Guild day

Weaving has taken a backstep these last few weeks so I have been quiet.

But Spring has definitely arrived and the world is getting greener by the day. I love this time of year.

Yesterday we were going to weave with paper at our local Guild but plans had to change when the tutor could not make it. So we switched to Inkle weaving. I had not done this before. At Online Guild last year there was an Inkle weaving workshop but I had no loom to use. This time I was able to borrow one I'm now weaving my first braid using 8/2 cotton.

The photo's above you can see the colours of the warp. One mostly blue with one red thread and the other is mostly pale green with a red and a blue thread on each side.

Very simple but I like my "on the spot" design that I did when warping the Inkle loom yesterday. Changing some threads to get the colour changes.

Here the pattern is more visible but the colours are not as they are, they look a bit paler in the photos.

Small project on the sample warp

After weaving lots of samples I made a scarf on the same warp. I had made a longer warp so that there would be enough to make a scarf and samples. I threaded the warp on 8 shafts so that I could make blocks in the scarf. The blocks are 1 cm wide and woven 3/1 and 1/3 alternating.

The scarf is wett finished and pressed.
A detailed photo here:

I was using my Leclerc Minerva loom and had lots of problems this time. Like the cord of the brake treadle snapping and the cord that connects the bar with the warpthreads on to the back beam also snapping. Not all the shafts were lifting as they should. I suppose that is getting familiar with the jackloom system.
Before I put on another warp on this loom I will go over the loom thoroughly so that the next warp will give less problems hopefully. Are there any other weavers reading this blog that are using a Minerva? I'd love to hear your thoughts on the loom.

The last samples looked like this using all 4 warp colours in the weft:

The finished samples are washed and pressed, the unfinished ones are not washed or pressed.

Back from UK

I had a great few days away, visiting the UK.
Meeting up with some old friends. Visiting the new Quilt exhibition at the V&A which was well worth visiting.
I visited Handweavers Studio, unfortunately they did not have the handy balloon spring anymore (and no more coming either) that Dot was showing in her blog. The access to Handweavers is good and lots of choice but the area was not very pleasant and I missed the lovely atmosphere that Handweavers Studio was with Nancy.
I also visited Selvedge getting some back copies of the magazine and seeing where they do all the hard work making the magazine. Next stop was Margo Selby, she was not there herself but Tref, who won the scholarship at Mastercrafts was there and so was his work and that of Holly that they made as their final piece at Mastercrafts. There is lots to see here so highly recommended for a visit.
On the last night I went to see War Horse which I found very moving. I'm glad I was able to see the show.