Creative Procrastination

1. Go to the Saturday Farmers Market and purchase attractive vegetables. I don't usually take pictures of provocative vegetables, but this radish was too good to ignore. The squash is pretty interesting too.
2. Take pictures of my vegetables.

3. Look at the warp I wound yesterday.
I wound another towel warp, but I think I will wait until after my next Dye Day early next week. I'll have some additional shades to work with.

4. Weave just enough so I can say I wove today.
Somehow I lost the picture of my "weaving everyday". I'll catch you up with Grace in the next post. I must have been too anxious to move on to the real creative part of Creative Procrastination.

5. Start to clear the piles of stuff off the guest bed in my office.

6. Become distracted by a box of photographs made from my digital images.
Before my recent "Turned Weft Ikat" presentation to the Whibey Weavers Guild, I converted 47 digital images into slides. I decided to print out 4x6 all of the images and take them to the slide processing lab. Now that I have the slides, I don't really need the prints.

7. Crop pictures to show just weaving or yarn.

8. Spend an evening assembling and re-assembling little bits of colored paper.

Much to my delight, a new series of greeting cards emerged. I just happened to have a brand new box of 50 blank greeting cards (with envelopes).

9. Take pictures of the pictures of my weaving.


10. Plan to use a tripod the next time I take pictures.

Towel Exchange, Silk Ikat Kumihimo, Cashmere Weft

What a lovely array! The purple towel is brand new. I haven't gotten a good picture of the towel solo, but I will. By then I will have information.

As I was unpacking my samples after the Turned Weft Ikat presentation, I came upon this piece of kumihimo I made about 20 years ago. It is one of the very few I have left because it was always a favorite. I'm not even sure what braid I used, but I love the way the ikat works with kumihimo. I just looked in my Catherine Martin book: Kumihimi Japanese Silk Braiding Techniques to see if I could identify the braid. I think it is Mitake Gumi, but I'm not sure. I haven't braided for many years now. I try to curb my tendency to master every craft that I admire. I know you know what I mean.

I just like the look of this. The colored yarn is some of my 20/2 cotton. The big white cones are the 8/2 unmercerized cotton I'm using for my towels. The two baskets contain the cashmere I will triple and wind onto the shuttles. Here is my collection of 22 stick shuttles. I actually have 26 shuttles, but only about 10 of them are mine. I borrowed 16 of them for a project (I'm embarrassed to say maybe 5 years ago!) Periodically I ask the owners if they need them back, and they say "eventually". AND I am still using them for a project, although it is now a different project. Those white ones on the left were made from old venetian blinds.

I am gearing up to begin panel #5 of the Big Commission woven in the Saori philosophy.
I am also gearing up for another Dye Day next week.

Washing Tencel

Here are some answers to the question: How do I launder my tencel weaving?

The first answer comes from Diane of Just Our Yarn.

I usually fill the washer for a small load (cool to warm water) and put the piece in and agitate on the
delicate cycle with a little soap (usually ivory but anything works) I don't usually let it go the full
cycle--just 2-3 minutes. spin, rinse, spin, rinse with fabric softener, spin, rinse again and spin out.
The fabric softener will make a big difference in the hand. Then I usually throw it in the dryer for a
few minutes taking it out when it's slightly damp. Give it a hard press with lots of steam and it'll be
even more beautiful.

The next answer came to the previous blog entry by BJGVET.


I have woven extensively with Web's 8/2 tencel. I always finish (based upon their recommendation) with a hand wash in warm water with mild detergent, rinse, then roll in a towel and hang to air dry. Once dry, I steam iron the piece with a moderate plate temp (lower end of the steam zone). I have had excellent results, never any bleeding or puckering, and absolutely no loss of its beautiful light catching sheen. Barbara Elkins (of Webs) also says that Tencel tolerates very hot water well, and recommends washing in the hottest tap water you have if you have had problems with pulled threads during wear you are trying to coax back into position, or a slightly looser sett than ideal. This will cause some shrinkage, but it is even, and causes no damage to the actual fiber. I have also tumbled my already dry Tencel pieces in a warm dryer with a sheet of fabric softener to further soften the drape with very good results. Dry cleaning is also an option if you want NO CHANGE whatsoever in your finished piece, but I have never tried it.


The third answer comes from a book on wet finishing handwovens by Laura Fry by way of Laritza.

It is fiber made from the wood pulp in a more environmentally friendly process than Rayon.
Finish Tencel with warm water, light soap of detergent, agitation and hard press. This will give it a lovely sheen and drape.
That is all she says.

Having Woven

I used to believe the best part of weaving was "having woven". With this piece, I never wanted it to end. I wove as slow as I could.


But with all things, the end finally happened.


This isn't the best picture, but it is hot off the loom. The threads are still warm. I just wrote to Just Our Yarn to see if they have any hints and tips connected to laundering tencel. I have never washed tencel, but I have heard a few "stories". I wasn't paying close attention to the tales because I wasn't using tencel at the time. I am not in a hurry to wash this because I plan to twist the fringe first.

Whidbey Afterglow

Pre-Ratatouille
As a virtual gardener, I am thrilled to display this picture sent to me by my very dear friend in Montana. She was in search of a ratatouille recipe which I supplied out of the Moosewood Cookbook.

I sure am loving this weaving! The only problem (and I am not certain this is really a problem) is I want to slow down and savor every pick.

One of my favorite things about Turned WeftIkat is the never ending kaleidoscope of painted and dyed yarn that dances along the warp beneath my hands. The threads create a symphony of color, and I am the orchestra conductor.


This is the beginning of a new project. At this stage, the only thing I know is I will need 16 colors. I also know I am using bambu 12, so I am somewhat limited in my color selection. I have 21 colors of bambu 12, so I only had to subtract 5. We shall see what evolves from this yarn.

Wow, Another Towel!

I tried to upload a little movie of the members of the Whidbey Guild, but I was unsuccessful on the first try. The next time I have Bernie, my computer wizard and friend, over I will have him give it a try.

Every time I go to Whidbey Island, I come home full of dreams of living there. I know I am too urban for island life, but still.... Whidbey Island is a world class weaving mecca.

My talk was really good. I told a new story: How Easy Ikat evolved into Turned Weft Ikat. Beginning plans were made for a future Dye Day and a Towel Project. Here is the funny part: I used up most of my time during the slide lecture, and I didn't have time to show the guild my collection of samples! I did get to display my finished examples and the blanket panels which seemed to be enough. Maybe I should make a quilt out of the samples? hmmm. I'll put it on my to do list.

After my talk during "show and tell", Paula, who described herself as a new weaver, showed her natural undyed cotton towels. I was so struck by their look and feel I didn't pay attention to her description of the weave structure, where she got the yarn and how she finished it. Actually I do recall hearing Paula say she poured boiling water into the washing machine during the washing process. And the towel is so soft, I am sure it will be extremely absorbent. I just emailed Paula to ask her for the details. I will add them as soon as she replies.

Paula's reply: I got the yarn about a year + ago from FoxFibre. It is natural cotton and "Colorganic Yarn". It came with instructions that the colours would deepen as washed, especially in boiling water (that's why I added about half boiling water to my washer when I
washed them when they came off the loom). I bought 2 colours: dark & medium
green in 10/2 weight. I then added some older natural cottons labeled K.N. 6/2 25% green & 50% brown. I used a Swedish Lace pattern from Marguerite Porter Davison's A
Handweaver's Pattern Book Traditional Lace Unit page 94. I used a 14 dent
reed doubling up on the 10/2 cottons and using the 6/2 cotton at about 1 per dent, threading a few 6/2's at 2 per dent regularly and periodically to get the correct epi. I eventually wove all 3 treadling options, some with variations for my eventual 6 towels.

I have another blog friend, Ames, who weaves undyed natural colored merino wool blankets. (in the same spirit as the cotton)


Here is a particularly exciting patch of warp with the 10/2 tencel from Just Our Yarn
The only bad part about having such a luscious warp is that I want to weave slowly in order to revel in the luminous color.

Turned Weft Ikat goes to Whidbey

I am getting ready to speak at the Whidbey Weavers Guild on Thursday. I just finished putting the slide show together, and now it is time to put my "show and tell" together. It turns out I have ikat samples dating back to 1975. Rather than keep notes, I always "tried" to weave an extra 12"-36"to keep as samples. Here are some spread out on my bed.


I just couldn't pass up an opportunity to snap a few pics. I don't have time to describe the fiber, dyer, sett, year; but I will be happy to answer any questions.


Fibers I have used are silk, cotton, wool, chenille, bamboo, and now most recently tencel.

Using white as a color is always a challenge. Again, weaving with white and black after working with intense color is always refreshing. This picture is rather dark, but you can see the details well. I'll have to play around with the exposure.

Sorry for so few words. I'll have something good on Friday.