The last post described our new (new to us) Gilmore Loom. We had put a test warp on the loom and wove a short piece of yardage in plain weave using the same material for the weft. The yarn was an ancient donation of coarse rug wool in an off white with a slight fleck of orange in it. The yarn had been passed over for earlier guild projects like a wall flower at a dance. Too plain and too coarse to excite any interest. The yardage was pretty blah as well and felt a bit like sandpaper but no real weaver ever threw out a piece of weaving without at least trying to improve it.
So the yardage was stitch and pleated and tie and tie again and finally coiled up and thrown into a dye bath and heated without stirring. All this in a deliberate attempt to end up with an uneven dye pattern that would disguise the blah yardage.
So the yardage was stitch and pleated and tie and tie again and finally coiled up and thrown into a dye bath and heated without stirring. All this in a deliberate attempt to end up with an uneven dye pattern that would disguise the blah yardage.
The result was a trip back to the 60's when tie dye and macrame ruled.
Wet finishing and brushing took off the sandpaper texture and a bit of simple sewing turned our ugly duckling into a decent pillow and a bag that show of the patterns from the dye.
The moral of the story being that even quite nasty looking yarn can have a useful ending with a bit of imagination. So don't overlook the plain jane yarn especially if you are willing to experiment.
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