Subtle

 

This is not a black and white photo.  It is the latest towel warp in the loom and the colours are a pale grey and pale greyed green for the warp, and natural linen for the weft.  The first two towels are with the natural linen, and then I'll switch to the white.  Which should show off the design more clearly.

When I sit at the loom and look at the cloth, I really don't see much of anything.  There is just the faintest hint of...something...going on in the cloth.  In order to get a photo that showed much of anything at all, I had to use a strong side light.  The light washed out what colour there was, but the resulting photo shows how much is going on in the cloth.

What I did was take the Snail's Trails and Cat's Paws block design and render it in point twill instead of twill blocks.  Then I messed about with the tie up, including some plain weave because based on the previous warp I knew that it would beat in too closely if I didn't.

If it looks 'raw', that's because it is.  The reed marks are very prominent and there are areas that will turn into a 1 end huck (one pattern end).  The plain weave areas are thinner and smoother, while the other parts vary in their 3D effects.  I'm very interested to see how they wet finish.  

So why did I put so much effort into making a cloth that shows the design so...poorly?

Because I can.  And because *I* know what I've done.  And it pleases me to do this kind of thing.

In the end, that's really all that matters.  

Weaving is a vast craft.  Anyone who wants to, can weave, and they can make what they like.  What I'm trying to do is to tell people who want to know more, the hows and whys of the craft.  To that end I continue to research and write about the craft.

In the meantime, my books remain available on blurb with my memoir of being a production weaver available (digital only) in my ko-fi shop.  Along with a bunch of tea towels.

There has been some chatter about Magic in the Water online and I'm still a bit amazed that it continues to sell.  But it is still really the only book 'out there' for handweavers about wet finishing.

In addition to Magic in the Water, I also do Zoom presentations, should anyone be interested.  

For now, it's back to the loom.  I want to weave once this morning, then massage at 12:30, which will leave me feeling like I've been run over with a truck, so this afternoon I'll press.  I wet finished the two lengths of yardage from the last warp and I don't want to leave the damp cloth for too long in the bin.