1/28 - Started spinning the Loop! bump (merino/silk) during Rhinebeck weekend, and the combination of low lighting, elixir of bad decisions, and a WooLee Winder made it seem like I was never going to be out of the purple on this. Imagine my delight when I finished n-plying this yarn and saw it in all its glory! Violets morphing into burgundies and merlots before moving into cherry chocolate and into the browns and greens!

I knew that I wanted to do something awesome with this yarn, and fresh off of weaving the Oceanic wrap for my mom, I figured I’d see how this yarn looked as warp. It looks FANTASTIC as warp!

Now, the trouble is finding a weft that doesn’t take away from the warp. I initially was going to use a fine laceweight mixed merino/silk 2 ply that I’d picked up at a shop in Chesapeake City, but after doing an inch or so of that, discovered that it looked like poop. Too contrast-y! My next attempt was using some hunter green wool sock yarn that’s been in my stash … for a while. The yarn was just a smidge too heavy and too consistently green for my liking. Third, I pulled out some Dream in Color Smooshy in Cloud Jungle - a colorway that touches on the same family of colors in the warp. But, 2 delightfully squooshable inches into weaving with this, I admitted to having the same issues as the previous two - too light/contrast-y, and too heavy to allow for the warp to shine.

So, last night I found myself digging in the stash for something that would work with this warp. I came up with some black alpaca, and started to spin a bit for a sample. I spun and plied about 15 yds, and then gave it a good dunk early the next morning. Pre-soak, it was a lovely slightly uneven 2-ply. Post-soak, it was a super fuzzy yet still lovely but not what I wanted 2-ply.

I racked my skull for possible stash fiber that I could use, pulling out the multiple space bags and tossing them all. This one was too pink, that one was too green, this other one was perfect save for all that blue. Then I remembered a late-in-the-second-day Rhinebeck purchase of something purple-y and brown-ish that might - MIGHT - work. Once I figured out which hidey hole I’d stuffed it, I set out to spinning a sample - and that’s where I was as of this morning. The roving looks very good against the warp, and the orange bits blend tweedily into the brown and purples when spun. I’m helping things along in terms of homogeneousness by passing the fiber through the hand cards once or twice. I should know tonight or tomorrow if this will indeed be The Weft.

1/29 - plied and washed the sample for the weft and this morning, passed the wee skein through the shed just to see if it made me see red. It did not! I hope to weave an inch or so with it tonight to see if it truly does play together.

Annnnnd, I have my weft! It is the Kid Hollow Farm as listed and so far - a whole inch + of sampling - I love it I love it I love it.

3/18 - cut this bad boy from the loom and am now working on the fringe. Changed the project name to Whale Songs because if you don’t know why, then it’s probably better for you. Need to finish the fringe and give this a bath. Photos of an FO soon!!!