"Not much to write home about"

is a Swedish saying.

I lost interest in the fan project, at least in its present incarnation, and turned it into a bigger sample. This is now properly wet finished and mangled. This colour turned out to be extremely difficult to photograph - or maybe I just don't understand how to handle the new-to-me picture-manipulating software.

I used three nuances from two manufacturers for the warp. This time all warp yarns are cotton 16/2, but they have different twists. For the "contrast" part I used a 16/2 with higher twist (thus apparently thinner), and for the "same" part I used one of the softer (thus apparently fatter) warp yarns. The "fatter" yarn gave a slightly wider result - something I had not anticipated.
On the whole, I think I like the "same" part better - that is, the use of one block only in the treadling. But maybe the contrasting weft was better...

I also pictured it hanging in the window - maybe this is the best use for fan fabric?

Now, what to do with the rest of the warp?
Hmmm... the warp is the same I used for the "leaves" scarves - maybe I could combine the two ideas... except I would go mad with such a treadling sequence. Or I would go mad trying to use the fan reed in the AVL. Maybe not a good idea, after all.

Fantastic fabrics

I came across a link the other day, to a book is called Textiles and clothing, by Kate Heintz Watson, published in Chicago 1907.

Here is the link to the fabric names section .

Some names that caught my eye:
Buckskin—A stout doe skin with a more defined twill. (oh yeah – a stout doe is the same as a buck, then?)
(OK, so doeskin appears, too: Doeskin—A compact twilled woolen, soft and pliable.
However, in this listing I could not find swansdown, which I’m sure I’ve seen somewhere else.)

Farmer Satin—A lining of cotton chain or warp and wool filling, finished with a high lustre, also called Italian cloth.

Kerseymere—A fine, twilled, woolen cloth of peculiar texture, one thread of warp and two of wool being always above. Hmm – "one thread of warp and two of wool"? Could it be ta scanner trick, perhaps – "one of warp and two fo woof"? Anyway, I like the "peculiar"...

Prunella—Lasting cloth. Lasting as in long-lasting/hard-wearing? I thought I had read about "lasting" as a quality, but if so, it has hid somewhere in the bookshelf.

What I have woven today? I wish I could have said "crash" ('cos it sounds fun), but alas, today’s "fanning" was all cotton...

Crash—A strong, course linen cloth of different widths, used for towels, suits, table linen, hangings, bed spreads; in fact, there is no end to the uses to which this textile can be adapted.

How many holes?

(sounds like a variant of "how long is a string", doesn’t it?)

On yesterday’s sample, I did notice a difference between the width of the max top position and the max bottom position. For some reason, I did not draw any conclusions from it.

Today, when I had started the "real" piece (maybe to become the next sample, who knows?) I payed more attention. Noticed I could make another hole – not quite high enough, but better than nothing, perhaps?

Made the new hole. Yes, it made a difference:

Weaving is slow. After every 8 picks, I have to stand up to shift the beater height - . At some 10 picks per cm it means I have to get to my feet more than 200 times for a scarf length.
"Excercise is good for you", right?
(and I already would like to re-thread, to see what happens if... there is a stripe in the middle of one section, or maybe an assymetric stripe, or... Maybe I could start with making stripes like that in the weft, instead?)

To answer Jean's question: I just use the outer holes, so I'm using 7 positions. As for the "good shed" - well, it isn't. I help it along by wiggling (if that is the word) the warp by hand for the extreme positions.
I know that there are special fan-reed beaters out there, but I haven't seen one other that on a line drawing (which also had a price on it - no way I was going to pay that much for something I almost had, anyway).
Some people use elastics (instead of a regular beater), but I don't think I could conscentrate enough to have control over my "positions".
Sara of Woolgatheres use texsolv cord - she has a video on how she does. You can find it here.

Two-block turned twill sample

- this time woven with the fan reed.

First small sample, just cut off:

Still wet, sitting on a marble slab, after (what I thought was a very vigorous) hand wet finishing, in the hottest water I could manage. Obviously not vigorous enough, as all reed marks still are too visible. (And the flash making it blue, instead of the greener it "really" is)

Day two, dry and pressed (actually, pressed when still damp, left to dry), in natural light. Not quite as "reedy" as I thought - and some of it can come from the fact I had (of course!) three slightly different nuances in the warp.

I started with the idea of making 12 picks (or three "through-treadlings") between each moving of the reed. Very soon it became apparent I could not count to neither 12 nor 3, so I went down to 8 (or 2 "through-treadlings"). Much easier!

Now to decide if it is worth going on with a longer project, how/where to place the "turns" lenghtwise, whether to back down the contrast to give it a more traditional look...

Bling that isn't (quite)

This is not really "bling", I suppose - but is sure makes me shine!

To tell the truth, I did start this while still on the train. Drafted a few figures, contemplated the possibilities of detail (and how much patience I had, on the swaying train...) Cut out a couple, started appliqué-ing.
After a while I decided I did not need to do them all on the train...

But now I have "blinged" two coats and two jackets for me, two coats for my mother and two jackets for DH. I even made a few of them in the shape of my logo.
A small test:

In the middle picture, I am about 20 metres away, in the right-hand picture I am nearly 50 metres away. And remember: this is just what can be seen with the flash of my cheap camera! (Click to biggify)

(Yes, I'm sure a solid band might be more visible, but this is more fun! For elegance, it beats the neon-coloured banded vests any day - AND: I don't have to put on anything "extra".)

Being both a pedestrian and a driver, living in the country where the nearest street light is about 7 kms away, I feel strongly about reflecting gear.
Even if you think you are visible and don't care if you get hit or not - spare a thought for the driver that easily can have a heart attack (or something) when s/he suddenly sees a person in front of the car! (And get something for the dog, for the pram... too!)

Bling

(part 2 - or maybe Time travel, part 2)

The reason I went to Town was the Gaultier retrospective. There are many, many (better) pictures out there on the 'net, but these are the things that I will remember. (Again out of focus, but flash wasn't allowed. I, unlike some, respected that)

First impression: you can bling just about anything, crutches included:

Second came attention to detail:

(I like the Swedish text better - it says nothing about painted and printed)
Another fantastic detail - a tartan that is not (click to enlarge):

(There was also a leopard skin mantle that on closer inspection turned out to be embroidered of seed beads. I guess it would be way out of my budget, but also way gentler on the leopards...)

Another idea, possible (probably?) inspired by the London Pearlies

All (all!) the white blobs are m-o-p buttons, graded in size... (did I mention "attention to details"?)

An original upcycling idea: what you can do with all your old (analoguos) films, and all those old and worn measuring tapes:

At the exit, there was an opportunity to try on a Real Gaultier Outfit (I know I was there, so it must be me!):

Now I have may blinging ideas.... watch this space!
But before that: the water spout:

(Yes, you have seen it before, from another angle)

Time travel

(or: Bling, part 1)

I went to Stockholm last Friday. Cheap as I am, I went with the "low fares trainline" - . (Some years ago, I wowed never to do that again, but you know how it goes ;-)

Just to see their trains is a travel in time... been there, done that, worn out several t-shirts: these cars are from the 50-60-ies. And it shows.
However, this time they had a real restaurant car (without what used tro go with those "way back when" - paper plates and cups, microed "food" etc). This car was (I asked) from Norway, from 1968. I forgot the camera, but I just had to have some pictures (warning: all are out of focus, all snapped with my 'phone - they may be the first pics I have ever tried to take with the 'phone...)

The whole interior was... amazing: the wooden panels were real wood, all upholstery was royal blue with golden crowns (and some details in "solid" gold), even the lamps were gold...
And there were real chairs! Moveable chairs! (Haven't seen that in 30 years, at least.)

Pictures:

(just so you can get an idea of the whole thing - )

And yes - the crowns were sparkly (or had been).
Maybe this car started out as the Norwegian Royal Dining car?

To end: here is another royal crown, this one stationary in Stockholm: