Testing Some Handspun

I have quite a pile of hand-spun and I'm beginning to think I should pay attention to it. Although I've owned wheels in the past I only use a drop spindle now, so I though I would pull it out and see what happened with some dyed roving I have...from somewhere.

This seductive painted roving can be tricky - what looks great in a roving becomes grey and mixes as you spin the sections. I was interested in what I could do with such a bright multicolored hand-spun (of course a face came to mind) and so I began to spin.

fleece, singles, 2-ply and wound bobbins

I started a 4 inch warp with no planned idea other than a face at the end. Although I often don't ink on a cartoon, usually a sketch is involved at some point along the way, just to get the idea growing. In this case it was entirely designed on the loom.

4 inches wide, 10 epi, no name yet...

Naturally a bit of the wedge weave had to sneak in. The red parts are some hand-dyed norsk, so is the yellow. Otherwise her outfit is from that roving.

I'm intrigued by what an impact that yellow triangle has...it's fun to explore.

Coffee Conversations

Time to update the tiny T's I keep on my website and sell via Etsy . I never tire of heading to the coffee shop a few blocks away and so I've created an ongoing series called Coffee Conversations. It brings together my two favorite pastimes - sketching and weaving.

The first part is simple; spend Saturday morning with sketching bag and coffee at the coffee shop. Saturday is pretty active there with lots of turnover and that's what I'm looking for. I usually fill 2-3 pages with an assortment of people I see and include any amusing observations that might help me remember something later.

7 x 10 inch sketchbook, ink pen and colored pencil

Once home I look at the sketches and decide which will be the most fun to weave. I want a variety of different types of people and lately I've been combining wedge weave with traditional tapestry, so I'm looking for opportunities to use that too.

didn't stray too much, but there are differences in the weaving...

Usually I draw a quick cartoon to size which I place next to me and slip under the warps when needed. I only completed 3 coffee tapestries this time as a few landscapes snuck in that warp.

4 inches wide, 10 epi

No problem, it's nearly fall and time to head back to see who I can sketch for the next round of conversations.

Coffee Conversation No. 6

Coffee Conversation No. 7

Coffee Conversation No. 8