Well, I'm trying to get motivated to beam my daughter's coat warp :) I got it all spun, sized, wound into balls, wound the warp, put it on the trapeze - it's ready to beam, but I just haven't had the energy or something.
And I'm still working on the weft - precarding about another pound of wool, drumcarding each batt twice. The final carding will make layered batts out of all the different blues, but that has to wait until I beam, thread, and tie on that warp and use up one bobbin of weft yarn to make sure I know how much to card and spin. She wanted some very specific yarns - 20 wpi, 20 degree twist angle (which I *really* didn't enjoy spinning, sizing, or winding into a warp! :) Natural black for the warp - a mix of Perendale, Shetland, Romney, and BL I had available. Lovely wools, but too much twist to suit my style, so it was a bit tedious to spin. The weft is a mix of lustrous medium-type wools - Cotswold and a shiny Romney for the most part, dyed in a range of darkish blues. These wools are wavy rather than crimpy, so the yarn is more dense, so contrary to my experience, I have had to prepare more wool for the weft than for the warp. She chose a plaited twill threading that doesn't have a lot of patterning, so it will "read" as texture close up and practically just a heathery color from any distance. She doesn't like to stand out :) Well, maybe telling people about this project will get me moving on it! In other news, I'm finally gonna be a grandma this year! DS and DIL made the announcement Christmas Day, after 5 1/2 years of marriage :) The baby is due in August, they live in TX, and DIL is convinced she's allergic to wool, so I guess I'll be looking for cotton baby yarns. I have some cotton baby blankets I've woven stashed for this purpose. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season, and can look forward to a healthy and happy 2010! Holly
