Hope you had great Christmas

Well it's over for another year, Christmas snook up on me as it usually does and passes me by, it's not that I don't enjoy it, I do. It's just such hard work, you spend all day cooking dinner, it's nice enough but turkey dinner isn't my favourite meal, it certainly wouldn't feature anywhere in a list of my favourite meals. It's such an anticlimax especially after all the effort.The roast beef and Yorkshire puddings I usually cook for new year rate far more highly.

But it's been great having the family all together, we haven't done or been anywhere just enjoyed each other's company. I've managed a little weaving, I'm working on a piece for the guilds exhibition next year at the Burrell Museum based upon an item from the museum, I'm using a vase I found that fitted the bill. I wanted it to come together quite quickly as I'm not sure of the deadline for it. I originally planned quite a wide piece and although the sett was correct it gave me squares instead of diamonds, so I halved the sett and consequently halved the width, I think I discussed this in a previous post. It's going to have to be a scarf at the moment, I just hope I have enough warp on, I've currently woven 53 inches so just over half way. 

I'm hopefully going to an inkle weaving workshop next weekend which will be fun as it's not something I've done before. I'll tell you all about it.

Industrial Museum

I've just noticed that I didn't post anything in November, it really did pass in a blur. I finished weaving the double weave diamond piece. I'm pretty pleased with it, I just need to do something with it. I also need to photograph it, the evenings are too gloomy to do it and I've been busy at the weekends, poor excuse I know. 

I've started work for a guild exhibition at the Burrell museum next year, it's a bit of a cop out as for ease I'm continuing with the diamonds and triangles theme and went to the museum to see if I can find something that fitted with that. I know that's very bad practice and totally against the Bradford principle  but hey. I found a cone of welsh black wool in the back of the cupboard, so it gives me a good opportunity to use it. I originally sleyed it at slightly less than 50% max epi and it was lovely to weave but it wove up to give squares instead of diamonds which is not what I wanted. I resleyed at about 75% epi which is what I used for the purple diamonds piece but it gives a quite sticky shed due to the hairiness of the black welsh. So I spend a lot of time sorting out stuck threads. It's also much narrower that before, which might limit end use but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

I've attached some photos of the industrial museum at Bradford in the interim, it's a wonderful museum and for textile people it's like heaven. Four jacquard looms in a row !!!!, it makes you go all funny. I also got talking to Simon who was a contestant on the Great British Sewing Bee, he was really lovely.

It was also scroggling the holly day in Haworth, I adore Morris dancers, brass bands and Parkin so to say that I was happy is a bit of an understatement. 

I promise to post some pictures of weaving next time.