The trick to this one was winding 3 threads at a time to get the variegated green in the stripes. The color grown cotton I have is a 3/2, little heavier than I usually use at an 8/2 so I was able to take some finer 10/2 I have and triple it for something close in weight. There is a dark spruce green, a light fern green and organic natural in the mix of three. I'm setting it all at 12 epi, 22" in the reed and each towel will be 30" long in a standard waffle weave pattern. Plan B is, if it is too dense, to resley at 10 epi. The warp is about 5 yards long. I'm hoping for 4 towels.
This is a pattern I may want to duplicate in the future just for the fire and rescue. It drove home a couple of points. First is that I am a terrible, and I mean TERRIBLE note taker on my weaving stuff. The second is I much prefer planning a warp and putting it on to actually weaving it. Hence my looms all get stuck with stuff on them. It's not until I am jazzed about some warp I've thought up that stuff begins to move off the looms in progress.
To the first failing, I am going to attach a notebook to each loom and do my very best to at least put the bare bones information in there, or try to grab it for my scribbled doodles I call draft planning. If it's right there I might even be moved to put those important comments about how a structure or a fiber actually worked in the project.
To the second, I'm not sure. I like weaving, I do, but it's the warping and the sense of discovery as the pattern appears that first time which keeps me coming back. I suppose just doing what I've been doing for the time being. Shorter warps. ;-)
No farm news really. I think I know what flew into me the other night. I saw a small owl resting on the fence yesterday morning when I went out. I'll bet you he hangs around because the mice like to make a meal of dropped grain up at the goat paddock.
Maybe a fledgling from this year? I didn't put him in my light for more than enough time to identify it as an owl. I didn't want to scare him, so off the light went while I slowly opened the goat gate, then I turned and left. If he sticks around he'll be of great benefit on the farm.
5 comments:
An owl is exciting! I wonder how you could entice him as much as not scare him...
As far as note taking - I am very visual and often my best notes are simply pictures with a few words or even video. There are two from my first weaving class that I still go back to when I warp a loom. If a picture is 1000 words - a video must be 1000000!
The warp looks great.
Ditto on all of your points.....bad note-taker here too.....and getting the first inch woven is all I really need. Then I know what it looks like and sometimes things stall right there for months.
My idea that I'm going to start trying later this week, is that every morning during the week, first thing when I wake up, I'm going to do mindless weaving for an hour. So something that's on the loom gets top priority. I'm hoping that will help me be more productive. (I know you probably have farm chores first thing....but I'm throwing that idea out there in case it sparks another idea for you!)
That's cool that you might have an owl on the farm!!! There are some very small owls in the east called Saw Whet Owls. Don't know if you have something similarly small out there.
Sue
Sue,
I make time for weaving after chores, or at least threading, sleying etc. because they are quiet activities usually after farm duties and before the bucket brigade which is second breakfast for the boys. That gives me 3 hours or so to play, assuming there aren't other things that requiring attention. I'm still wishing every night for my own house elf, that has cleaned the kitchen up by morning. All to no avail so far.
I would bet it's a Saw Whet Owl. Plentiful here and this guy (or gal) wasn't terribly large, maybe 8-11". Waiting on a fence for mice kind of fits their MO too.
It certainly wasn't a spotted owl, too small, although they are here.
Jennifer, good idea on the visual, but since my warps change quite often, I've noticed my memory as to whether I planned something to be 12 or 10 in the reed etc, really requires I take some simple notes for reference. I have the notebooks on the looms all with details of what is on them right now. I'm also going to rate the project at the end should I ever think about repeating one of the elements, be it pattern, fiber, or palette.
Thanks for sharing your project. I do a lot of my learning from you online weavers and wouldn't have thought of the way you solved using different cottons. I'm a terrible note-taker too but I do try. The problem is that I have a hard time reading what I meant when I got back to repeat something. I've been thinking about developing a format for myself so at least I make something legible.
You and I would make a good team; you prefer to warp, I prefer to weave. The only problem is that I'm a terrible note taker too. So we'd have a problem there. However,that's why I started my fiber blog in the first place. Even so, when I go back to look up some of my old posts, I discover that I've forgotten some detail or another!
Anyway, I like your warp.
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