My Etsy Weaves

I’ve been designing a small collection of mens and womens scarves, place mats, wash mits and soon to come - baby blankets and belts! – and as each item goes onto Etsy, I thought it might be a good idea to have here the making process and a few more images.

Friday 11th of September 2009: There’s no point in saying I’m a slacker any more – everyone knows it already.  So, what has been happening with my Etsy updates – well, what with being a slacker and a baby crawling all over the place I’m getting pretty bad at doing anything other than the bare essentials and watching the Sopranos on a Friday night – but here goes:

I had a commission about 9 months ago to make a scarf for a lady who was very fond of green. Easy for me, as I love green. I also love watching the weaves transform when you wash them. I’m afraid I don’t believe that “finishing” is an option – if you plan to sell something it has to be practical – you have to be able to wash it… the beauty with weaving is when you wash it, it transforms – and especially so when you use wool crepe and lycra – See results above!
15 years ago, wool crepe and lycra seemed to be just about all I ever used, and I loved complicated structures mixed with these yarns to give results that had other weavers pulling, tugging and examining at close range – “how did you get that part to go like that?… how many shafts did you use?!” With this “Breen” scarf, I hoaked out my very fine wool crepe and my lycra, and I think I might be back in action again on “weaves that do something”.

  

Tuesday 31st of March 2009: Yet again I’ve been slacking badly – I should have updated this a long time ago – but I’ve discovered that “one armed typing whilst breast-feeding” can be quite a physical challenge…so I gave up trying to do this while Hannah was occupying my time – multitasking has it’s limits!

I received a very nice commission for some more place mats almost 2 months ago, and I’m happy to say they’re all done and up on Etsy. Thankfully, this lady is very patient, so I’ve had time to buy, wind, dye, wind (again), warp, thread, weave and finish! A mini pictorial history of the chain of events are below.

Thursday 6th November 2008: Well Stone me! – it’s been months since I last wrote something here, but I’ve been busy and about to get busier (well, that’s the plan anyway, let’s see what actually happens)
I need to do some serious updating, but where to start is the question…A lovely project given to me by a lady in Australia to weave a set of 8 placemats in watermelon colours – well most of that is already listed on the main page of my blog, and I’m happy to say the place mats were dispatched and arrived safely on the other side of the world several months ago.

Then there was the design for Breen; A scarf in Silk, mercerized cotton and wool with a touch of lycra and viscose to add spring and zing – reflecting the colours of the Mourne’s and the Coolie Peninsula hills.

Monday 9th of June 2008: More place mats! They’re now on Etsy – I’m not sure they’ll go as quickly as the last set, but I can always hope!

Friday 6th of June 2008: Ha! After “Snell Gedaan”, It looks like I’ve become more of a snail. I seem to have spent a great deal of time lately doing I don’t know what…but I’ve got a few things in the pipeline to add to Etsy, and this page definitely needs updating.
Sooo, Mrs Mohair – I was working a few weeks ago with some beautiful mohair, and my biggest concerns were 1: Would I do the wool justice with my weave and 2: Was I totally insane for putting mohair and mohair bouclé on the same warp! In the end it was worth all the swearing and patience.

Wednesday 21st of May 2008: Well, “Snell Gedaan” as my cloggie friends might say! I’ve been weaving a lovely pastel coloured warp in mercerized cotton, based on a colour forecast for Summer 2008, and I put it on Etsy on Sunday…and it’s sold – Woopee! A small fault at the end of this warp meant I lost a few inches at the end of one of the place mat, but these things happen when you’re not looking – (or not paying attention when you’re warping) – I offered the set of 6 at a discount to accommodate this slightly smaller mat.

Friday 2nd of May 2008: This week it was Linen which took over from wool, and I spent a satisfying week of weaving a beautiful unbleached linen warp.
The labours of this love produced 8 little wash mitts.

Saturday 26th of April 2008: Well, it’s a Saturday again, and time to update Etsy and this page. “Colm” is the latest of the men’s collection to be launched on Etsy. It’s slightly longer and wider than its brothers, and not as felted, but has little tufts of felted arran wool on one side.

Saturday 19th of April: An update to My Etsy Weaves – “Oisín” hit Etsy – Again, like “Matt” it’s 100% wool, and made from shetland and arran from Hunters.

Saturday 12th of April 2008: The first off the beam is “Matt” – 100% pure wool, made with shetland and arran wools from Hunters of Brora. Any weavers (or knitters) out there will know that this mill is now closed and finding cones of their wools is a bit of a treasure hunt. I’m lucky enough to have several kilos in my stash; unlucky enough that when this stash is all used up, I’ll have none left.