And Now, Twill

 

before compression

 after compression

Yesterday I did the twill example.

Now, plasticine isn't a true example of what happens in the cloth.  Plasticine is, for one thing, not thread but plastic and 'stickier' than yarn would be.

But when trying to upscale to show what happens, I had to make choices about what to use to illustrate the effects.

The thing missing from this example, is, of course, the fact that the threads did not get agitated so that they could move to areas of least resistance.  The plasticine has zero twist energy so there is no hidden 'engine' driving the movement of the threads in the cloth.

Even so, the before compression looks 'thready' while the after looks more cohesive.

When I pulled the 'finished' samples off the plastic, they did, in fact, stay together, not fall apart like they would have done without the compression.

I'm not saying all cloth needs compression.  All I'm saying is that weavers need to consider the role of compression in the wet finishing process, then do what is 'best' for their cloth.

After doing a Zoom lecture last week on wet finishing, I'd like to bring the options and advantages of wet finishing to the attention of all weavers.

To this end, there are the classes on School of Sweet Georgia and Long Thread Media, plus my book, Magic in the Water.  The current book doesn't have the actual fabric samples, but close up photos of the samples.  The original copies of Magic do come available from time to time, usually in weaver's estate sales, and they usually sell for about what the person paid for it.  If you can get it for less, you should buy a lottery ticket.  :D  Or get the book without the samples as per the link above, either pdf or magazine format.

Hard to believe it's been 22 years since Magic was published...