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Vivian

@whatvivdoes

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Settler in Mi'kma'ki ▪️ Nova Scotia
Destashing my handmades @thefabricatorium
Serving as the Maritime Representative of @guildofcanadianweavers

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I treated myself to winding a new warp last night, so I could just sit down today and make some cloth. It's a 3-thread huck draft from @livetextiles, from back when they had an online weaving shop. I'm glad that I now have a loom large enough weave it properly, as the 20" table loom I started with was just a little too narrow to handle its perfect proportions. by @whatvivdoes

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7 days ago

Hello fellow weavers! I am delighted to have started my term as the Maritime Representative of the Guild of Canadian Weavers. If you have any weaving news or events coming up, we'd love to spread the word through our Bulletin. Feel free to DM me!

#gcweaver
@guildofcanadianweavers

Lawrencetown Beach towels: high noon, golden hour, moon rise

Spectrum towels

🌈🫶 by @whatvivdoes

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16 days ago

I can't quit M's and O's. I like their selvedges with no special treatment, no plainweave, no floating selvedge, no nothing, just naked. That makes it tricky to join new colours neatly with a plain old turn and tuck. The blocks end up wanting nothing to do with each other, so now I'm coaxing them to interact more cooperatively. Ending a colour is even more of a challenge, which I think I might have solved. Slide 2 is supposed to illustrate what I mean, and slides 3 and 4 probably don't need any narration, but I just can't stop talking about weaving. by @whatvivdoes

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21 days ago

Golly, am I ever glad that I picked up this lambskin from @topsyfarms last month. It has greatly enhanced my weaving experience both physically and mentally. Swipe to see the somewhat unsettling situation I was dealing with beforehand, a necessary improvisation with my sewing stool because I just can't decide on a weaving bench. There is really no good configuration for my booster books 😭😂 by @whatvivdoes

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a month ago

I love this fabric so much I'm going to cut it up and make it into things to spread it around. After washing and pressing, I have 4.6 m (5 y) of 71 cm (28") wide fabric. Warp was Romeldale processed from raw, weft was dyed wool/silk blend tops. Let me know how you think I could use it? Spindle bags? Project bags? Something else? Yardage, say for book cloth?

Warp fibre from @wooliesns
Weft fibre from @good_fibrations (purple) and @gobsmackedyarn (green and blues)

#fossilfibersutility26
#WeavingWithHandspun
#HandspunYarn
#WhatVivWeaves

The drape of the finished cloth

Unfinished, just off the loom, and kind of stiff

🤤

🌠 by @whatvivdoes

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a month ago

Hello gorgeous!
The sun finally came out.
(Excuse me while I fondle my fabric)

Warp: black Romeldale lamb from @wooliesns, processed into handcombed top and spun worsted into singles
Weft: grey Shetland/tussah silk dyed by @gobsmackedyarn, spun worsted into singles
Plain weave, 24 epi, 24 ppi by @whatvivdoes

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a month ago

Recent finishes (swipe for the parade)

Fox cub mittens / Rävungevantar by @irenelundell made with naturally coloured wool handspun and processed from BayBreeze Registered Shetlands

Quill by @jared_flood made with naturally coloured wool handspun and processed from BayBreeze Registered Shetlands

Sheep Heid by Kate Davies made with naturally coloured wool handspun and processed from BayBreeze Registered Shetlands

Oxbow Socks by @dreareneeknits made with yarn handspun from @daycefibres batts

Polwarth/silk from @nbknitting club, spindle-spun and wheel-plied by @whatvivdoes

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a month ago

She's up and running, and I found it very satisfying to add to her story. When I got her, she was quite lame, with a missing rear upright support skewing the alignment, causing the drive band to get thrown off. And the flyer had a crack that was previously repaired with glue, which is quite dangerous to operate. @laime_laine fixed the flyer, as well as a cracked bobbin end cap. I carved an upright support from a maple dowel. A general clean up and oiling and replacement of the rear flyer bearing, and she proved to be functional. The very last thing was to shorten the too long footman by putting a good bend in it. While I cleaned a significant amount of accumulated grime off most of her, I decided to leave the drive wheel mostly untouched, partly to avoid interfering with how it moves, and partly to preserve that part of the wheel's history.

#CanadianProductionWheel
#CPW
#QuebecProductionWheel
#SpinningWheelRestoration

@lindarataj
@amandarataj
@foxyfiberwares by @whatvivdoes

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2 months ago

Today I went back to work after my vacation, paddling and backcountry camping with family in Ontario. I hardly have any pictures because my phone (and therefore, camera) was turned off most of the time. It was great to stop looking at screens, and look at my surroundings instead. I brought an extra spindle and some extra fibre, just in case anyone else on the trip became spincurious. And guess what? Someone in the family went home with a spindle, fibre, new skills, and a spinning project to twin mine! I couldn't be more pleased!

And after years of my sister trying to bring me to @topsyfarms , we finally made it! The garden and drystone walls were amazing, and of course I picked up some raw wool, just a couple of pounds for a souvenir project.

I surprised myself by coming home with a cutie of a spinning wheel that I couldn't resist. Between its quirky flyer design, the beautiful wood figure, and its sturdy handcrafted in Canada history, it seemed like just the right little castle wheel for me. I already gave it a good tune up and tried it out, and found that it purrs along very nicely. It could benefit from a little TLC, but for a vintage wheel, it's wonderfully sound. by @whatvivdoes

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2 months ago

Wrapping up Tour de Fleece 2026 with about 4500 yards of 2-ply in about 1350 g of wool (top two rows), yarn that will be knit into useful things. Bottom row is shenanigans.

Shenanigan 1: yarn spun to look like barbed wire, but soft, suggested by @mary_oh_net

Shenanigan 1: the fibre for barbed wire yarn, Rosie's 2025 fleece

Shenanigan 2: cotton ball yarn, as suggested by @pacificcoasterfibres, plied on a @battyfibers crossarm

Shenanigan 2: cotton ball singles three ways

Shenanigan 3: Annapolis Fibre Co roving spun longdraw and plied on the wheel, with my eyes squeezed super shut

Shenanigan 4: handcombed Romeldale from @wooliesns spun sightless, at times blindfolded, and at times eyes closed

Shenanigan 5: if not spindle, why spindle shaped? Fibre from @good_fibrations (thank you @the.meredith.group!)

Two of six skeins of Polwarth/silk squish, a combo spin using @nbknitting club fibre

All six skeins of my @nbknitting combo sweater spin

Six sheep from BayBreeze Registered Shetlands represented in 2-ply form. by @whatvivdoes

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3 months ago

The Ashford jumbo bobbins can, in fact, hold 200 g of plied yarn. I used to do it. But these days I find 100-ish gram skeins easier to manage. And they dry so much faster! I just never could be bothered to divide up each 100 g bobbin of singles to make 100 g skeins, so I plied what I had and I got what I got.

Finally (!) it occurred to me to weigh as I go. It took a while for the idea to hit, because my previous lazy kate had an in-line horizontal arrangement, which was not as simple to load/unload.

This sweater spin is now all plied up and ready for finishing. Off the wheel, it adds up to 1757 yards of 2-ply in 650 g of @nbknitting Polwarth and Polwarth/silk club fibre.

#TourDeFleece2026 by @whatvivdoes

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3 months ago

Two weeks of Tour de Fleece yielded six skeins of local Shetland wool, as well and some sweater sampling. After three false starts with the sweater swatch, I finally have a winner! Fourth time's the charm, I guess 😂 Tonight I'll start my combo draft/combo spin sweater project in earnest.

#TourDeFleece2026 by @whatvivdoes

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3 months ago