When I awoke this morning snuggly in my warm bed I didn’t want to get out. When I finally hopped out from under the covers I felt cold for the first time in a long while. Fall must finally be here I guess, fall mornings here on the Nova Scotian coast are cool and damp. I like to sleep with the window open, even if it means cool mornings that make you want to stay in bed (or it’s flip side; the occasional chain saw wake up call).
The change in temperature means it’s time to make hand wovens and fuzzy warm things for the cool nights and chillier seasons. That’s about 3/4 of the year here in canada, my wooly wovens serve me well! I’ve been working on some soft wool felt bangles and cuffs and the first group of finished product is almost done. These are fun, fashionable, comfy and lightweight. Since they wrap around your wrist they really will help keep you warm in the cool months. The cuffs are great for keeping snow out of your sleeves. Although, I must admit I don’t even want to think about snow yet!
I filled out and passed in my application for the next Halifax Crafters fair which will be held in December at a larger venue. I’m already dreaming up soft, stylish winter wearables. Dan wants a woven tam with a pom pom, so I’ll probably make one for him and more for the sale. Mom has already stolen one of my emerald green felt bangles to wear to work, so I have a feeling I’ll be making a lot of these. (She has to type a lot and says it will help cushion and support her wrist. I’ll get her to test that theory and write more about it later.)
Here’s Dan wearing his new fall scarf, for this one I used various shades of warm toned greens and browns. I snapped this shot of him as we walked down the street today. The scarf he is wearing has a root system motif on one edge which I did using a freehand pick up technique. Lately I’ve been weaving in moving lines and cells.
Here’s a more detailed sample of pick up I made previously with cotton and hand spun wool:
I hand spun the wool used for the pick up in this sample, it’s colour and thickness really stood out against the pearl cotton of the plain weave background. This technique really reminds me of drawing. Threads of colour are used with intention like marks. They are inserted in to the structure of the cloth as it is woven after each row of weft, line by line.
