeed, it is rarely),
what I think I'm going to like:
 the Backstrap Loom itself, for instance,
also blogging,
and texting,
and mill spun yarn. 
Hmmm... is there a pattern here?
Picture
Indigo = 2 ply spindle spun Cormo; Grey = singles spindle spun Cormo; 12 epi
New things are so messy, so unpredictable, interesting and annoying-- and sometimes sometimes utterly useless.
But they  also spark my nerve endings to moments of design possibility,
and I think that is a good thing.
​
We all need a few new ingredients, now and again,
at least I do:
​ideas, people, techniques, tomato varieties.
Picture
3 ply Cormo (2 white, 1 grey), Spindlewood spindle, 45 g (tape on the too-smooth shaft creates friction for rolling down my leg)
Picture
It keeps the path compelling.
Picture
Light Green = Blackberry Ridge 2 ply fingering; Light Grey = 3 ply spindle spun Cormo; Dark Grey = Spindle Spun Rambouillet; Darker green, purple etc stripes below = 3 ply spindle spun Cormo with assorted natural dyes.
Because you never know things are going to turn out.
And speaking of not knowing -- 
I'm in full on travel angst/freakout mode because I'm heading off next week and 
have no idea what I'm going to pack -- knitting and spinning and concertina and sketchbook and a change of undies?  Or skip the change of undies but add two or three of these houndstooth scarf-like sample thingies in case there is a blizzard...
​
I do, however, know that I will be closing my Etsy shop for about three weeks,
so if you planned to get Backstrap Dialogues or How to Weave a Bag on a Box  in that time, best to do it before Friday.
 No worries though -- I should be back up and running by the second week of  October! 
Not sure if I'll be able to blog or not --
Guess we'll have to wait and see...
Picture
Velma Bolyard link
9/13/2017 06:36:44 pm

I like these scarves/samples especially the 4th photo. I like their "perkiness, and I like how they remind me of the wonderful variations of tweed that I used to see on old Harris tweeds in second hand stores, a huge variety and many yarns that wouldn't work together, but did.

Nancy B
9/19/2017 03:13:21 pm

There you go, being all luminous again... ;-) Love that cloth.

(New type of courgette in my garden this year -- small and yellow; resists temptation to suddenly become marrows. Excellent. But will it make as good a choc cake as its green cousin...?)

Barbara Rickman
9/28/2017 05:56:44 am

I have a hounds tooth fabric that was made for me by another weaver as a favor. He needed my rigid heddle and I needed fabric. Going to sew this wool and silk hounds tooth into a shirt and skirt set. I have the pattern and am learning about how to cut and sew hand-spun. Found out that it is a bit different than commercial fabrics. Hounds tooth is one of my favorite weaving drafts!


Comments are closed.
    Picture

    ​Sarah C Swett 
    tells stories
    with
    ​ and about

     hand spun yarn. 


    Picture
    Click for info on
    my four selvedge
    warping class
    with
    ​ Rebecca Mezoff  
    fringeless


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