Huck Striped Scarf, by Noelene Gratoon

Part 1 of my 12-part self imposed challenge: a scarf in Rayon with Huck stripes taken directly from Handwoven Magazine Jan/Feb 2005.

Noelene

May Meeting Show & Tell, Part II

Rose has woven the fabric for a skirt. Every warp end has three ends of polyester machine thread with it! (Why would anybody want to do that?)

Noelene is busy with the dye pot, planning to make a rug with the Wilson tartan.

Jan raided her button tin after seeing this idea Up the Garden Path.

Chris tells Joan her scarf is gorgeous, but it’s not handwoven!

Noelene’s work in progress – her first attempt at double weave. It will become a cushion. Unfortunately the colour is not true; it’s more of a caramel/brown than this.

Rose used soft cotton for these baby wraps. The weave is a crepe, trialled at recent workshop.


by Rose Pelvin

Record Sheet, by Noelene Gratton

Each project has a slight variation in the recording. The basics are the same and additional information to easily repeat the project is added, eg: threading and weaving plan for stripes etc. Also it depends how much can be fitted onto the page. As technology and my ability to use it has advanced the record sheet has evolved from simple hand scribbled notes to the current sheet. The basic information has not changed. The draw downs are taken from Pikes Peak Weavers Weave Design downloadable software.




by Noelene Gratton

Plaid Scarf, by Noelene Gratton

This scarf was made as a sample to check the suitability of the yarn for a larger project. It wove nicely but on washing all the joins shrank back and have had to be darned in with extra yarn. The yarn was chosen as it was the closest match for the correct colours for a tartan rug, and I wanted to avoid the dye pot.

I was a Wilson and the rug is to be a gift for my nephew, my brother's son. Wilsons are from clan Gunn with some being from Innes (I think) .

The following is taken from the web site tartanregister.gov.uk:

"Generally now called simply 'Wilson' by modern weavers. Named after Janet Wilson, wife of the Bannockburn weaver, William Wilson who manufactured tartans from 1765. It is suggested in the extensive archives of the company that the tartan was prepared for the wedding in 1780 between the William Wilson, the son of the founder, and Janet Paterson. The sett was later introduced as the Wilson family tartan. Variations show blue instead of purple in the broad band and blue instead of azure (light blue) in the narrow stripes."

Pinwheel Twill Scarf, by Noelene Gratton

When my weaving daughter saw the fabric for the vest, she cheekily commented about making good use of all 8 shafts. “Of course, it was threaded 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8”. Hence an 8 shaft project had to follow. I liked the look of this scarf from an early issue of Weavezine, an online weaving magazine. Diving into the stash I pulled out two yarns of slightly different weights but close enough to be ok, so I thought. Too bad, it’ll do. They behaved quite differently with the cream (the finer yarn) shrinking more in the fulling, resulting in a seersucker effect. Not what I was wanting but interesting all the same.

Future plans include repeating this pattern in a larger piece.

by Noelene Gratton

New Loom, First Project, by Noelene Gratton

In July 2008 I bought an 8 shaft Mecchia Loom, from Invercargill. After getting it home, assembling it and sorting out a few hiccups and many duh!! moments, with the generous help of Margaret (Mecchia, by email), I was ready for action.

I wanted to start by doing something quick to check if everything was working as it should. As I am not a person who samples, a plain weave chunky project was called for. A sleeveless vest, quick and easy. To add interest, three colours were used - green, navy and violet, all very pale, alternating in both the warp and weft so as not to get a striped effect. In the process, I learned a little about batch dying, something I have never done before, preferring a random effect so as to hide any unevenness of colour.

The resulting fabric was pleasing and the loom worked well with no further adjustments necessary.

After almost 2 years the jacket is finally finished. Good timing for the year of the garment.

by Noelene Gratton

A Plan, by Noelene Gratton

Noelene didn't have her bag, yet, but she has a plan, and we were shown a download from Interweave Press website and a sample.

May I add that Noelene has the most immaculate, beautiful weaving records I have ever seen. So beautiful I hesitated to photograph for fear of copyrights violation, but I will try to get something from her in the coming year; I shall make that my 2010 project.

by Meg Nakagawa