Rug 2

The rug for my mom is done. Finished at 22" x 35 ". I tried to puff up the yarn a little with some hot water finishing, and it worked a bit. But as I was washing it, I noticed a pretty strong smell. I looked at the dog thinking, maybe he got into last nights chili... but it turned out to be the yarn. Very sheepy smell. More like very sheepy pen smell. Weird. Baaaa!

So I decided to play with color. Using what's left of the warp that's still on the loom, I decided to do a wall hanging. Using a different yarn this time. I got it from the Mannings a while back and haven't used it yet. It's a 3 ply wool and sort of coarse. I think it's called Milltop or something like that. I'll have to call them and ask.

I measured out 120 yds. per color so I'll see how far I get with that. Originally this was going to be black, grey and white. Then I thought grey, brown and white (to sort of play with some neutral colors and give my retinas a break). Then I accidentally layed some blue/green yarn next to some brown and grey I'd layed out and loved the combination. So into the dye pot it all went. (And yes, I did wonder if the grey would dull the other colors but I'm going for it anyway.)

This yarn dyed up really nicely and very easy. Came out very even.

And this is how the colors are working together so far. Another krokbragd design. I kind of like it.

Uh oh...looks like someone went to the groomer's. Bwa ha ha ha ha!!!!

My dyeing day

I measured out some of the natural color 3 ply yarn I bought at the Mannings. I am planning on using this in the next rug. Well, my original plan was to make it black. Black and white, or technically natural. And as you can see...

...it is gray. A sort of greenish gray. This is because I am a dummkopf. I had a little jar of Procion out and was reading the directions from that. But instead of using the Procion powder, which would make complete sense, I accidentally put the Dylon powder in the mix using the Procion directions. Yeah, we're talking Mensa material here. However, I really sort of liked the funky greeny gray and have decided to call this one of Marcel Duchamp's "happy accidents".

I love dyeing and now that the cooler weather, (i.e. the air is air once again instead of humidified liquid air), I can start dyeing in the garage. The problem is I must get my DH to get his crap out of the garage!!! There is a busted up awning, courtesy of Hurricane Wilma, that is still moldering in the garage. It's like he's attached in some strange way to this thing. And that's just the tip of the junk iceberg.

In this picture it looks more bluey/gray. Anyway this color has inspired a totally different design in my head. I'm thinking more of a quarter of the rug in gray 2/2 twill, morphing into a 12 pick color sequence and then into white. I'm loving the idea already and can't wait to get started. Unfortunately, I have to thread the heddles first. Poo.

Also, wanted to share this little book discovery. Got a copy of The Handweaver's Pattern Directory from the library. What a cool little book! It has all the basic 4 shaft weaving patterns with drafts and color suggestions. It is so clear and concise.