Homegrown Linen: transforming flaxseed into fibre

Ever wondered how to grow your own yarn?

Flax gives us two harvests from one plant.  The seeds and the cloth - and yes, you can get both from the same harvest no matter what They tell you.  How do I know this?  Because I've been obsessing about flax for years and decided to find out what is really possible and what bits of advice are just superstition.

Spoiler alert: most of it is superstition.  

Flax is way more versatile than it looks.  You can get cloth from seed flax and you can get delicious seed from fibre flax.  

So now you know what I've been up to all these months.  A crazy adventure writing and creating a book.  

There are a few days left on my Kickstarter where you can pre-order the book Homegrown Linen: transforming flaxseed into fibre at a discount.  

We are hoping to have it available in stores in February.

If you want to order a book or carry the book in your store, you can find me at:

Crowing Hen Farm

Crowing Hen has arrived

I have my own website: Crowing Hen Farm 

It's all about the family farm, yarn adventures, with more being added almost daily.

find out why we call it Crowing Hen here

Larry-Cloth

This is Larry as a little lamb.

He's all grown up now, 200plus pounds of trouble, but boy oh boy, does he make marvellous yarn.

This is the yarn as it comes off the wheel.  It's lively.

I block the yarn and it looks like this.

The grey yarn is from the spot and there are about 700 yards of it.  There are a little over 3 thousand yards of white.  I wonder what I can make.

Total time from fleece to yarn - 30 hours (ten days)

blue handwoven bathroom towels.

I finally finished my first set of handwoven bathroom hand towels.

These towels are super absorbent and fast dry.  They are also very squishy!  A complete delight to use, but I must admit, I was very nervous while making them.

The warp has a random-ish pattern to it.  I wound four colours at once, then threaded them onto the loom as they came to me.  It looked good in the sample facecloths I wove, but I was nervous to see how it would look on a larger scale.

The neat thing about winding four yarns at once on a warp instead of the usual one at a time is that it goes about 20 times faster.  One doesn't have to stop and count so often, and it's just way more fun this way.  So when I had finished my blue warp, I was in the zone.  I quickly wound a second warp but this time, I used up little bits and bobs of yarn I had left over for an even more random effect.

I used 8/2 cotton set at 20epi.  I choose this draft because it has a 1/3 twill - one up, three down - which is very quick and easy on a direct tie up jack loom like mine.   As you can see, the fabric is a different colour on the other side.  I think, if it wasn't for such a colourful warp, the 'back side' would be the main side as it has a much stronger waffle look than the 'front'.

On the whole, very happy.

How I use the Ashford raddle

Getting the raddle for my Ashford Table Loom made a huge difference to how well I can warp my loom.  Before, I was having tension issues, not any longer.  It's really fast and I can have the warp spread out and ready to wind on the back beam in less time than it takes to boil the kettle (even including the time it took to take photos).

This is a 25" (on loom) wide warp in 8/2 cotton at 20epi.

Waffle weave samples in blue

 This is my very first time weaving waffle weave.  Well, at least, I think it's waffle weave.  It certainly has a texture to it.

I used 8/2 cotton set at 20epi.  I choose this draft because it has a 1/3 twill - one up, three down - which is very quick and easy on a direct tie up jack loom like mine.

 

 I think it turned out beautifully.  The pictures don't do it justice.  The warp is a random mix of four colours, and each of the four cloths is a different, single colour weft.  This make the fabric look different front and back.  I choose the warp dominant side for the front, but it was a tough decision.  here's the 'back'.

 The next question is, do any of these match the bathroom?  If so, which one and do I want to make a set of towels like this?

Texture wise, these are fantastic.  Definitely bathroom towel texture.  So even if these aren't the right colour, I think I found a good draft.



One challenge was the edge.  I used a floating selvedge, but still, I got big floats next to the edge.

These didn't go away with the wash, so I'm wondering if I could change where in the pattern I put the edges, if this will fix the problem.  At the moment, the edges stop and start at shaft 1.  What if I changed that to be like...

See my yellow box?

What do you think?


My head is full of all sorts of possibilities for this pattern.  It's stretchy and warm, perfect for a cardigan.  How about if I used a 24epi sett and made a bathrobe from it?  It would be absolutely lovely as a bath towel, maybe if I wove panels and blanket stitched them together?

apparently some people in town don't have snow.

This was yesterday while I was on the phone to a friend.  I took this while talking with her.  20-minute phone call and almost half an inch of snow in that time.

She's only 20-minute drive from my home and she hasn't had any snow.  Here I am shovelling the driveway 5 times in three days (if we don't shovel it, it partly melts then freezes for a pain in the arse experience - as in a sudden, sharp pain when arse collides with driveway).

Our weather is so localized that we can have a foot of snow (well, 8 inches) and in town they haven't a flurry.

Peaceful towels

These are from the Peaceful Rhythm draft , with a warp of unbleached 8/2 cotton and the towels in coloured cotton.  I'm really enjoying this pattern so I'll make more.

One thing I did differently this time around is to weave the underside of the hem in 16/2 cotton and a basket weave.  Since I didn't expect it to show, I used unbleached cotton - but it does show, and I like it.

I've been tablet weaving on the Ashford Sampleit loom

It's a cute little loom.  When I first saw it, I thought that's just what I want for tablet weaving.

Tablet weaving is a way of making a warp-faced band or tape.  Only instead of having heddles to control which threads are up or down, we have cards.  I made this set from an old deck of playing cards, but you can also buy weaving cards if you like.  Medieval ones were often made of bone or leather.

This sample was to get used to this style of weaving and to see how many cards I need for my goat.  Yes, I said goat.  Both my goats need new collars and I thought it would be a treat to make them some.  This band has 12 cards and is just over half an inch wide.  I think I'll try a pattern with 20 to 26 cards.  Here are some sample drafts I'm hoping to try.  I don't know if my idea is any good, but it whatever it turns out to be, it will be blue.

Next up, peaceful rhythm dishcloths

We need more towels in our house and I need more practice weaving cotton.  What a great combination.

I discovered the draft for the Peaceful Rhythm Towels and decided to experiment with it.

I'm not certain if I would like the pattern or not, so I adapted it to make some dish cloths.

I'm using 8/2 (or possibly 2/8 - the Canadian one) with the warp in undyed cotton and the weft in different shades of green.

Isn't it amazing how different treadling can give the same warp an entirely different look?  I love it.

Blankets finished

In the end, I chose a 1/3 twill and a black weft.  One side is vibrant, the other more subdued.  I love them both.

loving the rainbow warp

Anything bad I said this morning, I take it all back.  I found the perfect colour weft for my rainbow.   Black!

The photos just don't do it justice.  It's perfect!


Actually, I had black in mind when I planned these colours, I just didn't have any black on hand.  While I'm waiting for the yarn to arrive, I dug out some black linen.  I suspect the linen yarn is a bit too thin for this situation.  When the Ashford Cotton gets here, I'll ues that.

While I wait, it's time to start planning the great big tea towel binge.  I am going to weave tea towels until I am happy with my cotton weaving skills.  That might take a lot of towels.

So I called up the local weaving superhero and asked her to send me some yarn samples.

I am finally on the road to becoming a weaver.  I just got my first order from Jane Stafford.  A few cones of  white cotton and this lovely card.  I'm thinking I want to make something inspired by these colours.

Or maybe this flax flower?

this is why I sample, or more to the point, this is what happens when I don't weave a sample.

Isn't that pretty?  That's a picture of the back of the loom.

My goal is to learn how to weave wider fabric.

The thing is, I have this gorgeous warp on the loom and I can't decide what colour weft to use.  I tried a few different colours and nothing really pops as 'the one'.  I'm also not very happy with the threading.  I wish I had sampled a few different patterns first.  I also wish I had tried a few samples in different setts (how many threads per inch) because it would make different densities of fabric and I could see which would be best.

All these things and more I could learn from weaving a sample.  But instead, I made a guess and wound a 4-yard warp.  I actually only need 3 yards, so I have a little bit of room to play with... actually, 3 yards was with the original math, which I got wrong.  To get two squares, I only need 2.25 yards.  This gives me lots of room to play with.  But how to play and what?

Here are a few colours I've tried for the weft.  from the bottom, red, a lime green colour, white and grey.  I don't know if I like any of them.  I can't see the pattern at all.

I don't know if I'm happy with this, I don't know if I want to continue.  I adore the colours in the warp... but everything else could have been so much better if I had woven a sample first.

What do you think?  Any suggestions on what colour to try next?

Handwoven sweater - the first of many

That sweater I was weaving was quick and easy to make... once I decided on the pattern.  Sampling is the hardest thing and it seems to take more time than the actual weaving.  But it's also nice to take the time to be sure I'm making something I'll enjoy.

And boy oh boy, do I enjoy my new sweater.

I don't think I made any treadling errors for the whole six yards of fabric.  There are a few areas where I beat too hard, but that just adds to the charm of the piece.

The sweater itself is surprisingly light weight, but lovely and warm.

I used Ashford Tekapo 3 ply yarn set at 12epi and beat at 10ppi.  The cloth is quite narrow (14" wide on loom) and is sewn using Japanese Kimono inspiration.  I had the option to leave the centre front open with a button, snap, tie or no closure.  All looked good.  What finally decided it was my desire for another pullover, so I sewed the front shut and I couldn't be happier.

Colourful warp in the new Ashford Weaving 5/2 Mercerised Cotton

I'm still weaving like crazy.  Insomnia helps, but also, it's just so much fun!  I want to find the limits of what I can do on my little Ashford Table Loom.  Well, I say 'little', it's actually a 32" loom (which means I can weave a fabric that is 32" wide - before shrinkage).  Finally, I've found a loom that matches me!  I love it, and I secretly suspect the loom likes me too.

Today's project is sort-of-secret, but I don't think she reads this blog, so I'll give you a hint.  Let's just say it's for a bundle of joy that 'hatched' into this world on the weekend (a few weeks earlier than expected so this project got bumped to the top and quickly) and it's woven in the brand new 5/2, Ashford Weaving Cotton.

Here it is on the raddle, getting ready to wind onto the warp beam.  The raddle is the funny thing with nails in it, one nail every 1/2 inch so that the warp doesn't bunch up and make weaving a nightmare.

The colours I chose for the warp are:
46 Dazzling Blue
44 Scuba Blue
40 Daisy Pink
42 Honey Suckle
56 Radiant Orchid

I've wound enough warp for two blankets top-secret-projects.

I really like this yarn.  The colours pop and the yarn feels a lot like silk but still has that cotton quality.  Actually, I shouldn't be using this yarn as it's not technically mine, but it is an emergency and I'll buy the other person some replacement yarn next week.

In the meantime, what to choose for the weft?
any thoughts?

sample weaving with Ashford Tekapo 3 ply yarn

After such great success with the sweater, I've been weaving samples with the Tekapo 3-ply yarn.  I've been experimenting with colour (not my forte) and treadling, to see if there is anything I like for a second sweater.  This time, I think I'll make a hoodie.

These are all woven at 12epi.  In many ways, I like the green, but it tends to be a little bit too bright.  Maybe I'll tone it down a bit by adding more naturals to the warp.  

This picture is highlighting the plain weave sections I did.  If I choose plain weave, I think 10epi would be better.

First handwoven towels, finally finished.

Here are my first set of handwoven towels.  Woven with a 9/2 linen warp and 4/2 cotton weft (photographed on a background of handwoven sweater - oh, the sweater turned out lovely, lofty, lightweight and excessively warm).

To be completely frank, I don't like these towels at all.  The treadling errors are okay, I guess, one can live with that.  It's just they look so bla!  Individually the colours are lovely, together they look nice, but as towels, they look dull and boring.  Except for the errors, a machine could have made these.  If I'm going to put this effort in, I want it to look better than what a machine can make.

Which means, it's time to take steps and learn about colour.  It was these towels that inspired me to try warping two or more colours together at the same time.  So far, so nice.  But I have a lot to learn about colour and design.

Handwoven sweater fabric off the loom and ready for fulling

The 6 yards of fabric for my jacket are woven and heading for the washing machine.  Although it was quick to weave, I found it difficult to see the pattern as I was weaving.

It's like one of those magic eye pictures, where I have to unfocus my eyes and will the pattern into existence.  Things will be much better when the cloth is fulled.  I just hope it doesn't shrink too much.  But if it does, I have more yarn and can always weave more cloth.

6 yards seemed like a lot of cloth to me.  I was worried that being a table loom, it wouldn't all fit.  But my worry was needless.  Lots of room leftover.  I think I could probably get 24 yards of fabric at this weight.  Maybe more.

I have no idea if this project will work out.  I've been making it up as I go along.  But I did make a similar sweater from an old wool blanket and that's very comfortable.  This one will be the same shape.



The other thing I'm not so sure about is blogging again.  In the last few years, blogging has become a monetary activity.  Advertizing, Pinterest-ready photos, all that fancy stuff that makes blogs more a job than a journal.  Bloggers are celebrities now and I don't know if that sort of thing is for me.  It's just something to think about.  What do I want from my blog?  Do I care enough to modernize and monetize it or keep it as it is, or rebel and make it more my own style.  Then again, I do pay money to keep my blogs online.  So I should try at least to make it pay for itself... or should I?  Maybe my blogs don't add anything useful to the internet and they should just fade away.

Getting ready to weave a sweater

My hoodie is in terrible shape.  Threadbear and sad looking.  I can't find a decent replacement in the shops, so I've decided to make my own sweater with weaving.  I don't know how it's going to go, but it's fun finding out.

To start, I make a plan.

Yep, a weaving draft typed on a typewriter.  Or, actually, several weaving drafts with the same threading.  I wove a sample of what this would look like

I think these patterns are lovely.  I've sort of chosen one, but I can change my mind because all these designs take the same threading on the loom.

But for now, I have a plan and wound 6 yards of warp.

I'm using the Ashford tekapo 3 ply wool yarn in natural medium and natural dark for the warp.  The sample was done with one strand of each in the warp and random colour threading.  The weft was natural light.  For the sweater, I want something darker, so I'm useing 2 strands of dark for every one of medium.