Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Shark infested waters

Was reading through a few pattern books yesterday when it dawned on me: I thought I'd planned enough warp on this latest experiment to do two projects, one short cocoon thing and one longer coat-like thing, but they need two panels each and i'd forgotten to double the lengths. Ho hum. I guess I get one project! And then as I was tying on last night (at 1:00 aye em, I might add) I realized that the samples I'd woven last year to decide how to set this wool were done in plain weave and my current experiment is twill, so it should have been set closer. Did I set it closer for this project? No, I did not.

However! I am neither dismayed (much) nor deterred! This is simply an opportunity to practice what I preach to my students and tell myself: no one else can see the image you had in mind when you started this project, so they'll never notice the ways in which it isn't like the original plan! They will simply see a lovely piece of weaving and no one will ever know it wasn't what you intended.

Unless, you know, you blab about it to everyone online. Ahem.

Two lessons here: I always think more clearly at 1:00 aye em than at 1:00 pee em, and whenever experiments go absolutely swimmingly, watch for sharks.



As you can see, I went right ahead and started weaving the twill at 10 epi and even though Oh My Goodness I have to beat lightly, I think it'll work. The little zig zags are beginning to appear just as they ought (shark alert?) and I'm hopeful once it's wet finished and all pulls together, it'll be a very light and lovely fabric. There'll be plenty for one cocoon and maybe some leftovers for some of the other things I started cooking up as I laid in bed last night, so who cares about the missing coat that only I know about? Not me!

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