Threadbare Designs - a Weaver's Journey

Yes, I know - a bad pun, but how could I not??

After a few weeks of little to no weaving activity, I finally had some time this morning to start sleying the next baby wrap.  I attempted to speed up the process by using the method advocated on Laura Fry's new video, "The Efficient Weaver."  Basically, it amounts to bringing a number of warp ends forward and holding them between your fingers in whatever configuration they are going to be sleyed - for me, it was 8 ends, held 2 together between fingers.  The reed is horizontal, supported by two loops of string.  Take the hook, bring it up through a dent from underneath, catch the first two dents, bring the hook back down through the same dent, and without pulling those threads all the way through, bring the hook back up through the next dent, catch the next set of ends, and repeat. When the loops of all the ends in your hand have been brought through their respective dents, pull the hook and bring the rest of the ends all th…

I'm very excited right now, because I just sold my Leclerc counterbalance loom!  This is the one that's been for sale since getting my Glimakra CM in September.  It has been sitting against our fireplace in the living room ever since, which is also the room where the big Glimakra resides, so it has been crowded in there, to say the least.  Anyone that knows me knows that clutter makes me anxious. so except for when I'm weaving, the "living room" has been handed over to the cats.  They sleep on the couch in there during the afternoon, and run through it regularly when they're not.  While I don't see us taking their lair away any time soon, it is such a relief to give that loom to someone who will use it! The buyer is from New Brunswick, and they drove down today (4.5 hour drive) in their Honda CRV.  I don't know how, but the loom somehow fit in the back, and they are on their way home.  She's never woven before, so I'm sure she is in for years …

Do you detect a theme here?? Maybe it's all the rain we're getting, or the unseasonably cold temperatures, but my mind is seeing these scarves in terms of plant coloration.  It's probably just wishful thinking!

The "Secret" scarf wove up even better than I thought!  It still needs fringe twisting, so no finished photo yet, but I can't help but love the gentle pooling of color along this warp.  It reminds me of an English garden, yes but more like a watercolor of an English garden.



Those reed marks should lessen in the laundry.  I plan to twist the fringe this afternoon.

The Poinsettia scarf encountered all manner of problems, mostly from the sectional warping process. One section ended up shorter than the others, plus the scarf is more narrow because I ran out of yarn before I could wind the final 2 inch section.  Thus this scarf is more narrow than I usually like to weave.  Setting up the Glimakra totally flummoxed me (again!), so I had to haul out the books…

That's what comes to mind when I look at this yarn that I purchased from Tammy at Yarntopia Treasures on Etsy (https://www.etsy.com/shop/YarntopiaTreasures?ref=shop_sugg).  She does wonderful work and has a great sense of color.

This tencel is called "Secret;"

I wound it into a cake:
and quickly warped it on the Baby Wolf for a tabby scarf.

I'm in love with this scarf already, and I haven't even started weaving it yet!

I was trying to come up with a good color to use as weft for this project, but failed, so I asked Tammy what she would recommend, and she dyed a skein of yarn to match the rose color in my warp.


I love the subtle differences in this yarn as well.  I think it might be hard to let this scarf go!

I also purchased another skein from her, this one is called "Poinsettia.

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This went on the big Glimakra, using spools, rack and a tension box.  There was a glitch putting it on, so this scarf won't be as wide as I usually make, but I do think …