...have I finished a UFO? Or have I just created a new one?

I finished weaving the wool warp that I wrote about in July! I didn‘t manage to weave 30 minutes a day as I had hoped, but I did weave often enough – even for just a few minutes sometimes – that I finished a few days ago.

Cutting a warp off the loom is a little like Christmas. It‘s the first time that you get to see the entire piece that you have woven – and in my case (because I didn‘t remember how long the warp was) it was the additional suprise of seeing exactly how much fabric I had produced. I wove almost exactly 5 meters (about 5 and a half yards).

Here‘s the fabric right after I cut it off the loom. I have to admit that I am quite pleased with the results – and, entirely unintentionally (I measured that warp years ago) the colors are IN this season. All the shops in town are full of autumn fashions in shades of purple, wine red, and gray. So, if I do indeed intend to sew a jacket from my fabric, I should make an effort to try to get started (and finished) soon....but more about that later.

The problem with weaving (if it is a problem), is that just cutting the fabric off the loom doesn‘t mean that you are done – not like socks, just hide the yarn ends and you can wear your nice new socks immediately. A woven fabric needs additional work (and in some cases, lots of additional work) before the project can be considered completed. So the answer to my question at the beginning of this report is, “Yes and yes.” Yes, I have finished the weaving, and yes, I now have a new project – turning my woven fabric into a finished product. 

The first step of the new project is to hide yarn ends. Ends of yarns that broke during the weaving and their replacement yarns must be darned into the fabric (hopefully invisibly). This must be done, no matter what the final use of the fabric will be.

The fabric also needs to be washed. The washing relaxes the fabric – giving it a more finished appearance – and in the case of the woolen yarns I used, it makes the yarns “bloom” – they become fuller and softer. This process is called “fulling”.

I didn‘t want to wash the entire fabric without having a least a small idea of how it would behave, so some sampling was in order. I decided to cut 4 small pieces of my fabric to put through various treatments to see which final result I liked best. Handwoven fabrics tend to fray – especially fabrics that haven‘t yet been fulled, so before cutting, I stitched two overlapping lines of wide zigzag stitching and one line of straight stitch (over the area where the zigzag stitching overlapped) on both sides of each place where I planned to cut the fabric. (A small aside: This is a great – and very satisfying – way to use up all those partially used spools and bobbins of sewing thread that seem to accumulate.).

I stitched, then cut and had four pieces of my (so far unfulled) fabric, each approx. 20 x 20 cm (8 x 8 inches). I washed the first piece by hand in warm, soapy water, squishing it up and down and squeezing it for a couple of minutes. I then rolled it in a terry cloth towel to get most of the moisture out and let it dry. The yarns fulled nicely – the fabric was much softer and fluffier – and the piece shrank by approx. 10% length- (warp)wise and about 5% width- (weft)wise. 

I thought that maybe I could full the fabric by machine, so I ran the other 3 samples through the 30° C (86° F) pre-wash cycle of my machine for 2 minutes, 5 minutes, and 10 minutes. I was surprised that there was no noticeable difference in the amount of fulling (or felting, I would have thought) or shrinkage between the 3 samples and even as compared to my hand-washed sample. I was getting ready to wash sheets and towels (at 60° C / 140° F) and figured, “Oh what the heck....I‘ll toss one sample in for the whole cycle”. This sample shrank by approx. 35% warp-wise and 25% width-wise – and felted considerably in the process. I was actually a nice, light-weight felt and would conceivably make a nice winter jacket....but I don‘t think I‘ll do that – I don‘t have enough control with the machine treatment. German washing machines are not only front-loaders, they also heat the water themselves so it is almost impossible to tell at what point the water is at which temperature and the doors are locked until all the water is pumped out, which makes it really inconvenient to keep stopping and checking if and how well the fulling/felting process is progressing. So no machine fulling.

I had one other treatment option that I wanted to check – brushing. I brushed one of the fulled samples on both sides with a wire brush. The results were very nice. A softer (and I assume warmer) fabric with the woven pattern still nicely visible. Would make a nice blanket. So the question is now, do I want to find a (hopefully) good pattern, cut the pieces and sew myself a jacket (or coat?) or do I want to brush 5 meters of 70 cm (approx. 28 inches) wide fabric on both sides, cut it in half and sew the halves together to make a blanket? Hmmmmm.... I haven‘t made up my mine yet. I‘ll let you know when I do.

Here is a comparison of the fulled fabric (right) and 

the fulled and brushed fabric (left).

And here are the results of my sampling. The untreated yardage is on the top.

The clockwise from there are a) the hand-washed sample, b) the washed

and brushed sample, and c) the machine washed, felted sample. 

 Here I am, back at the loom, after a long (too long) pause.

There was a time (gosh...almost 20 years ago!) when weaving was my main textile activity. Looking back, I‘m even a little surprised at all the things I wove – curtains, rugs, fabric for clothing (for myself and for the other members of the family), blankets, wall-hangings, etc., etc. I used many different types of fibers (wool, cotton, linen, rag strips), but almost entirely natural fibers. I even sold things occasionally and, strangely enough, that was sort of the beginning of the end.

The laws here in Germany concerning craftspeople and who can and who can‘t sell their products are very strict. Germany has a hundreds-year-old craftmen‘s tradtion. If you work in one of the traditional crafts (and weaving is a traditional craft here), you must be a master craftsman (or woman) in order to be legally allowed to sell your work. To become a master craftsman, you must first have an apprenticeship (usually three years) and first become a journeyman in your craft. You then work (for a master craftsman) for a while to gather experience before then completing a master-piece and passing a test to be a master of your craft. Then you can sell your products on your own (and not through a master craftsman). Selling products before you are a master can get you into trouble – and maybe even earn you a juicy fine! 

Admittedly, the danger of being fined for selling woven goods was probably never very great – mainly because hand-weaving is sort of a dying craft. But somehow the idea was still intimidating and discouraging, so I concentrated more on patchwork and quilting, since these are not traditional German crafts and are, therefore, not regulated by the laws concerning crafts. 

I kept on weaving, as a hobby, but it was no longer my main emphasis – there just isn‘t enough time to actively follow all the textile crafts I am interested in. My smaller loom (I have two looms) had been without a warp for at least the last 2 years – and an empty loom is a sad sight indeed. Then about two weeks ago, I invited our entire local quilters group over for a farewell party for one of our members who was moving (more about this when I find the time....). And for some reason, I just couldn‘t bear the idea of covering the empty loom with a sheet (my friend‘s suggestion). I wanted the loom to be warped! I had three warps that I had already measured (then put in a box) and I decided to use one of them – a striped wool warp in gray and light purple. I had measured that warp so long ago that I no longer had any idea what my plans for it were. I did find a sheet of paper that I had made notes on...but the ink had faded (gives you an idea of how long it had been around!) so it was no longer entirely legible. No matter – a well-measured warp should be able to stand the test of time, and wool is generally fairly forgiving, so I started in. 

Not only was the warp itself old, I was also kind of out of the weaving habit, and things that would have been routine back when I did more weaving required a little extra time and consideration. But I did it! I got my loom warped and even wove a few inches (so it wouldn‘t be quite so obvious that I had just started) before my guests arrived. 

In my stash (actually, I have several – fabrics, knitting yarns, weaving yarns, etc.) I found wool Swedish weaving yarns in a weight (7/2 for anyone who might be interested) and colors that went with my warp. The length of the warp was one of the bits of information that had faded so I wasn‘t sure how much weft I needed. The best idea seemed to be to use several colors – and to use them evenly in narrow weft stripes – so that is what I did. Considering that the design process was more or less by guess and by golly, I must admit that I‘m quite pleased with the results.

I‘m really enjoying weaving again! I try to weave at least 30 minutes a day and the weaving goes fast, so I just might have some nice handwoven wool yardage before too long. And what will I do with it? I have no idea yet – I don‘t even know how much yardage I will have because I don‘t know how the long the warp was, remember? Right now I‘m kind of hoping that it is enough for a light wool jacket...but time will tell and it will be the reason for another blog entry when it does.

 Here you can get a good idea of the striped warp and the 4-color weft stripe

repeat (dark blue, wine red, heathery purple, and dark pink). I haven't the

faintest recollection of why the right side of the warp is solid gray. Did I run

out of light purple for the stripes? Was the gray stripe supposed to work

like a "weight" at the hem edge of a garment? Your guess is as good as mine!

By the way, the feet belong to the photographer.

 A close up of the fabric so that you can see that it is a straight 2/2 twill weave

and also see the stripes a little better. As you can also see, I'm weaving it

fairly open. The idea is that this type of yarn is made expecially for weaving

and fulls nicely (fingers crossed!) the first time it is washed. 

I must admit that crochet is not my favorite technique. I do like some crocheted things. For example, I have two bedspreads that my grandmother crocheted with very fine white cotton yarn that I think are just beautiful – and I am completely in awe when I think of the amount of time and engergy that she invested in them.

Here's one corner of the bedspread....

And here is a close-up. As you might be able to see, the entire thing is made of hexagonal crocheted motifs, with “popcorn” bobbles. My grandmother made at least 200 motifs for each bedspread! The mind boggles...

I know how to crochet, and well enough that I occasionally translate crochet magazines or instructions from German into English. If I run into a problem when I am translating, I take a crochet hook and some yarn and work the piece in question so that I can see what is meant, so that I can explain it better in the instructions.

But somehow, it‘s just not my favorite technique.

One of the companies that I occasionally do translating work for is “Coats”, here in Germany. Last year they gave me some lovely cotton yarn for Christmas.

It is one of the modern space-dyed yarns – turquoise as the main color, with “spots” of yellow, pink, light green, and a darker blue. They gave me 10 skeins (500 g) which I thought was a very generous gift and I wanted to do something really special with it, but what?

First I tried knitting with it, but I didn‘t really like the way that the color repeat of the yarn turned into a pattern repeat on the knitted swatch. Even when I used yarn from two balls alternately, it still ended up making a pattern which I didn‘t really like. Plus which, I wasn‘t sure how far the 500 g would go – enough for a garment for me to wear? or for my granddaughter? (The colors made it clear that none of the grandsons would be interested.)

So I put the yarn aside for a while, hoping that inspiration would strike some day... and it did. On an afternoon‘s trip to the local pool one sunny day, I realized that I didn‘t really have a good beach (or swimming pool) bag. The wheels started turning (so to speak).

I could use my yarn to make a beach bag. Cotton is great for carrying damp towels and suits and 500 g of yarn should make a fairly good-sized bag.

But what technique? Well, I already knew that I didn‘t really like the way the yarn knit up, so that left crochet. Hmmmm.... At first I considered just working the entire bag in single crochet (double crochet in the UK). A swatch made with single crochet looked good and the spots of color were distributed evenly over the surface – no unwanted pattern repeat.

The disadvantage to single crochet, was that I wasn‘t exactly sure how far my 500 g were going to get me. How many ch should I crochet for the foundation? If I crocheted too many, I would have a wide, but not very deep, bag. Too few ch would result in the opposite. It was during this ruminating that I remembered the good old granny square.

When I was a teen-ager/young adult (during the time of “flower power” ), granny squares were everywhere! Afghans, vests, hats, jackets, bags, etc. etc. – all were made from granny squares. Granny squares are easy to crochet. I hadn‘t crocheted one in years, but I only had to work one square following the instructions, and I had the pattern memorized. Granny squares are good take-along projects – things don‘t get big and bulky until you have to start sewing/crocheting them together. And best of all, for my current considerations, I could just keep making granny squares until my yarn ran out – and then decide how to sew them all together for my bag.

I crocheted a couple of test squares using various sizes of crochet hooks and decided that I liked the looks of the square crocheted with a 3.5 mm hook the best. So I was off and crocheting....

Here‘s one of the squares. It doesn‘t really look like a classic “granny”, where each round is worked with a different color, but I like the way that the yarn colors are “splashed” over the square. I found that I could crochet 5 to 6 squares with one ball of yarn, which meant that I could crochet somewhere between 50 and 60 squares if I used all my yarn, but I also needed shoulder straps, so I crocheted them first – to keep from forgetting them later.

I finally made 44 squares, which meant that I could sew two sections, each 4 x 4 squares, for the front and back of the bag and still have 12 squares to make the sides and the base (4-4-4). 

Here‘s my finished bag. I have already used it for the most recent outing to the pool and it easily carries my suit, flip-flops, sunscreen, and several towels. I had debated with myself about whether or not it should be lined, but decided that I would use it for a while before making a decision. The bag itself doesn‘t seem to be stretching with use. The straps have indeed stretched, but that‘s not really a problem, so I will be leaving it unlined. When I showed the bag to my daughter, she said, “How retro! You‘re right in style!” What do you know! That had never occured to me.

I‘m still not what you would call a crochet enthusiast, but I did enjoy crocheting the granny squares and they are a great way to use up scraps of yarn (of which I have plenty) when each round is worked with a different color. It‘s not like I really need a new project to work on, but a granny square afghan would be fun to make...no rush...just one square at a time...as I said, a great take-along project....

In case you‘re interested, here are the instructions for my granny square:

Abbreviations: ch = chain stitch; slst = single crochet (UK)/ slip stitch (US);

tr = treble (UK)/ double crochet (US)

Base ring: 4 ch, join with slst.

Rnd 1: 5 ch (count as 1 tr and 2 ch), [3 tr into ring, 2 ch] 3 times, 2 tr into ring, slst to 3rd of the 5 ch at beginning of rnd.

Rnd 2: Slst into next ch, 5 ch (count as 1 tr and 2 ch), 3 tr into same space, * 1 ch, skip over 3 tr, [3 tr, 2 ch, 3 tr] into next space; repeat from * twice, 1 ch, skip over 3 sts, 2 tr into same space as 5 ch at beginning of rnd, slst to 3rd of the 5 ch at beginning of rnd.

Rnd 3: Slst into next ch, 5 ch (count as 1 tr and 2 ch), 3 tr into same space, * 1 ch, skip over 3 tr, 3 tr into next space, 1 ch, skip over 3 tr**, [3 tr, 2 ch, 3 tr] into next space; repeat from * twice, and from * to ** again, 2 tr into same space as 5 ch at beginning of rnd, slst to 3rd of the 5 ch at beginning of rnd.

Rnd 4: Slst into next ch, 5 ch (count as 1 tr and 2 ch), 3 tr into same space, * [1 ch, skip over 3 tr, 3 tr into next space] twice, 1 ch, skip over 3 tr**, [3 tr, 2 ch, 3 tr] into next space; repeat from * twice, and from * to ** again, 2 tr into same space as 5 ch at beginning of rnd, slst to 3rd of the 5 ch at beginning of rnd.

Fasten off.

Once you understand what‘s happening, the pattern is easy to remember. 

As I think I mentioned in my first blog entry, I am interested in almost everything connected with textiles and (time permitting) like to work in many different techniques. One problem with having many textile interests (besides never having enough time) is what to do with the various stashes and UFO's.

I not only have fabric (plenty), I also have yarns for knitting, weaving and crocheting, unspun fibers, threads for sewing, embroidery, bobbin lace and tatting, and the notions, tools, and equipment for all my various textile activities. In addition, my propensity to create UFO's is not just limited to one particular technique, so I have sewing, knitting, weaving, etc. etc. projects in various states of completion - I do finish things also, but the UFO's seem to pile up.

I actually like things to be organized - I like to be able to find what I am looking for - and have spent considerable time and money trying to find the best way to keep everything neat and orderly. I always read the articles about how other quilters, weavers, etc. organize their studios and try to incorporate their good ideas.

This week-end was devoted to my latest storage project. My living room is very long and narrow and also very high - it used to be a storage area for building materials before we renovated the house. Up until about a month ago, I had a shelf system mounted on the end wall - metal standards which carried adjustable metal brackets which supported shelves. It wasn‘t really beautiful, but it was practical, economical, and easy to install and it served me well for over 10 years. But I always had in mind to replace it with something more attractive. About a month ago, the living room got painted, so we had to take down the metal standards anyway and I decided that now was the time to finally replace the old wall shelves. I talked the problem over with my SO and a friend who is a cabinetmaker and together we came up with an idea to combine a lovely wooden book shelf with (hidden) storage space.

Since the room is so long and narrow and high, the living space wouldn‘t suffer much from being shortened slightly. In other words, we decided that we could pull the book case away from the wall, thereby creating storage space behind it. The storage area was to be shelves of the same wood (beech) as the book shelves, but narrow enough that they would be really hidden behind the book case. The cabinetmaker friend suggested also adding two drawers to the book case to hold small tools and accessories (good idea!).

Theoretically, it all seemed perfect....but it is always exciting to see if things really work out the way intended. Well, my new book case/storage space was installed Friday and then we (SO and I) spent all week-end putting things in order (why is it always necessary to create a huge mess in order to make things neat?).

Here it is right after it was installed. The photo was taken from the 1st floor gallery to show the storage shelves behind the book case.

And here it is, with books and

boxes of yarn and fabric (hidden)

in place.

This photo gives an idea of how high and narrow the room is.

And here is a shot of the storage space (difficult to photograph).

It is everything I had hoped for! Attractive and practical. The storage area is narrow but high enough (I think 2.30 meters/ about 90 inches) that it holds all the boxes of yarn that I had on the old wall shelf, plus many boxes of fabric (which were some place else up until now).

I fear that the storage problem is a never-ending story, but my new book case/ storage space is definitely great step forward! Now what can I do with the space that was left where the boxes of fabric used to be....?

I‘m visiting my dad at the moment. Since we live so far apart I only get to see him once a year (I do phone him regularly) and then I usually stay for 2 or 3 weeks. I don‘t do much when I‘m here. The main object is to see my dad, talk with him, etc. Of course, I always help him a little with housework and repairs while I‘m here. One repair that is almost always needed is to sew up holes which have appeared in one of the braided rugs that he has on the floor.

The braided rugs were made by his grandmother (my great-grandmother). My dad says he can remember her working on them when he was a boy, so he figures that they must have been made sometime during the 30‘s. When I was sitting on the floor yesterday, repairing one of the rugs (and trying to remember to hold my back straight in the process), I started thinking.... 

I wonder what my great-grandmother would have thought to hear that her rugs are still being used (and still in fairly good shape – they wear like iron!) in 2008. And I‘ll bet that she would have been pleased to know that her 60-year-old great-granddaughter was willing and able to repair them to help them survive a little longer.

In case you‘re not familiar with braided rugs, here‘s a photo of the one I was working on yesterday.

To make such a rug, you first cut fabrics (all wools in the case of our family rugs) into strips of a particular width. The strips are then each run through a metal device (a little like the bias strip folders/pressers that you can purchase today) which folds the strips. Three folded strips are then braided together to form the basic unit of the rug. When one strip ends, it is tapered (to reduce bulk) and overlapped with the tapered end of the next strip (some people sew the ends together) and the braiding continues. 

In the next step, the braid is sewn (actually laced) together, from the center out, in flat, spiralling concentric circles or ovals (our rug). The first straight section of braid in the center of the rug that I was working on measures 58 cm (23 inches). Around this center line are 52 concentric ovals. The first oval around the center line measures approx. 1.20 meters (48 inches) around and the outer oval measures a total of 8.30 meters (9 1/8 yards)! The rug is 2.90 meters (3 1/4 yards) long and 2.35 meters (2 5/8 yards) wide. So how many total meters/yards of braid were needed to make the rug? The mind boggles! If each round were only 1 meter around, that would be 52 meters, but they keep increasing up to 8.30 meters so she must have braided several hundred yards! And that was just for this one rug. My dad says she made many more than the two that he still has.

Then she laced the braids next to one another, around and around, until the rug was the size she wanted. Depending on the colors of the fabric strips used, patterns appear when the strips are sewn together. 

I mentioned that these rugs wear like iron. Despite the age and constant usage, no braid loop has worn through. The upper one or two fabric layers of some of the folded strips have been worn away, but that‘s all. The reason they need repair is that the cord used to sew the braids together has become weak with age so in some sections, the braids are no longer sewn together. Even so, not much repair is needed. This year I only had to re-sew 6 or 7 sections for a total of maybe 1 meter (a little more than a yard). 

These are the things I know about these rugs. Some of the things I don‘t know are: Where did my great-grandmother get the fabrics for her rugs? Did she use new fabric or was it all “re-cycled”? How did she sew them up? (Hopefully not sitting on the floor....my back aches at the thought!) How long did it take her to make the rug I‘ve been describing? (Probably impossible to answer because she most likely worked on the rugs in her “spare time”.) 

Despite the threat to my back, I don‘t mind helping my dad with this job. Ours is not a family that has accumulated family jewels in the sense of gold, diamonds, etc. Our “treasures” are more in the nature of the rugs that my great-grandmother braided. By taking care of them I feel that I am honoring my heritage and preserving it for my children and grandchildren. I just have to remember to teach some of them how to fix the holes!