Minor Obstacle

 Even so, my runner is now hemstitched and off the loom. I need to twist the fringe and wash it, and then I'll be able to see how it turned out!

Minor Obstacle © Mar 2025

by Leigh at Leigh's Fiber Journal

Related posts

Coordinating Runner on the Dornik Herringbone Threading

Runner Rug: Glimakra Warped and Header Reveal

Quick Update on the Runner Rug 

Appreciating The Fiber Arts

Cold weather = time to get out the sweaters = kitty nap spot

"Catzee's Cloth" Made the Complex Weavers Journal

If you can get your hands on a copy of the February 2010 Complex Weavers Journal, turn to page 13. On the bottom half of the page, featured as one of the participants of the 2009 Tied Weaves Study Group, there I am. Or rather, there's the Summer-and-Winter fabric I wove...

...inspired by my tortoiseshell cat, Catzee. The write up includes a black and white photo of a sample and the draft.

You can see color photos and read more of the details of the project on my following posts:

• Inspired By Catzee - Where the idea came from and how I developed the draft from a barcode of Catzee's name
  
• Catzee's Cloth - on loom progress and a close-up
• An Unexpected Wrinkle - How I came to name it "Tortie Trails" and the problem I had with wet finishing it.

Of course it's an honor to be "published," even if it's only as a contributing member of a study group. But this sample is special to me because of Catzee.

She disappeared at the end of last August. In spite of turning the world upside down to find her, we never did, nor have a clue as to what happened. I have grieved over her more than I ever have any other cat. I still have to catch myself, and not allow the sadness to overwhelm me again, by focusing on happier thoughts.

Anyway, I just wanted to share this with you. I learned a lot by participating in the study group, and plan to do another someday, whenever we finally get settled and establish a routine on the homestead. Even though this blog isn't very active, I still appreciate every one of you who visits, especially those of you who are regulars and visit my homestead blog too! Thank you!

"Catzee's Cloth" Made the Complex Weavers Journal photos and text are © 7 March 2010 by Leigh at Leigh's Fiber Journal.

Inspired By Catzee

By Leigh

Way back when I first started playing with barcodes as stripe patterns, my first barcode was "Catzee", the name of one of my cats.

At first it was simply a word for an experimental barcode. But when I considered her lovely tortoiseshell coloring .....

...... the wheels started to turn.

Considering my recent self-revelation about designing and weaving summer & winter, I decided to use that barcode for my next S&W project. I also considered that even though the draft I had in mind (similar to my Fibonacci S&W) was easy to do out of my head, this would be a good way to begin learning DB-Weave weaving software.

Using the entire barcode resulted in a pretty wide draft, of which the screenshot below shows only shows part. You can click on the drafts to enlarge them (they're pretty big).

With the Fibonacci drafts, I only had four shafts to work with (and no weaving software). Now I have eight, so the patterns can be much more complex. Interestingly, the draft hints at Catzee's vague ginger tabby stripes.

Adding color to the draft made it much more interesting.....

Of course, I don't have these colors to work with, but it gave me the gist of what it might look like.

These are my actual yarn choices .....

They are the closest Catzee-like colors I could find in my stash. The golds and cream will be the warp and tabby weft. The black will be the pattern weft. I would love to be able to use the black chenille for this, but will sample first. The second black cone of cotton is on stand-by.

And of course, since this piece is inspired by Catzee, she reserves full rights to snoopervise the entire project.


Posted 5 March 2009 at http://leighsfiberjournal.blogspot.com

Related Posts:
"Catzee's Cloth" Made the Complex Weavers Journal
Catzee's Cloth - progress
An Unexpected Wrinkle - what happened after washing
More Weaving Software That Can Run on Linux
Stripes! - creating with barcodes
Summer & Winter: A Basic Definition

Got Fleece?

By Leigh



Posted 16 Jan. 2009 at http://leighsfiberjournal.blogspot.com

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Better Than Catnip
Ethel Photo Challenge
Kitty Crib
Yarn Guard

Warm Holiday Wishes For My Readers

By Leigh

I have to admit that I didn't get many fibery things done over the weekend. No knitting progress on my Shetland Sampler Cardigan. On the weaving front though, I did start to measure a new warp to replace the yucky one I cut off my loom .

Actually, the entire week ahead looks to be busy with holiday traditions and their preparations. I may not get much blogging done.

Our holiday tradition in December is Christmas, though we've made some changes this year. We went "green" with our Christmas tree (see Catzee's report on that right here.) Some things are long outgrown (see Rascal's report on one of those things here.)

We've also declined to get caught up in the shopping frenzy. Christmas as a retail holiday just doesn't cut if for us. This year we put a spending limit of $5 per gift. Rather, we choose to celebrate Christmas as a birthday, with the focus on the gift that can't be bought.

So, at this time of reflection as the year draws to a close, I want to thank you, all my readers, for visiting and commenting. You are such an encouragement to me. And I want to wish you the very best of whatever holiday and tradition you choose to celebrate. Or not celebrate.

And last but not least, Catzee and Rascal want to share their holiday greetings with you. Just click on their pictures below.

Clickety on me!

Me too.

© 22 Dec. 2008 at http://leighsfiberjournal.blogspot.com

Preparing to Warp (With Help)

By Leigh

I've been a little slow with my Online Guild workshop project, but I do have some progress to report.

The top is my black and white ikat warp, and the next three are the my painted warps. Actually, the 3rd and 4th ones are the same warp. The 4th sample shows how the colors ran together too much. On the bottom is a blue one that I dyed in a dyebath. For this project I'm going to use all the but red one.

The first step was to put them on the lease sticks and get them to the loom. However, since I had dyed these three yard warps unchained, I decided it would be better to chain the bouts, lest I end up with a tangled mess.

However, moving yarn on the floor never fails to attract attention at my house:

Rascal wasted no time in volunteering to "help." Any yarn movement was quickly pounced upon!

Figuring that he would get bored with this pretty quickly, I went off to do something else. When I came back....

.... he had patiently parked himself right on top of the unchained bouts.

By the way, the dowel rod running through the top of the warp chains is how I keep the bouts from unchaining themselves when I carry them to the loom. That part I do without "help." :)

Posted 23 Nov. 2008 at http://leighsfiberjournal.blogspot.com

Related Posts:
Experiments in Warp Painting
Learning Ikat Technique
Ikat/Painted Warp Bookmarks Done

Stripes!

By Leigh

As textile artists, we simply cannot get away from stripes. But who would want to? Stripes are fun! And designing stripes is even funner! (Sorry! I don't do "corny" very well ;)

I'm sure most of you are familiar with The Random Stripe Generator. And of course, Fibonacci sequences for creating stripe patterns. Another idea came from my friend Ruth, whom I met through the Blue Ridge Spinners. Ruth sometimes uses barcodes for stripe patterns. She's used barcodes right off of products, such as peanut butter and jelly, but I thought perhaps I could find an online barcode generator and create my own barcodes.

I tried several and liked this one the best -

Free Barcoding Generator by Barcoding Incorporated.

To test it out, I typed in "Catzee" and got this -

So, if I used that for the stripe pattern with her tortoiseshell coloring .....

I could create a Catzee sweater, or blanket, or vest, or anything striped.

When I signed up for my area guild's towel exchange, I decided on both waffle weave and stripes. For my stripes, I wanted to try this barcode idea.

My first idea was, that since the exchange was going to be in November, to go with a holiday theme. So I got the barcode for "Merry Christmas."

I was concerned that the code was a little too long, so I used a section of it with my waffle weave sampler ...

The red and green are the stripes in the barcode. However, after washing and measuring, the stripe pattern did prove to be too long for the width towels I need to weave.

After a bit of experimenting, I was able to use my guild's initials for the stripe pattern .....

I've been able to work this out to the required width (after shrinkage!).

I'm using 10/2s cotton, alternating blue and green for the stripes, with unbleached natural. So far the warp is wound on to the back beam and is ready for heddle threading. I plan to get started on that tomorrow.

Posted 4 Aug 2008 at http://leighsfiberjournal.blogspot.com

Related Posts:
Working With The Barcodes - how to calculate the stripes
My Fascination With Fibonacci

Spinning Cotton Lint

By Leigh

Do you find that certain fiber activities are seasonal? I feel that way about working with wool. Even though I've been semi-diligent with my Shetland Sampler Cardigan, the hot weather has finally gotten to me and I have no enthusiasm for working with wool. Not only as in yarn and knitting, but even for spinning.

However, the fruit of my cotton lint dyeing experiment is most abundant. I have a rainbow assortment of over 15 different color samples of approximately 100 grams each. What an excellent summer change of pace.

Cotton is a very short fiber,

usually 3/4 to 1 and a half inches in length. It is also fine, about 25 microns in diameter. For these reasons it has a reputation for being difficult to spin. But really, it isn't all that hard.

I make my own punis, which are slender cotton rolags. I use my Ashford cotton handcarders.

I tease the fiber out a bit and then load it on the one edge of the carder. This way it makes a narrow batt. You can load the entire carder; I just find it easier to do a neater job this way.

I use a quarter inch dowel to roll the punis with. Actually, this is my wraps-per-inch counter, the same one used in my Measuring Wraps Per Inch (WPI) post. I smooth the puni by rotating the dowel rod with one hand, using the other to press down the stray fibers.

I continue to roll the dowel and twist the puni off the other end.

This had not created an entirely smooth preparation however. I think this is partly because the Ashford cotton carders, which have a finer carding cloth than their regular carders, are still not the finest on the market. Also, the cotton lint has bits of husk and whatnot in it. I pick as much of this out as possible, but some remains behind.

I spin these with my wheel. I'm not a spindle spinner, nor do I have a charka, but a flyer wheel does nicely if adjusted properly.

To spin, I loosen my drive band (for double drive) or break band (for single drive) as much as possible. Cotton requires a lot of twist to hold it together, so I use my highest spinning ratio. A lower ratio is useful to get a feel for spinning it, but it requires a lot more treadling. It also wants to be spun into a fine yarn. I use the long draw, and the punis spin up quickly.

I haven't decided what to do with it all yet.

This should keep me busy for awhile. It may be psychological, but I certainly feel cooler working with it than with wool. Our southern summers tend to be long, but I have a lot of cotton to spin, and plenty of snoopervision .....

Posted 7 July 2008 at http://leighsfiberjournal.blogspot.com

Related Post:
Cotton Spinning Update
More On Spinning Cotton

How Do You Hem Your Handwovens?

By Leigh

In the comments to my "M's And O's Dishtowels" post, Bspinner asked how I hemmed my handspun dishtowels. I was very interested in how she did hers, and, being the sort of person who loves new ways and methods, thought I would ask you all the same. How do you hem a dishtowel? Or a handtowel? Or blankets? Or place mats and table runners? Or anything handwoven?

I have to admit that it took quite a few years before I could build up the nerve to actually cut my handwoven cloth, let alone sew it. In fact, I still have several lengths of yardage from years ago. These remain packed away in a trunk, because I couldn't bring myself to cut and sew them. It was quite an occasion when I finally did it. In fact, it wasn't all that long ago; it was when I made the log cabin necktie for my DH.

I admit it was several posts ago that Bspinner first asked this question. Hopefully it hasn't been forgotten by now but, being a visual person myself, I wanted to wait until I could get the last M's & O's dishtowel off the loom, so I could take photos of what I'm doing.

Probably most of you do something similar, but I would be interested in your feedback and comments. I'm always looking for either confirmation or better ways to do things.

My current method is to start by running a quick zig zag stitch over both ends of the fabric right after I take it off the loom. Then it is wet finished in whatever manner I intend for the finished item to be laundered. In the case of cotton dishtowels, I wash in cold water and laundry detergent.......

.... and then dry in the dryer on medium. If it's too wrinkly after that, then I iron it.

To prepare them to cut apart, I run two more zig zag rows on either side of the cutting line.

I used white thread here so you could actually see the stitches. Usually I use a color that matches.

I'm not sure why I prefer a zig zag stitch. Perhaps because it offers a little "give" to the fabric. Does anyone like a straight stitch better?

Then I cut them apart and prepare to sew the hems.

I do a double fold hem, and I find that it's neater if I press the first fold and then pin for sewing.

I say "press" rather than "iron" because they aren't the same thing and I have found that which one I do makes a difference. Ironing is the act of sliding the hot iron back and forth over fabric to remove wrinkles. Pressing involves setting the hot iron straight down on the fabric, holding it there, and then lifting it up again. I found that when I ironed, I somehow pushed or stretched the cut edge of the fabric so that it ended up a tad wider than the rest of it. This didn't make for nice square corners!

After folding and pinning, I either hem by hand (because I enjoy hand work) or use a zig zag stitch. I do prefer to pin them so that I can remove the pins as I get to them. (I've broken too many needles running over pins.)

The label sewn into the hem is an idea I got from my friend Ann in England. Awhile back, I purchased 50 labels from Heirloom Woven Labels. However, I was rather dismayed at how long they turned out to be.....


This has been okay for some projects, like my afghans, but the labels are a little too long for smaller projects. I thought Ann's idea was a clever way to both attach a label, as well as create a loop to hang the dishtowel up with.

So that's how I've been hemming my handwoven dishtowels. Now it's your turn. I'd love to know how you hem handwoven fabric, as well as any other tips, experiences, or ideas for sewing it. If I get a good response, I'll put all your ideas and suggestions into another post. (Click here for that post.)

© 24 Feb. 2008 at http://leighsfiberjournal.blogspot.com

Related Posts:
Hemming Handwoven Fabrics

A Shetland Hodge Podge

At least that's what it seemed like when I went to fetch out the white Shetland fleece from this bag....

....from Cathy last July. I've already posted about that intrigueing blackish/brown fleece here, so the next one on my mind was the white one, especially after my interesting discovery about those Shetland whites.

However, when I dumped the remaining fleece out of the bag, they were both dirty enough that I couldn't tell which was which.

What I did notice, was that quite a bit of the fleece looked like this.....

.... with thick, matted, yellow stained butts. I took a dog comb to them, and the combed out easy enough.

I decided to wash both fleeces together, and try to sort them out afterward. I was able to do so with a little help....

One fleece is quite white, while the other is white with cream tips and black and reddish fibers in it. The difference is subtle....

I will drumcard and spin these separately. More on that later.

© 2007 Leigh's Fiber Journal

Alpaca Progress

By Leigh

Well, I've still got Shetland on my mind, but I am trying to be diligent to finish up the projects I promised in trade for all those Alpaca fleeces. Of the four chosen specifically for sample projects, I have finished two, the felted Alpaca doll, and the knitted child's cap. I've decided that the next project needs to be a handwoven one, so the preparations have begun.

This fleece is more consistent in color, staple length, and overall texture than the other two I've worked with so far. It is also more Huacaya-like to my mind, though I don't really have enough experience working with raw Alpaca to assume I actually know what I'm talking about here(!)

The fiber is soft, with a vague crimp at about 5 per inch, with no grease or luster. It contains very little VM (vegetable matter), no bugs, mud, or other biological nasties. It is very open and very easy to work with. Being mostly about three inches in length, it would have been a good choice for handcarding. However, I need to press on with this project, so I ran it through my drum carder twice, and then it was ready to spin.

Since I was planning to weave a teddy bear shawl of this on my triloom, I wanted a bulky yarn. The cap is knitted in a medium weight handspun, so I figured this one will be bulky weight, and then the last one will be finer.

It spins like a dream, but after awhile, I was a little dismayed to realize that I had been spinning with a dirty thumb and forefinger ......

Had I accidentally gotten oil on them when I oiled my wheel? Hmm. I need to be more careful. I washed my hands and resumed spinning. Much to my surprise, a little while later they were dirty again. That's when I realized that just because the fleece wasn't greasy, didn't mean that it wasn't dirty! Most of my spinning experience has been with sheep's wool (always with at least some grease and the dirt which sticks to it) and Angora rabbit (never greasy and rarely dirty with actual dirt.) The only other raw alpaca I've handled was from Florida so it was sandy. These are from North Carolina however, and while the first two were a little dusty, this one is downright filthy! So I've learned something important here.

Had I realized this before I started spinning, I would have definitely washed the fleece first. However, since I was already in route, I chalked it up to "I'll know better next time" and finished the yarn.

After I finished spinning and had skeined the yarn, I gave it two thorough, very hot soapy soaks and three hot water rinses. I was delighted at how lovely the fiber was under all that dirt: very soft, silky, and with some luster after all.

The singles for the yarn on the left were spun at 14 wraps per inch. The 2 ply measures 7 WPI.

Next will be the weaving of it. More on that and how it turned out here.

© 18 Aug. 2007 at http://leighsfiberjournal.blogspot.com

Related Posts:
Alpaca Tri-loom Teddy Bear Shawl
2nd Summer Project - Alpaca
Alpaca Project #2
Last of the Alpaca Projects

Summer Sock Knitting

I know that I haven't posted about knitting since I set my Rare Breed Sweater aside. Summertime is when I usually knit a pair of socks.

I'm not a fast knitter, so if I knit one pair a year, I'm doing well. These are being knitted from some 50/50 wool/nylon blend yarns that I found in my stash. It is a little finer than most sock yarns, so I am knitting on size US1 double pointed needles. I am using my old standby toe up sock pattern.

I'm not really sure where the yarns came from. I vaguely remember them in a large bag of odd yarns given to me a number of years ago. However, I can tell you that there is some dispute as to their current ownership.

Don't let this innocent face fool you. She can put up quite a battle when she makes up her mind to claim something. Click here for details.

©2007 Leigh's Fiber Journal

Related Posts:
A Toe Up Sock Toe
On Sock Heels - A Contemplation
Summer Socks Finished

There's Nothing Like A Little More Fleece....

....... to make a spinner's day! And my day was made with two more bags from Cathy (who seems to have a secret life as a fleece magnet.)

Of course, all new fleece must first pass inspection......

Rascal is quite a fleece lush, so I really have to keep an eye on him when there's raw fleece around.

What do my two bags contain?

This one is full of more Shetland, (yay!). There is both white and black adult fleece, and some fawn lamb. The black is a different texture than the Shetland samples I have been spinning lately, so I am very curious about it. I'm trying to decide whether or not to dye some of the white. I have an idea to do a knitted vest or something in all natural Shetland colors. However, I already have some white, and color is so much more fun to spin than plain white. Well, we'll see.

This second bag contains raw Merino! I'm quite excited about this as I've never worked with raw Merino before, only commercially processed top. It's hard to tell from the photo, but there is both white adult and fawn lamb in the bag.

Now to go put everything up and out of You-Know-Who's way.

© 2007 Leigh's Fiber Journal