I’ve been weaving a few jackets for winter and started with a pre-wound green wool. The wool pre-wounds are very nice because they save time and also provide a good array of different yarns.  The weft was all wool and some silk.  The green wool sets , that came through in the northern winter, worked really well with this one.  I used the Jade set which contained some mohair blends and fancy spins.

The six metres weaves up quickly.  For the finishing process I placed the yardage in the washing machine! And watched it for about 4 minutes then stopped it.  I wanted it to be slightly fulled but not turned into cardboard. This was worth it.

The other jacket fabric was based on a warp made in the studio and mainly cotton, linen and silk.  Both jackets were based on design 30 from the Fuku no Katachi ni Suru book.  I joined more fabric lengths to make the piece longer and fiddled with other things but the design is a good one for a simple jacket.

I haven’t been well over the last few weeks but a bit of weaving and making is a good meditation.  And my brain takes alot to settle it down!  Life can be difficult and very confusing at times for many of us…thank goodness for art, making and music. Let’s ramp up the weaving time.

I would encourage all Saori weavers to weave up a six metre woollen warp if you haven’t already.  Handspun would work well too. A 200 thread (40cms)  or 250 thread (50cms) width is a good place to start. Avoid beating too hard when you’re weaving, as the spaces will close up somewhat on finishing. When finished, place the woven length in your washing machine for 4 minutes only. Check it out and see if it has fulled nicely and if not, try for a couple of minutes more. Now this procedure is not easy in a front loader with a ‘mind’ of its own.  But on most machines you can cancel the program to stop it. This is what I did.  When you are finished fulling to what looks nice –  spin dry in the machine.  

I happen to have many pre-wound warps on their way from Japan. Cotton, wool, silk and plenty of cashmere too. They’ll be on the site when they get here in the next couple of weeks.