As we slide into the new year my looms are full or on the way to becoming full.
On the big loom, the Queen of my studio, I have a pale pink warp for some subtle Spring shawls. The warp is 2/8 cotton in three shades of pink, with a fuchsia zinger. The first shawl is being woven in plain weave with 2/20 silk in a pale grey called “Rainy Day”, with occasional shots of a multi strand textured rayon in pinks and greys. Twenty-four inches wide in the reed, and it will be woven to 84 inches long. In the finishing, I will attempt to add tassels in the same multi-strand accent thread.
On Loomella, the 8 shaft Baby Wolf, I am in the process of sleying an Ikat warp hand-dyed in a beautiful shade of carmine red. In December I taught a beginner’s course on Ikat weaving, and this was one of the samples I used to demonstrate the wrapping and tying method. This is a 2/20 mercerized cotton (Thanks Irene). There are two distinct wrapped section, one more formal, and one more casual, so the two ends of the scarf will be unique. I know I didn’t dye enough matching red weft for a scarf, so I will weave it in a combination of red and white weft. I did dye a little bit of Weft Ikat, which will also play its part in the finished scarf. Excited to see where this will lead.
On Amy Ashford, my 32 inch, 8-shaft Ashford table loom, I am playing with Supplemental Weft. I found this draft on “gangewifre-dot-blogspot-dot-com”, under supplementary warps bit of research (posted July 8, 2016), which was inspired by the lovely scarves of Juanita Girardin. So, if you are interested in the draft, this is the blog to look at. My warp and weft is 2/8 tencel. The tencel is doubled for the pattern warp, and the background cloth is black and white stripes. It is a lot of fun, and I would be happy to do more. This piece had to go on a table loom because it requires 24 treadles. A workout for my arms flipping toggles, but worth it. All the work is in warping and dressing the loom, after that the weaving is smooth sailing with one shuttle of black tencel. It is a delight watching the supplementary threads dive over and under the ground cloth.
spinweaverbarbara 
Hello from Pender Island; I’d be very interested to learn about the looms you are weaving with and how many of those lovelies occupy your studio? Charlene
Hi Charlene,
I have four looms in my studio, the Queen is a sturdy, hand-build by my father-in-law, four harness loom with a weaving width of 45 inches. She has been with me since the beginning of my weaving life. The Queen is the workhorse of the studio, and the only loom I had for 25 years. Next came an 8-shaft Jane Table Loom when I decided that I would like to be able to attend workshops, and I love the ability to fold and go with Jane. My third loom is an 8-shaft Baby Wolf because I wanted an 8-shaft floor loom. And finally I got a very good deal on a second-hand 32 inch 8 shaft Ashford table loom on a stand, which I can use when the patterning means that I wouldn’t have enough treadles on the floor loom. When deciding which loom to use I look for something easy, something more complicated, something wide, something narrow. My work flow is a project in the planning stage, two on the looms (one simple, one more complicated), and a project in the finishing stage.