Simple is not always Easy

 

I've been weaving a lot of plain weave lately, in part because I need plain weave samples for a couple of the articles I've been writing.

It has been good to get back to 'basics' and hone my skills.

Because 'simple' does not equate to 'easy'.

I frequently see beginner weavers confidently stating that they are going to begin with  something easy, like plain weave.

Well, it may be 'simple', but it is not easy to do *well*.

Plain weave will show off every inconsistency in beat, especially when woven with contrasting colours in warp and weft.  OTOH, if the beginner can 'master' weaving plain weave well, every other weave structure will be a lot easier when they try those.

So I stifle any comment I might make and let them figure it out.

By the time I got to this, I'd already woven several yards on 2 different warps, all in 2/8 cotton.  With this warp I finished off the 'mystery' yarn in that 'fancy' twill I've been weaving, then grabbed a rather obnoxious yellow cottolin to use as weft on the blue/greens with accent colours of yellow, pink and peach.

The yellow had been sitting in my stash for quite literally decades because it was SO 'loud' I couldn't think what to do with it.  However, I have a friend who adores bright green, the brighter the better, and I thought the yellow would shift the mid-range blue/greens further into the green and be fairly bright.  Since she also likes turquoise, I figured this would be welcome in her kitchen - or wherever.  The tube was full because I hadn't used any of it, not quite knowing what to do with it, so I'm weaving it in yardage.  If she wants to make a table runner or something else with it, she can do that.  Or cut it up into towel lengths.  I'll leave it up to her what she wants to do with it.

Back in the early days of internet chat groups, there was the attitude that if you had a fly shuttle, or lord forbid, a dobby (then a computer assisted dobby), you were somehow 'cheating'.

I pointed out that I had two looms.  When I wove something the selvedges were straight and my beat was consistent.  Unless I did a fancy twill using all 16 shafts, no one would know which loom I had woven the cloth on.  And yes, I do weave plain weave over 16 shafts, like this bright green.

I no longer have a fly shuttle or auto-advance cloth system, but I can, and do, weave plain weave on all 16 shafts at times.

When I'm done with the yellow, there is a half tube of a blue/green, slightly darker than the darker hue in the warp.  That should also look good.  Again, I'll weave yardage, then decide what to do with it.  I might give it to my friend along with the brighter green.  TBD.  OTOH, I like the darker blue/greens so who knows, I might keep them for myself.  

I've finished the rough draft of the first article, and processed the samples for it.  My alpha reader says she has time to maybe read through it today.  If she does, I'll send the file to the editor and ask if she's satisfied with what I've done or if she wants something more.  I'm not sure how many words I've written, but I've got 7 pages (using a large font - because old eyes!)  (Just checked, and I've got just over 2200 words.)

In the meantime I am enjoying weaving this plain weave on the 'fatter' yarns.  But I am also getting antsy wanting to begin using up the white linen.  Hopefully I can finish this warp off over the weekend and start beaming the next.

Summer has arrived, the sun is currently shining, we don't have any particular wildfires bothering us (most are to the north, with one a little bit too close to the south and east, but no smoke from it - yet).  We are hoping that the recent rain has dampened the bush so that we don't have too many wildfires, but the province has issued a campfire ban for the entire province.  I really hope people pay attention and don't risk starting a fire while they are out enjoying the great outdoors.