Mystery thread? Upcycle it and weave it!

Right now, I am feeling very rattled and upset…. my dearest friend, who is as close to me as a sister, Terri, is very sick in hospital. So, if you can send her healing thoughts, a little love, light and positive energy, I would appreciate it enormously….. thank you….

One of the passions that Terri and I share is a deep love of weaving.

Over the years, looms and spinning wheels and other fiber tools have gone back and forth between our studios.

Recently, the mini inkle loom that I call, ‘The Emperor’s Invisible Loom’, came back home to me from Terri’s where it had been observing life in her Saori studio.

The Emperor’s Invisible loom had it’s share of problems, and now they are solved (yay).  (click on the boldface link in the last sentence to see how).

I have a series of pieces that I am working on, and inkle weaving is a part of them.

I have been  thinking a lot about the yarns that I want to include in the series. (I don’t want to say too much about the series, because if I write too much about some works in progress, the life can go out of them. So, sometimes, it’s better to just skip some of the details.)

It’s clear to  me that using upcycled yarns really fits with my vision of the series….. and then I had an ‘aha’ moment….

photo and project by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

My husband bought me a bag of cheap and cheerful thread at our favorite second hand store a few months back, and I have been using it for lots of fun projects.

Like these Comfort Thread Dolls

and some wild

Tatted Bracelets

These have felt so satisfying that they have  made me re-think what is ‘good’ thread and yarn, and what isn’t.

Because I combined lots of strands together  to make the Old Fashioned Yarn Baby Comfort Dolls, I realized that this was a great way to work with the ‘not-good-for-sewing’ thread.

I thought….

Hey! what about using multiple strands of the cheapie thread for inkle weaving?

So, I got out a pile of small shuttles and a selection of bobbins, and started winding 6 strands at a time onto the shuttles.

This sounds so innocent, doesn’t it?

No problem, right?

Photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright.

WRONG!

Ack.

The thread was AWFUL to wind onto the shuttles!

I ended up with the stupid little tubes getting all snaggled and snarled and it was NOT FUN.

Phoo.

So much for great ideas.

Ah well…. I spent so much time working on getting the threads onto the shuttles and bobbins  that I felt committed to stick it out.

Which was good, because, in the end, it was worth it.

Photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright.

I am really, really happy with the outcome – the bands are very nice and feel great in the hand.

Photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright.

And, weaving with the threads was a total pleasure.

So, winding the little beasts tubes of thread (6 tubes held together for each shuttle and bobbin) was worth the trial and tribulation.

Will I do it again? Of course. I can’t let those little stinkers those sticky little tubes of thread get the better of me!

The woven bands are soooooooooooo worth it.

I think……