Double Weave Bag Progress

I've finished weaving the second sample for the Double Weave bag project. This is really a small version of the real thing. The assignment is not just to make the bag, but to demonstrate the steps in the process, so I've also made a mock up in calico of the bag's structure. Here it is, along with the silk I dyed up on the weekend: You can see it needs a good press, but I've labelled all the parts, so once I drag out the iron it will be ready to include in my folio.

Ironically, the calico version was harder to put together than the real thing will be. The beauty of the double weave structure for this design is that it eliminates all but two seams. I had to fiddle with the calico and my overlocker to make those non-existent seam sit as unobtrusively as possible.

My plan for today is to do as much as I can before it gets overwhelmingly hot again. I'd like to dye the mercerised cotton I'm going to be using as the warp for the real thing. There's enough warp left on the sample loom to try a couple of different approaches to closing off the bottom of the bag as well.

Thrice Sweet

Yesterday was a hot, tiring and challenging day. I had dinner with a friend at the end as a welcome reward. Golden pumpkin soup was on the menu. The colour does seem to glow:

It was thrice sweet:

• because it was real, made from scratch pumpkin soup
• because it was made for me by my friend
• because the pumpkin was home grown--I'd seen the vine sprout and flower and bear fruit.

Now I'd like to be able to reproduce that glowing golden colour in my dyepot.

A Rock with a View

It was hot yesterday--up in the mid-thirties and there's a month to go until it's officially summer.

Problem: what to do on a lazy, hot Sunday afternoon. Solution: sit on a riverbank with a cold drink, a good friend and a drop spindle. We spent the afternoon at Warrandyte, on the upper reaches of the Yarra River. It was still hot, but much more pleasant than sitting at home. There was a nice flat rock to sit on and a bit of a breeze off the water. I rounded off the day by sharing fish and chips with the ducks.

It's going to be hot again today, but I can't escape to Warrandyte, I have a couple of appointments to keep. In between I might take my knitting to the library--it's air conditioned at least.

Things that go Bump in the Night

Filous Patisserie is a regular and much loved part of my days at the Guild. Here's what I found when I arrived for class yesterday: Apparently a driver lost control on Lygon St and slammed into the wall of the bakery at 3.00 am one morning this week. There were no major injuries, as far as I know, but the wall is going to take some serious work. At that hour of the morning, only the baker was in the building. He must have got quite a jolt!

Yesterday there was a steady trickle of people, peering at the damage and longing for their cake and coffee fix. My friend Teresa was one of them. I'm not the only one who loves the personality of this place. I hope they had good insurance--and that they know how much they're missed.

It's a Boat Shuttle

This nifty bit of equipment is a boat shuttle: I'm going to shout myself a new one today, since I need two shuttles to complete the double weave bag.

The shuttle carries the weft yarn through the warp threads to form the weaving. The clever thing about a boat shuttle is that the bobbin in the middle carries more yarn than an ordinary stick shuttle and the yarn feeds continuously as it rolls off the bobbin. The result is quicker, smoother weaving. And yes, it is a beautiful thing.

Looking at the pic--apart from noticing that I'm still having trouble with the orientation of my photos-- you can see that I've re-threaded my warp for a second sample. I've got an hour or so before I need to leave for class, so I'm going to work at it, as soon as I've had another coffee.

Double Weave Samples

The threading is finished and the sampling has begun for my double weave bag project:
Apologies for the orientation of the photo--that's the front of the loom at the top of the pic. There is something wierd about the technology of blogger that doesn't let me rotate the photo the way I'd like to. Maybe it's something wierd about me! In any case, that's the way it's going to stay.

I've woven a tube. That will be the body of the bag in the finished project. I found I'd made an error in working out the threading, since the underside of the lower layer weaves up as a mirror image of what I'd expected. I've got plenty of warp left, so I should probably re-thread it and try again.

I've also woven a sample of the two layers which will form the lining and flap of the bag. The challenge there is that the layers don't weave at the same rate. The top layer is a twill, while the bottom layer is a tabby or plain weave. The twill weave is just a bit more compact, so I need to put some extra picks into the top layer every now and again.

Overall, though, it's working and I'm looking forward to the next step.

Tuesday Cafe

Tuesday was Melbourne Cup Day. For my international readers: believe it or not, the whole State gets a public holiday for a horse race! Then again, no self-respecting Australian is going to knock back an excuse for a day off. Thankfully, the city's cafes take advantage of the opportunity and stay open. I ended up in this little place in Victoria St, Brunswick at the end of the afternoon. The styling of their crockery caught my eye:
Notice that "Emma 3" is written on the base of the cup. The cafe owner had commissioned the local kindergarten to paint his cups for him. The effect is quirky and heart-warming.