Tuesday, April 3, 2018

Be Consistent




I've said it before and will say it again - more than once, guaranteed.  If you can't be perfect, be consistent.

One of the reasons attempting for 'perfect' is counter productive is that our materials are rarely perfect.  Yarns spun from fibres are reasonably smooth - or as smooth as someone can make them considering that spinning short staple fibres into a perfectly smooth yarn is pretty much impossible.  Which is why yards per pound are generally known to be approximations.

The extreme close up of this twill (with points) shows just how 'not perfect' a cloth can be.  Looking at the twill line this closely it is very easy to see the slight undulations of the twill diagonal.  (Biggify the photo to see the entire photo.)

Am I worried?  Not really.  This slight amount of deviation from a 'perfect' angle will pretty much even out during wet finishing.

Silk is a slippery fibre, especially a cultivated silk such as this is.  Those tiny little variations in angle will slip and slide during wet finishing and by the time it receives the final hard press, it will be extremely difficult to see that there was any imperfection at all.

My job as a weaver is to be as consistent as possible.  And trust to the process to do what needs to happen in the wet finishing.

Just another reason I say that 'it isn't finished until it's wet finished'.  If 'hiding' or reducing those tiny imperfections isn't reason enough to wet finish, add in developing the hand or drape of the cloth and making it shine would surely be the convincing argument!  IMHO, of course!

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