JHW 2011 Dishtowel Exchange
To save time, I am tying onto an existing warp, with the same specs as my previous project, "Bronson Dishtowels." This warp is a completely different colorway for our guild dishtowel exchange, to be completed next month. The challenge was to use complements. I surprised myself, as a melony-peach is certainly NOT one of my favorite colors to work with, but I AM liking how it is working out in this particular colorway.
BGH's Trellis, Turned
This loom was set up for summer 2011 demos, beginning with the Maryland Sheep and Wool festival. I turned the draft so visitors would only have to use one shutttle to weave. (More notes about the source draft can be found under "drafts" along with the .wif file.)
The original swatch was sett at 30 epi of 100% 20/2 cotton. Because I was turning the draft, the warp was now a combination of alternating thick and thin yarns. I set my first sample at 2 threads per dent in the 15 dent reed, thinking the thicker yarn would make a difference in the way it packed in. The width in the reed was 8". What was I thinking?! This was way too loose!
The next sett was 3 per dent (somewhat ignoring the fact it was thick and thin warps) for an epi of 45 in the 15 dent. That dropped the width down to 5.25" in the reed. The appearance of the pattern was a LOT better, but I was still seeing ovals, and I was shooting for circles. (Overshot should be woven square.) I ended up resleying 3,4,3,4 etc. per dent for a final sett of 52. If this had not worked, I was thinking to go ahead and try 60 epi (4 per dent), completely ignoring the thicker pattern threads altogether.
After sample #1 and #2, I decided I liked the underside better, so for sample #3 I reversed the treadling. (I treadled the opposite of what I treadled for the first two.) It was at this point I noticed a theading error on the left. Bottom line for me is the sett is always tighter than you would expect!
With loom waste, this set of samples took 17" away from the total warp length. The first sample had 12% take-up in width (the difference between the sample under tension, in the reed, and off loom, relaxed). The second sample had 9% take-up in width. I have not washed these samples yet to determine shrinkage.
10/2 Organic Cotton
Percentage: 100
Double Weave Tencel Scarf
Finally getting around to doing the windows double weave I've admired for ages. Every example I've ever seen, I've loved, whether fine sewing thread or heavy chenille. I'm using stash yarns as this is a "sample" scarf to test for weight and sett. I'm using solid purple for one layer and a series of three small hand-dyed warps for the other layer. Each layer is plain weave sett at 20 which I'm hoping is not too loose. Looks nice so far and the Tencel is great as it isn't sticking at all.
Enjoyed the weaving. This is a photo before the fringe was twisted.
Valley Yarns Valley Cotton 10/2
Percentage: 0
WEBS line of mercerized perle cotton, manufactured in Brazil
