Earth Toned Haori for Peter

My good friend and former fellow middle school art teacher, Peter has been after me for years to weave something for him. Now that I'm retired, I finally had the time! He sent me the measurements from a short kimono jacket (haori) that he has had for years and I designed the haori. I had some wonderful 100% wool from the Canadian woolen mill, Condon (which burned down several years ago) in my stash and because Peter is such an earthy person, I decided to create the jacket in earth tones.

on the loom

My goal was three fold: 1. to create a warm jacket, 2. to explore the possibilities with weave structures on my 8 shaft loom 3. to create an interesting design. The weave structure in wool created a very warm fabric after fulling. I was able to create a unique draft using a demonstration model of FiberWorks Bronze translated for my Mac with the CrossOver program (thanks to Syne Mitchell of WeaveZIne for the suggestion!) The design is a basic kimono design with a sampling of twill variations weave structures reflected in the 32 inch wide warp.

I reinforced the edges before I cut with a multi-stitched zigzag.

I covered the raw edges with a single crochet stitch. Sleeves & bottom edge.

My biggest challenge was coming up with a front band that was not too thick. I wove enough to create three 5 inch strips, but I worried about the thickness... so I purchased some medium weight twill fabric the same color as the band and lined the front bands which created a comfortable texture on the neck.

I wanted some way to close the front and remembered the braided himo which closed the vintage haori's I purchased in Japan. I looked on YouTube and found a video which explained the technique for kumihimo (Japanese braiding.)

I cut a 4" circle out of cardboard and cut 12 notches in sets of 3s across from each other.

I then cut a hole in the middle about 1" in diameter.

I labeled 6 of the notches ABC and DEF on the other side.

I cut 8 pieces of wool yarn about 20" long - 4 dark brown, 2 medium gray and 2 white and tied them together with an overhand knot. I made a 2nd overhand knot about 1/2 away from the 1st -- then stuck the fringe end through the hole.

I put one dark brown yarn in each left hand notch and the gray yarns to the right across from each other and the white to the right in the center notch.

To braid you take the right hand yarn in B and cross over the hole to F -- then move A to C. Next take the yarn in D and move it over the hole to B. Then turn the circle loom to the LEFT and repeat... then LEFT and repeat ... the LEFT and repeat around and around. If you have to stop - make a loop tie in the one where you will start again.

Eventually you get into a rhythm and it goes pretty quickly. I created a 12 inch braid in about an hour.

I made loops on both sides of the front band about 16in from the center back and reinforced them with half hitches around and then put the one knot through the loop and fed the rest of the cord through. (Easier to show than to write! Sorry)

I'm taking the jacket to Peter this weekend and can't wait to see how it fits! I'll take pictures!

Finding Balance

I can't believe that it's February all ready! The weather has been cold (for the South) and wet here in Savannah since I think... Thanksgiving! We're ready for steady days of sunshine and 60s or 70s again!

I've been working part-time at SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design) since early November as a docent (part greeter, educator, school ambassador) in their galleries. Most weeks I've worked 2 full days and 2 half days. Though I love it... I'm hoping to cut back a bit -- to 2 full and maybe an occasional half day, as needed. I'm finding that though I am surrounded by world-class, inspiring artwork, I'm not finding the time to weave as much as I'd like. So... hopefully February will bring fewer hours of outside work... and more hours of weaving. Of course, when the weather changes... I'll want some beach time, too! Alas.. so many wants... it's just finding the right balance...

I'm in the process of warping my loom for a short kimono (haori) jacket for my former art teaching colleague, Peter. I'm using some Condon dark brown wool warp that my dear friend Cindy gave me many, many years ago. I have been using Fiberworks PCW version 4 - Bronze to create my draft. It's been very addictive playing around with the multitude of possibilities... and I think I've settled on a variation of point twills for 8 shafts. The CrossOver program that Syne suggested on Weavezine has allowed me to use this PC program on my Mac very successfully. I am just trying it out now... but think I'll have to purchase it as it's far too much fun! Anyway, I've wound the yarn from 8 skeins to balls and wound the 32" wide x 4 yards of warp sett at 10EPI and threaded it through my 10 dent reed and am ready to begin threading the pattern through the heddles. I'm hoping to get it done to take to him the end of February -- and yes, I know... February is the shortest month!

I finished my felted handspun slippers! I spun the yarn and skeined it many years ago - so long ago that I've forgotten when I did it (it's all about using the stash, right?) I had one skein of dark almost black and one of a medium multi-shaded gray natural wool plyed yarn. I found an adorable pattern on Ravelry called French Press Slippers and easily knit the bottoms of the dark yarn and the sides from the lighter yarn then stitched them together. But... they were humungous! I had added some rows for my extra large feet, but I think my gauge was off.

As I don't own my own washer, I used the condo's and unfortunately there were not enough controls... so they didn't felt very much. So.. I took to the bathroom sink... and hand felted them with some success. It took about 3 different sessions of about 30 minutes each of wringing and adding hot tap water and soap and scrubbing... but...they were still far too long. I then tried the condo's drier and I was getting closer, but they were still not right. I then came to the realization that the only way to make them fit was to take an inch out of the instep and then lace them back together.

The inspiration for lacing came from an exhbition of Contemporary Aftrican artwork in one of SCAD's galleries where I work. An artist by the name of Nicholas Hlobo does very unusual fiber pieces which combine cutting into paper and then lacing it back together (like in football stitches) with seam binding. He also uses rubber in his work. Here is a slideshow of his work.

Anyway... it worked and I now have comfy, warm felted wool slippers that fit beautifully. I stitched on some silver star-shaped earrings instead of buttons that were my mother's old clip ons... so I keep her memory close! (How wabi sabi!) I know these slippers will get lots of wear as they are just the right size now and keep my tootsies toastie.