Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Oops!



Got started weaving this morning with a couple of oopsies. Approximately 900 ends in a fairly complex threading pattern and I had one sleying error and one threading error. The threading should have been 7,8,7 and it was actually 8,9,8. So I cut the errant threads out, tied repair heddles where needed (two on shaft 7 - I could use one of the 8's that were emptied) re-threaded and pinned to the fabric.

And started over. :)



I'm weaving the fabric 'upside down' or 'back-side up' in order to lift the fewest shafts. I got into the habit of doing this when I was treadling manually (pedally?) and after getting the air assist for the treadle just kept on using this approach. I figured what was better for my knee would be better for the piston. :) Maybe it doesn't care, but........

You can just see the start of the pattern on the front as it rolls down toward the cloth beam. The difference in colour is the shadow from the top of the cloth. Hopefully the close up (click on the image) will show it nicely.

For weft I'm using two of the 24 nm strands doubled. Now why, you may ask, would I use two ends doubled instead of some of the perfectly good singles 12 nm? Well, the fact is that I have about twice as much of the 24 nm as I do the 12, and since one strand of 12 plus one strand of 24 seems to be the perfect weft on the 2/16 cotton warp, I decided to use up the 24's on the 2/20 merc. cotton warp.

It's got to be used up one way or another, right?

Currently reading Sisters of Heaven by Patti Gully - the role of three Chinese aviatrix's during WWII

9 comments:

Benita said...

Well, once again, I think I like the back of something better than the front. The back reminds me of old samplers that have faded over time.

Laura Fry said...

Well, that was my intention, but you know - after the cloth comes off I may change my mind. :)

Cheers,
Laura

Unknown said...

Looks like the "Wagon Wheels" pattern?????

Unknown said...

I feel your pain. I am threading up a scarf and realized with 250 ends in that I had started on page 2 of the draft.
The pipes in my work-shed are all frozen! I had laundry in there that I did on Friday. When I took it out to put it in the dryer it was frozen!
My pool filter system is, pardon my language, f*****d bigtime.
We just are not ready for this kind of cold down here.

Sharon Schulze said...

I spent my first day "back" at work actually working from home as a very cheerful contractor came and figured out why the pipes in our new kitchen froze up. Not sure where you are Nancy C. but here in North Carolina we just aren't used to this many days of freezing cold weather, especially this early in the winter!

No snow, though. Snow would be fun since everything would close down and I could stay home and weave...

Laura Fry said...

I don't know that the pattern has a name specifically. I adapted it from an old German weaving manuscript. :)

Sorry to hear about the frozen pipes. We're used to cold weather, but people still have problems. :(

It was -28 C last night and probably close to the same tonight. Thank goodness for central heat! ;)

Cheers,
Laura

Kerstin på Spinnhuset said...

...and in using two strands intead of one at double the weight you are keeping to the Swedish "standard"...

Laura Fry said...

Hej Kerstin,

I think you get better coverage using two finer strands - is this why you use two in Sweden?

Cheers,
Laura

Kerstin på Spinnhuset said...

Exactly!