What's Been Keeping Me Busy Lately?

I thought that it was about time I did a post about what I have been up to in the weeks since my last epistle. The weather here at Deerfold has, on the whole, been wet and gloomy so the spring tidy up in the garden has been very sporadic to say the least. Most of the old dry growth from last season has been cleared away ready to burn and the snowdrops could eventually be seen in all their glory. This has given me extra time in my loom room before the gardening really needs to be done. Here is a glimpse of the creative chaos at the moment!

 

With my recent discovery of Saori weaving I have at last found a use for spinning some of the novelty yarns - I won't call my efforts "art yarns"- and so I spent a few happy hours playing with bits of fibre hence the messy room. With a vague idea of weaving some fabric in a cheerful spring colour way I made lots of batts from leftover merino tops, bits of silk, some white alpaca and of course some sparkles!

 

 

This is the start of the yellow pile and I also did pale greens and then did a few really dark blues for a change.

 

 

So far I have done quite a few bobbins of a really nice, soft core spun yarn which I'm hoping to use in weaving a shawl or wrap soon.

 

 

I have also been busy weaving. Last year I decided to make a tablecloth for our kitchen table but couldn't decide what design to do - dithering again. I did know that I wanted it to be in greens and blues to go with the blue Aga we have. After cutting my previous weaving project off the loom I started straight away making a warp from cotton, cottolin and other varieties of cotton and linen yarns mostly leftovers from projects or gleaned from Ebay all in greens and blues.

 

 

Here it is in progress.

 

And finished!

 

 

 

I'm quite pleased with the end result and I have already got an idea for another one but maybe this time I won't weave such wide panels. The fabric has a lovely drape to it and would make a nice tunic top to go with my blue linen trousers this summer. My next warp is already on the loom and yesterday I heard from Kim at The Saori Shed that my Saori loom has arrived and I'm hoping that it will be with me before too long!