Corrections

...and of course for my second post, I feel the need to amend the first one. While browsing pattern books I was reminded that shadow weaving was invented in the 1940s by Mary Miegs Atwater. So that's going to be an exception to the broad statement that anything that we do with the same equipment, they probably did, at least until I find examples to the contrary.

My current fiber projects are mostly modern. I'm working on the Atlantis socks from The Enchanted Sole book, and spinning 4 oz or so of purple/blue/yellow wool that I got at the Midwest Sheep and Wool Festival back in June. I'm still undecided whether I want to try go with 2 ply, 3 ply or cabled 4 ply. I'm interested in the other options, but 2 ply seems least likely to produce muddy colors. Time to sample, I guess!

And here's a factoid that I just sent off to our local newsletter.

"Saraidh offers this bit of medieval mythbusting – many people assume that asbestos isn’t period. It is. The name comes from the Greek word for “unquenchable” due to its flameproof nature. Obviously, I don’t recommend using it as a textile, but asbestos IS a naturally occurring mineral that can be spun and woven into clothing that was known as early as the 5th century in Persia and Arabia. There are records in Chinese annals of a 20 ft long piece being used as a mantle for a statue of Buddha, and I’ve heard reports that it was sometimes used as slave clothing due to its extremely durable nature."

Other than that, I'm still trying to decide what to do with the silk trim plan. I've found an 8 shaft pattern I'm really pleased with, which is a really complex 8 shaft twill. At first, I was thinking that I could salvage the blue tencel that's currently on the big loom, but that I realized that that entire book of patterns assumes light warp/dark weft, and besides which, rethreading is the thing that's most impeding the progress of George II (the huck lace linen towels currently on the table loom). So I continue to ponder. But it's been months since I touched either of the looms, so I need to either get back in and get moving or pull the whole lot off and put something new on. I love the theory of long warps, but my magpie nature means I'm not necessarily getting a whole lot of really long weaving actually done.