weaving round robin

Weaving Wednesday – Round Robin 6

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131029 WeavingThis week I decided to tackle the False Satin Blocks in 10/2 mercerized cotton.  I chose a buttery yellow for the weft.  I sat down at this loom last week and simply could not do this.  I was over thinking to the point where I just had to walk away. I didn’t understand what the selvages were doing, the sheds weren’t opening the way they were supposed to, ugh! (Of course if I had just waited and asked a question or two that might have helped).  I spent the entire week fretting about this whole set up.  8 shafts intimidate me, I’m not sure why.  I think it was just out of my comfort zone right then. I was looking for meditation last week, this week I was up for the challenge.

I sat down and wove this without a single issue this week.  I think having my head in a different place made all of the difference.  I wasn’t distracted.

Pam had to unweave a Navajo rug she was working on because there was a problem with how it was warped.  She was trying to fix and then re-warp the frame.  Her cat, Fred decided he would help her out.

131029 Fred (1)Fred loves the studio.  He is always there, waiting for a pat or cuddle (or food).  He helped Pam read her measurements – we all know tempting any owner reading a paper of any kind is. I think he was just in tune to her frustration and was working on a little comic relief.

131029 Fred (2)He did a very good job.

 

 

 

Weaving Wednesday – Round Robin 5

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131023 Undulating TwillI arrived at weaving class 2 hours early on Tuesday with the idea that I would catch up – I was a towel behind in the Round Robin.  I decided to start with this undulating twill pattern. I remembered being told it would weave up quickly.  Sometimes it takes me quite a while to figure out what color to use for the warp but the person that wove the towel before me on this warp used the same color.  I love the way it looks, it reminds me of vintage fabric.  It took a little less than 2 hours to weave the 27″ for the towel and I wasn’t so fried from a complicated pattern that I moved on to another loom.

131023 Point Twill with HerringboneThis is a Point Twill with Herringbone pattern.  I have to say it was really fun to weave.  The results are . . . interesting.

Both towels are made in 8/2 unmercerized cotton making a nice weight, absorbent towel – isn’t that all your really need?  I am now caught up with 5 more towels to weave.  I can’t wait to have them all off of the looms and start hemming (not).

Weaving Wednesday – Round Robin 4

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131015 Braided TwillNext up on my twill weaving tour is a Braided Twill.  This was done in 10/2 unmercerized cotton on an 8-shaft loom.  My first 8 shaft experience.  The treddling is quite simple and progressive in a way that makes it easy to weave. The results are impressive I think.

Like many of the towels I have woven in this series the pattern isn’t that obvious as you are weaving it.  You need to stand away from the loom or lean back while you are sitting so you can see it at an angle.  This is where photography really comes into play.  For some reason no matter what angle you photograph textiles you always see much more detail than if you are looking at the textile itself.  I’m not sure if it’s the contrast or the fact that a photo is 2 dimensional.  I know if I can’t see what’s going on I take a photo and get my ah ha moment.  That’s the beauty of the instant gratification of digital.

131015 Braided Twill (2)This was difficult to weave evenly.  You really can only weave in the center third of your warp otherwise you can see where your beat is uneven, it breaks up the pattern.  Another problem for little perfectionist me.  I finished up my 27″ in about three hours then toured the studio to see what I wanted to weave next week.  This is so much fun.

Weaving Wednesday – Round Robin 3

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131008 Advancing TwillI had to travel to Boston for most of the day before weaving class.  The bonus was I was there an hour and a half early so I picked a more complicated twill to work on.  This is an advancing twill done in 10/2 mercerized cotton.  I had been thinking about this one for the past week looking forward to weaving it and the moment when I finished most of the first repeat.  I love that part.  In your head you know what the draft is going to do but when you actually see it in fiber is magical for me.

I wound my bobbin, made myself comfortable in front of the loom and started to weave.  It didn’t look like I had pictured it.  The pattern wasn’t as defined as I thought it would be.  I questioned my use of the white weft.  I’d woven about 6 inches when my instructor entered the room.  I stopped to visit (this pattern required some serious concentration).  I told her I was having trouble keeping track of what I was doing – I honestly just thought my head was not in the game.  She went to reprint the treddling pattern so it wasn’t so small – I walked away from the loom for a few minutes.

When I sat back down I realized that I had been treddling the pattern as if it didn’t have tie-ups – damn it!  I had tortured myself for an hour in my excitement.  Soooooo, I put in a line and started over . . . at the same time I would have started if I had just come to class.

This pattern is quite beautiful when done correctly but I have to say I had to pay attention throughout the whole thing.  It wasn’t one of those patterns that you get into the groove once you’ve been through a few repeats.  I struggled with it the whole time.  I was sure I would have to come back to finish weaving my 27 inches but at 8:50 I wove the close and was done.  It was a relief really.

I always really look forward to weaving class as a meditative time.  This was different, probably due to the error in the beginning.  I can be compulsive in perfection, a serious curse.  Once the project went off the rails I had a difficult time refocusing.  I struggled through it and walked away thinking I will never weave that pattern again.  I’m still thinking that today so my grand plans for that draft will probably never come to fruition.  Of course I have grand plans for every single draft I see.  That’s been the real beauty of this round robin.  I get to weave what are really great samples, something different every week without the work of warping the loom.  It allows us all to really get a feel for the structure of the twills and what can be done to change them up within each project.  Even though the first 6 inches were woven in a crazy wrong way it still looked pretty cool, the pattern just wasn’t as defined.  Maybe this time a wrong was kind of right.