First things first! This was our front yard this afternoon. After it was dark, the snow kept on falling! We are officially stuck and can't get out of the driveway. Oh, well... we'll dig out, or call for snow clearance help ....our driveway is 300 feet long. Happy Solstice!I decided to put a narrow double weave sampler warp on Lilibet ( my Louet Spring loom) and the stats are:
22/2 cottolin, 20 epi (double 40 epi) 10 inches in width, in colours teal and purple
10 dent reed, 4 per dent; light on shafts 1 and 2 and dark on shafts 3 and 4
Warp length: 3 yards
The goal is to practise two layers, tubular weaving, and closed on one side
My previous experience with DW is limited to round robin workshops and no full projects on my own looms at home. I just haven't had interest to try it until now. So here are some pictures of the project going on the loom:
Threading the built in raddle, which needed 8 ends per slot to spread it to the proper width
After I lace the rod into place, it's ready to wind on!
I must say that warping on the Louet is pretty darn nice....it just rolls on as you follow their steps. The resulting warp has beautifully even tension.
Here we are ready to go! I got under way and it was going well. I had my treadling plan all worked out and toodled along. The first one was just to get the feel for the process and so the second was my 'serious' attempt. I got it all woven in one session for an even beat and I was feeling good. I wanted it to be a balanced weave at 20 ppi. It measured 18 under tension, and 19 off tenision. So far so good! Now I cut off and plan to finish ends and wash it to get the 20 ppi.
I turned it over and found this:
How had I missed that?? Also the ppi on the layer was now off with such a thick mistake on the bottom layer. I decided that this whole thing was a learning experience even with the 'mistake' so I'm going to go ahead and twist the ends and wash it and see if the earlier areas do have a balanced 50/50 weave. So I still have half the warp to work with and will do a third. But I'm going to try using a mirror to periodically check underneath. I also understand that I may need to do another warp as I work my way through this 'DW' Study.
The DW sampler is on a large sheet on insulation board (left over from a project) and I have marked it in one inch increments. I attach my handwoven to a given line and pin securely. I then use my fringe twister and slip a darning needle into the over hand knot at the given length line. My knots are all even across! I don't do a final trimming of the tassles with a rotary cutter until after the washing and pressing. I'll show you that at a future time with this sampler. The fringe twisting is still ongoing.
I have some great news to share! We have a new addition to the family. I had a delivery to my door on Friday by UPS and my new table loom, Louet's new Jane loom has arrived safe and sound just ahead of the major snow storm. She's assembled and now is waiting for her additional heddles to come via the post before the shafts are added and adjusted. Her debut will be as soon as she is appropiately 'dressed'.
So if you are buried in snow like us, take heart... the daylight now gets a bit longer with each and every day. Its all going in the right direction.
