To begin with, I'd like to say thank you to everyone who left such kind comments about Ms. Z. Just like her blue eyes, those sweet sentiments were very heart melting, and are warmly appreciated.
I also appreciated the thoughts and comments on the most recent issue of IK. Here's hoping the fall is better for that magazine. It's always been one of my favorite knitting mags, and it's a little sad for me to have been uninspired by it several issues running.
Today I wrapped up the last session in my first weaving class. The general idea of the class was just not to think too hard and to play with color and simple weave structures using a plain twill threading on a 4 harness table loom. Since it was just a sampler and not meant for display, I put together a brightly colored warp and just went wherever I felt like as far as color was concerned.
My warp was three yards long, but in the end, I stopped a little early, because, as it turns out, I am apparently as much of a product weaver as I am a product knitter and spinner. After sampling a variety of weave structures and techniques, I was ready to get on to "a real project". I played with a number of things in this project, but here are a few of the highlights.
This close up features rib weave on the bottom half (for those that are interested, it's a 1-3 sort of structure where either 1 harness or three harnesses are "up") and a broken twill pattern on the top half. Rib weaves and their final look are very dependent on how hard you beat the fabric. The harder you beat, the more prominent that vertical line becomes. I really liked the twill structures and how they seem to almost float above the warp. Twills were fun to see because they aren't something I know how to do yet on a rigid heddle loom (I believe they are possible on a rigid heddle with a properly applied pattern stick -- but given what I've tried already, it's a lot easier done on a multi-shaft loom).
This is inlay work. The background weaving is just plain weave (i.e. what you think of as the standard "over under" every other thread pattern of weaving) with another thread laid in the shed when you put in your plain weave weft picks. You could take out the inlaid yarn without any impact on the plain weave fabric as it isn't an essential part of the actual cloth. It was fun to do with the big slubby yarn that I used. Kind if a neat way to work patterns into a fabric without actually having to do tapestry weaving.
This last image is "leno" -- you use a pick up stick to twist the warp threads so that you can run a weft shot through and use it to maintain the structure of the open work. It's one of a series of ways that you can create "lace" in a woven fabric. I found it a little fussy, but it could clearly be a nice detail in a table runner, curtains or the border for a garment.
I also appreciated the thoughts and comments on the most recent issue of IK. Here's hoping the fall is better for that magazine. It's always been one of my favorite knitting mags, and it's a little sad for me to have been uninspired by it several issues running.
Today I wrapped up the last session in my first weaving class. The general idea of the class was just not to think too hard and to play with color and simple weave structures using a plain twill threading on a 4 harness table loom. Since it was just a sampler and not meant for display, I put together a brightly colored warp and just went wherever I felt like as far as color was concerned.
My warp was three yards long, but in the end, I stopped a little early, because, as it turns out, I am apparently as much of a product weaver as I am a product knitter and spinner. After sampling a variety of weave structures and techniques, I was ready to get on to "a real project". I played with a number of things in this project, but here are a few of the highlights.This close up features rib weave on the bottom half (for those that are interested, it's a 1-3 sort of structure where either 1 harness or three harnesses are "up") and a broken twill pattern on the top half. Rib weaves and their final look are very dependent on how hard you beat the fabric. The harder you beat, the more prominent that vertical line becomes. I really liked the twill structures and how they seem to almost float above the warp. Twills were fun to see because they aren't something I know how to do yet on a rigid heddle loom (I believe they are possible on a rigid heddle with a properly applied pattern stick -- but given what I've tried already, it's a lot easier done on a multi-shaft loom).This is inlay work. The background weaving is just plain weave (i.e. what you think of as the standard "over under" every other thread pattern of weaving) with another thread laid in the shed when you put in your plain weave weft picks. You could take out the inlaid yarn without any impact on the plain weave fabric as it isn't an essential part of the actual cloth. It was fun to do with the big slubby yarn that I used. Kind if a neat way to work patterns into a fabric without actually having to do tapestry weaving. This last image is "leno" -- you use a pick up stick to twist the warp threads so that you can run a weft shot through and use it to maintain the structure of the open work. It's one of a series of ways that you can create "lace" in a woven fabric. I found it a little fussy, but it could clearly be a nice detail in a table runner, curtains or the border for a garment.While I liked trying all these textures and techniques, what really captured my attention was something that I tried on my sampler, but is really hard to make look interesting unless you have the fabric in your hands: double weave. Double weave is a technique used to make two pieces of cloth on one warp. The two cloths can be completely separate, joined at one side or joined on both sides to form a tube. The whole woven tube thing got me thinking about how I'd always wanted to have a nice bolster pillow on my bed and that lead me to think about weaving a bolster pillow cover. This would give me a chance to try out double weave for a larger project, as well as combine it with working in finer threads (10/2 cotton) and with a weave structure that fascinates me: waffle weave (which has a point twill threading, so I'll be able to play with some point twill structures on whatever warp I have left after I weave my bolster cover). I'm also psyched that I'll get to play around with an 8 harness loom.
I spent my last class planning for my next project and getting a sample warp ready so that I could determine whether what I was planning would actually fit around my bolster after washing (cotton shrinks, waffle weave condenses a bit, too, after washing). I'm in the process of warping 480 tiny cotton warp threads onto my loom. I've got about 1/4 of the reed sleyed. I'm hoping that by the end of my next class, I'll finish that up and get my heddles threaded. Careful warping is definitely a time consuming process!
But the bottom line is that I'm definitely enjoying weaving and I'm glad I took a chance and tried it out. I can't wait to get started on my first "real" multi-shaft fabric project.
I spent my last class planning for my next project and getting a sample warp ready so that I could determine whether what I was planning would actually fit around my bolster after washing (cotton shrinks, waffle weave condenses a bit, too, after washing). I'm in the process of warping 480 tiny cotton warp threads onto my loom. I've got about 1/4 of the reed sleyed. I'm hoping that by the end of my next class, I'll finish that up and get my heddles threaded. Careful warping is definitely a time consuming process!
But the bottom line is that I'm definitely enjoying weaving and I'm glad I took a chance and tried it out. I can't wait to get started on my first "real" multi-shaft fabric project.
Your samples look gorgeous. I just finished my first big set of projects, making 6 woven scarves for the show I'm in. I am enjoying the rigid heddle, though I loved getting to try out the 4 harness loom. Did you do double weave on a 4 harness or is that something you need a more complex loom for?
I love reading about your weaving projects. As soon as the wedding is over, and life is settled down a bit more, I am going to sign myself up for weaving classes. I've been wanting to try it on a larger-than-my Weavettes scale for a few years, and I think that this is the year to do it.
Fab weaving.
Your sweet Z is so beautiful. Very bright too, it seems. The photo at the end of your last post is gorgeous.
I am loving the weaving projects.
The weaving process fascinates me - thanks for sharing the detailed photos and how you created them.
Congratulations on your first weaving sampler! It is beautiful. And good luck with your next project. I can't wait to see what you do.