Month: November 2020

Fruit of the Loom

After cultivating my loom, I was pleased to pluck from it two lovely dish towels and three cute little dish cloths. I am happy with my harvest and I thank the Lord of the harvest. I removed the fabric from the loom, tied the warp threads so that it would not unravel, washed the fabric in hot water in the machine, dried it in high heat in the machine, measured out the towels and cloths, zigzagged on each side of the intended cuts, made those cuts, and hemmed the towels by machine and finished the corners by hand. I love them!

Beginning the weaving. Who sees the mistake that I did not notice until I took this photo? It is not the edge curving in, which I was a little bit stressed about, but it worked out in the end.
Finished and removing the fabric from the loom. Did you figure out the mistake that I made?
I tied the warp threads and then trimmed them so that they would not become a mess in the washing machine.
Before washing, the weave is very open. You can see through the fabric.
After washing and drying, the weave has closed up, the fabric is softer, and it is much smaller. LOL! The fabric came off the loom at 30 inches across, but, after washing and drying, it was 24 inches across. I will have to remember that, in future. I didn’t measure the length before washing.
So soft…
A view of my hems. The corners were so thick that I had to do them by hand. There is probably a better way to do the hems….
TA-DAH! I love them. I have already used one of the cloths for dishes, tonight, and one of the towels. Mr. Beloved asked if they would be absorbent and they are. Wonderful! Now, I am going to start planning my next weaving project.

You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step. — Martin Luther King, Jr.

Clara and I

Clara the Faithful Spinning Wheel and I have been spending a lot of time together. I got the hang of the cotton much quicker than I expected and I have gotten two bobbins full of it and have plied half of it so far. It is working out very well. It is soft and silky and such a pretty color. The color shows up different in photos, because of whatever light is available at the time, but, trust me, it is a very pretty golden green. They say that naturally colored cotton gets darker as you use it and wash it. I can’t wait to see for myself.

A bobbin full of single ply naturally colored cotton. It is not in a good light, so it looks more yellow that it actually is. But, it is as soft and silky as it looks, though.
While spinning cotton I appear to get an awful lot of lint all over me and the surrounding area. That doesn’t happen with wool, for the most part.
This is two ply cotton and the color is more realistic. To ply singles together, you put the bobbins of singles on a lazy kate (a rack to hold the spools) and then take the yarn from each one that you want to ply together and pull them out, put them together, attach them to the leader on the bobbin which is on the spinning wheel, and spin them together in the opposite direction that they were spun to start with. It is fascinating…
Westmoreland Song for the Spinning Wheel
by William Wordsworth

Swiftly turn the murmuring wheel!
Night has brought the welcome hour,
When the weary fingers feel
Help, as if from faery power;
Dewy night o'ershades the ground;
Turn the swift wheel round and round!

Now, beneath the starry sky,
Couch the widely-scattered sheep: -- 
Ply the pleasant labor, ply!
For the spindle, while they sleep,
Runs with speed more smooth and fine,
Gathering up a trustier line.

Short-lived likings may be bred
By a glance from fickle eyes;
But true love is like the thread
Which the kindly wool supplies,
When the flocks are all at rest
Sleeping on the mountain's breast.