Hi Friends,
There’s something about colder weather and shorter days that make me feel like switching from painting to fiber arts! It’s the coziness and warmth of fabrics and yarns.
I’ve been indulging my inner need to hibernate by weaving some scarves. I got a bag of Rowan Summer Tweed yarn from a preview of an upcoming estate sale (see info about the sale below). The yarn is 70% raw silk and 30% cotton. It starts off feeling stiff in the skein and softens up after washing. I have ten different colors which gives me a lot of room to experiment.
Choosing colors for weaving is not intuitive. It’s not like choosing colors for a painting, where complements usually work well together. Using complementary colors in weaving often looks muddy. Here’s an example. I thought the terra cotta yarn might look good with a blue warp, but the blue dulls the colors. Next I tried a pale sage green, which brings out the brightness and warmth in the terra cotta tweed.
For my first scarf, I paired a rust-colored tweed with a warm lilac bamboo yarn after trying several other colors combinations. The lilac is on the bottom right.
And here’s how the finished scarf looks after being washed.
I love my simple Ashford rigid heddle loom, because it’s so easy to set up and use. I can warp it in 45 minutes, use it on my lap, and take it with me any place I go.
If you’re in the Los Angeles area, the estate yarn sale is this Saturday, November 13th. It’s being hosted on the driveway at a friend’s home in West Los Angeles, and they have lots of high-end yarns to sell at bargain prices. All proceeds will benefit Rescue Angels, an animal rescue group.
Charity Yarn Sale
Saturday, November 13th, 1-4pm
2007 Midvale Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90025
Cash only
What projects do you gravitate toward in the winter? I’d enjoy hearing your thoughts. You can share them with us in the comments section below
With love and appreciation,
Cassandra.