Pretty in Pink

Early in 2017, the Clover company came out with a perfect, petit, pretty in pink hand loom.
You may remember our January knit club meeting experimented with hand weaving using small cardboard looms. I am a number one fan of Clover tools, and was quite keen to play on it, anticipating tiny, perfect weaving Zen.

Alas, however as the days rolled by, the box sat, and sat, waiting patiently for the correct moment, so now, on the eve of a new year, the moment is come!

It is so cold, and yet sunny and fresh. I am inspired by the look of snow outside my window and the shadow of the tree trunks and branches on the pristine white surface.

They look a sort of blue to periwinkle shade to me. What colour do you see?

I pulled out the hatbox of whites and naturals, and did a fibre vision edit.
There is shiny mercerized cotton, and I added some icy blue chenille and a treasured scrap of dove grey kid mohair as well as vintage paper yarn. The snow is super sparkly, because of the cold, so in want threaded sequins to the mix.

Detailed and clear documentation came with the loom including full instructions in no less than 4 languages, and a plethora of drawn diagrams and pictures.

The instruction precision is remarkable, for example need exactly "4.2 meters" of warp yarn to thread the "5mm intervals" (warp spacing comb). Clover truly shines in their provision of support to the artist and craftperson. I have "4.2 meters yarn, no problem.

The accessories are elegant. The shuttle and shed stick are perfectly proportioned and smooth.

Best of all, in my opinion is the weaving needle. Not only is it the right length for the loom, but it has a curved tip, making it a pleasure to rock up and down as you place the weft over and under alternating alternating warp threads.

The eye of the needle is very thoughtfully designed. There is a wide space narrowing to a v shape at the end, which "friction" holds the yarn tail. This is especially helpful when working to tidy up the beginning and end of a chosen weft yarn. I weave the empty needle partially through the warp and then thread the eye with the short yarn tucking it into the narrow v shape for grip.

The snow is so light and fluffy right now, because of the low teperature I guess. Ploughing through the snow (to the compost heap), in my tall winter boots is a great pleasure.

A winter textile moment, a tribute to a bright shiny day. I will look for a twig to thread as the last shot of weft, and make a wall hanging.