a good day for mail

Thursday was a spectacular day for mail! I received a new Fiber Arts magazine and I can't wait to sit down and read it. I also received a bunch of color cards from Halcyon Yarn so I can start planning my spring shawl line. Then there was a box of yarn from Webs- 3 cones of rayon: yellow, white, eggplant- two cones that look like baker's twine in melon/natural and navy/natural- and one large cone of aqua unmercerized cotton. These were mill ends and closeouts, and I was unsure of the quality of yarn, but most seem fine. The rayons are a little hairy but the sheen is irresistible. I love the color and strength of the aqua. The baker's twine is incredibly beautiful but also incredibly weak. Wish I had a ball winder and a swift so that i could wind them into 2 or 3 fake plies to build up the strength a bit. Might just try warping it as groups of 2 or 3, but that will double or triple my winding time.

The last surprise was a letter from Amanda Ho in Australia! I am participating in "Pics to Picks," hosted by Meg Nakagawa- it is an exchange of photos and images among weavers, ending in either weaving projects inspired by these images or sketches and plans. I will write more it in a separate post, but what joy! I used to collect stamps, and it is such a joy to receive mail with stamps from all parts of the world. The internet connects us so well, but what an intangible idea! To think of one person physically writing a letter, the path to the mailbox, the post office sorting, the letter's trip on a boat or plane- flying over the sea to reach the other city, being sorted again and stuck in a mail bag for delivery- inch by inch, mile by mile. The physical yet invisible maps of paths of mail, paths of planes, paths of footsteps.

shawl test warp

First weaving done! It's good to be back! Time flew while weaving- only took about an hour to weave off 1.5 yds... Note to self: buy a threading hook. I have a brass reed hook that came with the loom, but failed to remember that I would also need a heddle threading hook. Luckily there were only 30 ends that I hand threaded like needles. However, I would love one before I have to thread the 208 ends for the actual shawl.

I used WeaveDesign on my work PC to create five treadlings based on a straight draw and 1-8-1 draw. (looking into mac weaving software... quite a difficult decision, as I only have experience with Fiberworks PCW, which I love, but is only available in PC format)


I started with some leftover golden wool from Halcyon, woven tightly. It was lovely. I wish I could have made a blanket this way. I'll have to file that idea away for the future. After weaving, I washed it with woolite and let it dry. There was not much shrinkage, maybe 2%. I've decided on a threading and treadling pattern, and now just need to construct a rattle! The yarn's age (and probably dye saturation) have made parts of it VERY fragile- I had three yarns break during weaving- not from tension.. the construction of the yarn must be so compromised that the fibers just pulled apart. Common sense tells me to take a hint and use other yarn, but I insist on being stubborn and trying to make it through with a back to front warping and careful attention.