Weaverly

Color Shift with Larger Blocks

After the ball is over. Or the last rose of summer. Take your pick.

Meanwhile, in the studio, another warp is beamed. This is a second exploration of the 3-shaft twill blocks on four shafts, as described in the previous two posts. Three ends of linen (red, yellow, and blue) are held together in the hand while winding the warp. In the threading, strict color order is followed throughout. Weft is also linen, olive green, one shuttle. It is the threading changes and the treadling changes that control the appearance of the blocks. This picture was taken from underneath the loom. No, I didn't crank the warp beam in the wrong direction (although I have done that more than once in the past).

Here's the warp after gating, ready to weave. 

The weaving went so quickly that I forgot to photograph it on the loom. But here it is the next day after cutting off, washing, drying, ironing, and hemming (by incandescent light):

And by daylight, a little closer.

This was a delightful project: easy warping, easy weaving. The only drawback so far is that no true tabby is possible, although a sort of basketweave makes an acceptable substitute for hems. 

A thunderstorm is brewing, so it's now time to log off. Happy weaving, everyone.

Color Shift

I used up all the blue cotton before this warp was finished, so I transitioned to red tencel. The fabric will be an interesting one to use as accents with the blue cloth, and meanwhile more stash reduction is happening. Note my use of the passive voice. Stash reduction is happening. It's magic.

It rained last night and I snapped this view out the front door just before I went to bed.

A couple of days ago I slipped out and took a short walk in the Japanese garden. I had the place completely to myself except for this fellow. He seemed content to share. After a few minutes he took off in a lazy low-altitude arc. I, on the other hand, walked slowly to the parking lot.

Have a good weekend.

A Jeans Based Block Weave

I really don't know how to classify this weave. It's based on the 3-shaft twill (jeans twill) and it resembles crackle, but it has its own logic. First, the blocks. Each block is threaded as a 3-shaft twill on 3 of the 4 shafts of a 4-shaft loom. This gives you four possible blocks in the threading: 123, 234, 341, and 412. I've altered the order somewhat to make the transitions from one block to another smoother. So what I have come up with are: Block A, 231; Block B, 234; Block C, 134; and Block D, 124.

Transitions are smooth if you go clockwise in the block rotation (ABCDABCD, etc.) or counterclockwise (ADCBADCB, etc.) You may not, however, jump to opposite sides of the circle without special adjustments to the threading transitions.

Use the standard 2/2 twill tie-up and treadle as drawn in. This will give you four blocks of a hybrid twill-like structure: not a twill, not a plain weave, but a crepe-like combination of the two, each block emphasizing the threads on a particular block. 

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Here is my first dive into the weaving, with a three-color warp rotation and a one-shuttle weft.

A two-color warp rotation will give other results. There is much opportunity for play here. There are a couple of examples in my previous post.

There is no true tabby but the usual 13, 24 treadling will give an acceptable basketweave for hems.

What endears this structure to me is its ease of warping! You hold three ends in hand in a the threading cross and the raddle cross, then pick the colors in strict rotation as you thread the heddles. The loom prep goes quickly, and the counting is easy. This is a great opportunity for using up partial cones for stash-busting.

And it's a one-shuttle weave! What's not to love?

I don't remember having seen this structure described in the literature, but I'm sure someone somewhere has thought of it. If you know of some references, I'd love to hear from you.

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Now, in the Department of Books, I have just finished reading Grammar for a Full Life: How the Ways We Shape a Sentence Can Limit or Enlarge Us by Lawrence Weinstein. Highly recommended. 

What Covid Looks Like Around Here

Surprise! We have been tagged. In quarantine. My case is not too bad. So far Bruce is negative. First couple of days I have not felt like doing anything, except washing some skeins of handspun. That was a huge effort.

Then I tried to figure out a scheme of drafting four blocks of 3-end straight threading on 4 shafts, similar to crackle but with no reverse points in the twills. It eluded me. It eluded me. Nothing made sense.

This morning I woke up to a new insight and everything suddenly clicked. There is a 2-color version (2 colors in the warp, single color weft for one-shuttle weaving):

And a 3-color warp version, also a one-shuttle weave.

The nice thing about this structure is that maximum float is 2, so the fabric should be lightweight, suitable for summer garments. 

I wound a warp of 3 colors, and it is waiting for when my mind is little clearer for beaming operations.

And meanwhile (there is no shortage of drama around here these September days), our Night Blooming Cereus bloomed!!! Right in the middle of the Braves game. 

 

Big and Little Sister

I have been having the best time practicing with the Section Assembly tools in TempoWeave. The program has just had an update and some very nice Network Drafting features are implemented, too.

This draft is from a group of circle motifs I call "Big and Little Sister." I don't have any sisters, and I have no daughters, either. So where does this come from? Who knows.

Another version:

Both for 8 shafts. The warp is running horizontally in these pictures.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend. Happy weaving.