Monday 22 February 2016

The New House

Several people have asked for photos of the house and studio. Well I have got round to taking some photos and here they are. From the top, the back of the house and two views of the front. these show that the ground slopes away from the front of the house at an alarming rate.






And the studio




From the top, general view showing Megado and Louet Kombo with Fan Reed fitted. Behind me is a table with a 12 shaft loom on it. Then some of the stash and at the bottom more storage. So there you are. This is where I work and live.

And sometimes get it very wrong. Last year I attended an acid dyeing two day course where Martin Weatherhead came to the Guild. After the course I was handed a plastic bag with 9 small balls of yarn dyed in various shades of purple. Each ball would be about 8 gm so there was not much. So I wound a warp with all the colours carefully arranged but there was only 6 inches width so I added some other wool yarn which had been dyed in an indigo vat. It wove up very nicely  with no problems. The photo below shows the warp before tying on.


When I took it off the loom, I cut straight across the warp and washed the scarf. I was shocked rigid at the result. The extra blue yarn shrunk by more than 10% but the yarn dyed in the course did not shrink at all. The result is a curved scarf. It took me some time to realise that the indigo vat was probably luke warm and no stirring was applied whereas  the class-dyed yarn was taken up near boiling and stirred.  There is a moral here. Always wash any indigo dyed yarn thoroughly after it has dried.

And what am I going to do with the two metres of warp I have left? I am going to unwind the warp and replace the faulty yarn and rewind. And just to make sure, I have found some more indigo dyed yarn and have washed it rather thoroughly.




3 comments:

  1. A curved scarf isn't all bad - one usually wraps it around the neck, after all, so this one is all ready to go! And thanks for photos of the house and studio!

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  2. It looks like you have a great place there. I love your backyard. There is something about fenced in backyards that I am a big fan of. We had one in our last home and I created this little paradise. There was a beautiful garden and I decided that all of it should be edible. It ended up saving money.

    Julia Stewart @ Daytona Buyers Agent

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  3. I am so glad you shared photos of the new house and studio. Looks like you already have tings organized and running. The exterior of the house is simply gorgeous. I love the brick. It looks like you have plenty of space in the backyard too. Hope you enjoy creating and crafting in your new space for many years to come!

    Margaret @ Boston North Shore Real Estate

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About Me

I am weaver and - -. I dye my yarns with acid dyes, I paint my warps, put fabric collages and stencils on my weaving. I have three looms, a 12 inch wide, 12 shaft Meyer for demos and courses, a 30 inch Louet Kombo which is nominally portable but has a stand, two extra beams and a home-made device containing a fan reed. And last a 32 shaft Louet Megado which is computer controlled, has a sectional warp and a second warp beam and I am the proud owner of an AVL warping wheel which I love to bits and started by drilling holes in. I inserted a device for putting a cross in. I have just acquired an inkle loom and had a lesson from an expert so I can watch TV and weave at the same time. I am interested in weaving with silk mostly 60/2 although I do quite a bit with 90/2 silk. I also count myself as a bookbinder with a special interest in Coptic binding.