• Home
  • Shop
  • About
  • Exhibits
  • Contact me

jeanweaves

~ Jean Williams, Handweaver

jeanweaves

Monthly Archives: March 2014

The Draft That Didn’t

20 Thursday Mar 2014

Posted by jeanweaves in Napkins, Placemats, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Handwoven, Napkins, Placemats

Color Block Placemats off the loom

A funny thing happened with those napkins on my “To Weave” list. I started out with one plan and ended up with another. But let me go back a bit.

A couple months ago, I began purposely planning projects to use up some old yarn. I have some heavy cotton blend yarn in spring-like colors that were ripe for the weaving during those cold, snowy days. For the first project, I chose the medium orange (think tangerine), a perky red (strawberry–I see a theme here), and peach. The colors really do work together! They became color block placemats with an off-white cotton ground thread as the tie-down.

Color Block Block Placemats

Color Block Placemats off the loom

As I weave placemats, I think about the napkins that should go with them.  Not everyone uses napkins (my husband never seems to need one) but many of us need protection from our food.  I’m speaking from personal experience here.  And I like my napkins to at least pretend to go with my placemats.  So when these placemats came off the loom, it was time to tackle the napkins.

I don’t have light weight cottons in colors to match the placemats perfectly, but I have plenty of off-white on hand.  To add a little sparkle, I alternated mercerized and unmercerized across the warp.  But I needed a weave structure that would play well with the bold blocks of the placemats.  I turned to A Weaver’s Book of 8-Shaft Patterns edited by Carol Strickler (1991 Interweave Press). In the chapter on twill blocks, there’s a nice twill and basketweave combination that looked like it would work, but after threading the loom and weaving for several inches, I wasn’t so sure.  I checked my tie-up, my threading, and my treadling for errors, unwove and rewove, but it still didn’t match my mind’s picture for my napkins.  So I took a walk to consider what to do with 8.5 yards of off-white warp threaded for block twill.

The obvious choice was to just treadle those twill blocks as they were threaded. Because I was using a 3/1 and 1/3 twill, the way the light hits the two blocks makes them look distinctively different, matt versus shine.  The 10/2 cotton gives a nice hand to the cloth and with washing, will soften even more.

Twill block napkins

Twill block napkins on the loom

I’m looking forward to seeing how they turn out after they are finished.

Advertisement

The Pause Between the Warps

12 Wednesday Mar 2014

Posted by jeanweaves in Uncategorized, Weaving Inspiration

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Handwoven, Weaving

It’s happened again: I finished up the warps on both my looms at the same time. There’s a great sense of accomplishment when I unwind the newly woven cloth. What started out as cones of yarn is now a web of cloth, just about ready to use (after preshrinking, hemming, and ironing). While I’m finishing the fabric, I’m thinking about what’s next?

I’m a firm believer in lists and like a lot of weavers, have a “What to Weave Next” list. The list is constantly evolving.  What do I get excited about? What challenges me? What is an easy project to do after finishing those challenging ones? What have I been curious about, but never tried? What have I been putting off and should finally learn?

The “To Weave” list also includes what people have asked me about.  Sometimes someone will say “What I’ve really been looking for is…” On to the list it goes! What seems to be popping up in all the ads? What color is promoted at the home stores?

Often I’ll get side-tracked and will go off on a weaving tangent not on my list. That’s okay; that’s what creativity is all about. The tangent should lead to more ideas.

So what is on my list? Since I just finished color block placemats in tangerine, melon and strawberry, I’ll be weaving napkins to go with them.  The formal tablecloths from the big loom will probably get napkins as well, something more refined in finer thread.  The towel stash needs to be replenished for the spring and summer.  And the 2014 Color of the Year is Radiant Orchid (see http://www.Pantone.com) — guess what color will be showing up in the new warps?

What inspires you? What spurs you on to the next project? How do you decide what’s next? What’s on your list?

 

Shop!

Follow Us

  • Facebook

Galleries

  • Towels to Use and to Give
  • Runners
  • Scarves for Him and Her
  • For the Table
  • Note Cards
  • Animals
  • Throws
  • The Linen Press
  • Privacy Policy

Subscribe

  • RSS - Posts
  • RSS - Comments

Archives

  • September 2020 (2)
  • October 2019 (1)
  • August 2019 (1)
  • July 2019 (2)
  • June 2019 (2)
  • March 2019 (1)
  • November 2018 (2)
  • September 2018 (1)
  • July 2018 (2)
  • May 2018 (2)
  • April 2018 (1)
  • February 2018 (2)
  • January 2018 (1)
  • December 2017 (1)
  • November 2017 (2)
  • October 2017 (3)
  • August 2017 (1)
  • July 2017 (1)
  • June 2017 (2)
  • May 2017 (2)
  • March 2017 (2)
  • February 2017 (2)
  • January 2017 (2)
  • December 2016 (1)
  • November 2016 (1)
  • October 2016 (2)
  • August 2016 (3)
  • June 2016 (1)
  • May 2016 (1)
  • March 2016 (2)
  • February 2016 (1)
  • January 2016 (1)
  • December 2015 (1)
  • November 2015 (3)
  • October 2015 (1)
  • September 2015 (4)
  • August 2015 (1)
  • July 2015 (2)
  • June 2015 (1)
  • May 2015 (1)
  • April 2015 (2)
  • March 2015 (2)
  • February 2015 (2)
  • January 2015 (2)
  • December 2014 (1)
  • November 2014 (3)
  • October 2014 (1)
  • September 2014 (2)
  • August 2014 (1)
  • July 2014 (3)
  • June 2014 (1)
  • May 2014 (2)
  • April 2014 (2)
  • March 2014 (2)
  • February 2014 (2)
  • January 2014 (2)
  • December 2013 (2)
  • November 2013 (1)
  • October 2013 (1)
  • September 2013 (3)
  • August 2013 (1)

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • jeanweaves
    • Join 62 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • jeanweaves
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...