Weaverly

Carried Away

Maybe too much going on here. Three wefts, but the curves are fighting with each other. And hmm, the design looks a little x-rated to me. Maybe it's time to take a break.

Bruce says they look like salt shakers.

Another 3-Weft Lampas Sample

Primary weft black, secondary wefts natural silk noil and plum colored perle cotton. Here's a closer look:

If you click on the last one to further enlarge, you'll be able to see the light blue silk secondary warp.

 

Adding Another Weft

Three wefts: a primary weft (almost invisible in this sample) and two secondary wefts, red & yellow. There is an illusion of yet another weft, but that's just where the red & yellow blend in certain areas.

Another version: this time the primary cloth (dark green) and the secondary red & yellow wefts are more distinct. Thanks for the suggestion, Ruth.

And a closeup:

Click to enlarge it further.

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Another Element

A Second Lampas Sample Warp

Another Way

Into the Round

So glad I rethreaded the loom. The structures are the same, but the design is now based on network drafting (if you'd like to know more about this topic, there's a book...). The blocks weren't making me happy, but I'm loving the curves. Click to enlarge.

Taking a break from the loom I walked around the neighborhood this morning. It's high season for azaleas around here.

 

A Bad Weaving Day

Well not horrible, but annoying. I added a second secondary weft to the mix, and stayed with a networked treadling. At first I thought it was OK. 

Then I discovered a treadling error. See those longish green warp floats? Back to the drawing board.

Then this happened:

It seemed like a pretty good time to change course, so I cut off the work so far, unthreaded the reed & heddles, and started rethreading with a nice curvy networked lampas draft. I was sick of the blocks, anyway.

We Pause Here

Waiting room upholstery. But I didn't have to wait long.

Another Way

Blocks again, this time with a slightly different profile.

The players: Primary warp green bamboo, secondary warp light blue silk; primary weft black cotton; secondary wefts white tencel and beige pigtail cotton. Primary cloth structure right 2/2 twill; secondary cloth structure left 1/2 twill. Ratio of primary to secondary warps 2/1. 

Following is a closeup. Click to enlarge.

For the curious, here is the WIF file for 15 shafts. It's for tieup and treadling, but you will probably have to convert it to a liftplan to drive your loom.

Download Lampas15shafts

 

Mixing it Up

Getting a little bored with blocks, I decided to use a networked treadling with today's sample, and the effect is neither blocky nor curved, but something in between. It looks organic, and reminds me of tree bark. The materials I used contribute to this effect: the secondary weft in this case is a very rough natural silk noil.

Here's a closeup. At first glance you might think there are very long warp floats, but not to worry, all is structurally sound. Network drafting sometimes plays tricks on the eyes. Click to enlarge.

If you're keeping score, we are still on warp #3.

Another Element

i've added another element to the lampas samples: an additional secondary weft. So now there are two warps (primary warp is green bamboo and secondary is blue silk) and three wefts (one primary, dark blue; and two secondary, yellow-green and blue).

Here's a closer look:

Theoretically, since there are three blocks, you could add a third secondary weft for the third block, but then you wouldn't have any place to show off the primary cloth. Just saying.

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Introducing Linen

An Addition

A Second Lampas Sample Warp

Weaverly: Something New

Good Fortune

Yesterday I forgot to mention that I was the lucky winner of a door prize at the SE Fiber Forum conference: a free one week class at John C. Campbell Folk School. So what'll it be? Watercolor? Bread making? I have a year to decide.

Wove a few more lampas samples today. This one has bamboo & silk warps, and a blue bamboo secondary weft. I'm not too excited about the blocks, but they do represent an opportunity to try various structures without confusing the issue. Primary cloth 2/2 right twill, secondary cloth 1/2 left twill. Click to enlarge.