I have finished the area that will be "on view." That part is a bit longer than the others--14.5".
The purple section you see on top will be the hem for the casing. I am weaving that with blue and violet weft threads alternating.
SELVEDGE ISSUE
As I wove the last few inches, I noticed the selvedges, especially the left selvedge, not being quite as nice as they had been. Occasional tiny loops formed.
A while back, I had discovered that if the shed was not totally clear right down to the fell, I would get loops. Go here to read about that. This was not the problem here, so I needed to look elsewhere for a solution.
Normally when I have been weaving this piece, The fell has been only about two to three inches from the front beam and I would move the cloth whenever I had woven one to two inches. Today, however, I did not move the cloth. So I was weaving, towards the end, with the fell at a much greater distance from the front beam than usual.
SMALL VS LARGE SHEDS
Words from a weaver I greatly respect that I heard when I first started weaving came into my head: the smaller the sheds, the better the selvedges. I didn't do anything with that because at the time I was weaving on a counterbalance loom with huge sheds. And my current loom, despite its being a jack, also has large sheds.
Looking at the warp with sheds open, I saw that the closer to the beater I look, the wider the shed is. The closer to the front beam, the narrower or the shed. So I started half-way closing the shed before I beat. It worked.
My best guess at this point is that with a narrow shed, when you beat there is less opportunity for the weft at the edges to shift out and so create loops.
Related Posts:
Selvedges Once More
Temples: A Correction,an Addition, and a Warning
3 comments:
That's a very interesting observation about sheds and selvedges. I will have to test it out with different degrees of treadling, I think.
Good morning, Miss Peg. :)
This one is my favorite, I think. The symmetry is so lovely without looking contrived or stark. I really ejoy looking at the larger photo where it's easier to see all the subtle interplay of color and structure that is going on.
It's exciting to think about seeing all of the pieces when they are side by side!
With regard to selvedges and sheds, mine always seem to be better the closer my beater is to perpendicular with my fell line. That seems to be the sweetspot for me. In general I throw, change sheds, and beat while the shed is in the process of changing. So this makes sense with your observation about a smaller shed, as my shed is in the process of narrowing at the point where I'm beating. Interesting!
Thanks for your feedback yesterday on my sample. It is always nice to have another set of eyes take a fresh look. I value your input and years of experience.
Weave on!
Jane
Cally, I hope you will let us know the results of your tests.
Jane, thank you for your comments. I know the business about beater being perpendicular to fell as being the sweet spot. I will try to look to see if that is where my beater is perpendicular where I usually weave.
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