Snow-pocalypse
We hardy New Englanders were knocked on our snow-proud bums by a huge storm that took out our electricity, phone, internet and even cell phone for two days. It then rained for an entire day and now it is snowing again! At least I have power (and heat) in my studio now so I can play catch-up. I am weaving some seat cushions for my dining room chairs with the hand-dyed mohair wefts on a linen warp. So far I have one in orange, one in celery green and the beginning of one in lilac. Color ecstasy.
The bicycle wheel-spun African mohair was obtained through Margaret Arai – an incredible rug hooker who had imported a huge quantity from a women’s cooperative in Ghana (I think). The yarn I bought from her (in hefty bag quantity) was a little too fine for her purposes. It takes dye beautifully and is very strong. The only problem is winding it off the very haphazard skeins. Breathe deeply!
I am also working on a double weave cotton baby blanket (quilt/play mat) in 3/2 cotton. I am weaving it on my AVL and am planning on changing the tie-up and treading so the geometric motifs will change as I move up the warp. The AVL is behaving like an angel. I wonder if the pace of my weaving is creating this angelic behavior. I can’t weave super fast because I have to use two fly-shuttles (no problem), but I have to manually move the top shuttle to make sure it catches the bottom weft every third pick to close the left selvedge. This really slows me down and perhaps explains the delightful problem-free weaving I am experiencing.
