Weaving Lessons Learned

I am thrilled to bits that I DID succeed in weaving cloth from my handspun hemp singles. It was a huge goal of mine to weave more than a sample of singles cloth, and I am so glad I did it! I did learn lessons (as always) and learn more about what I like in handwoven handspun cloth. But. I did it!

I wove this at 24 epi in a straight twill. It was easiest for me to do this with my loom as the tie up is done by rods, adjusted by bolts, which have rusted shut. The plainweave treadles do not open a very wide shed and the twill treadles do. I had a very hard time getting a clear shed with plainweave and an easy time with the twill and so I chose twill. Unfortunately, after finishing the fabric I far prefer the plainweave, which my mentor told me I would. I also had troubles with some ends repeatedly breaking. As I wound the warp onto the back beam (I have a sectional beam and so wind on 2 inch wide bouts on the section before threading heddles and then sleying the reed) some threads twisted and I was not as careful as I should have been. Some ends snapped repeatedly as they were pulled against the heddles and the reed. I need to be more careful about how I wind on my warps.
I also learned, I want to replace the tie up rods and the heddles with texsolv, to reduce the noise.

I had planned to make a new bath sheet from this fabric. To sew three panels together. The twill fabric is a bit too thick for my bath sheet preferences though. I will sit on the roll and try and decide what to do with 7 yards of hemp cloth. Some might go into a spindle bag. I am envisioning embroidering in the negative spaces between the stripes.

I loved having a piece on the loom and immediately wound a warp and dressed the loom with handspun Romeldale/CVM for a scarf for this coming winter. I was extremely careful in winding on the warp bouts and it was an absolute joy to weave. I cannot wait to wear it, though I do need to find my fringe twister now.

I also got on a dyeing kick a couple of weeks ago, and dyed polworth silk roving and Border Leicester Fleece with indigo, dyers chamomile, madder, and walnut. (Walnut not pictured). It will be a joy to have this colorful fibre to play with this winter.