Mary Ostler » wool http://www.maryostler.com Elizabethan Wood Butcher & Builder of Things Thu, 21 Apr 2011 18:33:05 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.5 Turkish Carpet Project v1.9 Yellow http://www.maryostler.com/2011/01/turkish-carpet-project-v1-9-yellow/ http://www.maryostler.com/2011/01/turkish-carpet-project-v1-9-yellow/#comments Tue, 18 Jan 2011 19:49:43 +0000 DirtyMary http://www.maryostler.com/?p=2628 So First Dye job up to bat is the yellow wool. It is the smallest individual color on the carpet, and since I am not that familiar with dyeing, I figured it would be a quick tutorial on how to dye. That and if I totally munk it up, its not going to cost me a fortune to redo.

I got 100g of weld from Maiwa and put it into one of my V.V. pots. The amount of wool I have for the yellow is ~120g. So in this case the dye will be  about 85%wof. They recommend 100%wof, but the price of weld is $15 100g, and the next size up is 225g that sells for $30. Double the price for a small amount more that I need… no thanks.

I poured boiling water over the weld and let it sit over night. In the morning I heated up the brew to ~150′F and kept it there for a full hour. I then poured this tea for into my dye pot, and repeated the procedure two more times… trying to get as much dye out of the weld as possible.

I eventually put the weld into a paint strainer bag (Not my cheese making strainer), and steeped it all one more time, and then squeezed out the weld as hard as I could. I then put a ground up tums tablet into the water (as per instructions from maiwa).

I then plunked the yellow down into the dye bath, and kept it at 150′f for a good hour.

It turned yellow, but only a faint shade. I need a bold yellow to stand out from the surround white areas. I left it sitting over night and checked it in the morning… still pale yellow.

This was what I got after rinsing out the wool. No good. It was then I found a book I borrowed from Morweena ages ago on natural dying, and figured I had acidic water.

PH strips are awesome. I had very acidic water. 4.5ph was the problem. Used soda ash to raise the ph to a 8.5ph.

and this happened over night. Wished it was a bit more goldy yellow, but I cant totally live with this bright color. I may  do some tests with iron to see if I sadden it, I could get a golder color.

Yellow wool started to felt a bit after so much mucking about. Drip drying above the laundry tub

and then drying next to the fire. I used EB’s swift to roll it into a ball. with the yarn starting to felt, it worked wonders at keeping it all organized and knot free.

Finished product.

I saved the weld tea, and put it into a jar, and have a large skein of cotton in it just to see how much color I can still get out of the tea.

]]> http://www.maryostler.com/2011/01/turkish-carpet-project-v1-9-yellow/feed/ 1 Turkish Carpet Project v1.8 Mordanting the Wool http://www.maryostler.com/2011/01/turkish-carpet-project-v1-8-mordanting-the-wool/ http://www.maryostler.com/2011/01/turkish-carpet-project-v1-8-mordanting-the-wool/#comments Tue, 18 Jan 2011 17:13:33 +0000 DirtyMary http://www.maryostler.com/?p=2606 I have finally bought most of the wool I need for my project. I still have a bunch more to buy, but I want to spread the cost of the wool out over a few pay checks. I will be dying the wool four colors, and the fifth color i will be leaving the wool natural so no dyeing there. The colors will be dyed with Weld (yellow), Madder (red), Indigo (Blue), and the Black will be a tannin/iron process. I will have to do a second mordanting process for the black as I have yet to buy more wool, plus the pot I have is only so large.

So here we have all the skeined up wool samples. I have different amount of wool on each colored skeine so I color coded them by different colored yarn. The green skeins were going to be for the indigo dye (no blue yarn), but at the last second I decided I wanted even more of the red. The yellow and blue are relatively small amounts of wool compared to the red, black, and white colors. I can always get more of the white, but I want to make sure I do not run out of the black and red colors, as it will be difficult to color match the yarn after the fact.  If I was to run out of the blue or yellow, the difference in color of a different dye lot wouldn’t be nearly as obvious. I could even try to blend the colors by slowly mixing those colors at small points in the pattern.

So the mordanting recipe I am using is from the Maiwa Dying sheet.

After scouring the wool with orvus paste (7ph wool soap), I added 15%wof  alum to very hot water, made sure it was completely dissolved and then added it to the large S.S  pot of warm water. I then added the scoured damp wool to the bath ans slowly brought the temperature up to ~90′C and left it there for and hour, gently moving the wool around periodically.

My super Duper massive SS cook Pot. Takes up most of the stove top. The thermometer was just barely long enough to reach the water. Once the hour was up I let the pot cool down for a couple of hours. That pot can hold heat for a long time.

So the pot had cooled down a fair bit, and I took the wool out to drip out . I had originally had them hanging over PVC pipe over the laundry tub. Rearranging them periodically to keep them equally damp. Then someone decided to use the washer, and I rescued the yarn seconds before the dirty washer water flooded the laundry tub (The washer discharges water faster than the pipes in the house can handle, and the back up puts a few inches of dirty wash water into the tub). Do to my fast actions… no one had to die that day!

So next choice was using a laundry basket, and PVC pipe (and a few tongue depressors). I carefully rearranged them, and made sure none of the wool dryed out, but all the dripping was done. I then store them in a damp pillow case waiting for the dye bath process.

]]> http://www.maryostler.com/2011/01/turkish-carpet-project-v1-8-mordanting-the-wool/feed/ 0 Turkish Carpet Project v1.7 The Math http://www.maryostler.com/2010/08/turkish-carpet-project-v1-7-the-math/ http://www.maryostler.com/2010/08/turkish-carpet-project-v1-7-the-math/#comments Thu, 19 Aug 2010 23:15:57 +0000 DirtyMary http://www.maryostler.com/?p=2438 I have the cartoon, I have a loom, I have the right amount of hedles (my order arrived a couple of days ago). Now I have to figure out how much material I will need to complete the rug, and how much of each color I will need to hand dye.

Determining how much was fairly simple. Each knot will require ~ 2″ of wool to complete the knot. Most of which will be cut away, but I have plans for the woolen offcuts. Pillow stuffing maybe… or even  multicolor felting project. The cartoon is 265 x 445 = 117925 units large. I then did the tedious job of counting the knots in each unique element in the rug, and then count the elements.

Total knots:   117925

Red:  36845
White:  18371
Blue: 12488
yellow: 4343
= 72047

72047 -117925 =  45878 Black knots.

Amounts in feet with a 10% bump to be safe.

Red 36845 x 2″ per knot / 12″ in a foot  + 10% =6754ft
White 18371 x 2 / 12+10% = 3367ft
Blue 12488 x 2 / 12 + 10% = 2289ft
Yellow 4343 x 2 / 12 + 10% = 800ft
Black  45878 x 2 / 12 + 10% = 8410ft

Total  21,620 ft (6590 m, 6.59 km, 7207 yd, 4.09 mile)

The Red wool also has ~4″ of flat weave on both ends of the carpet, and red edging down both edges.
8″ x 16 weft/inch (number pulled out of thin air) = 144 weft + (445 knotted rows x 2weft) = 1034 rows of weft.

1034 x ~36″ (more than finished, but it gives me a large bubble) = 37224″ / 12 = 3102ft

both edges totaling no more than 1″. 445 x2 x1″ = 890″ / 12 = 74ft

The warp will also be made with wool. All of the examples of carpets in the V&A museum from pre-1600 are wool warped. I have been talking to a couple of people experienced with carpet knotting, and have a couple of different recommendations on what to use (they both said cotton, but since I am determined to use wool they gave me other advice too… nice people).

The cartoon is 265 wide. Each grid needs two warp threads to work plus another 4-6 sets of threads for the edge banding (not decided on whether to us two strand weave or three strand weave for the edge).

265+12 = 277 x 20ft (rough size of my warping jig) = 4540  ft

The warp threads will be folded in half when attached to the loom. This will give me enough room for the rug plus a little extra.

Now for the shopping, and then the dying. Looking forward to the dyeing part. Especially the stinky Indigo baths. I suspect that will be forced out into the wood shop.

]]> http://www.maryostler.com/2010/08/turkish-carpet-project-v1-7-the-math/feed/ 0 Daffodil Carpet Sample http://www.maryostler.com/2010/03/daffodil-carpet-sample/ http://www.maryostler.com/2010/03/daffodil-carpet-sample/#comments Mon, 15 Mar 2010 02:33:23 +0000 DirtyMary http://www.maryostler.com/?p=1867 I got to go to Daffodil Tourney this year. I’ll be posting soon about the annual Seagirtian event, but I thought I do a quick post on my entry into the A&S tourney.

The contest was “items inspired in some way by the theme “daffodil”. Since I only decided to go to the event the weekend before, I decided to do a quick carpet sample piece. The daffodil design is from a blanket I found online. It was a grid pattern so it adapted well. The tourney is in its 33 year, and my heraldic obsession & mascot is the turnip named Ash.  Design done, I warped up the porto-loom with  52 threads (4 threads for the bound edges each side, and 22 sets of threads for the knots). I should have done the sides in a different color, as they just blend with the knots right now.

I still am having some issues with the edge binding. Will be working on that in my next mini project.

The weft threads were cotton sewing thread (2 shoots).

I had every color I needed except a nice yellow. The gold wool I had just didn’t seem right. I did two skeins of wool. One pre-mordant in alum, and one with no mordant. The dye stuff is Turmeric and its 100%wof. ( I think you could use a lot less considering the amount of slug on the bottom of the pot. I also added 1 tbs of vinegar to try to get it brighter yellow.

Cooked it at a low heat for 30minutes.

The large skein is the pre-mordant Alum one, the one on the right on mordant. The color is just about the same.

I feel kind of stupid though. So many of these A&S things are little throw away things put in place for something to do while the fighters fight. I didn’t document it at all. I had the cartoon for the design and a few notes jotted down in pencil. Well four judges sat down with principality A&S judging forms, and the judging was pretty bad. They all seemed to like what I had did alot, but the lack of documentation was noted down ALOT….

I hunted down the organizer to thank her and the judges, and apologized for wasting their time. No Documentation… Bad Apprentice… No Cookie for You!

]]> http://www.maryostler.com/2010/03/daffodil-carpet-sample/feed/ 0 Turkish Carpet Project v1.5 ~ More Cartoons http://www.maryostler.com/2010/03/turkish-carpet-project-v1-5-more-cartoons/ http://www.maryostler.com/2010/03/turkish-carpet-project-v1-5-more-cartoons/#comments Fri, 05 Mar 2010 04:29:41 +0000 DirtyMary http://www.maryostler.com/?p=1817 I was asked how the cartoon was coming. The answer… Slowly!

I will be starting a whole new cartoon soon, as this first one was just to work out some pattern issues. The first problem being the lack of a middle section in the original painting., Thanks to a suggestion from Mistress Agnes, I have decided to try  filling it with repeating element from the black border section.

Second issue is filling the strange flattened triangle sections that are part of the centers border. Maybe a squidy Cthuhulu like pattern.

The inner portion of the carpet has to be shrunk by 4 knots the whole way around, This is easily done as there is a 2 knot deep border that doesn’t affect any of the complex pattern bits.

This is a computer cut & paste model of what the carpet will look like when done.

I also started doing the math. There will be ~ 132,000 knots in the carpet (not including selvage and start/ end flat weave sections). Each knot using ~ 2″ of wool which works out to 21,933 feet of wool (7311 yd. / 6685 m.)

Still looking for middle eastern / turkish looms in period, and type of wool, and dye stuff.

Fun & Stuff & Things.

]]> http://www.maryostler.com/2010/03/turkish-carpet-project-v1-5-more-cartoons/feed/ 3 Turkish Carpet v1.4 Cartoon Time http://www.maryostler.com/2010/02/turkish-carpet-v1-4-cartoon-time/ http://www.maryostler.com/2010/02/turkish-carpet-v1-4-cartoon-time/#comments Mon, 15 Feb 2010 01:53:20 +0000 DirtyMary http://www.maryostler.com/?p=1737 I have been puzzeling over what the center elelment on the Holbein carpet should be. I think the problem I have had is I have no idea what the size I have to fill is. That means I have to start the cartoon. This may not end up being the final cartoon as I have to match the patterns on the different borders. The center element can be stretched, and the outside corner piece can be stretched or shrunk. Its the black circular pattern on the inside border that has to work out to match evenly.

The way its working out, I suspect the finished carpet will be somewhere around the 2.5ft wide to 4 feet long. The painting has two central panels, but I have chosen to do the single central panel. All the coolness, and half the knotting.

I also did a bit more work on some sample pieces. The grey element on the right represents the color in the painting that I can just barley see. I still am not sure if its dark blue, grey….or a brighter color that has darkened over the last 400 years. I really do not know much about paint color changes in renaissance painting.

A shot of the back side. You can tell on the red & white central pattern that the three warp threads caused problems with stretching out the pattern. The grey thread on this sample is wool, unlike the other colors. It makes for a smother field on the front side. The acrylic wool tend to keep to itself causing an effect that looks a bit more like the ambassadors painting. The final project will be in wool, so I will have to think on whats causing it. Perhaps if I cut the pile down even lower the grid would be more obvious.

]]> http://www.maryostler.com/2010/02/turkish-carpet-v1-4-cartoon-time/feed/ 0 Turkish Carpet Project v1.3 http://www.maryostler.com/2010/02/turkish-carpet-project-v1-3/ http://www.maryostler.com/2010/02/turkish-carpet-project-v1-3/#comments Fri, 12 Feb 2010 18:43:41 +0000 DirtyMary http://www.maryostler.com/?p=1725 Did some more experimenting with the Turkish rug project.

I was having trouble trying to get the same number of knots on the warp compared to the weft. I decided to tie the knot around doubled up warp threads. It worked very well as for the first time I have matching knot counts.

I also tried this sample with a woven salvage edge. If the edge was starting to curve a bit on one side of the sample I could just do an extra wrap and the warp treads between rows forced the drooping side to even out. I also tried cutting the pile down very low right from the first row. It makes it so much easier to deal with cutting down the pile later. The grid like pattern from Holbein’s “ambassadors” finally looks like what I am getting from the samples. everything is nice and square. Happy. I have decided to do the Persian knot rather than the Turkish. It just makes for a nicer square pixel.

I also tried out a different parttern from the rug. A repeating found in the border near the edge of the carpet.

For this sample I tried to use three warp threads separating the rows. It didn’t cinch down the same, and the knots pattern went to 8weft x 6.5 warp.

Next trying to figure out how the repeating pattern connects in the corner as it is not shown in the painting. Still thinking on the center panel. I will have to make a complete random guess as nothing else seems to fit this rug pattern.

***possible corner cartoon***

n a very happy note, my dad made me my birthday present a couple of weeks early. Using an old propane tank that can no longer be legally filled, a pressure gauge, valve, and some old hose (and one purchased air nosel), he has made me a portable air cylinder. I don’t have a need for a full air compressor, but some times it is nice to be able to blow out all the wood dust from machine parts.

woot.

]]> http://www.maryostler.com/2010/02/turkish-carpet-project-v1-3/feed/ 0 Wool Weave http://www.maryostler.com/2010/01/wool-weave/ http://www.maryostler.com/2010/01/wool-weave/#comments Tue, 19 Jan 2010 04:25:05 +0000 DirtyMary http://www.maryostler.com/?p=1643 Finished with the wool I was weaving. Ended up ~ 11″x 12.5′ long. I could have probably squeezed out another foot it I used a smaller dowel on the winder.

The weave is really loose at this stage. It needs some fulling to tighten it up some.

12.5′ of narrow wool. No idea what I am going to do with it.

Fulled it in the washer. Checking to see how its doing every 30 seconds during the agitation cycle. I called it quits at 4 minutes.

Dad was teasing me about not making it long enough for a turban. I showed him!

Before Fulling

After Fulling.

]]> http://www.maryostler.com/2010/01/wool-weave/feed/ 0 More Weaving http://www.maryostler.com/2010/01/more-weaving-2/ http://www.maryostler.com/2010/01/more-weaving-2/#comments Tue, 12 Jan 2010 04:14:14 +0000 DirtyMary http://www.maryostler.com/?p=1606 I decided to weave some grey wool. It was stuff we had stored in a box in the cupboard for years. I believe its 3 strand/size 4 thread (could be wrong though).

The width of the warp is around 11″‘s I think my reed is a little to tight for this thickness of wool

Waiting to be wound onto the back roller.

Using only two shafts on this one. Just need some wool cloth to play with fulling/felting.

The thread is wanting to felt behind the reed. It requires me to put my hand between the threads to break the fibers from knotting together.

Many more feet to go!

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