Rayures rouges - Red stripes

Les linges bleus sont tissés. Les prochains seront à rayures rouges et blanches soulignées de noir.

The blue towels are woven. The next ones will have red and white stripes highlighted in black.

La chaîne supplémentaire est montée sur le métier. À défaut d'en trouver une autre, j'ai utilisé la même méthode que la dernière fois.  Alors que je croyais avoir utilisé la mauvaise méthode, tout s'est beaucoup mieux déroulé cette fois-ci et en moitié moins de temps.

The supplementary chain is warped onto the loom. I couldn't think of an alternate and used the same method as last time. Surprised that it went so well and in half less time than before, I realize that the issue was not so much about the method than not having performed it often enough.

Désolé de la qualité des photos, elles semblent être hors focus depuis quelques jours...  Voici ce que ça donne en rouge.

I'm sorry that the pictures are out of focus since a few days. This is what it looks like in red.

Coupe des cardères - Cutting off teasels

Les cardères ont bien poussées et ont atteint 6 pieds de hauteur. On les voit ici avec leur tête en fleur au début du mois de juillet.

Teasels have grown to a full 6 feet tall. Here pictured with bloomed heads at the beginning of July.

Gant dans une main, sécateur dans l'autre, il est temps de les couper.

Armed with a glove and a pruner, ready to cut.

Triste.

Sad.

4 bacs de capitules (un manquant dans la photo), 1 bac de tiges pour faire des nichoirs à abeilles et un dernier de déchets. Et un pot plein de 500ml de semences!

4 flower bins (one is missing in the picture) of pods, another one of cut stems to make native bee nests, and a last one filled with the waste.

Les capitules serviront à brosser des articles de laine.

The pods will be used to raise the nap on woolen goods.

Quelque projets - A few projects

Ça fait déjà quelques semaines que ce tapis est complété. Projet de groupe préparé par Albertine à la Guilde des Tisserandes de Lachine.

It's already been a few weeks that is rug is completed. This group project was presented and prepared by Albertine at the Lachine Weavers Guild.

J'ai déroulé la semaine dernière mon tout premier écheveau de lin du rouet après des mois d'attente. J'en profite pendant les vacances pour avancer sur certains projets mis de côté par manque de temps (ou d'intérêt).

Last week I unwound this first skein of linen from the weel started months ago. Vacation time is great for finishing projects put aside for lack of time (or interest).

Les linges rayés avancent, je suis déjà rendu au quatrième et dernier de la série bleue.

Starting on fourth and last blue stripes towel.

Finalement, j'ai commencé hier un centre de table sur la chaîne du grand métier.

And at last, I started yesterday a linen runner on the bigger loom.

Second ourdissage des rayures - Beaming on new stripes

C'est le temps de mettre à l'épreuve l'idée d'utiliser la deuxième ensouple pour remplacer une portion des fils en cours de projet. La première chaîne colorée a été coupée et la deuxième est prête pour l'ourdissage.

It's now time to warp on new stripes and see if my idea of using the second beam for replacing sections of warp in the middle of a project works out or not. The first coloured stripes have been cut off form the beam and the new ones are ready to be beamed on. 

Je replis cinq sacs d'un kg de cailloux pour en faire des poids.

I am weighting enough pebbles to fill up 5 bags of 1kg each.

Ces sacs servent de poids pour tendre les chaînes durant l'enroulage. Un ros déposé sur la structure du métier contrôle l'espacement des fils.

The bags are used to tension the new warp stripes while being beamed. the threads are spread out by a reed sitting on the loom castle.

Une fois les chaînes enroulées, chaque nouveau fil est noué à celui qu'il remplacera.

Once beamed up, each new thread is attached to the old one being replaced.

Chaque rayure est ensuite tirée à travers les cadres et le ros puis attachée à la baguette.

Each group of threads is pulled through the lamms and the reed then tied up to the stick.

Puis le tissage peut reprendre.

Weaving can now resume.

L'idée de remplacer les rayures fonctionne mais la procédure est longue et compliquée. Je prévois la refaire encore deux autres fois durant ce projet et j'espère trouver une façon de faire plus facile.

Replacing portions of warp during a project is feasible but remains long and difficult. Another couple of stripe changes aremplanned and I hope to find an easier way.

Striped dishtowels (cont.)

Instead of leaving empty sections on the bottom warp for the stripes, I chose instead, even if I was affraid to end up with friction issues between both warps where each section crosses with the other. I wanted by doing so to avoid tension problems on the lower warp beam which holds maybe 4 to 5 longer than the top one. I also had to cut a new bunch of 60 warping sticks before starting.















Threading the heddles from two separate warps was no problem.

All looks tidy from the back. The double warp beam works as planned.















While I had planned to use 2/9 linen for both warp and weft at 24 epi, I had to switch to a 2/10 linen warp for a balanced weave. I did not want to reduce the sett and end up with narrower towels.

Striped dishtowels

This teatowel project will be the first one using the double warp beam. The upper beam will hold the couloured stripes warp and the lower one the background natural warp. I will not in this project be using a double warp beam to address an issue of  warp elasticity difference but to be able to switch stripe colours a few times throughout the whole ground warp length.

I am starting with the upper warp leaving blank sections between the stripes.














The teasels have grown quite tall in a short period of time reaching almost 5 feet high.

Location:Rigaud (Qc), Canada

Fuller's Teasel (Dipsacus sativus)

The teasels have survived our cold winter (Canada 5A Zone) under a thick cover of 1,5m (54in) of snow.

The plants are not very high but flower buds are starting to show.

I ordered the seeds two winters ago from la Hulotte French magazine and sowed them last summer.(http://lahulotte.fr/cardere_cultivee.php)

double warp beam completed

I worked almost all day yesterday completing the double warp beam.

Working on the sides, the end piece details take more time to make than the original square cut but they look prettier.

A little assembly test to make sure everything works.

How do you put this up on the loom by yourself? Awarping frame is always handy :-)

Everything seems ok.

I took everyting down and gave it a good sanding. Here I am waiting for the oil finish to dry.

In the meantime, I made a pair of locking pins for the upper warp beam.








1:30 am. Tired but happy. The double warp beam is up on the loom!

What happened since last January?

Sorry for not having updated my blog lately... just too busy I guess :-)

What happened since last January?

A new duvet cover set for one of our guest room, I made the duvet cover with the flat sheet and some corduroy fabric recycled from another bed cover. That makes a nice winter set.

Nothing to do with weaving but I was finally able to get braces. Some things in life take more time than others... priorities and budget limitation.

I also started making a second warp beam to go with the ratchet wheel I bought this winter from Dawn McCarthy for my Standard 110.

 

I also took a 6 weeks (one half day per week) tapestry course from the Centre des Textiles Contemporains de Montréal (http://www.textiles-mtl.com/en/) which I highly appreciated and recommend!

This week, I finally was able to continue working on the double warp beam project. Here we see one of the sides that will hold both pairs of back and warp beams.

And here what will become the second back beam along with the existing one.

Keeping busy, I told you!

Cheap quills and weaving

I can't say enough good about paper quills, first they're silent, second they cost almost nothing. Out of two paper grocery bags (now at 5 cents each) I obtained over 70 quills! First I cut off the bottom of the bag, then I fold it flat and cut along both edges. I then accordion fold each side according to the size of the quill I need and I cut through the layers following a circular shape (here using a Heineken coaster).

Weaving wise, I reached today the 30" mark on the second Smålandsväv runner. They need to be about 60" long each for my dining room table (The picture shows 24" but I kept weaving after taking them).