The next step was choosing a weft.
I have two choices. Both are a mill end lamb's-wool/nylon, quite soft, that I dyed a while ago, one pinkish, one purplish.
I chose the purplish weft to try first. This looks a little wonky, but I actually think it was working fine. This is essentially a plain weave fabric, with every other weft throw being a float that's enclosed by the plain weave ends of one color for a while, then by the plain weave ends of the other color. Since the warp is crammed in the middle of each stripe, the weft is weaving weft-faced plain weave there. In between each strip of color, the warp is spaced waaaay out - in fact, it skips three dents - so there you see the weft.
Then I ducked underneath to check the underside. Oopsie! I know this is not the best photo (you try balancing underneath a loom with an affectionate cat bonking into you), but notice how there are long weft floats showing. There are not long weft floats showing on the top side. There are not supposed to be long weft floats anywhere. Darn.
I think what happened is I screwed up translating the draft (from an article in Handwoven, I don't think I mentioned that) into the sett for this yarn, such that sometimes there's a proper opposite shed between the stripes and sometimes (because I wasn't paying enough attention), there ain't.
So, I need to think about whether this warp is worth saving (meaning should I untie, rethread, and resley?) or should I give up on this sticky yarn and try something else. I'm leaning toward something else right now, but I might sleep on it first.
One of the things I've learned from this is that I need to take the time to do the drawdowns (which Handwoven doesn't show, usually), both for what's shown in the article and for how I want to adapt the draft, so I can be sure I'm getting the effect I want.
First, get out the graph paper (or weaving software) and graph out the draft. Excel is great for this, too. I'm trying to understand a spot Bronson draft and actually working it out is going to make the difference between good and bad.
ReplyDeleteThat said, if it were me, I'd rethread and resley. First, it's the Thrifty Girl in me and second, even though the yarn didn't cost hardly anything, it'll be interesting to see how it turns out. It shouldn't take *that long* to do, and then you'll learn about the pattern and the stripes and everything else. Then, once you've gotten it working, you can decide if you really want to cut it off. And, you'll be in a better position for the next go-round.
Which Handwoven, BTW? Also, how did you adapt it?
Too late. *cue evil laugh*
DeleteHandwoven March/April 2009, p.60, the Ovals treadling - a Peter Collingwood draft, Handed down by Jason and article written by Rosalie Neilson. I've just finished writing down the details for another ago at this draft - thicker yarn (100 ends total)and less fuzziness should make this easier for me to get on the loom quickly. Also, one of the yarns has Lurex in it - so unlike me!
I forgot to say how I adapted it. Different yarns, obviously, which meant a different sett. The sett changed from an odd to an even number (24 to 33) and that screwed up the calculations in my mind. In other words, I should have done the re-setting on paper (which I just did for Try #2), rather than on the fly as I threaded. Hubris tripped me up yet again.
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