Weaving, Permaculture
Jun. 20th, 2007 10:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
helwenWell, I seem to be catching up on posting....
Aleve is working pretty well, so I did some weaving yesterday. In fact, while I thought I was getting into the rhythm pretty well last week, I'm apparently still on the upswing. It takes me a little while to sort out a pattern so that all my cues are in place and I don't have to think about it as much.... yesterday the loom was calling, so I sat down for a few minutes... then realized how much weft I was putting on in a short time. So, having not timed myself in a week, I decided to see if I could go for an hour and how I'd do. The first part of what I did was straight herringbone, the second part I changed from green to white, then a purple section that included diamond twill, then back to white, then green again. The diamond twill still slows me down because of having to remember to reverse direction of the treadling pattern at the right times.
Keep in mind of course that I'm only weaving scarves right now, so I don't have the reaching/shooting the shuttle things things to deal with like on wide cloth yardage. First scarf, was doing about 15 inches/hour as I worked out the patterns. Second scarf, slightly different total pattern, I was up to 20 inches/hour. Yesterday, added the third color to the pattern, and did the green herringbone section - 18" - in half an hour! Then the complicated color/treadling changes plus part of the next green section in the next half hour -- total of 27-1/2 inches!
You know, I might actually be able to make a living at this...
Pricing is the next challenge. I've seen prices online between $36 to $110. Also, I'd picked 72" for the length as that seemed like a nice length, but the longest scarf I've found online so far is 69". Most are 50" - 58", with a few 60" thrown in. I've already completed three scarves, but I suppose I could make the rest of them shorter. Maybe 60". Plus the fringe :)
I'll be making some bags/purses too, and maybe some small stuff like coasters if I can find some nice fat sturdy yarn to use. Good to have a little variety in the wares.
***
Found this Permaculture site somewhere, a week or so ago. Finally had time to start reading it today. Very cool stuff! Actually goes into some of the plants that would be useful to grow in the more temperate zones. The article on this particular page of the site is a report on Mark Shepard's talk on permaculture and how much of the U.S. used to be something called Oak Savanna (mix of woodland and grassland) that could support even large wildlife back in the day. Most of early permaculture info seems to be on more tropical climes, so I pretty happy to find this. Shepard talks about the nutritional content of some of the plants, what they can be a substitute for, etc. He includes hazelnuts, which I definitely like :) I was looking at different plants during this past winter, but some of the ones I wanted won't grow outdoors in MA, like cocoa, almonds and olives. No greenhouse yet, so most things like a dwarf lemon tree will have to wait as well. I might still look at tropical permaculture in the future, because I could still apply some of it to a greenhouse.
Meantime, I like this site because he goes into things like growing chestnuts (Chinese) both for the nuts and eventually for the wood - straight and rot-resistant. This implies multi-generational growth, of course. Although I don't think I'd want too many of them about... but between us and the squirrels, I don't think many new trees would start on their own :D The hazelnuts are interesting because you get the nut harvest, and you can coppice them (cut the tops off) every ten years to use the wood, and a new tree grows up in the same spot. Plus their hulls burn with the properties of anthracite coal. Oh, and hazelnut oil can be mixed with hard cider and just let to sit for a while, and it becomes biodiesel.
Okay, so I'm not going to write about the entire article here, but it's very readable, so I'm looking forward to seeing what else is at the site, and possibly looking for books by Shepard and seeing if we want to pick up a copy or two.
Aleve is working pretty well, so I did some weaving yesterday. In fact, while I thought I was getting into the rhythm pretty well last week, I'm apparently still on the upswing. It takes me a little while to sort out a pattern so that all my cues are in place and I don't have to think about it as much.... yesterday the loom was calling, so I sat down for a few minutes... then realized how much weft I was putting on in a short time. So, having not timed myself in a week, I decided to see if I could go for an hour and how I'd do. The first part of what I did was straight herringbone, the second part I changed from green to white, then a purple section that included diamond twill, then back to white, then green again. The diamond twill still slows me down because of having to remember to reverse direction of the treadling pattern at the right times.
Keep in mind of course that I'm only weaving scarves right now, so I don't have the reaching/shooting the shuttle things things to deal with like on wide cloth yardage. First scarf, was doing about 15 inches/hour as I worked out the patterns. Second scarf, slightly different total pattern, I was up to 20 inches/hour. Yesterday, added the third color to the pattern, and did the green herringbone section - 18" - in half an hour! Then the complicated color/treadling changes plus part of the next green section in the next half hour -- total of 27-1/2 inches!
You know, I might actually be able to make a living at this...
Pricing is the next challenge. I've seen prices online between $36 to $110. Also, I'd picked 72" for the length as that seemed like a nice length, but the longest scarf I've found online so far is 69". Most are 50" - 58", with a few 60" thrown in. I've already completed three scarves, but I suppose I could make the rest of them shorter. Maybe 60". Plus the fringe :)
I'll be making some bags/purses too, and maybe some small stuff like coasters if I can find some nice fat sturdy yarn to use. Good to have a little variety in the wares.
***
Found this Permaculture site somewhere, a week or so ago. Finally had time to start reading it today. Very cool stuff! Actually goes into some of the plants that would be useful to grow in the more temperate zones. The article on this particular page of the site is a report on Mark Shepard's talk on permaculture and how much of the U.S. used to be something called Oak Savanna (mix of woodland and grassland) that could support even large wildlife back in the day. Most of early permaculture info seems to be on more tropical climes, so I pretty happy to find this. Shepard talks about the nutritional content of some of the plants, what they can be a substitute for, etc. He includes hazelnuts, which I definitely like :) I was looking at different plants during this past winter, but some of the ones I wanted won't grow outdoors in MA, like cocoa, almonds and olives. No greenhouse yet, so most things like a dwarf lemon tree will have to wait as well. I might still look at tropical permaculture in the future, because I could still apply some of it to a greenhouse.
Meantime, I like this site because he goes into things like growing chestnuts (Chinese) both for the nuts and eventually for the wood - straight and rot-resistant. This implies multi-generational growth, of course. Although I don't think I'd want too many of them about... but between us and the squirrels, I don't think many new trees would start on their own :D The hazelnuts are interesting because you get the nut harvest, and you can coppice them (cut the tops off) every ten years to use the wood, and a new tree grows up in the same spot. Plus their hulls burn with the properties of anthracite coal. Oh, and hazelnut oil can be mixed with hard cider and just let to sit for a while, and it becomes biodiesel.
Okay, so I'm not going to write about the entire article here, but it's very readable, so I'm looking forward to seeing what else is at the site, and possibly looking for books by Shepard and seeing if we want to pick up a copy or two.
