It Takes a Village

 

Twist by Michelle Boyd

I am privileged to know many people in the weaving community, but also?   The spinning community.  Because we are all one community - a blend of people who study the nature of fibres and making yarn, and people who use those yarns in various ways.

So when I hit a problem with my samples, I started asking folk for their take on the issues.  

Yesterday I was able to connect with Michelle Boyd and throw my conundrum at her and see if my thoughts were anywhere close to what I was seeing in my cloth, and if the explanation I had worked out (so far) was anywhere close to reality and what was actually happening in the cloth.  Because I was seeing some things I was having a hard time explaining.

We talked for a long time, not just about my actual problem but connected over other things.  And while it was tiring (for both of us, because reasons), I for one felt like I had learned more about yarn and the dynamic of working with it in a loom.

I was able to target another option I had planned, but hadn't actually woven yet, so once the sample I was working on was done I re-jigged the tie up and started what will be, I hope, the last sample in this series.

Do I have concrete conclusions?  No.  I have observations.  I will wet finish half of each 'sample' to retain a loom state sample, then toss the rest into the washing machine (along with a small batch of tea towels). and then press them and spend a couple of hours one day looking closely (VERY closely) at the comparison between the loom state/wet finished, then the various samples I wound up weaving.

In the meantime I have scheduled a palate cleanser by putting on lots of warp (in case I needed more samples that I had estimated) - enough to do a small run of tea towels.  And then I'll do the second set of samples for the article and - building on what I've learned doing this first set of samples - hopefully expand my knowledge further with a different yarn.

So far every article I have taken on for WEFT has expanded my knowledge.  I'm hoping to keep learning as I keep weaving.  

The time so short, the craft so long to learn...