DYED LEICESTER LONGWOOL FOR A SHAWL

June 26, 2022

DYED LEICESTER LONGWOOL FOR A SHAWL

This is my latest project a shawl for myself. Finished at 177 x55cms not including 13 cm fringes once twisted..

It started out at 250cms warp using 66 slots on a 5 dent heddle ( yes it's off centre because I changed my mind about colours once I started warping.)

I used my glinka rug shuttle again, which is so much better than stick shuttles especially using my home spun which can be a bit 'sticky' in the sense the hairs catch easily to other warp/weft.

This is what I used for weft it was meant to be much lighter similar in shade to the warp at each end.

I ended up adding in some wool from previous projects the lovely shades of blue at each end were what I had hoped to replicate for the weft- massive fail! The green in the middle to help break the teal in order to reverse the sequence.

This is to illustrate how I put my stand on blocks so that I can keep my back straight for slaying the loom. It works well and I have a rod at the far end attached to chair arms which can be seen in the previous photo.

I did a little experiment with colours using a piece of cardboard. Ian Bowles - ( https://www.georgeweil.com )suggested this trick through a Facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/UKweavingwithfixedheddle )

It was really helpful because I had originally thought to use a white weft but decided on the middle blue although my dyeing skills need attention and the weft was much darker than I had intended.

I dyed a variety of blues although the teal came out more green than I had hoped despite using the same proportions I have used before.

I tried very hard to spin thinner than my usual aran weight and in general this was more a double knit weight, I also tried to ply less in order to hopefully get a softer yarn rather than a rope like texture. I also spun from the but after opening each end with one hand carder- I was so pleased to manage to get used to doing this and with fine fly away fleece it has worked really well.