Breaks & Recesses

 

This will be the last scarf from this warp. It is another draft from Strickler/Oelsner. I have woven it at a loose twill sett; it will be interesting to see how it moves when taken off the loom and washed.

Advancing Twill

 

This is the next scarf – an extended advancing twill taken from “Exploring Multishaft Design – Bonnie Inouye”. It is finished and will be wound on to the cloth beam to join its friends whilst I weave the last scarf on this warp.

Advancing the temple

 

I feel very exposed when weaving a twill. Even the slightest inconsistency in the beat seems to show up as a warp coloured streak and even though I know that when the cloth is off the loom and relaxed and then after it has been finished most of the blemishes will be gone it still bothers me.

I have come up with a few things to help me. The first has been to stop listening to the radio when I weave. I listen to Classic FM and I suspect that the change of tempo of the music impacts on how I weave. The music and the talk from the presenters lead me away from the weaving.

Following on from stoping the distraction of the music I am trying to focus just on the weaving,to watch the weft being beaten in, to feel the tension in my shuttle and just to be with what I am doing. This is all a bit metaphysical but it seems to be working. On a more down to earth note, I am advancing my temple in a consistent fashion.We all know it should be moved after about one inch of weaving, but hey, when you are in the zone and there is a nice bit of Bach on the radio, three inches with no temple movement can creep up on you just like that.

My weaving software (WeavePoint) plays a sound whenever the weft colour changes. On the draft I have changed the colour every 18 picks (the PPI of my current project) so when the computer goes bing I know it is time to advance the temple. On my loom I can move the beater so I only have to advance the warp about every three inches; so I use three colours so that I know exactly where I am.

The combination of this and the vibes thing seems to be helping but time will tell.

In addition to all this I managed to get some weaving done today.

 

Twill Scarf update

 

The herringbone scarf is finished (I fear that I might have been a bit too subtle in my colour choices) and I am now sampling for the next scarf. The photo below is of a variant of a Tricot weave and I fancy a bit of red. I shall try beating a little harder to make it slightly weft faced.

Twill Scarves progress

The first scarf is finished (at the bottom of the  left hand photo) and I have been trying a bit of herringbone. The last sample is with a moss green weft and it looks very effective in a nice understated way. This shall  be the next scarf with some contrasting colours at the ends, looking a bit like the second photo – I hope.

 

Twill Scarves

 

I have put on a 12 yard warp of Bendigo 2 Ply -  Raffia (Bendigo Woollen Mills only do their 2 ply in 500 gram cones now) sett at 18 EPI  for some twills scarves. I have threaded a straight draw on 16 shafts with a further 4 shafts for the selvedge. You can do a lot on a straight 16!

I have woven a sample trying out some plaited twills and for the first scarf I shall use the undulating plaited twill from A Handbook of Weaves- Oelsner using the shade Denim Blue for the weft.

 

Loom lights

I have never been completely happy with the lighting of my work as I am weaving. I have no problems during the day but when I have to rely on artificial light my arrangements have been less than ideal. I have used lights clamped to the uprights of the beater (are they called swords?) and some LEDs just above the reed. Quite good but the fell has always had a bit of shadow about it.

I bought a light designed to go under a kitchen cabinet and I have rigged up a sort of gantry that is attached to the front uprights of the loom. The result is brilliant (literally) and I have been weaving away quite happily this evening with not a shadow in sight. There goes my last excuse for an uneven beat.

The photo shows the left hand side of the arrangement and the LED lights on the beater can be seen. I shall tidy up the cable arrangement and fit a small pelmet along the top. At the moment the uprights are held in position by cable ties and clamps. When I find time I shall make some wooden clamps do that things look a bit neater. Clamps and cable ties are great for this sort of thing – one can experiment and move things around without having to harm the loom.

Huck Lace Shawl

I have just finished this shawl. It is based on the draft from Handwoven 2009 May June – “Light & Lacy Huck Scarf. I used a 4ply knitting yarn (Morris Estate 4 Ply) set at 10 EPI and widened the draft so that the shawl came out at 22” wide. It is a 4 shaft draft which I wove on a straight 10S threading. All good but I have made it a bit too long and it is very chunky.

 

Tapestry

I am trying a little tapestry. Not sure what will come of it but so far so good. I have just reached the tree trunks.