Deciding on Colors for a New Rya

The other day I was trying to decide on colors for my next rya. My show at the Shelburne Arts Co-op goes up on October 1st, so the time is growing short. Plus, school is starting soon, which means much less time for weaving. I felt the need to get a sense of the work that I’d made thus far, so I spread the ryas out on the bed. Then I stood on a chair to get a good look. And here they are!

ryas on the bed more ryas on the bed

Then of course I had to dump a ton of yarns onto the bed and see what resonated with the collection as a whole. I ended up choosing another combination of oranges with greens at the center, this time, rather than the brown and blue combo I did before. Continue reading “Deciding on Colors for a New Rya” →

Green and Yellow Rya

After I finished the lichen-dyed rya the other day, I was close to the end of the warp. What to do? Plan a small project to make use of it? Cut it off? I had a similar problem earlier in the spring (see my “Too Short Warp” post). At that time I planned out a small project with green and yellow yarns, but I was ultimately stymied and I didn’t end up weaving it. I cut off the warp regretfully, since 8/4 linen warp isn’t cheap and I hate to waste linen because I know what goes into creating it. Continue reading “Green and Yellow Rya” →

Woad Gets Club Root

This summer I started out with two small beds of woad on opposite sides of the garden. Normally I don’t grow woad in the same bed two years in a row because it doesn’t do well the second year. I know you ought to rotate beds to interrupt pest and disease life-cycles, and I thought we were doing pretty well with this considering that our garden isn’t that big. My woad has been plagued by slugs and cabbage whites, but I’ve never had serious disease before. I’ve always chalked-up the deficiencies of a second-year woad bed to a nutrient problem, though I’ve never actually tested “before” and “after” soil samples to find out exactly what gets depleted. So, my original two woad beds this year were not planted in the same beds as last year. Continue reading “Woad Gets Club Root” →