Just finished some twilly alpaca woven thing and rushing through photos of it so I can bring it to my dear friend, then snow started coming down, doubling the excitement . . .
By the way, in about a week, Juno will be three, already! Where does the time go?
Another simple check with three big blocks of color shows so well how shades interact and colors multiply, intersections creating new colors and keeps the interest going through the arduous task of managing even edges. Something so basic as three colors can give a lot of gratification when first learning the basics of weaving. I am still a massive fan of check!
In my recent weavings I’ve been reinforcing the selvedges with extra threads and using a temple, which at this early stage of becoming a weaver, I have already come to rely upon. I think every once in a while weaving something without extra selvedge threads or temple, would give me practice keeping the selvedges from drawing inward by keeping the tension even but not too tight, and the weavers’ angle generous. There are many weaving notes and photos left below, in the event that anybody might find them useful, and I am happy to talk about the details further in the comments as well.
♣  Weaving Notes ♣
How could I have escaped the inevitable? The fate that I would want to operate multiple shafts was almost necessary to learn to be a weaver, and so I surrendered to fate. It took me about three days to put together, and it was not without near catastrophic moments, and in the end, it all worked out just fine. It is the largest model, with a 32″ weaving width capacity, and 8 shafts, although I don’t plan on using more than 4 for quite some time. I’ll admit to you though, I am a little afraid of it, for it surely will elevate me beyond mere simple plain weave to perhaps twill, and perhaps with a few hundred more texsolv heddles, I could weave very fine linen. We will see. For now, it is just an inanimate object that needs to have the pulse of creativity brought into it, and so today I intend to begin its very first project, I have made the calculations, with four skeins of alpaca for the warp, it is waiting for the spark of life. Wish the two of us luck.
Calling this one Sunny Skies, as it radiates sun rays and with a little cool stripe of sky blue . . . to be sent off to my youngest niece who is at university in sunny Santa Barbara, a vernal emissary to cheer her up.
Warp stripes of burnt orange, golden yellow, and sky blue, against weft strips of burnt orange and golden yellow; the pattern makes an interesting, elongated check pattern with a thin strip of pale compliment color contrast. A beautiful check improvisation if I may say so, and definitely plan to explore this same pattern again per weaving notes below, the checks are so subtle as is the contrast stripe, that the possibilities are many. Exciting!
♣  Weaving Notes ♣
I finished weaving on Christmas eve, cut off the loom on Christmas day and in a chocolate induced moment of bravery I tossed it in the washing machine to wash, dry, and shrink. The day after Christmas I pressed, cut all the loose ends, hemmed it by hand, and am very pleased with my first tablecloth. I have been working on this cotton-linen table cloth since warping in November, at first not very often, as I had not developed a regular habit of weaving, but then as the weeks went by, and spending half hour of focused weaving several times a day in between chores. I even explored weaving spaces with the loom, having carried it up and down stairs several times, as well as back and forth from the tiny house a couple of times, and even hid it away in a closet out of sight with weaving in progress, while I cleaned up for guests on Thanksgiving Day. Sure a floor loom would be faster, but however slow this big rigid heddle loom is, slow and steady wins the race. I’ve learned how to handle the long stick shuttle while keeping the sheds relatively neat and clear, and to boast, there is less than 16″ of warp waste including tie-on and header, I think amazing given that I calculated perfectly for the fit on the table. All in all, I’m very pleased with this first serious piece of cloth. I really LOVE the simplicity of this loom, and believe its colossal 48″ weaving width is manageable because I’ve learned to weave while standing.
♣  Weaving Notes ♣
