Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Weave Fail



There are so many ways for things to go 'wrong' during the weaving process.

The project can begin to go off the rails in the design stage when the weaver makes a poor choice of yarn, a poor choice of density, an inappropriate weave structure or a motif that isn't 'elegant'. Why? Probably because the weaver was tired or distracted or maybe learning a new technique and didn't quite get it right the first time.

In this case I'm pleading fatigue with extenuating circumstances.

The error wasn't exactly fatal. Since it was consistent in my liftplan when I noticed what I'd done - 5 pattern picks separating the motifs in one row, 3 in the next - I sighed and labelled it a design feature.

Then of course there are the 'errors' that the loom creates - a shaft lifts when it isn't supposed to, or doesn't when it is. An alert weaver may - or may not - notice when this happens and fix it.

Lastly there are the 'flaws' gifted by the yarns themselves. And in this case - yes there are two points of failure in this scarf - the flaw was fatal.

Rayon chenille does not repair well when it breaks, especially when it breaks at the fell line, no hint of warning that disaster was pending.
And so I have about 30 inches of 10 inch wide fabric that is going to hit the scrap heap unless someone wants it for 'samples'?

The only solution was to once again sigh - much louder this time - roll the warp forward, thread the errant warp end back into it's proper heddle and start over. I confess that a few explicatives were likely used after the sigh. :O

By the way, there's a new group on Weavolution called Weave Fail. I joined it yesterday. Just in time, from the looks of it.

Currently reading A Woman in the Polar Night by Christiane Ritter

2 comments:

Diane said...

I like the design better than the first - think it will be beautiful. Pieced vest for the fabric? I hate to throw handwovens away.

Lynn Majidimehr said...

It's a gorgeous piece of fabric, why don't you make a fancy bag or other smaller project with it. Another thought would be to use it as a panel in a larger project - like inserted into one side or the back of a vest or jacket. I just save all my samples and extra fabric from the end of a warp so they migh fit into a crazy quilt or other project one day.