Weaving in lockdown

What strange times we are living through! Now in our fourth week of lockdown, and we are all missing the social contacts and freedom to travel that we took for granted not so very long ago. We are concerned about the lonely and vulnerable, and communities have come together to support one another, and appreciate the work of healthcare and social care workers across the world. The weather since lockdown has been extraordinarily good, and gardens are benefitting from unaccustomed attention – and it is wonderful to see wildlfe and nature flourishing in a quieter less-polluted environment. We are all catching up on long-awaited jobs, reading and correspondence – and of course, there should be more time for creative arts and crafts. My hands are currently suffering from a surfeit of gardening, but the last few days of rain (very much appreciated) have enabled me to turn attention again to my weaving. I have just finished two twill scarves – one developing from the other. The first was a Uruguayan inspired design, using handspun, kettle-dyed merino wool, bought when travelling through Colonia, Uruguay in October 2018. The simple twill design is reminiscent of textiles seen on my travels.

The second project used wonderfully soft alpaca yarn, handspun by my friend Julia at Applecross Farm in Worcestershire. It is hard to do justice to such beautiful yarn, but developing from a similar threading to the Uruguayan scarf, I applied an advancing twill structure. The result is an intriguing melange of the natural alpaca colours.