Weaverly

A Day at the Zoo

On this last day of lovely April we went to the Riverbanks Zoo. I think all of Columbia was there. There must have been several hundred school buses. The people were very lively, but the lions slept.

 

We crossed the bridge over the Saluda River into the Botanical Gardens.

 

 

This bird seemed oblivious to the irony of his perch.

You never know when you're going to have a fiber experience. I spotted these tendrils in the zoo parking lot. Click to enlarge.

 

More Is Better (Sometimes)

Continuing the double twill simulations. All these are an alternation of black/white in the warp, and a 4-weft rotation (red, blue, green, yellow, repeat). The photos of the reverse sides were taken from underneath the loom in less than comfortable positions, so you'l have to use a bit of imagination in orienting these.

The first one is for 16 shafts, face and reverse. Structurally OK, but it looks way too busy and the design is hard to read.

 

 

The next 16 shaft design is much simpler, and it reads better. Face and reverse shown. I've used an 8-end satin for the selvedges. You wouldn't be able to do this on only 16 shafts, as an extra 8 shafts are required for the selvedge threading. On the jacquard, anything goes.

 

And now a 24 shaft version, face and reverse. More is better.  

I haven't forgotten the 8 shaft weavers. Since this complete double twill, 4-weft structure repeats on 8 ends and 16 picks, the designs for 8 shafts are limited to horizontal stripes. Here's an 8-shaft version, face and reverse. Again, the satin selvedge requires an additional 8 shafts and can't actually be used on an 8-shaft draft; but this simulation on a jacquard loom allows me to get around the limitation.

 
 

Multiple Double Weaves

Yesterday's weather was full of surprises. Black clouds gathered as I started my walk. It started to pour, and I returned home in a hurry.

Five minutes later, the sun shone brilliantly and the steaming streets reflected the blue sky, so I started out again.

 

I was well rewarded. Click to enlarge!

In the weaving department, where the skies are always sunny, I continued double weave experiments, this time on the actual dobby loom. The idea with this sample was to use a different pair of weaves for each design area. This is a two-weft weave.

So what you see here is the layer with the black warp weaving in 2/2 straight twill in the outline areas, and the layer with the white warp weaving in 1/3 broken twill in the background areas and in 2/2 basket weave inside the ovals. Here's a closeup:

 

And the really exciting and unexpected thing is the reverse side, where the three weaves are 2/2 right straight twill, 2/2 left straight twill, and 1/3 broken twill (no basket weave)! Ruth worked on this concept while she was here, and I find it fascinating. The layers can interchange, but the weaves can also change at the point where the change occurs. The pattern (overall design) doesn't seem to care, and the design clarity is maintained.

 
 
 

Networking the Double Twill

Initial experiments in weaving a double twill liftplan on a networked threading revealed a few problems. Here is a jacquard simulation of an advancing (networked) dobby threading based on an 8-end initial. This is the double twill with a 4-shuttle weft repeat. Some unacceptable floats appeared in a few areas.

 

This morning I think I've figured out how to avoid these. I'll be talking about this at CW this summer, and plan to write an article about it, too. Meanwhile, I'd like to show you another simulation, where the float problem is solved. This simulation shows two dobby drafts. On the right is a draft for a 40-shaft straight threading, and on the left is a draft for an advancing threading on 40 shafts. One repeat of the advancing threading is five times as long as one repeat of the straight threading, so I lengthened the liftplan for the advancing draft 5x in order to maintain the correct aspect ratio.

Here's a closeup of the simulation with straight threading on 40 shafts:

And a closeup of the simulation with advancing threading on 40 shafts:

Click on any of these to enlarge. A reminder: what you're seeing is a dobby fabric woven in simulation mode on a TC-1 (jacquard) loom. One of the wonderful things about a jacquard loom is that it enables you to weave a simulation of any dobby threading without rethreading your dobby loom. 

Meanwhile, out in the driveway, the skiff is receiving her first coat of paint.

  
 

Saying Goodbyes

After two days of intense work, during which Ruth designed and wove her own samples in double twill on 40 shafts, it was time to say goodbye. First we went downtown to enjoy a brisk walk along the Reedy River in Greenville's Falls Park. Ruth found that photographing the entire Liberty Bridge in one frame is challenging.

The gardens are glorious and the first roses are in full bloom.

Ruth was a good student and I enjoyed bouncing ideas off her. She gave me some very constructive suggestions for my presentation on double twill at Complex Weavers this summer. It's not often that a teacher gets to test drive a class with such a willing and knowledgeable guinea pig. Thanks, Ruth!

Double Twill, Day Two

Ruth's second design is more geometric, and used three different four-weft double twills. 

She then switched to two shuttles, and wove this design in double plain and twill (the light layer is plain weave, and the dark layer 2/2 twill).

 

Meanwhile, the heavy rains came and went. Sunday morning the wet metal roof of Ampersand House reflected the early sun. The trees are all dressed in their summer shade of deep green. 

 
 

Double Twill, Day One

Ruth's two days of independent work with double twill got off to a flying start. Here she is working on her first design, after a brief review of basic principles.

 

She wound four shuttles and wove her first sample.

Success! 
 

The Osloom Project

I'd like to add my voice in support of the Osloom project. Read about it here. 

Margarita Benitez has the weaving and technical background to make this dream a reality. If each of my many weaving friends and students pledged a modest amount to Margarita's project, we could be instrumental in bringing a wonderful new (and affordable) weaving tool to market. 

Have you ever said, "Gee, I wish I had a loom with individual thread control, but I could never afford it!"? Here's your chance to make a difference. The deadline for pledges is May 2. Pledges are not collected unless the total goal is reached. 

Computational Design Methods • Architectural Experiments

Last night we attended the opening reception of an exhibition by students and faculty of the Clemson University School of Architecture. The exhibition was held in Greenville SC at the Clark Patterson Lee Gallery, and is described in the invitation as follows:

Curated by Professor Dave Lee, this exhibition in cludes works by students of his computational design methods seminar at Clemson University. His course explores computing in architecture, particularly through parametric and generative algorithms. This exhibition showcases design explorations with intelligent models, interactive displays, and full-scale architectural prototypes…

Here are some scenes from the opening.

 

 

 

The exhibition runs through April 30. 
   

Sightings

The iris are almost finished. Too bad I missed most of them while I was away, but here is one last look:

 

Meanwhile, in the driveway, Willy is putting the finishing touches on his 16 ft. lumberyard skiff, a boat he built from scratch.

 

Willy is the architect of Ampersand House. The details on his boat are beautiful, as you'd expect.

And in spite of all the racket, the bird family in the carport  is thriving. I think the little ones are nearly ready to leave the nest. Here you can see three of them peeping out over the top.

 

In a little while I'll be leaving for the airport to pick up Ruth, who is arriving for a weekend of independent study in double weave.