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Saturday, August 29, 2015

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.

2015-08-29 Collage

Friday, August 28, 2015

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.

IMG_2741 adv twill

Draft

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

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.

Tricot DraftMy 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.

IMG_2723 Beater Rests

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.

 

IMG_2735

Twill Scarf update

IMG_2726 Scarf End

 

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.

IMG_2733

Sunday, August 23, 2015

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.

IMG_2718 Samples Scarf

Saturday, August 22, 2015

Twill Scarves

 IMG_2706 Warp

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.

IMG_2717 Sample

 Capture

Friday, August 21, 2015

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.

IMG_2695IMG_2709

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 tIMG_2710he 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.

Friday, August 7, 2015

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.

 

Huck Shawl

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

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.

Confused smile

 

IMG_2680 (2) Tapestry