Winter's Work

Although I haven't posted in a long time, I've certainly been busy!

Here is the linen gown with the tabletweaving from last fall. The trim is also on the cuffs.

Here is a wool heart pattern (8 harness) which I need to sew up. The white is exactly the same treadling but the hearts can only be seen when the light catches them. 

My newest wool gown in another 8 harness pattern. The purse is one of my knitted silk ones (in an early entry).

Here is the first half of a bad snowfall, which encouraged me in my textiles this winter!

Here is another 8 harness wool design needing to be sewn up.

And one of my current projects is wildly modern: a free Ravelry pattern called Zick Zack.

As of this morning, the first bulbs are trying to open!

Happy spring, all, and I hope you are enjoying your fiber and literal gardens!

Historic tablet weaving

I have really enjoyed being a member of Facebook's Historic Tablet Weaving list and being inspired by the weaving of so many other people!

I wove almost three yards of 16/2 linen, which I am going to sew to a medieval dress.

This first one shows the wooden cards I use in different colors. They all have a strong grain, so I can tell where I should be without the ABCD labeling of modern cards.

And this has more of the repeat. The background is one of the natural cotton towels I showed in another post. The pattern is from Applesies and Fox Noses: Finnish Tabletwoven Bands by Maikki Karisto and Mervi Pasanan--a fabulous book with medieval designs and ones inspired by them.

Medieval Hood

Some years back, I had woven red and black Maine Line Jaegerspun 2/8 into 8-harness herringbone and broken diamond twill (same threading, different treadling). However, cutting into the fabric was another issue! I finally cut and hand sewed a medieval style hood in time for the Indiana State Fair, where it won a second.

First, a side view.

Next, here are views of the hood as I was wearing it wearing it at a recent SCA event. I definitely enjoyed wearing the hood, which was amazingly cozy.

Next, more cutting and sewing!

Tabletweaving Frenzy

In the Society for Creative Anachronism (an international group with areas divided into SCA kingdoms and smaller groups), the King of the Midrealm promised the King of Atlantia a fine set of clothes to be given at Pennsic War (a little camping event in western Pennsylvania with 12,000-13,000 medieval through Renaissance reenactors). I found a tabletweaving pattern which reflects the wavy blue and white section of Atlantia's heraldic device, selected Bockens 16/2 linen in dark blue and white, and worked with all speed, finishing it today so I can give it to the woman sewing the medieval Scandinavian caftan and hat. Someone else is sewing a tunic with another person's different tw pattern, and a third person is sewing the pants. Whew! I'm looking forward to seeing it being worn!

Mini-tapestry

Recently I took a three-hour tapestry workshop taught for Weaving Indiana (meeting in Fishers, Indiana) by Barb of The Weavers Loft (Gilford, Indiana). Afterwards, I was inspired to make a 6.25" x 6/25" mini-tapestry inspired by the mesas north of Santa Fe. All the yarns, including the warp, I handspun. I had a general idea of how I had hoped they would turn out, but wasn't entirely sure! I worked it on a Hokett loom, 8 epi. The next step is to finish the ends on the back and decide how to hang it in my office.

Towels in nature's own colors

Waaay back in the 1980s, I was in graduate school in Austin, Texas, when I learned about Sally Fox's efforts to cultivate cotton which historically grew in colors: from shades of brown, red, green, and the blue she's still searching for. When Weaving Indiana (a monthly guild meeting about 50 minutes northeast) had a towel exchange last November, I decided to weave up some of those natural cottons I had bought in the previous year or two.

Through the magic of weaving, all these towels were woven with the same tie-up but different treadling. The "tree" pattern was in an issue of Handwoven. I put the tie-up on my iPad using iWeave it, then I played with the treadling to create all these different towels. Here I have overlapped the finished towels.

Also, the next two pictures are the same design: one from the front, the other from the back. In weaving, sometimes the "wrong" side is more striking than the "right" one! (The difference in color is why cameras can be perplexing.)

And here is another diamond variation.

And zig zags!

 Part of what is so fascinating about this natural, undyed cotton, is that the color deepens when the fabric is simmered for at least a half hour!

Beaded Purses

Here are some of the beaded crocheted purses I have made in the past.

The first one I made started with a chain at the bottom, with single crochets worked in the top of the chain on each side, creating the spiral. Once the beading pattern was established, I kept single crocheting and developed the checkerboard design. Periodically, I had to add new beads but concealed the join so it is hard to find it inside. After the beading was done, I did double crochets to create holes for the ties, then more crocheting and beads at the very top. The last task was to string beads and crochet fringes at the bottom.

The photo doesn't fully show how this purse sparkles!

This purse is actually brighter and sparkles much more than it seems because the beads are cut.

The "shadow" on this Victorian-inspired purse is caused by the steel-cut beads not aging the same. The tie is a velvet ribbon threaded through double crochet. You can just see the top row of tiny beads.

(The background is a towel I wove of natural, undyed cotton--but that's a story for another post!)