The Rejected Twill

Here's the twill pattern I decided not to use. I was trying to shift the warp threads so the ikat design would be something like the letter 'N'. I shifted the twill direction to make it stand out more. After weaving a bit I realized I wan't trilled about this twill pattern in ikat - a bit old fashion.

Ater I wove about six inches with the white ikat design I decided I didn't like the contrast between the white and the dark purple [which looks brown in the photo] so I decided to dye the white - golden yellow. I dyed both the woven part and the next six inches of the unwoven warp on the loom to see if there would be a big difference in the end product.

Once finished weaving, I painted the entire piece with a 2:1 water:white vinegar mix, wrapped it in plastic wrap and put it in my old crock pot.

In the end, the dye took well on both parts and kept most of its color even after washing in the washing machine. There does seem to be a richer golden yellow color on the part that was woven then dyed vs. dyed then woven. Most troubling was the yellow stripe of dark dye in the middle of the piece...

Easy Ikat

Remember that silk that I bought that was not color fast...I over dyed it with some ikat ties. It used to look like this. I shifted the design using the easy ikat method I learned at the ASCH conference in Visalia.

Then as I wove it, I painted the warp while on the loom. At one end I started with yellow orange and gradually moved into emerald green. In the picture, I am close about 80% emerald green. I used liquid Createx dye. I have no idea how the dye will actually take...

I didn't like the initial pattern which was warped in a simple twill so I took it off. At the suggestion of a friend, I tightened the sett and used a finer weft. For the weft in the photo, I am using 60/2 silk in a pale yellow.

I like how it looks. It would make a a nice border or lapel on a jacket.

Sample Three

I finished up my third sample maze. This one is about fourteen inches long and two inches wide. I actually wove the beginning and end of the pathway through the maze to encourage the audience to try to connect the two paths. This photo only shows one end.


I still have some warp left...enough for one more sample. I made some modifications to the pattern of sample three so this upcoming last sample will show the new final maze with the actual pathway throughout. This will be the shakedown to ensure I have no mistakes in the pattern and there is indeed a way through the maze. Then I should be ready to plan the larger piece.

Another Sample

I finished my second maze sample...this one with the walls in blue, the path in yellow and the actual path to go through the maze in orange. The size is about 2 by 8 inches ignoring the fringe.

I kept with the symmetrical look with the entry and exit point on the sides near the bottom of the photo. I used the blue as the locking thread so the fringe is 100% yellow and orange threads. The warp I have on the loom is half pale yellow and half pale sky blue. The yellow warp really makes the yellow weft pop in comparison to where the weft goes over the pale blue warp. Another thing to keep in mind when decided on final colors.

The back side is most interesting too...lovely shades of green, purple and yellow-orange. I may consider doing a reversible piece.

I still have some warp left on the loom so I will try another sample...

Triangles

As promised, here is a sampling of my triangle scarves...there were more...but they were given away as gifts.

I like the ones which are more lacy and light. Of course, this probably has something to do with the weather in Southern California....the fog came in this afternoon for a bit so some of these may still be wearable this season.

I must admit, these scarves did not make a big dent in my yarn stash. I was hoping they would create more room for future additions. But alas they do not take much yarn at all. I could weave some more, but fortunately I have returned the triangle loom so I can now get back to more important things...like weaving mazes...

Back in the Groove

You may wonder what I have been doing...not posting and all. I actually think I have finally gotten back in the groove so to speak. I was in a slump after the weaving conference I had attended and couldn't quite get into doing anything.

Well, that isn't actually true...our Guild had a workshop on harness-less weaving and I learned how to use a triangle loom. I borrowed one from Hilda and proceeded to weave quite a few triangle scarves. I don't think I will actually admit to how many... but really quite a few. I kept wondering...hmmm...how would that yarn work on the loom? Or perhaps this yarn? Since I had just cleaned out and organized my stash...all my yarns were fresh in my memory. I'll take a picture of the results sometime and post.

I did finally start on my group project for our tapestry group...you can see what I am working on here. Anyway, as I started weaving that tapestry I started thinking it might be a fun thing to do on my sixteen harness loom...so I tried it out. Here is the result.




Sorry about the picture quality - its tough to get a good picture while the piece is on the loom.

It's a maze - obviously. One can go in one side and out the other. Pretty intriguing. I am going to play around some more on this concept. But I still like bugs.