October 8, 2001

Hi friends,

Little did I know when I published the newsletter on September 9, 2001, the tragic events that would soon follow on September 11.  Our hearts and prayers go out to each of you who were directly affected by this tragic turn of events.   As a tribute to our country, to those who are suffering from loss and to those working so diligently to restore and insure peace and freedom, I would like to offer hand dyed 10/2 Tencel in a new colorway, Let Freedom Ring.   To view Let Freedom Ring, visit What's New or America the Beautiful Collection.

Let's pray for those who are at our defense while we are attempting to return to a normal, free life and may God bless America!

Warm regards,
Margaret Pittman

In This Issue:

• America the Beautiful Collection
• The Tone-on-Tone/Holiday Collection
• Cotton/Metallic Boucle
• Rayon Boucle
• Woven Cotton Chenille
• Confetti
• Mura's Fringe
• Squaring an overshot pattern
• Shopping/Order Information

America the Beautiful Collection

The following colorways were designed to reflect the beauty and splendor of our nation and to celebrate the diverse ethnicity and spirit of our people. There are over a dozen yarns to choose from in any of these colorways dyed especially for you.

Let Freedom Ring - This is the latest addition to the America the Beautiful Collection.  Colors are based on our flag and forever may she wave!

America, America - God shed His grace on thee!  I think this yarn has a very ethnic feel.  Color range includes shades of Eggplant, Apricot Ice, Vin Rouge, Latte, Java Bean, Chocolate Raisin and earthy soft reds.

Blue Bayou -  Colors are from the River Road as well as  the bayous of Mississippi such as the new colors of Cypress and Storm Gray.  Use in combination with Blueberry Hill or some of the perle cottons in blues.

Smoky Mountain Majesty - Shades of Eggplant, Storm Gray, Blue Green, Sage Green, Lilac and Cityscape Gray make up this colorway.

Topsail Island - This colorway includes the new colors Glass Block, Cypress, Storm Gray, Straw as well as Sky Blue and Blue Green.

What A Wonderful World - What a wonderful song.  Almost every color in this colorway is new including Persian Red and Moroccan Blue which were mixed to blend with the new 10/2 solids by the same name.  Other colors in this colorway are Chocolate Raisin, Plum, Cypress, Olive Green and Straw.

There are over a dozen yarns to choose from in any of these colorways dyed especially for you.  To view, visit America the Beautiful Collection.

The Tone-on-Tone/Holiday Collection

These  are among the latest of the Heritage collection of yarns.  Many of you have asked for tone-on-tone/almost solid colors; these are ideal for lace-knitting and pattern weaving.  You will recognize two of the Old Favorites that have made their way over into this collection as well.

Blueberry Hill - Blues and teals make up this colorway.  Good used alone or as a base for other combinations.

Cranberry Punch - Don't let this name fool you as it is not a solid cranberry like punch but a cranberry that has "punch."  Combine with greens for Christmas or would be beautiful with blues or used alone.

Forest Glen - like a cool walk in the forest.  Combine with one of the reds for a true holiday look or in combination with Traces of the Natchez Trace or another earthy colorway.

Holly Berry - was named after Holly Redford who inspired this colorway! Reds and red orange are a true reflection of the berry.  Combine with Forest Glen or use alone.

Holly, Jolly  - is reminiscent of the old-fashioned Christmases I grew up with, complete with a hand-cut cedar from the family farm and fresh holly boughs for the door.

Any of these colorways are dyeable on all of the yarns with the exception of Confetti.  To view the colorways, go to The Tone-on-Tone Collection.

Cotton/Metallic Boucle

Ordered just in time for the holidays in 4 oz. skeins for small accessory gift items, this yarn retails for $20/hand dyed or $10/undyed and can be seen at What's New or The Hand Painted Yarns.  There are approximately 300 yards in a skein, perfect for a hand knitted scarf or as an accent yarn in a handwoven scarf.

Rayon Boucle

It's back after a long absence and many requests.  Yardage is approximately 850 YPP or 425 yards/8 oz. skein for only $20/hand dyed or $10/undyed.  View at What's New or The Hand Painted Yarns.  This is a nice option for those who like the "halo" of wool but are allergic to the fiber.

Woven Cotton Chenille

It's all woven, right?  Well, I can only tell you that this is different as it appears to have two warp threads.  Yardage is 475 yds./8 oz. skein or 950 YPP.  This will make a lovely towel, bathrobe or mat.  Retail for hand dyed is $27/8 oz. skein, $13.50/undyed.  Click on The Hand Painted Yarns for suggested sett and other suggestions.

This yarn is also available in Black, Grape and Blackberry on 16 oz. tubes/$16.  See yarns at Mill Dyed Yarns.

Confetti

This is a 100% nylon eyelash yarn I have been dyeing for awhile but am now offering through the website.  It is put up on 2 oz. skeins/106 yds. for $24/hand dyed or $12/undyed and comes with a *free* knitting pattern for a skinny triangular scarf.  Pictures of the colorways are not up yet but they are Magic Carpet Ride, Wild Thang, Parrot Paradise and Fire & Ice.  Look for pictures soon at Knitting Kits.

Mura's Fringe

I found the following tip from Mura Mills to be a fun alternative to a straight hem or fringe.  And, it seems that V-shaped ends on table runners are an "in" item now.  I will let Mura tell you in her own words.

The V is and can be both in the weaving and in the fringe.  When you come to the end of your weaving and you want to tie the warp end into a fringe, but you don't want it to be straight across as usual, you do this:  you open the shed as if you were going to weave, but before you put your shuttle in as usual, you press down 3 or 4 warp threads and pass your shuttle OVER them and into the shed and straight across, beat and change sheds. On the other side you press down 3 or 4 threads and again pass your shuttle OVER these warp threads and into this shorter (by 8 threads) shed and out the other side.  If  you want the V to be longer you can weave a couple of rows and then press down another 4 warp threads and pass over those 4 and into the shed again and repeat on the other side coming back. and you have removed 8
warp threads on each side.  You continue to do this until you only have about 4 warp threads left.  You tie these with a string to keep them
separate from the fringe on either side of them..  Cut your warp thread then as long as you want your fringe.  As soon as you do this remove the string and tie those few threads in an overhand knot (only one) and that will keep the whole thing from unraveling.  It is hardly noticeable.   If you don't put in those two rows of weaving between, it will probably be a nice half circle instead of a V.  Then you can either leave the fringe cut straight across or you can measure them the same length as the point of the V and cut them into a V shape also to match the weaving.  Weave all in your pattern stitch.

I did this on a panel I wove and liked it very much.  To take this idea further and on a wide piece of weaving, you could divide the warp and using two extra shuttles and extra weft thread, there is no reason you couldn't have it look like this V V V or even more.  The sky is the limit!

Happy weaving.

P.S. from Margaret - Doesn't that sound fun?

Squaring an Overshot pattern

A few have asked me lately on which block do you square?  Good question; I had it once too.  A tromp as writ pattern when woven correctly should be at a 45 degree angle starting at the right hand corner block.  This is to insure that circles are round rather than looking like flat tires or Easter eggs. (-:  Blocks run sequentially, sharing a common thread.  If the first "block" woven is A, then the next would be B or D and share a common thread with that first right hand corner block. There are several things that determine a pattern being square.  These include sett, beat, yarns, finishing and individual weaver; I'm sure I've left out a few.  A pattern that is not square by tromp as writ can be squared by subtracting pattern picks in *some* places. I say *some* because care needs to be taken in order not to lose the integrity of the pattern.  Also, turning blocks should always have an even number of pattern picks.  I call this Barbara Miller's Rule #1; thank you, Barbara.  If you're in question as to what the "rule" refers to,  see Heritage Fiber News Issue #5.

Some coverlet weavers include an extra yard for weaving a sample, then wet-finishing to determine the number of picks to subtract.  Of course, this means cutting off, retying, etc., but, it does work.  Looking at the corner right hand block, you would determine how many pattern picks need to be subtracted from that corner block to make that corner block square.  Then, look at the next block that runs at an approximate 45 degree angle up and to the left and do the same thing, remarking your original tromp as writ treadling.

Here's my way and it works most of the time for me as I have a, generally, even beat.  (Everyone's is different.)  I include some extra for sampling - yes, the "s" word.  *However,* I weave enough of the border and the pattern by my tromp as writ treadling to determine whether it's going to be square. Then, *without tension* I place the center of a protractor over that first right hand corner block and see what degree of angle I have going.  I figure in about 10% shrinkage and if the angle is 49.5 degrees it is going to be close when it is wet-finished.  If it's more, which it usually is, I set the protractor at 49.5 degrees and count the number of pattern picks over the 49.5 degree mark and subtract within individual blocks of the treadling order.  No, I don't like the "s" word either; that's the reason I use this method.

Here is an exercise I did using Fiberworks PCW to give an example of squaring.  The tromp as writ pattern now has a 49 pick repeat as opposed to a 61 pick repeat in Issue #5.  You can probably tell that I removed picks from the table or last motif.  The square appears to be flat in the drawdown because the fiber program is a perfect world and does not take the necessity of squaring into account.  You will note that I was very careful to leave the turning block an even number and subtracted from the blocks on either side of the center.  I also did not subtract from transitional blocks, those having only 2 threads in the block.

Click on picture to enlarge.

Happy pattern weaving.

Shopping/Contact Information

Yarn shipments are limited to the U.S. and Canada. If you live outside the U.S. or Canada and would like to place a pattern order, please inquire at Margaret@heritageyarns.com.

Visit Knitting Patterns and take a look around at the wide selection of downloadable patterns from HeartStrings.

Purchasing options:  by PayPal shopping cart, Visa, MasterCard, personal check or money order.

Margaret Pittman
Heritage Yarns
5875 Baxter Drive
Jackson, Mississippi  39211-3317 USA

Telephone - (601) 956-1478
Email - Margaret@heritageyarns.com
Fax - (601) 957-2963
Celebrating color in hand painted skeins and warps since 1994

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