First Sample
Weaving makes me feel more creative than knitting. In knitting, I’m generally content to knit other people’s designs. I pick my own yarn and colors, and I’m fine with that.
In weaving, I look at other people’s designs and think of how I’d use that weave structure for something else. Weaving projects come to me without asking. I just don’t quite know how to implement them yet.
For this reason, I’m trying to learn how to weave the long way. I plan to go through nearly all the exercises in Deborah Chandler’s excellent book, Learning to Weave.
Obviously, I’m spending a lot more time weaving than I’ve been knitting and spinning. I cast on for a new sweater (and it’s not one out of the new magazines). More about that later.
Here’s the first Learning to Weave sample. I briefly mentioned it in my first post about the loom. The assignment is to weave plain weave and twill, trying different beating strengths. Remember that this is the very first thing Deborah Chandler expects you to have ever woven. (I’d warped and woven on a four-harness loom twice before, and had rigid heddle experience, so I was coming into this with a little more behind me.)
- Date: 7/19/2006-7/20/2006
- Warp Yarn: Halcyon Yarns Victorian 2-Ply Wool in dark green (#133) and light gray (#136)
- Weft Yarn: Halcyon Yarns Victorian 2-Ply Wool in dark green (#133), with dividing lines in medium gray (#323)
- Sett: 15 epi (I thought it was 12. I measured the reed after I wove the project.
). The fabric is, uh, very sturdy. - PPI: About 15. The assignment asks you to beat in a couple of different ways, so it varies throughout the piece.
- Finishing: Overhand knotted fringe. Handwashed piece in warm water and Eucalan.
Lessons learned: since it’s been a couple of weeks, I don’t remember any particularly vexing problems with this sample. It was easy to warp and easy to weave. I guess did learn that I should verify the dents per inch in a new reed.
