Ms & Oh nos and Crackle
After recovering from Sheepy Wool – i.e. digging out from “the kids have been home alone all weekend.” And just so no one panics, by “kids” I mean my 21-year-old daughter and my 11-year-old son. They were responsible, as in, they did not burn down the house, they ate something other than ice cream, etc. However, I did not find the usual weekend chores of laundry, housecleaning, bills, etc. completed and ready for the week to come. Not really a surprise, but I was able to dig out on Monday and proceed with projects yesterday.
The projects on loom were another stab at turned Ms & Os with color and a crackle sample (Strickler) for some fabric to re-upholster an aging ottoman in our family room. The turned Ms and Os with color is very interesting for a couple of reasons. I threaded it in alternating colors in order to get the ribbing to alternate colors. I had messed around with treadling in the natural scarf in order to end the block on the same rib that I began. This created some tricky maneuvering on the block changes so I decided to simplify on the treadling for the colored scarf. The ridiculous part is that it really doesn’t matter at all when using a single color warp, but it matters a lot in a colored warp. The cross shapes that can be seen so clearly in the natural scarf are obscured in the colored scarf by the alternating rib colors. Can you see it in the photo?
I am going to revisit this until I get what I want – hopefully using up some stash yarn and getting some attractive (perhaps not weaverly) scarves for gifts in the process.
The great block crackle draft from Strickler is in 5/2 cotton for the warp and a variety of weights and colors for the tabby and pattern wefts. I am going to weave another sample using a 10/2 linen warp with a fine linen tabby – both unbleached and a dark brown or black wool pattern weft. I think that will make a sturdy, durable upholstery fabric that looks good with the rug, etc. More to come.
