Leigh's Fiber Journal

Monday, November 20, 2006

Lace Sampler – Huck Lace 2

By Leigh

These are the rest of the photos from my huck lace sampler. All are woven in 12/2 cotton, sett at 24 epi.

On the loom:

After washing:

On the loom:

After washing:

This last one was a bit of a challenge for me. One of the lessons in the workshop involved an introduction to designing huck lace. The assignment included figuring out the treadle tie-up for a couple of drafts. Having never learned how to do this, I was stumped! After quick plea for help to the Guild's message board, I was able to work it out and was rewarded with a very nice design. Here it is on the loom:

And after washing.

As intrigued as I am with this weave structure, I can't stop my mind from wondering "what if...." about color. So my plan is to take a brief detour before moving onto the next lace structure, and try a couple of color ideas with huck and huck lace.

Saturday, November 18, 2006

Lace Sampler – Huck Lace 1

By Leigh

My first lace sampler is off the loom.

As fascinating as it was to watch the patterns appear before my eyes, little did I know the transformation that was in store for me. And all because of ....... washing.

When I first started weaving I was terrified to toss my handwovens into the washing machine. But I gradually got braver, and with much relief discovered that depending on the fiber content of the yarn, things actually hold up quite well.

All these samples are woven in cotton, which responds to machine agitation, and wow what a difference it makes with huck lace.

After weaving sections of huck warp and weft spots, I wove a section of huck lace. Actually I wove two sections, as I was worried that I beat the first section in too hard.

On the loom:

After washing:

After washing, I was surprised that my first section (bottom) looks the best. I beat that one as for a balanced plain weave and it definitely turned out better. The one on the top wasn't beaten in as hard, and the integrity of the lace looks compromised and sloppy. Chalk one up for sampling first!

Here are more before and afters.

On the loom:

After washing:

On the loom:

After washing:

For the rest of my huck lace photos, click here.

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Rare Breed – California Variegated Mutant 2

I spent two pleasant days carding and spinning my CVM fleece.

Since the staples were about 5 inches long, I used my drum carder to prepare them. Whenever I prepare fleece for woolen spinning, I automatically think "hand cards," but really, anything over 3 inches in length really isn't suitable for hand carders. Then when I use drum carded batts for longdraw spinning I think, well, this technically isn't prepared correctly for a true woolen yarn. However I never let that stop me!

Most of the 2 ounce sample measured 6 crimps per inch, I decided to spin it with 6 twists per inch. Since I wanted to spin it longdraw, I consulted one of the appendix in Mabel Ross's The Essentials of Yarn Design for Handspinners.

The formula for calculating the number of treadles needed for an 18 inch draw is:

18 (inches) x twists per inch required ÷ wheel ratio = treadles

So in this case that was:

18 x 6 ÷ 10.5 = 10

Well, actually it equals 10.28, but who's going to quibble about that!

The particulars:

* Fiber Weight, 2 ounces
* Fiber length, 5 inches
* Occasional neps
* Spinning ratio 10.5:1
* Spun woolen method
* 10 treadles per 18 inch draft
* Singles, 28 WPI
* 2-ply, 16 WPI
* Yardage, > 112

This stuff was lovely to spin. It is soft, lofty, and delicious; full of subtle variations of gray and just enough luster.

I don't have anything specific in mind for this yarn, but it makes me want to spin more of it. It would make a fabulous sweater of vest. And since Cathy has offered such an encouraging comment nudging me in that direction, I probably won't wait too long to indulge myself!

Monday, November 13, 2006

Rare Breed – California Variegated Mutant 1

My knitting (Rare Breed Sweater) and weaving (huck lace) projects are in progress but without a spinning project, I feel like somethings missing. So with rare breeds on my mind, I have been anxious to work with the California Variegated Mutant fleece I purchased at SAFF.

I really don't need any more rare breed samples for my sweater, and I really don't need any more fleece, but when I saw the baskets of CVM and fondled its luscious softness, I couldn't help but buy a couple of ounces.

My sample contains a variety of staples which show a range of color and crimp. Length seems to be fairly consistent across the sample, about 5 inches. It's not especially lustrous but very clean with no VM or 2nd cuts. The staples are tapered. The crimp is well defined and I have some locks which measure 6 crimps per inch, and some which measure 2 waves per inch.

There is a lovely range of color, from pale gray to a medium charcoal. The tips are light colored and range from white to tan. The tips are sound.

It is soft enough to wear next to the skin.

It had been scoured before I purchased it, so I can't comment on the amount of grease or the percentage of weigh loss before and after washing.

I did a little research about the breed, I learned that it was developed from colored Romeldales. Perhaps someone thought that the Romeldale color genes mutated to produce a wide range of natural colors (????) I'm not sure about that, but I do think it is some of the loveliest fleece I've gotten my hands on recently. I plan to handcard it and spin long draw from rolags. I think it will make lovely yarn.

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Lace Sampler – Huck

By Leigh

Yesterday I was able to start weaving on my sampler. The workshop is going to explore five weave structures. Besides huck, we will learn huck lace, spot Bronson, Bronson lace, and Swedish lace. The five yard warp I have on the loom will give me an opportunity to learn and explore these. It will require some cutting and rethreading, but that will be better than dealing with separate warps for these!

First on the list is huck. Huck is not technically a lace weave, but it will lead into huck lace, so it's a logical place to start. Also known as spot weave, it is actually a loom controlled textured weave which creates spots of either warp or weft floats. Harriet Tidball (The Weaver's Book) classifies it as a grouped thread or linen weave.

Helene Bress has an entire chapter on it in The Weaving Book: Patterns and Ideas. From her book and the workshop notes, this is what I've learned about traditional huck so far:

It consists of short warp or weft floats on a plain weave background.
Warp and weft are the same or similar yarn.
It requires a minimum of four shafts; two for the pattern blocks and two for the plain weave.
The blocks are treadled the same number of times as there are warp ends.
How and where the spots form depend on the treadling.

My first two samples (just to get warmed up). These are 12/2s cotton set at 24 epi.:

And my third:

Alternating spots on both blocks A and B.

The pictures are not exceptional. The flash washed the pattern out and natural light doesn't show it off that well either. We've been assured that is will look better once they are off the loom and washed. You can see how the different times of day effect the color.

I really enjoyed weaving these and can't wait to try the next samples. There are several variations to explore. I'm envisioning blouse fabric and curtains. It is fascinating to me to watch the pattern reveal itself before my eyes. It's almost as much fun as experimenting with color! (Oops, I can't believe I said that. Do note the “almost” :)

I admit that I can't help but wonder how color would effect these. But I'll save those experiments for later. For the moment, I'm content to follow the plan.

Pages

Monday, November 20, 2006

Lace Sampler – Huck Lace 2

Saturday, November 18, 2006

Lace Sampler – Huck Lace 1

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Rare Breed – California Variegated Mutant 2

Monday, November 13, 2006

Rare Breed – California Variegated Mutant 1

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Lace Sampler – Huck