Leaf Motif: Spring Yarn Color Choices

 Now that the sampling is done for Winter Leaves, the weaving itself is fairly monotonous. I did indulge in an inexpensive MP3 player, to listen to downloaded books from my county library and librevox.org. The treadling pattern is fairly simple, so by combining the two activities, I have a very pleasant evening pastime. 

With weaving underway, it's time to start thinking about the colors of the next season - spring. Both spring and summer leaves are green. So I have to ponder how to make the two weavings—Spring Leaves and Summer Leaves—distinctive. I want people to look at them and get which is which, rather than wonder which is which? 

So I've been collecting greens. I've taken quite a few photographs, and posted them as color studies on my photography journal:

• spring greens
• early summer greens

I plan to do another one on late summer greens as well. 

From these, I've observed that, in general, new leaves in spring are a fresher, lighter, brighter green. Early summer leaves are turning darker; still bright, but not as light in value and hue. There are exceptions to this, of course, but for my purposes, I need color ranges that will enable a viewer to easily distinguish which is spring and which is summer. 

For Spring Leaves, here are my color options

The darker green on the left is 6/2 cotton and would be my weft. The five lighter greens on the right are all 8/2s and would be for my random color order warp. My Winter Leaves warp has four warp colors; here I'm looking at five choices. My original thought was to choose four and tie them onto the winter warp, following the same color changes. Right now, I can't decide which four to choose. Maybe use all five? I can't make up my mind!

There's plenty of time to decide, however, as weaving Winter Leaves will likely take awhile. 

Leaf Motif: Spring Yarn Color Choices

© 2026 by Leigh at Leigh's Fiber Journal

Penguono Sweater Knitting Update

 It's been awhile since my last update on my knitting project. Mostly this is because the bulk of it has been knitted and it is bulky indeed. It's one piece and like knitting with a blanket on my lap, as summer weather dominates our days. 

It's still interesting and fun to knit, but I confess the size of it is causing me to hesitate. This particular sweater is basically a mock-up to learn the pattern and test the sizing. It's a size large, but it's so big! When I try it on, I think it would fit two of me. Typically I'll go with medium for a clothing fit or large for a layered, over-garment fit. This seems much larger than that.

The pattern calls for a circular needle size of US 10.5 (6.5 mm). I'm using an 8. The finished sweater size is determined by the yarn weight. I'm using a worsted weight acrylic yarn, and actually, the chest circumference is correct for a large size sweater - 54" (137 cm), except I still have to add the facings. If I'd used the called for needle size, it would be even bigger!

When I do an image search for "Westknits Penguono Sweater," I see that it's a very popular pattern to knit and the everybody's is on the generously large side. So I reckon I'm not alone.

Since July and August are our hottest months, I'm not sure how much more knitting on it I'll be inclined to do. It's got me thinking, for sure. My original intent is to knit one with my odds and ends of handspun, since the pattern easily facilitates yarn and color changes. I'll have to lay out all my handspun according to size and see what I've got. If I use my handspun, I'll definitely want to wear it, but I definitely don't want it this large. If I don't like the fit, then I won't wear it. I need to do some thinking and calculating on this one for sure. 

Penguono Sweater Knitting Update

© 2026 by Leigh at Leigh's Fiber Journal

Winter Leaves: Sample #4 (The Winner?)

 This one is actually the backside of sample #2, which I discovered with a mirror when I was examining sample #3. 

Could be leaves. Could be feathers!

It required a little tweaking; I 

1. Retied my treadles the opposite of what they were before (very easy to do with my new lamm-top treadle tie-up system.) This put the back of the fabric on the top.
2. Reversed the treadling order to give the leaves a "right side up" appearance.

I'm quite happy with this sample. I like that the white weft outlines the leaves and ribs of the leaf, even though perhaps the white makes it harder to make out the leaves. 

I'm wondering if a darker color would outline the leaves better, although I like the white because it's the color of snow. The other option would be darker warp colors, but then muted is the color of winter as well. I do like that the random winter color palette for the warp is much more prominent than in the other samples. This is more the look I was wanting from the beginning.

I'm definitely happy with Sample #4. Onward!

Winter Leaves: Sample #4 (The Winner?)

© 2026 by Leigh at Leigh's Fiber Journal

Winter Leaves: Sample #3

 Woven with a lighter weight weft.

Warp: 8/2 cottons in four colors

Weft: 8/2 cotton in white

Sett: 20 e.p.i.

PPI: 28

Initially, I thought the pattern might be less pronounced with the same weight weft as warp. But I think it works nicely.

Out of curiosity, I grabbed a hand mirror to take a peek at the underside. 

Sample #3 on top, sample #2 (heavier weft) on bottom.

And if I turn the photo upside down?

Flipped, sample #2 is on the top and #3 is on the bottom.

I think I may have found my leaves. 

Winter Leaves: Sample #3 © 2026

by Leigh at Leigh's Fiber Journal

Winter Leaves: Sample #2

Sample #2

Yarns are cotton.

Warp is in 8/2s.

Weft is 6/2.

Sett is 20 e.p.i.

The difference between this sample and the first one is the beat. Sample #1 was beat with an open shed, sample #2 with a closed shed. I'm experimenting because with my table loom, the open shed beat makes for a better structure. On this loom, the opposite is true. Every loom is different. 

Picks per inch here is 28.

The warp colors blend nicely to a wintry leaf brown. Closeup, the 4 warp colors can be picked out.

Combined with the white weft I think it works well for winter leaves.

I like the pattern but I still have the same question - does it look like leaves?

Winter Leaves: Sample #2 © 2026

by Leigh at Leigh's Fiber Journal