Thursday, July 19, 2007
Persistence or stupidity?
Waaayyy back when The Lord of the Rings was a big movie sensation, several articles came out in Handwoven and/or Spin Off about how the magic cloaks were woven of Gotland fleece. It sounded so wonderful, I ordered one from New Zealand. The description was of a charcoal grey/light grey fleece. It was beautiful. I washed it and was surprised to find that was really a description of the color of the New Zealand dirt. The actual fleece was a very pale grey. (see above). I decided to spin and weave with singles. I carefully calculated the amount of yardage I would need, and spun and spun. I constructed a PVC pipe niddy-noddy so the yarn would be kink-free and easy to warp. In the past, some single yarns have formed little Shirley Temple ringlets as I threaded. I was determined it would not happen this time. So, the spun skeins hung around for a couple of years as I determined that they were really pretty boring, and I didn't think I'd want to weave yardage that dull. Then last summer I went to Penland and learned to paint pretty yarns.. Problem solved.
You'll note that even a nice unkinked steamed yarn reverts to its curly self when wet.
I painted, using the same colorway as the red-ribbon winning scarf. Then I tied on to a previous warp, so as not to waste as much handspun. Then I started weaving.
See all the little threads? Broken and repaired warp threads, dozens of them. It turns out that Gotland is sticky, like mohair. All the constant combing and beating to separate the warp threads (double-sleyed, 20 epi) makes them break, especially if there is a poor join. So I tried hair spray to control the frizz and strengthen the warp.
What can I say. Maybe it helped, maybe it didn't. At this point I couldn't try painting the warp with gelatin, because the back of the loom looked like this:
I know. Makes you want to cry, huh. It is such a mess. Instead of a quick weekend project, this has been going on since April. I can only weave a few inches per hour, instead of a yard per hour. I'm nearing the end, though. I can't quit now. Or the terrorists win.
# posted by Ellen @ 6:58 PM 
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So sorry about your Gotland project! I just got some very nice Gotland roving and (just five minutes ago!) finished felting a vessel. You're right, it's a very "sticky" fiber, and just right for felting. Wonder how they managed to weave those RINGS cloaks for which this wool is now famous!--Susan, www.susanalbert.typepad.com/lifescapes
Oh, that is so disappointing! Good for you for not chucking the whole thing because the scarf is going to be lovely. I love the colors. I've heard that gelatin or diluted starch works well, but I've not experienced a sticky warp (yet) to know this for sure. Hang in there!
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