Cambria
Tracy Bromwich
With Autumn here in full swing the kids are settled back into school and I have some time to reflect on the moments we shared during vacation. It is hard for me to imagine summer without a visit to Cambria, the peaceful seaside village in San Louis Obispo County we returned to this year on our way to Big Sur. Our morning began with a walk along the beach, a toddler wrapped on my back because he was too cold to walk. We braved the fog, wind and chill, descending a steep stairway to hunt for moonstones. We walked together along the shore and as each wave arrived, new treasures would be tossed at our feet. The sea was relentless. We gathered up the stones as quickly as we could. Soon, our collection grew larger than the bag we brought to carry them in. We filled our shoes, the hood of a coat, anything that we could find! Over the weeks since we returned home, our stones have vanished. They were glued to paper, painted, buried in the garden, distributed to friends or just forgotten - having been mixed with ordinary stones. I forgot to keep a single one for my desk. So I've made this wrap instead to help me remember that morning and the time we spent gathering rocks. I hope it can accompany you on your own adventures with your little one and serve as a reminder of a cherished moment you will share.
The warp
In this colorway, I have tried to capture this beloved coastal landscape where scrubby green hills meet the tranquil blue of the Pacific Ocean along a stretch of shoreline dotted with pebbles. Cambria is approximately 95% Egyptian cotton/5% cotton. It combines a dark blueish teal along one rail with a dark greenish teal along the opposite rail, transitioning through steely blue, layers of natural and soft grey and a vibrant mix of greens. Highlights of rust orange, wheat yellow and chartreuse are sprinkled throughout.
The weave
Cambria is woven in a "pebbly weave" with a sett of 24 EPI. The draft can be found in Marguerite P. Davison's A Handweaver's Pattern Book. It is the the Offset or Skip Twill pattern found on page 29 (variation V). The cloth is less dense than my standard twill weave and tends toward a lighter, flatter feel in hand. It is characterized by a lovely stretch and delightful grip. The wraps with a cotton weft are in the range of 280 grams/m^2. The wool weft wraps are in the range of 240 grams/m^2.
close-up on the weave, this one with blue-green EC weft
The wefts
I chose to work with a selection of cotton and superwash wool wefts. There are four different cotton wefts - slate blue cotton (this was a semi-custom), steel blue Egyptian cotton , medium grey Egyptian cotton and blue-green Egyptian cotton. The superwash includes a lace-weight superwash merino wool from Madeline Tosh, in color ways Fir Wreath, Tern and Moonglow. One wrap was also made with fine superwash merino lambswool in Tourmaline. This one is heading to an old friend to wrap his first baby. <3
The cottons, from the bottom of the woven sample (and counterclockwise beginning with the pirn on the left: slate blue cotton, blue-green Egyptian cotton, denim blue cotton (not used), medium grey Egyptian cotton, steel blue Egyptian cotton.
The wools, from the bottom of the woven sample (and from the left of the cones): tourmaline superwash merino lambswool, mallard superwash merino lambswool (not used), mood blue organic merino wool (not used), MadTosh superwash merino lace in Fir Wreath and Tern (Moonglow is not shown).
The Wraps
From the top: the wools - fir wreath, tern and moonglow; the cottons - medium grey, steel blue and blue-green
Cambria Fir Wreath Madeline Tosh superwash merino weft 4.9 meters $612.50
Cambria Tern Madeline Tosh superwash merino weft 4.9 meters $612.50
Cambria Moonglow Madeline Tosh superwash wool weft 5.0 meters $625
Cambria medium grey Egyptian cotton weft 3.95 meters $434.50
Cambria steel blue Egyptian cotton weft 4.2 meters $418.50 SECOND QUALITY - slight cosmetic flaw
Cambria blue-green Egyptian cotton weft 4.3 meters $473.00
Anyone holding a stalk-free pass is welcome to get in touch with me to reserve the wrap of their choice prior to the listing. All remaining wraps will be listed on my website on Tuesday, November 3 at 7:00AM Pacific. I am trying something new with this listing and have added a Paypal Add to Cart button to enable payment with Paypal. There are some details that you should be aware of regarding this. Please go to the Facebook wonder woven love chatter group for more info. Thank you and good luck!