I'm not a big plaid person, although some day I would like to sit down and do some tartan cloth on the loom. It can however wait until the mood strikes. The plaid I am actually referring to is in the blanket. Now I could do the whole thing plaid but I much prefer just the bits at either end with the middle bit just being stripes. I had the foresight to take a picture before I rolled past the plaid part completely. Done in the same sequence as the stripes, yellow, blue, white, dark green and tan. At the other end it will be the same but in reverse, starting with tan.
I also need to say that every time I weave on "Hey Baby" Delta I fall in love all over again. This loom, however expensive it was to buy, is worth its weight in gold to me.
The hardest thing about these triple weave warps (once you are past the threading, sleying and adding the evil slippery fishing line) is getting a nice even beat. One layer builds up while you are weaving another layer and makes it difficult to keep everything perfect, at least for me. Thankfully, I can say the fulling process works wonders in this area and is just as important as all the other steps in weaving a wool blanket.
The pillowcase warp has been started on too, not much done but really it's 5 yards of 20/2 organic natural cotton done at 700 something ends total. It's like measuring thread out. I can't imagine doing something like 60 or 120/2 warp, but I am sure someday I will get to it. For now conquering 20/2 is just fine. ;-)
Not too much else to report, some snow, some rain, some cold temps, some sunshine.
House cleaning was uneventful yesterday ( unless you count a short period of critter terrorizing...) although I would like to say it is SO MUCH easier to clean in the studio without Barbara there. She was a hard loom to clean around and under. The Louets sit high and open allowing for easy vacuum and mopping access. A good and wonderful thing! The Carolyn loom is getting slowly taken apart ( and documented) for shipping cross country. Today is guild meeting so hopefully tomorrow I can get her completely broken down and begin the search for some big boxes.
12 comments:
What's the evil fishing line for? Did I miss that somewhere else?
The fishing line keeps the fold edges from cramming while weaving and the selvage edges from abrading too much. I run it in through with the wool in the heddle and the reed. It has to be slippery to pull out easily after the piece is woven and before fulling.
I'm such a plaid girl and I just love that!
yes, because the beater hits the fell line at an angle the layers don't build up evenly - to remedy this you have a small area to work in and must advance the warp often. This even happens on doubleweave although not as much.
This three-fold weaving is very fascinating, but I somehow cannot imagine how it works. Would it be possible to get a look at the draft? Or perhaps ypu've posted it earlier, and I've missed out on it!
Well, I am a big plaid person so I love this! Must be my Scotch ancestry. :)
Cindie, I will be more diligent over moving the fell line thank you!
Leigh and Julie, glad to those mad for plaid people.
Maybe we should all start a tartan together on our looms sometime in the future!
Leigh, I bet when you do get back in front of the loom, everything will fall into place in a very short time. It's like riding a bike! ;)
Charlotte, I've answered your needs off blog and I hope if you do tackle the multi layer cloth, you'll share it!
the plaid looks wonderful, but so do the stripes. I have never woven a triple layered weave - keeping track of the treadling must be interesting!
I like the plaid and the stripes am facinated by the triple weave warps I can't even fathom what that's like, but you make it seem so uncomplicated.
I'm not in the plaid club either. In fact, I often think that printed cloth can be so much cooler than woven cloth. (What's wrong with me?? I'm some kind of heretic!)
Glad to hear that there really is a good example of a time when it's important to advance the warp frequently. I'm an infrequent advancer (which I sometimes feel a wee bit guilty about).
Sue
I really do like plaid but I also like the plaid accents as you're doing them. I am in awe of how blithely you approach double knit - not looking forward to waking up an hour earlier next week.
THe blanket is looking wonderful - I like the idea of a little plaid. I am still just amazed at the double and triple weaving!
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