Afghan Progress

Sunday I started weaving on the afghans. With this warp it is essential to use a temple. I really wish I had rotary or ring temples when I'm weaving full width, and perhaps after Convergence I will. At least I'm hoping Fireside will be there so I can look at their temples. I hear a number of AVL owners have set their looms up with the Fireside temples, so we'll see.


The first afghan was woven using a fairly dark muted blue.




The second was woven with black as weft. You can mainly see the difference in the red stripe. In the blue weft afghan the red is shifted slightly to the purple end of the scale and the varigated stripes look bluer.

I had a picture of how I mark flaws, but see that I neglected to load it. Since loading a bunch of pictures is a bit of a pain, I'll just describe it.

The warp had some knots in it and I chose to deal with them in the loom by using Kerstin's hint of adding the repair thread before cutting out the original (knotted) end. After weaving so that old and new ends are overlapped for about 1.5 inches I cut out the knot and draped the original end over the back of the warp. When I finish the afghan I tie the original end in again. This way there is no need to repair afterwards. The repair ends hang over the warping valet. I didn't think to take a picture of that but can if anyone is interested.

Unfortunately a couple of the knots didn't subscribe to this plan and naughtily got woven into the cloth. (Bad pun - sorry!)

Anyway, I keep a tapestry needle handy with a contrasting thread in it and when I spot these miscreants sew the thread through the web in an "X". When I'm rolling the cloth off onto the inspection table I can easily spot these flaws and mend them.




After weaving two afghans it was time to cut in the next colour. Sorry about the photo - it was dark and gloomy under the warp and I see now it isn't in very good focus.

After unwinding the new bout and laying it flat on the woven cloth I cut the old warp and laid it onto the web. Carefully selecting the ends in their sequence (hopefully), I tied the new warp to the old. I tried working toward me and away and haven't decided which is more efficient yet. I'll get more practice when the next two afghans are woven.




This looks a bit of a rat's nest but really the threads are all nicely tied together. I used an overhand knot because I really don't want these knots to come undone. Certainly not while I'm easing them through the heddles and reed!




The tension on the second beam was let off so that the warp could roll forward freely and I stuck a stick in the loops because I didn't want any errant ends wrapping around the sectional dividers. In this photo the knots have been eased through the heddles and I'm about to ease them through the reed.




And here we are - all ready to go again. Unfortunately today was a write off for a number of reasons but I did get the afghan warp ready for Wednesday. Tuesday I've got appointments all day and doubt I'll get to the AVL. But it looks good that I can finish weaving on Thursday or Friday and begin fringe twisting, which will take as long as the shuttle throwing.

Currently reading The Stone Butterfly by James D. Doss