Judy’s Summer & Winter

Judy shares the following about the current project on her 1930 Valborg countermarche loom:

The warp is a coned pearl cotton, set at about 30 ends per inch, alternating white and grey so that I could check my threading accuracy by color. The weft is cotton sewing thread for the tabby and a very old, possibly 1920s Royal Society crochet cotton in a deep blue.

The balls are so vintage that the company held the labels on with black straight pins rather than glue.

It’s taken me all winter to work out the draft and convert it to a usable plan for this particular loom plus learn how to adjust the lams and treadles on the countermarche and I still got some glaring errors. And, no, I’m not going to point them out to anybody who doesn’t notice where they are. I’ve discovered the less said, the better, about mistakes. Beside, maybe I can repair them in the finishing process. I was thinking pillow top but I like the look on both sides so this sample will likely be billed as a table mat and go on the shelf under a picture frame.

This project got me through the snow days, but I’m ready to weave something with one shuttle again. On to the spring towels!