Monday, January 09, 2017

Can't Stay Away

Sometimes, I just can't stay away from it. The loom was sitting there naked and alone. Abby said "C'mon, have mercy on that loom! It is cold here this evening. Make it a warp so it feels warm and loved."  (Abby has such a way with words.)

So I said "I usually use bright colors and lots of intensity."  Abby said, "This is a great time to go dark. But don't use much black!"
Weaving threads were gathered - including one cone of black and one of a gray. There is a darker blue, purple, green, brown, the black and gray.  So 60 rounds of  nine and a half meters and I wanted a change.  Abby said, "Add a red, and look for a couple of lighter colors."  So with her permission red, pink, a light blue and maybe one or two more were added. After so many rounds of this we switched back to some of the original colors - but not exactly the same.  Once there were 220 threads wound on,  the warp was tied up to remove from the loom. But this time I took a photo for you!
It looks pretty dark against that white door, doesn't it?

You may see that my warp ties are different colors. This makes seeing where the "parts" of the warp are when it is chained so much easier for me. The long stretches are tied with both dark blue and off white - but that is from grabbing randomly.  The yellow tie is the "choke."  The choke is tied very securely so that the threads don't shift.
I chain the warp as  it is removed from the warping board. Chaining is a lot like a giant crochet chain done by hand.  Here it is chained up and piled up ready to be threaded.
I love those colors.  So before bed, the reed was threaded and ready to put through the heddles.  I do both of those using a stand that allows me to thread at a table in my favorite office chair.  The heddles were threaded this morning and then the loom got dressed. Here is the warp roll at the back of the loom.
And here is the front of the loom - yes, I did weave a bit once it was on there.
What you see at the bottom of the photo is the rod that holds the threads at the beginning of the weaving. I think it looks pretty. 

 Here is a side view of the woven cloth at the beginning of the warp.
I started weaving with a dark blue thread so that the warp colors are dominant. I love how the color used for weft can change the appearance of the warp.  My current plan is to only use the colors in the warp for this weaving. But seriously, it is over nine meters (almost 10 yards!) so I am sure that plan will fall by the wayside before I finish weaving it.

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5 comments:

DebbieB said...

I love it, Gene! It looks great, both the warp and the woven cloth so far!

Jeanna said...

I think this one is turning out to be one of my favorites. Those colors are awesome.

Vicki W said...

Looking close up at the weave of fabric is so soothing!

A Left-Handed Quilter said...

Another really pretty warp - Abby must be proud - ;))

Marlene said...

Beautiful! Your brighter additions really add spark to the dark warp.