Prototype

The sampling is done, and we think I've managed to get the quality of cloth the designer needs.  Now it's time to work on the prototype of her first design.

It's challenging to work with other creative people, especially when they are in slightly different media.  I've worked with a number of designers, some of whom knew more about weaving than others, in which case part of the challenge is to take their vision and interpret it in threads trying to make their vision come into material form (Pun alert - sorry - can't seem to help myself today!)

The fairly complex asymmetric stripe design for this cloth required that I re-set the spools on the spool rack 8 times for the 8 different combinations of colours per one inch section.  Pretty labour intensive for the 10 yard long warp, but neither of us wants to commit to 50 meters until we are both sure that the cloth will be exactly what she wants.

The good news is that the threading is dead simple so I'm hoping to finish threading today and start weaving tomorrow.  But I had exercise class for the first time in about 5 weeks and my neck isn't very happy with me.  However my friend gave me a new gizmo which seems to be helping a lot.  It's a chemical based heating 'pad'.  It's filled with gel and you 'click' a metal tab inside the plastic pad - it heats up to 130F and lasts for 2 hours.  It's shaped so that I can wear it around my neck and shoulders.  My neck is already feeling like threading is going to be a real possibility.  :0

Currently reading Drawing Conclusions by Donna Leon