Killing time

I put on a 3-yard warp over the last two days (which took absolutely FOREVER to do because I had to figure out each step individually as I went), and finished up my Complex Weavers samples.  I will be taking photos shortly for a short article on two drafts I wove up for the Garment Study Group (the double happiness and eternity knot drafts).

However, it turns out that I don’t have enough of the 140/2 silk to weave off an entire 20-yard piece, so I need to order some 120/2 silk in from India.  And I expect that to take anywhere from 1-3 weeks to arrive, so I have some time to kill before I can get started on the dress fabric.

But fear not! bwahahaha, I have evil plans.  :-)  I have a lot of odds-n-ends yarns in my stash, and I plan to use them up in a couple of interesting studies.  More than that I cannot say, as there is a WeaveZine article in the works.  But I do think the results will be worthwhile, it shouldn’t take too long to do the studies, and since one can use one warp for many purposes, I can do some items unrelated to the WeaveZine article as well, suitable for publication here.

Part of the intent here is to get used to putting warps onto the loom quickly and efficiently, so I have plenty of practice before the superfine dress yarns arrive.  I hadn’t realized how fast it was possible to weave – I managed to put on and weave off three 5-yard warps (!) during the 5 days I was at Laura’s, plus weave up a warp that was already prepared.  While learning bobbin lace and making a couple of bookmarks.  I’m pretty sure I could have done a fourth warp if I’d skipped the bobbin lace.  Which suggests that I could be just as fast at home, if I had the free time.   Fortunately, I do!  There are other things I want to get done, like cleaning up the house and getting more exercise, but those can mostly be done in breaks from weaving.  Onwards and upwards!

So I am pulling out my yarns and rooting through the stash looking for stuff I want to use up, odds and ends that don’t really fit, things I’ve always wanted to try but never quite got around to.  Since I’m only weaving samples, the sky’s the limit! and I don’t have to worry about running out of yarn halfway through a larger piece.

I’ve already decided that the next warp to go on my loom will be (among other things) some warp-painted rayon chenille.  I’ve never worked with it, have wanted to work with it for ages, and have about 24,000 yards of 3000 ypp rayon chenille sitting in my stash.  And this is my golden opportunity!

My goal for the next week (or until that 120/2 silk arrives) is to put on and weave off as many warps as I can, to get as much practice at beaming onto a plain beam as I can.  Forward ho!