Close to Home...Post #5 - Mom's Yarn

I've been writing posts about my show at The Artery in Davis. Here is a link to the first post  that explains the concept.I used this photo in the show but had a hard time deciding between it and the one below both taken probably in the 1970's at our place in Cotati, CA where I grew up. Here is the story: Everyone I know who is a weaver has a yarn stash and I am no exception. My stash includes what I like to think of as “archival” yarns that were spun by my mom years ago. Over the years the odd ball of my own handspun yarn has ended up in the stash that I have accumulated.

Most of the yarn mom spun was from sheep that were the descendants of my brother’s  4-H project (I raised dairy cows and didn’t do anything with sheep back then) and many years later from my flock of sheep. Mom took up the hobby of spinning in the 1970’s as an adjunct to her expert knitting passion. These yarns reflect the lumpy, bumpy style of that era as that was the type of yarn she liked to use in her knitting and later in weaving.

The blankets in this show that are labeled with yarn from “My Mom” are woven by me using these yarns for warp and one of my current yarns for the weft. Pillows and organizers labeled “My Mom” use her handwoven fabric scraps left over from constructing jackets, vests, or blankets.

 Two throws, above and below. All of these blankets have Mom's yarn as the warp. The challenge with weaving something like this is that all the yarns are of different grist, amount of twist, and elasticity. That can cause waviness (or seersucker effect) in the woven piece. By using small amounts in each place instead of big bands I can minimize the effect, but it doesn't all go away. There wasn't enough of any one for weft so I used other yarn for the weft yarns--either my Jacob yarn or other yarn featured in the show.

The next two blankets, above and below.  This is the batch of yarns from which I worked. Not that Mom didn't spin in color, but for most of the pieces of the show I was trying to stick true to the "local" aspect of source of yarn and dye. This is a pillow in the show with Mom's yarn in the warp. This fabric was leftover from a blanket I wove for Katie when she lived in VT. See this post for a photo of that blanket.Mom also did some weaving. This is fabric that Mom wove of her handspun yarn and I think she used some for a vest for my brother or maybe my uncle.

There will be more blankets to come using more of this yarn.

Three Days of Weaving Classes

I taught a Chenille Scarf class for the Hangtown Fiber Guild in Placerville on Friday and Saturday. Eight weavers and eight very different scarves. Each is beautiful. You can't go wrong with chenille.   Most of the chenille scarves are plain weave, but Joni used clasped weft (that's where the purple and blue meet in a diagonal line) to create interest in part of the scarf.   Today I taught the second day of the new Spin to Weave class here at the farm.  In the first session a few weeks ago spinners, most of whom had never woven before, had a crash course in weaving terminology and warping technique. They came today with handspun yarn and a sense of adventure. This is dyed angora warp with a gray weft. Amy used her yarn from space-dyed fiber from Fiber Confections for warp and a commercial wool weft. The idea was to choose a weft that did not detract from the warp. This one is perfect! Chris warped with a Jaggerspun Merino yarn and wove a twill with her handspun yarn.This photo doesn't do Alison's warp justice. The true color is purple and blue so I'll have to get a daylight photo later. She warped 18" wide at 15 epi in her handspun silk. We chose Jaggerspun Zephyr, a fine wool/silk blend for weft.