Yarn chasing!!

I've had a few days on the project now. I started by making up some colour blends and weaving samples.

Here you can see the first of my blending sheets.

Each 'thread' that I use is actually a blend of 5 finer yarns. I need to keep track of what colours I have used in each so I make up the blend, stick a wee sample on my sheet and write in above it which threads I have used.

Then I weave a small bit onto my sampler loom to see how it looks.

I had a slight problem when I started blending. The yarns are all in neat wee balls and when you try to pull lengths off several at once they tend to leap off the table and make a mass bid for freedom. So I tried trapping them in a box but they just wrestled themselves into a tangled mess.

After a bit of thought I cut some cane the right length to fit between the uprights of the bookshelf and strung them on there. That worked better but meant I was working in front of the door in poor light. My OH looked in on the way to his workshop on Sunday morning and discovered the problem. He disappeared for a few hours and then reappeared with a wee something he'd put together for me.

Hooray - wee balls firmly tethered.

And it solved another problem....... because every time they had run away once I'd caught them I then had to sort out which was which as some of the greens and blues are very similar.

Now they are under control and numbered so its much easier to create the blends..............and no more yarn chasing.

The weaving has started so I'll post another picture in a couple of days. Tonight I'm staying snug in front of a real fire. It was -5 outside by five o'clock this evening. If there are any brass monkeys out there I hope they have their thermals on!!