I’ve finally started weaving Kathy’s scarves! They are coming out beautifully. Here’s a peek at the first section:
And the second section, just after the phoenixes:
I am weaving these scarves with the weft-dominant side up, mostly because it’s easier to spot errors that way. If I’m lifting 4 of every 5 warp threads, it’s hard to see whether a thread is misbehaving, because so many threads are lifted. If I’m lifting only 1 of 5 warp threads, on the other hand, they’re widely spaced, so a mistake is pretty obvious. (For the weavers, this scarf is woven in 5-end satin, 1-4 vs. 4-1.)
Unfortunately, that means that they are being woven with the prettier side down. Here is a photo of the top side of last week’s samples, to remind you of what the front face looks like:
I think the front face is going to be just beautiful, so I can’t wait to finish the scarves and turn them over!
And, to keep you entertained until the Big Reveal of the finished scarves…here’s Fritz, enjoying a seasonal treat: candy cups.
(If you’re reading via email, click this link to view the video.)
I have a question about the dyeing of the warp for your kodachrome jacket. I often dye warps but have had trouble with the colors bleeding into each other. The Handwoven article said that you carefully dyed in 2″ segments. My question is: did you use a dye thickener to prevent the spreading of each color? If so, what did you use? I have sodium alginate, but haven’t tried using it yet. I absolutely LOVE the way you use color. TIA for any help you can give me.
Hi Sandee,
I did not use a dye thickener. I think I started by painting the yellow to give it more time to spread, then I painted the other colors. I can’t remember, though, whether I used three primary colors and let them mix in the space between colors to make the secondary colors, or whether I painted on the secondary colors as well. Anyway, I did not use a thickener, but I did use a ruler to make sure all the sections were the same size and spacing. I hope that helps!
Thank you very much!
Hi … it’s me again. I’ve been thinking about your answer and am still wondering how you were able to keep the dyes from spreading. Is it the difference between the tencel I am using and the silk you used? Did you squirt (paint) on a very thin line of dye? I’ve been dyeing whole warps (usually one color) for years, but am having no luck achieving what I want with sections of colors. Thanks again.
Hi Sandee,
I painted a thin line and let it spread. I started with yellow, as that is the weakest color and I wanted it to spread into the adjacent areas…once an area is painted the water in the painted-on dye acts as a sort of mild resist to stop the next area from spreading.
Hope that helps!
Thanks again so much for taking the time to answer me! Happy holidays! And happy weaving too!