Weaverly

Dogged Persistence

It seems I can't get enough of this straight threading. This might be the fourth or fifth warp I've tied onto it.

The newest warp is pink and mustard, warped end-and-end and chosen randomly in front of the reed. The first few samples were to test out some weft colors. 

Then I wove the point twill for a few inches with blue. It's interesting to note that the blue weft made the mustard warps look greenish. Hm-m-m. 

Then multiple draft samples.

Waves! Who knew?

And now a few exercises with broken twills. A weft with more blue in it.

A break. My morning walk. 

I finally chose this broken twill variation because it's a calm allover effect, and will play well with the other fabrics I'll be using in a project I have in mind.

The group of fabrics so far:

It's a long-range project, but what we've got now is time and plenty of it. If we stay safe. And if we're lucky.

What If...

I know I'm a little late to the celebration, but couldn't resist posting this picture. That's me a couple of years ago, hence the short hair, and as for Bernie, he is good at time travel.

Back to business. More thoughts on proxy designing for a straight threading on 16 shafts. What if I did a point twill threading for 4 shafts, which repeats every 16 ends? I could then weave the resulting draft on 16 shafts. Two examples shown below. Click to enlarge.

I haven't woven these yet, but intend to soon. It will be interesting to see how they behave after washing, always the acid test.

New Beginnings

Out with the old, in with the new. The knots rose over the horizon, signaling that it would soon be time to cut off.

Five yards of jin (AKA turned taqueté) cut off and washed.

Then there was this (Hallelujah!).

in between moments of watching the screen, transfixed, I did wind a new warp. Shades of blue.

And tied it onto the old warp, straight threading on 16 shafts.

Did some playing with drafts. How about imagining a pointed threading on 9 shafts, and then weaving some of the samples on the straight 16-shaft threading? Think about it.

Wove all ten of these samples. When the parade was over, I cut the samples from the loom and washed them. 

After washing & ironing, some were awful, some pretty good, and this one was a definite keeper.

So I'll be weaving off the rest of the warp in that draft, with a lavender weft. Warp and weft are 10/2 cotton, 24 epi and ppi. Click to enlarge.

I slept very well last night. 

Did you?

Contortions

Here comes the sun. This is easy enough to see if you are standing in the right place.

But it gets challenging if you try to look up at the sky while in an upright position. Very risky, actually. It was worth it.

You can be a contortionist if you try to photograph the reverse side of the cloth as it approaches the cloth beam. This is not as risky, especially in a carpeted room, as you are closer to the floor and don't have as far to fall.

No contortions necessary when photographing the top side. More blended overshot and rosepath. 

In the Department of Books, I just finished reading The History of Love by Nicole Krauss. Moving, funny, surprising, suspenseful.

Another Point of View

The stitched piece is finished and will sit for a while until it decides what will happen to it next. 

There was no attempt to bury the knots. Rough and ready. Just keep that needle going.

When I held it up against the light, it became a different story altogether. 

Maybe the view out the airplane window during the trip I didn't take this year?

In Limbo

Hard to believe that on the morning of January Sixth I was talking about dishtowels. Then all h**l broke loose. 

Obsessively stitching. Can't keep still. 

Cleaning up the studio.

Gazing out the window.

Finally put on a new warp this morning. A little sample of a new blended draft. Rosepath and overshot. The overshot is an original draft, entitled LinenPants. On this 8-shaft threading one could weave rosepath, overshot, or plain weave. Imagine. 

Two More Towels, More Bast Fibers

On the towel warp, two more bast towels, in slightly different amalgamated weaves. 

These have already been washed, and shrank dramatically. The first has a 100% hemp weft, and the second a cotton/linen plied yarn from Gist. Both towels are wonderfully squishy and absorbent.

Both drafts incorporate amalgamation. 

I added hanging loops (from the lucet, of course!). The resident dish washer says he prefers loops, and he likes these towels so much that he has requested that we keep these. Done.

Meanwhile, in other kitchen news, there is preparation for a big pot of beef stew. 

That's all the news from high fiber country.

Laundry Report

The towels cut off and washed yesterday are posing for a picture. The one on the left, with the hemp weft, I will keep. The other one is a birthday gift (shh! it's a secret). I was very surprised to discover little blue arrowheads in the wider stripes, not apparent before washing. Click to enlarge.

The next set is now being woven. This is another design, with another type of hemp for weft. This weft is behaving badly, somewhat like linen. I think I will have to dampen the bobbins overnight to tame it.

But the pattern is showing up well. Feathers, if you use your imagination. Click to enlarge.

This is another one that will improve greatly with washing.

In the Department of Books, I just finished reading Douglas Preston's In Search of the Monkey God. Not to be missed! Published before the current pandemic, but very prescient. It's also a darn good yarn. Beware -- if you are afraid of snakes, this might not be the book for you.

My Year So Far

Early days, I know, but here is a report. My year so far.

The weather is as depressing as possible. Rain, rain, rain.

On the other hand, in the studio the lights burn brightly. I'm almost finished weaving the second towel on the amalgamated warp. This one has a blue weft.

It's interesting to see two different points of view, according to the focus. Here the camera focuses on the face of the cloth, the one the weaver sees as she sits at the loom. 

And here the camera focuses on the reverse side of the cloth, as the web makes its way to the cloth beam. As it happens, I happen to like the reverse side better, a fact I discovered after I cut the cloth off the loom.

The first two towels have been cut off and I'll hem them as I watch a football game tonight. 

In The Department of Books -- I finished reading "Less" by Andrew Sean Greer. Hilarious, yes, but also quite moving. I'll be reading more by this author.