I caught it! The creative bug! With college courses over until the Spring, I've been creating and creating and creating. AND...it feels great to get back on track! My goal is to really 'bust through my stash' of weaving yarn that I've had for years. I keep having to remind myself NOT to buy anything because I have more than enough to work with right here! :) With a wide variety of 10/2 mercerized cotton on had, I decided to weave some towels. The Digital Pinwheel set used 9 colors and I felt like they were on the loom forever even though I was happy with the results!
If I'm using 9 colors, why not just jump to 11 colors?! Since that thought made perfect sense, I wove these Rainbow Pinwheel Towels.
Although these all came out happy and colorful, it looks like I barely touched my yarn stash!
Last year I purchased some additives such as novelty yarns, sequins, and Angelina and had been adding those to my handspun yarns to create unique art yarns. I was at the end of my fiber stash so decided not to dye the last bit of it and spin the wool in a natural white then later add the additives for some real flair.
I'm completely in love with this yarn. Actually, I'm not really sure it's going to make it into the store 🙋🙋🙋
I've been reading a lot about the natural dyeing process and wanted to experiment with a piece of natural muslin. I first cut it into 6 "equalish" sections and then soaked them in white vinegar.
Wrapping the sections over an old rusty pieces of metal and nails removed from the pallets used to create the raised vegetable garden, gave a glorious result! I wrapped the pieces in plastic and left them outside to allow the oxidation process to bleed into the fabric.
The above pictures were taken outside.
I pieced the sections together with three pieces together in two sections and then pieced the two sections together to form a type of shawl or wide scarf.
As I was working on this project, I kept getting ideas for the next step. In essence, allowing the work to 'talk to me' as I went. Having the pieces together, I just felt that it looked...…..bland. I top stitched over each of the seam sides using a decorative stitch on my sewing machine. I have no idea why it was such a pain in the @$$ but, my machine kept bunching the thread on the feed dogs. After almost an entire Saturday, I finally had the result I wanted with the top stitching. There were however, unsightly threads from the muslin fraying out from the edges. I started following the threads along their original woven path to clean this up. This, of course, sparked the next step when this piece 'told me' that disassembling the edges would make mighty fine fringe. I literally sat on the couch with a needle and pair of tweezers removing the threads to create fringe.
Using size 10 glass beads, I threaded bits of the frayed ends through two small bunches then both bunches through a third bead securing it with an overhand knot.
This added an elegant touch but, she's not done yet!
I purchased some printing blocks from the Phoenicia Flea when it came to town this year. I think I hear this scarf telling me that a nice block print in turquoise would give just the right pop!
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