TOWEL 5

Posted by Peg in South Carolina

With this towel, my concentration began to flag. I had trouble keeping track of the count.

COUNTING

Basically I’ve been counting 1-and-1-and for the first of the four shots. 1 is the first treadle, and is the second, 1 is the third, and is the fourth. These are the four treadles I have tied up for the weave. Then I count 2-and-2-and and keep going till I finish with 5-and-5-and. Then I click my knitting counter. I do this 3 times. I will then have clicked my knitting counter 3 times. Then I weave 1-and through the second 2-and. And then 2 more treadles. But before I do these last 2 treadles, I measure, just to make sure. The second group 3 x 4 treadles is a little different, because I start with the second of the group. This means I end with the second of the group. And, before I do those last two, I measure.

This is really very simple and has served me well for the first four towels. But with this fifth towel I tended to make mistakes. More and more often I had to rely on measuring. Relying on measuring works, but I would like to figure out how to revive interest so that my attention does not flag. Perhaps a different way of counting?

IF YOU CAN’T DO IT PERFECTLY…….

This towel is quite different from the first four. The squares are white and the horizontal lines are blue and green. My intent was that the blue and green alternate. I did the first blue. I did the second green. I did the third blue. I did the fourth blue………. But I didn’t realize the error until I was almost finished weaving the next square.

Unwilling to unweave, I followed Laura’s dictum: if you can’t do it perfectly, do it consistently. So I have wove 1 green line and 2 blue lines. And who is to say that is imperfect? Who, except you the reader of this blog, who would know what the original intent was? Case closed.

BEATING

One of the things I noticed as I was weaving this towel is that the wefts do not lock in place as you weave. The last 3 wefts woven are a bit loose and nothing in the world will change that. But everything woven prior to those 3 wefts is just fine. I read once that when you beat, you are not beating in the weft just thrown but the weft 3 or 4 rows back. Now I understand what that means. Clicking on the picture to blow it up should reveal more clearly what I mean.

DENTING EFFECTS

The photo also shows (actually more clearly than the live fabric does) the effect of 2 ends in a dent. Little dark lines run down the photo, enclosing 2 ends with each pair of lines. These should come out in the wash.

"Towel 5" was written by Margaret Carpenter for Talking about Weaving and was originally posted on December 9, 2008. © 2008 Margaret Carpenter aka Peg in South Carolina

NEXT PROJECT: HANDSPUN SHAWL

Posted by Peg in South Carolina

I now have only two dish towels left to weave.  Actually only one-and-a-half towels! So I had better get hopping on to finalizing plans for the next project. This is going to be a shawl from some of my handspun. 

CANVAS WEAVE

My first thoughts had been to do some kind of color-and-weave.  Go here to read about that. But I changed my mind.  When I re-read that post, by the way, I noted that I had changed my mind about the dish towels as well! Inspired by a scarf woven by Susan of Centerweave, I chose 4-shaft canvas weave as the weave structure for this scarf. Go here to see what Susan did with this structure. The draft, with the various treadlings I plan to try, is to the left. This structure is called canvas weave and is a kind of lace weave. 

SAMPLING

I have done a bit of lace weaving but no canvas weaving. Since this is a new weave for me, I decided that I should sample on some yarn that is not quite so “precious.”  I need to work out problems of sett and colors, as well as treadling.

In my stash I found some Harrisville Shetland in light gray and light blue.  These are leftover cones from a blanket I wove about four years ago. Two of the cones are to the right below. The size of this yarn (900 ypp) is very close to that of my handspun.  And when I wove that blanket, it bloomed very nicely when I fulled it in the washing machine.

THE PLAN (AS OF NOW…..)

My plan is to put on a long enough warp both to sample the treadlings and to weave off a scarf.  This assumes, of course, that I have enough  yarn!

I am thinking of warping sort of wide stripes in the blue and the gray, not because I think that is what I might want to do, but because I want to see what happens with blue crossing gray and gray crossing blue.  And, actually, I do want to see if using the two colors in stripes might work!

Related Post: 
    Handspun and Computing Sett: Part II
    Spinning for Weaving

"Next Project: Handspun Shawl" was written by Margaret Carpenter for Talking about Weaving and was originally posted on December 8, 2008. © 2008 Margaret Carpenter aka Peg in South Carolina

MYER-BRIGGS AND BLOGS: A BIT OF FRIDAY FUN

Posted by Peg in South Carolina

I remember the Myer-Briggs test. For awhile it seemed that every committee I served on got to take it. It was argued that this would help us understand each other and so the committee could be more productive. I could never remember what type I was. I could never remember those letters that everyone I knew seemed to define themselves by. But even though the extreme focus on this test has passed, friends of mine still know their Myer-Briggs type!

Today I learned that there is a program that can define a blogger’s Myers-Briggs type. It’s called Typealyzer. All the blogger has to do is enter the url. So I entered mine. And here is what I got.

ESTP - The Doers

The active and play-ful type. They are especially attuned to people and things around them and often full of energy, talking, joking and engaging in physical out-door activities.
The Doers are happiest with action-filled work which craves their full attention and focus. They might be very impulsive and more keen on starting something new than following it through. They might have a problem with sitting still or remaining inactive for any period of time.

I have no idea how this program works. But it got at least some of me right. Energy, talking, engaging in physical out-door activities. Not so keen on follow through. Liking work which fully engages. And I cannot abide being a passenger in the car or watching a DVD without my hands being occupied.

If you want to take the actual test, go here. According to this website, ESTP personality types fall under the artisans class as opposed to idealists, guardians, and rationalists. So perhaps the blog reader got me right? I am NOT going to take the test itself to find out! Enough is enough.

And believe it or not there is a Google page which has links to all the various possible types. Go here if you are still keen on wasting time……

"Myer-Briggs and Blogs: A Bit of Friday Fun" was written by Margaret Carpenter for Talking about Weaving and was originally posted on December 5, 2008. © 2008 Margaret Carpenter aka Peg in South Carolina

TOWEL 4 BEGUN

Posted by Peg in South Carolina

With this towel I am alternating bands of blue and green.  Otherwise everything is still the same. Changing the colors this way helps to keep my interest up.

CONSISTENT BEATING

The slight beating inconsistencies I experienced with the first two towels have disappeared.  Towel 3 and this beginning of towel 4 both have the same number of shots in each section. 

DOUBLE BEATING

With towels 3 and 4 I have been double beating.  That is, I beat before I change sheds, then I beat after I change sheds.  But the second beat is not really a beat.  I simply pull once again on the beater which has remained at the fell. 

It appears that it has taken me roughly two yards or weaving to get the beat consistent!

"Towel 4 Begun" was written by Margaret Carpenter for Talking about Weaving and was originally posted on December 4, 2008. © 2008 Margaret Carpenter aka Peg in South Carolina

SOME INTERESTING BLOG POSTS

Posted by Peg in South Carolina

LIMITS AS A GOAD

I know I will never get another loom (well, maybe a table loom????), so I shall always be working with 8 shafts.  That is really not a bad thing at all.  In fact, it can be a very good thing because it is limits that result in creative effort. It is limits that force me to think.

There was a recent blog post that shows what beautiful results can happen when a weaver feels trapped by limits.  It is the post Kaleidosilk Scarf posted by Dave at The Weaving Studio. 

Back to the limitations of 8 shafts. I have begun to realize it is not so much the number of shafts that is limiting as it is the number of treadles.  I have read on the weaving lists about adding treadles.  That has seemed so beyond me.  Until Dorothy wrote this post on her blog, Dot’s Fibre to Fabric:  14 Treadles on my Countermarche Loom.   Well, maybe it still is beyond me.  But........  Who knows........   Maybe?

BEAD LENO

Bead Leno is something I have always wanted to try.  The idea of getting a really lacy open weave where the warp yarns wouldn't slip around really seemed incredible.  The little I saw of it I simply did not understand.  It seemed so mysterious.  And now Linda has written a post which, while it does not describe the exact process, has clarified it enough for me that I think I might find it possible.  When I have time............  The post is called Bead Leno and is found on her blog called Linda’s Weblog.
   
MAKING DO

I am always interested in those inventive people who can come up with solutions when they don't have all the right equipment.  Tangled Threads has done this with her latest attempt at sectional warping without a spool rack.  The title of her blog post is Beaming a Sectional Warp.......properly this time. 

One of the most ingenious things I found was how she attached screw eyes to a scrap piece of board to give her yarns the guide they needed.  These eyes are important in other aspects of weaving, in guiding thread from cone to warping board, for example.  This is especially important if you are using a paddle.  These eyes are also useful in guiding the thread from cone to bobbin winder.

I would add that a solution I have used for winding a warp with multiple threads (whether onto a warping board or in the sectional manner that Tangled Threads describes) is to take a reed and lay it flat between two chairs (or boxes, or whatever you have handy, as long as they are the same height).  Put your cones behind the reed and guide the threads up through the slots in the reed and from there onto the back beam or onto the warping board.  This was what I used to do until I bought Leclerc's cone holder, which will hold 8 cones of thread, with an eye for each of the cones.   And those who are at all comfortable with tools could probably easily build one for themselves.  Here is a link to a picture of one.
   
“EFFORTFUL STUDY”

I found this post by Tien to really speak to me.  It said, so much better than I could ever have said, much of what I have learned through all the years of learning:  Effortful Study   Indeed, Tien’s post is largely responsible for my current reading, a book by Geoff Colvin: Talent Is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else.  I have read only the first two chapters so far, but am finding it a fascinating read.

PLAYING WITH COLOR

I use Paint Shop Pro to correct colors on a photograph.  When I am engaged in this often frustrating task, I am so intensely focused on how to get the colors right, that I never think of playing with the software to see possibilities for color variations.  Weaverly uses the more sophisticated Photoshop.  But in her post called Theme and Variations she has opened my eyes to play!  And I can do this with my software as well!  (Do I really need to spend more time at the computer…………..)

POSTSCRIPT

If you have made it through this post, you probably have figured out that I have changed my way of approaching favorite posts.  Doing this is much more helpful to me.  I hope that others find it helpful as well.

"Some Interesting Blog Posts" was written by Margaret Carpenter for Talking about Weaving and was originally posted on December 3, 2008. © 2008 Margaret Carpenter aka Peg in South Carolina

TOWEL 3 BEGUN

Posted by Peg in South Carolina

This one is green.  My weaving is getting faster.

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Towel 3 Begun" was written by Margaret Carpenter for Talking about Weaving and was originally posted on December 2, 2008. © 2008 Margaret Carpenter aka Peg in South Carolina

CRACKLE SHAWL/ART PIECE

Posted by Peg in South Carolina

I have spent the morning going through my carefully annotated sampling. Originally I had thought I was going to be working next with the last group of samples I had woven with gold as the background weft. I had thought I was going to work with the ideas there, but using a painted warp.

As I continued working with the samples my eyes kept returning to one of the earlier samples—the sample in the photo. I did some re-analyzing. In the process my imagination started working on what I would do with the threading to make a wider piece.

Then I figured out two things:

1. I am ready to weave a major piece
2. I should begin with a smaller trial piece to explore how to use warp painting.
3. I will do the major piece first.

So now I am happily busy working the design out.

But I must not forget the towels for our daughter……

"Crackle Shawl/Art Piece" was written by Margaret Carpenter for Talking about Weaving and was originally posted on December 1, 2008. © 2008 Margaret Carpenter aka Peg in South Carolina