Lockspinning Mohair yarn for a bulky art yarn full of texure. This is wonderful weaving yarn. Read more…..
Category: Handspun Textured Yarn
Vintage Kitchen Decoration
It is so pretty that I decided I just must SEE it every day!!
I found this stunning Heart shaped chair recently and thought it paired perfectly with my Missouri Loom. I have found vintage chairs are a better fit for me than most modern chairs. The seat height is many times 19-20 inches which works so much better for my long legs.
This meant it had to be in my breakfast nook with a table and chairs set. The space really isn’t big enough for a table and chairs let alone a loom and chair as well.
This posed an interesting dilemma. I had to think creatively outside of the box for a solution. Working with small spaces many times requires a bit of trial and error to make things fit.
I started first with the loom and heart shaped chair.
I put all new heddles on all 4 harness of the loom. Both texsolv and inserted eye. I wanted to move away from the flat metal heddles that came on the loom.
I also changed out the 15 dent reed to a 8 dent reed. Now I can weave with medium and bulky textured yarn that I handspin. If I get into super Bulky handspun Textured yarn, I can change the reed out to my 4 dent reed for an even wider sett.
This is going to be fun. I got that part done now. It is so cute, cozy and don’t you think it is just PERFECT??
The next step was the table and chairs. The fact that it is only the two of us made it easier. We do not need a big table or a lot of space for two people. I setteled on a 30 inch diameter vintage side table. It is supposed to be a side table, but it is 30 inches high like any other table…so I am not caring.
I found these 2 chairs from 2 different sellers almost 2 years apart. So this has been a long time in the making for this decoration. I really like the spider back chairs and their velvet softness with the warm wood. Which is why I think I am not completely finished as I must now paint that table. The cool gray with all the warm colors around it is just WRONG!! It will have to do for now though.
Here is everything altogether. The weaving loom, new heart shaped chair, along with the new dinningroom table and chairs. It is all stuffed into a dinning nook barely big enough for the teensy table. Yes, it is a bit “close”. But I can move around it, and it doesn’t look awful.
Morag, the red tri border collie even has her hidey hole blanket down the back of the loom still. You can see her in one of the photos. Can you find her?
And even better yet, it lets me have my weaving loom and heart chair where I can see both every single day. There is a much better chance of some textured weaving happening. I am going still going to use that handspun bulky yarn yet.
This is right next to the cozy dinning in my cozy kitchen. My small space in my small house. Doesn’t everyone have a weaving loom in their dinning nook WITH the table and chairs?
Ps. I still have to paint that dang gray table. Pop a comment down below. Tell me what you think of it all together. And tell me…what color SHOULD the table be??
Ocean Wave Textured Yarn Shawl AR1WP0001WEA
Ocean Waves Textured Shawl off the loom and finished. Handwoven from hand dyed handspun Textured yarn. Most of the Textured yarn is Lockspun from Leicester and Teeswater longwool locks.
This is me back weaving again after a long vacation from most of my looms. This my first one just off the loom. I thought I was going to hate the colors at first when I started to weave, but it is growing on me. I did try an experiment with 2 rows of nothing but locks to see if it will look great. I think it added some pizazz!
Still working on some of the last of a Border Leicester x Gotland lamb fleece, with some Teeswater and Leicester Longwool locks I have dyed up and ready to spin. All the weft is my handspun and hand dyed textured yarns. The two I used the most of in this weaving are Seabreeze Textured Yarn and Summer Forest Textured Yarn. The warp is some of my own homegrown merino and mohair left from my time out in Colorado. All the yarn that is not turquoise is lock spun from same locks in the 2 rows and plyed with a lace weight Angora rabbit yarn.
It was going to be either a shawl or a bag for my new 20 inch ocean drum. I could not make up my mind which until it was off the loom and depends on how it acts after being washed, fulled and dried. It took two days to wash, soak, dry and decide. I think it is a shawl.
Oceans Wave Shawl is now listed in the shop for sale. This is very unique Textured weaving that will not last long. There is only one. Shop link in the menu top. Direct link is HERE! The shawl is in the Wearables section. Hurry!
Now I have to warp up the loom and weave another because I really do need that bag for my new Ocean Drum.
Art Yarn Testing on new Spinning Wheels and Flyers
I am testing out a Majacraft Aura, an Art Yarn Flyer for my Louet S70, and a new flyer for my original Ashford Country Spinner. I am trying to decide which way I want to go for my Art Yarn Spinning.
First I was spinning art yarn on the Majacraft Aura with a regular head and the bamboo bobbins that are standard on the Aura. I tried to spin two styles of yarn. First I spun a lockspun bulky art yarn. And second, I spun laceweight yarn in a backwards long draw.
I have to say I was not pleased with either style of spinning. I felt that there is just not enough take up and draw in on an Aura when I spin at high speed ratios for a bulky textured yarn. If I were to spin slowly at a low ratio, it would might be just fine. I can already do that on my Ashford Country Spinner so no gain there.
It is a double drive hybrid set up. But the take up still feels like scotch tension and seems to still suffer from drag and inertia as the bobbin fills. The constant fiddeling with adjusting the brake as the bobbin filled up was beyond annoying and another fail for my tastes. And trying to spin laceweight in a backwards longdraw on the Aura, THAT was not happening. Epic fail on that one. End of story.
Second I used my Louet S70 ST using Louet Art Yarn flyer. I was spinning locks and tails in a bulky to super bulky art yarn and also trying for laceweight in a backward long draw. Same two styles that I tried on the Aura.
Art yarn flyer plus lockspinning on a Louet brings out my happy smiles. It was fabulous and worked like a charm. Don’t get me wrong though, I still think the flyer is ugly compared to my beautiful. Oak S70.
Next I tried using fast speed of 10.5 ratio on 3 speed bobbin to spin laceweight in a backwards long draw. It was so smooth and easy. No fuss and no musd. Just sit down and spin. Just how I like my wheels to be. Rather versatlie wheel with simple to work tension and braking.
Third I plyed bulky lockspun textured singles with my Ashford Country Spinner. I used a new flyer that was sliding rings vs hooks for the first time. So much better for plying large anounts of lockspun textured yarn than fighting those tails on the hooks. This is getting a yes from me as well.
I did not even attempt a laceweight in a backwards long draw on the Ashford Country Spinner. I have spun fine singles on the Country Spinner before but it required a lot of holding the yarn back to build up twist with its low ratios. That is impossible to do with a backward long draw as the take up is too strong on this wheel naturally. I had too many tests to do this weekend with my borrowed equipment to waste time on a test I knew was an epic fail to start with. The Country Spinner’s super power is art yarn and bulky yarns. It does poorly at high twist fine yarns.
Altogether after spinning on all three wheels, I am very happy with the Louet S70 the most. Happy is probably an understatement, I have found my wheel for most everything.
