✋ 🤞 Helping Hands 2: Spring Version

So last time I wrote, I was all ready to thread.  I had a 10 shaft crackle weave in mind.   This one in fact:

The reverse showed as a complete opposite of the front which is nice in a scarf so it can be worn either way.  I took my time with the threading and then I lifted the loom up onto crates so I could  do the tie up more comfortably.  I sit on a low stool to d this as I'm not supposed to kneel on my artificial knee.  10 shafts x 10 treadles meant it took some time to get them all  done. 

Front beam back in place and then I laced up the warp.   Then I went to the back of the loom and slipped the brackets out of the threading holder and slid them to the back of the loom and secured them there. This keeps my thread by thread cross.  Its best to leave them ready in case of any errors or mishaps. Until you are very sure *all* is well.

Back at the front of the loom I then did my usual 2 stick start: weave some scrap yarn 2-3 shots at a time and beat.  Here I did a run of 10 shots altogether with a beat or so every few pics. Then I insert one stick, change sheds and insert the second. Then weave another run like regular weaving.   As you can see it takes up very little warp and there's a nice firm straight edge.   

I advance the warp for my fringe allowance and weave some more shots of scrap yarn again. Then using my project weft yarn, I leave a long tail of 4-5 times the width of the project, and weave an inch or two. Here I did two runs of 1 to 10. Then I hemstitched neatly every 4 warp ends and close to the edge from right to left.

 

I wove up a full repeat .....and then decided that I really don't like it at all.  The pattern is all on the surface, piled up like an old chenille bedspread, plus the floats are too long for my liking as well.    Then when I saw this picture, the threading error showed up. I might have gone slow doing the threading, but clearly not careful enough! There's nothing like snapping a picture of your work to have the camera do the work your eye refuses to see!

So, I cut it all out and removed the weft. Yup, all of it.  Then I pulled the entire warp back through the reed and then the heddles. Then I shifted the lease stick back into the threading brackets again. 

I took the rest of the day off to consider my options. 

I find the tie up the most tedious to do, so I decided to leave the tie up in place and find another 10 shaft draft. Using my Fiberworks program, I took the same tie up and tried different 10 shaft threading arrangements.  Then I found this one, and with my tie up set up, it looks kinda nifty.

I found some interesting weft yarn that has many hints of colour and has 30% alpaca, 70% silk,  I bought from a shop on Etsy called Solstice Yarns when I was on the big yarn hunt.   (The great yarn hunt is for another post to come)

So.... this is where the project sits for now. I moved to the Megado to complete a project there, which also includes 3D printed warping aids but of a different kind.    So that's the next post..... or maybe the great yarn hunt.

I'll close with a spring time picture of our clematis in bloom.  Since this was taken, all the buds have opened up and its glorious!   Also the chestnut tree is in full bloom and the branches are straining with all the weight..... and the bees and hummingbirds are enjoying the heck out of it all!   🐝

🐝  🌺  🐝