Monday, October 26, 2015

Working In Series


I like working in series.  Yes, that means that I am doing essentially the same thing, over and over again, with minor tweaks.  It means that once I have found a design I feel is working, in a general way, I can then begin making small changes in order to see how they affect the whole.  

In a stripe sequence such as this, I can change the colours, the values, the weft yarn.  All such changes are tiny.  Many people would get 'bored' but I find it endlessly fascinating how such small changes can make such a large impact on the cloth.  

But then I'm also the person who finds it challenging to weave plain weave, so take this observation for what it's worth.   ;)

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Glad you are moving out the chenille. It has a timeless quality. I personally never get bored weaving tabby as I regard it as the consummate weaver's challenge. If I had to have a "final exam" for a weaver it would be to weave 10 + meters of flawless tabby.

amyfibre said...

I agree. I've just stripped my "towel loom" of the bumberet threading that I've been using for the last five years (about 250-300 towels in warps of 14 towels per). Just at the end of this year's production run did I start to get a wee bit bored. I'm going to switch structures for a couple of years, but expect I'll be back to bumberet at some point in the future since it's so flexible for color exploration.

The other thing I've noticed is that items sell better if there are more of them. Not more identical items, but more in a series. If I have just one of something, it can languish sometimes. But if there are a bunch of similar, but not identical, somethings -- people flock to them. I think it's something about the psychology of choice, but not too much choice? I don't know exactly, but I've seen it enough times that I accept it as truth.

Last comment -- you're inspiring me to go back to chenille and build some inventory next year in that department (and use up my stash). Based on what I saw at the Guild sale last weekend, chenille is enjoying a renaissance, so here's to good sales for both of us!!

Laura Fry said...

Amy, I find producing a series makes displaying my work easier. :) And changing the colours in a stripe sequence is always an exercise in the study of colour interactions.

Margaret, after 40 years of weaving, I still don't quite get plain weave 'perfect'. But I keep trying. Because, well, it *is* a challenge. ;)

cheers,
Laura

Anonymous said...

I am a beginning weaver (very beginning), and I'm glad to read your and others' comments on plain weave. A long time ago, I tried my hand at pottery, and I wasn't all that bad at it. My teacher said that throwing a cylinder is the hardest thing - if you can throw a perfect cylinder, you can throw anything. (I never could throw a perfect cylinder, though I got close.) I have taken that bit of advice along with me in whatever hobby I pursue. In the case of weaving, I had thought if I could produce a perfect plain weave, likely it would at least be a very good foundation for gaining the skill to weave anything else. Sounds like that plain weave is to weaving as the cylinder is to pottery. :)

Laura Fry said...

That is a very good comparison. Lots of crafts have something about them that, at first glance, looks to be simple but require a high level of skill to accomplish. In weaving plain weave is probably the base for all else to develop from in terms of skill set.

cheers,
Laura