Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Towels - Again



I got the tea towel warp beamed this afternoon. There were a few Operator Errors involved in this project - already.

For some reason it appears that I can't add. I'd intended this warp to be about 23 inches wide. It's 25.

It shouldn't be that difficult, but there are days when my brain simply can't do sums, it would seem.

The stripe is a very simple Fibonacci sequence. 3,2,1,3,1,5 and mirror. How much more simple can that be? 5 times 5 is - yup - 25. So don't ask me how I got from the intended 23 to 25 without noticing!!!

Anyway, they will be generous sized tea towels. And I'm happy enough with the striped design.

I also had some oopsies during beaming. I never really learned how to use a warping valet (or trapeze, as Kati Meek calls the tool). I only ever saw one in a studio in Sweden, then came home and tried to work out the kinks myself.

Mostly it works well, but when I'm using finer threads I sometimes run into difficulties. I'm sure there must be all sorts of finesse I just haven't figured out yet. I may have to invest in Kati's book and see what subtle things I'm missing. :} Something else to put on my shopping list for Convergence.

Anyway, it took about 90 minutes to beam the 11 meter long warp of 2/16 cotton so all in all, not so bad in spite of the OE's.

Time to go thread for a half hour and see how much I can get done before leaving for the spinning drop in this evening.

4 comments:

barbara said...

One of my weaving friends gave me an oversize tea towel; and I love it. It is very soft, not woven tight and is wonderful to use. I keep thinking I might do something like what she did ....... as I enjoy my oversize tea towel so much!!!!

Weaverly yours ....... Barbara

Laura Fry said...

I like bigger tea towels because if you dry large pots and pans, they work better than the tiny little towels you buy commercially. :)

Cheers,
Laura

Tina J said...

I love the color of the tea towel! I am intrigued with the afghan, and changing colors in the warp part way thru. I could do that when I sectionally warp couldn't I! Just load on a smaller amount on certain sections and redo them when I am ready for a change!

Laura Fry said...

Yes, exactly. Since I'm warping essentially full width, the 'extra' yarn had to go onto the second beam, but if you were only doing a partial width you could easily do it all on one beam. Just make sure to leave room for the additional colours.

Cheers,
Laura