Marking Progress

 

missing from the photo is the small pair of embroidery scissors I use to cut the waste yarn

The past few weeks have been...challenging...

However, I have made some progress.  The photo shows my fringe twisting set up.  The shawls are in a bin so that I disturb them as little as possible.  The web is fragile, and I have the fringe set up so that I can easily do that job.

You can see the waste yarn at the beginning of the cloth.  There is similar waste yarn at the 'cut mark' in order to easily separate the shawls from the next.  That waste yarn also acts to corral the fringe so that the warp ends stay secure until I pull them out of the weaving in order to twist them together.

I use a heavy book to anchor the web so that I can pull (slightly) against the web to keep the two bouts co-operative until they are removed from the fringe twister (on the book for ease of use) and knotted together.

So far I have 3 shawls removed from the loom, one of which is ready for the washing machine.  This red one has one end twisted; the other end I will do tonight while I 'watch' tv.  On the loom I have one shawl woven, one half way woven, and one after that, left to weave.

The first three shawls will get wet finished together.  I don't like to cram my wash/wet finishing loads too full or creases can be set.  Recently reading through a very old industrial book on wet finishing, they make that point, too.  Don't cram the web too tightly in the 'basin'.  Let there be enough room for the web to be able to move around easily.  Because once creases are 'set' into the cloth, it is very difficult to remove them.

Happens I have been asked to write an article about creases (not saying which publication - yet - still waiting for a contract/confirmation - but the topic interests me and if that publication doesn't want it, I'm sure I can find another outlet) and after digging around on line decided the only way to tackle the subject was to make some creases, then try the various hints I found online that suggest they work to remove 'permanent' creases.   

Once I have enough woven to run some experiments (and send the results to the publication to illustrate the article), the rest of the warp will be woven off using that 'mystery' yarn I posted about a couple of weeks ago.  

The yarn from Brassard for the white linen should be arriving on the 11th, so I'm eager to get this warp and the next woven so I can start on that yarn.  :) 

Nothing like some deadlines to get me out of bed in the morning.