{"id":1658,"date":"2022-01-12T20:38:41","date_gmt":"2022-01-13T01:38:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/?p=1658"},"modified":"2022-01-12T20:38:41","modified_gmt":"2022-01-13T01:38:41","slug":"keeping-with-a-theme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/keeping-with-a-theme\/","title":{"rendered":"Keeping with a theme"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I am finding that as I work through various projects, weaving is less intuitive than I expect. My most recent set of projects is a perfect example. This fall my wonderful husband took me for a romantic weekend to a Black Mountain bed and breakfast. In addition to good food, lovely accommodations and a small festival in Asheville, we also spent a day at SAFF (Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair). I got some yummy tees water and mohair locks that I will put on my blending board shortly. My other purchase was not actually animal fiber, but a beautifully dyed rayon skein. I wish I\u2019d taken a picture before I worked it up, but\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wanted the lovely gradient to take center stage when I wove with it, and I wasn\u2019t certain which weft color would enhance the gradient most, so I did something I probably don\u2019t do enough, I sampled. But before I sampled, I made an assumption, one that you will see in a moment, was dead wrong. I assumed that a loose sett would show off the warp better than a tight sett. My first piece was woven at 10 ends per inch (EPI).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sampling various weft yarns<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I tried a number of colors and weight of weft in both plain and twill weave. In the end, the very fine peach silk blended best in plain weave. With the sett so loose, twill wasn\u2019t really an option; it left the floats too long. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After finishing this narrow scarf, I had quite a bit of the skein left. While I was happy with how the colors looked in the scarf, the weave on this first scarf was too loose and it was not a very stable fabric. I decided to try again with a denser weave. This one is twice as dense at 20 EPI. Here is where we get back to my failure to intuit how the fibers would interact in these pieces! The weft almost completely disappeared in this scarf. You can see the two weaves below, with the denser weave on the top. Both are plain weave. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Comparing 10 EPI (bottom) and 20 EPI (top)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After the second scarf, I only had a few lengths of the gradient yarn left, so I decided to use it as an accent in a silk scarf made from the yarn I had previously used in the weft. Having worked a twill scarf in this weight before, it came out much closer to my expectations. There\u2019s nothing like experience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Gradient yarn used as an accent in 2\/2 twill<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This scarf is a little stiff coming off the loom. I suspect that it will be softer after it has been washed, but some might value the crispness, so I think I will leave it to the eventual owner of the scarf to decide if they want to wash it. I\u2019m not sure who that\u2019s going to be yet. I might see if it\u2019s worth putting it up for sale. We\u2019ll see!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Three weaving projects using gradient yarn<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am finding that as I work through various projects, weaving is less intuitive than I expect. My most recent set of projects is a perfect example. This fall my wonderful husband took me for a romantic weekend to a Black Mountain bed and breakfast. In addition to good food, lovely accommodations and a small […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":1649,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/img_2990.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1","author_info":{"display_name":"Julie Stubbs","author_link":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/author\/exhalia\/"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/img_2990.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2gp05-qK","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1914,"url":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/loom-projects\/","url_meta":{"origin":1658,"position":0},"title":"My Blue Period","author":"Julie Stubbs","date":"November 30, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The last few weeks my loom has seen a flurry of use. SAFF (Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair) happened at the end of October and I brought back yarn for a commission project. After I posted Keeping with a Theme last January, I was approached about doing something similar, but in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fibers"","block_context":{"text":"Fibers","link":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/category\/fibers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/smIMG_3474.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/smIMG_3474.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/smIMG_3474.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/smIMG_3474.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2007,"url":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/flying-squirrels\/","url_meta":{"origin":1658,"position":1},"title":"Flying Squirrels","author":"Julie Stubbs","date":"February 18, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"As the temperatures drop and the leaves turn I get an almost overwhelming urge to nest. For me this usually means copious amounts of baking and the laying in of craft supplies for the dark winter days. In order to facilitate this my creativity jumps in to overdrive and the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "crochet"","block_context":{"text":"crochet","link":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/category\/fibers\/crochet\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_0306-e1708313236828.jpeg?fit=1200%2C901&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_0306-e1708313236828.jpeg?fit=1200%2C901&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_0306-e1708313236828.jpeg?fit=1200%2C901&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_0306-e1708313236828.jpeg?fit=1200%2C901&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_0306-e1708313236828.jpeg?fit=1200%2C901&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7,"url":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/welcome-to-my-fiber-blog\/","url_meta":{"origin":1658,"position":2},"title":"Welcome to my fiber blog","author":"admin","date":"April 7, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Ok, so I've finally broken down and joined in on this blog thing.\u00a0 I've had to keep one for the last 6 months for work, so I understand how they work, but the kids at school don't read the materials I hand to them, I have my doubts about them\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":30,"url":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/fiber-preparation\/","url_meta":{"origin":1658,"position":3},"title":"Fiber preparation","author":"admin","date":"April 11, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm having quite a bit of trouble with fiber preparation.\u00a0 I'm working on learning to comb wool for worsted spinning using a set of English combs and the kid mohair that my husband and friends conspired to get for me at Sheep-Con (that's what my husband calls the Maryland Sheep\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "spinning"","block_context":{"text":"spinning","link":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/category\/fibers\/spinning\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2029,"url":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/payoff\/","url_meta":{"origin":1658,"position":4},"title":"Payoff","author":"Julie Stubbs","date":"July 2, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"So in my last weaving post, I teased the next yarn I was looking at using, but I am always bad about writing up my projects. Here are the products of that yarn. Woven on a black warp. The first one is a pretty simple pattern. In the second, I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "spinning"","block_context":{"text":"spinning","link":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/category\/fibers\/spinning\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/img_3485-1-scaled.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/img_3485-1-scaled.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/img_3485-1-scaled.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/img_3485-1-scaled.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1550,"url":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/weaving-lessons-learned\/","url_meta":{"origin":1658,"position":5},"title":"Weaving Lessons Learned","author":"admin","date":"December 13, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"It's almost 2 years since I got my 8-shaft loom and just over 3 since I dusted off my 4-shaft table loom and actually learned to weave. In that time I have made lots of towels, and a few scarves, a shawl and 2 baby blankets that were super challenging.\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/image-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/image-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/image-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/image-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/image-1.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/image-1.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1658"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1658\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1661,"href":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1658\/revisions\/1661"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}