8shaft weaving Archives

I mentioned in a previous post that I wanted to rework a section of the weaving between the repeats…well, I found a way that only required one repair (string) heddle to be created in each section, which still was a pain in the tuchas but I went with it. So I had 6 sections of 9 threads each which first I counted out, to make sure I was shifting the correct threads. Fortunately they were in batches of three, so I counted, recounted, found an error, recounted again…then I could move one…..

Satisfied now I had the right threads, I removed them from the heddles, trying desperately to keep them in order, I re-threaded 8 of them and made a repair heddle out of silk and threaded that one last.Then I re-threaded those into the reed.

Once I got started weaving with this lovely green silk, I decided I wanted a darker and deeper and richer shade, like some of the threads I tried in the sampler. I loved how the turquoise came out and also the deep violet and royal blues. I decided to over-dye the silk and some of my rayon cones. I spent a day and a half winding hanks off of many cones and had a dye day in between weaving…I do find its good for me to break things up and do different things each day.

Some Dye Day Pics

I thought I would get to everything but the cotton will get done another day. So be it. I also had 4 t-shirts I had tied up previously waiting to dye with this batch as well so my day was full.

Here is the overdyed silk getting incorporated into my work:

So this is the journey. I am getting faster at walking the treadles, using both feet in order, working the advancing point twill pattern. I still unweave to fix bits, and I still have to count from some starting point to figure out where I am in my pattern…I find a center, either a one or an eight and I count. There is no paper. I have no paper.

Just 1234323454345654 etc….with L and an R between each. I do know that evens go with R and odds go with L and from which side to throw so there’s that. I say all things considered I am making good progress.

🙂

Some things are immediately captivating! Corris weave structure is one of those things. There is a kind of iridescence that forms in the interactions between the colors and it just makes me happy! Technically, Corris a complex weaving design structure devised by Margaret Coe and Amy Norris. There are classes available on line here E-Weave

I took the Corris Effect Part 1 – 8 Shafts class in January and worked with designing patterns for some time and then left it alone to marinate for a bit. When I returned to the software to play with designs again, I started over with re-watching the lessons, and re-designing the basic design line/starting point, and reworking every idea or revising it from the ground up. Suffice it to say this process took a while to get to a point where I felt I could move anywhere close to the loom. I also had to complete what was on the loom. The last piece of a painted parallel warp. I had stalled on completing it for fear of an empty loom and some sadness at completion of about 18 yards of pure joy weaving on this draft with these 10/2 mercerized cotton warps which I wound and dyed. I made several very satisfying scarves therein.

I finished this final scarf:

Final Woven Piece of Painted Parallel Warp, Undulating Twill

Also this whole experience of scarf making left me wanting larger pieces again so everything I was designing now had upwards of 600 threads. Scarves were about 9′, new Corris projects about 20″ !!

So back to the drawing board I go, Fiberworks Silver to be exact. Margaret Coe’s class explains how to utilize the software to get the correct effect but there is still much to be gleaned from trial and error and my own design esthetic and combinations of all of the above. I learn through iterations….

So. I iterate.

and again

and again.

Then I decide it is time to take the plunge and start to commit to a design, and then I see some inspirational images that send me back to redesigning.

This and a discussion with the teacher regarding color shifting and reflections. Not the kind of new age reflections of how this project is a metaphor for my life and how can I move forward with both creating art and creating peace and ease and joy in my life…that will be another post.

Simply reflecting portions of the pattern so that what was once the first of three colors is now second, or in my case second AND third. so I commit to a three repeat design and accept that it will be bigger and take longer to thread and I allow for it to take all the time it takes to make this warp and dress this loom. It will be what it is. It will take the time it takes

Winding warp of 3 colors of 8/2 rayon. 630 threads 25 yards long

This took about three days (6/2-6/4) [Side note: I did take a lot of breaks, snacks, and distractions.] and the whole time I was wondering if my threads would sick together too much to wind onto the back beam once threaded in the heddles. (Spoiler: they DID!)

After winding all this, I took them to the loom and realized I needed to dismantle parts of the loom to add more heddles to a few shafts. Out comes the screwdriver and friends. I removed the top of the loom, redistributed heddles, reassembled. I switched the reed, removed the brake, the reed and beater bar (which holds the reed) and laid them aside. I began the long and arduous task of threading heddles. This took 4 days to complete, 6/6-6/9. [Also, lots of breaks and distractions!]

I have no photos of winding it on the back beam, That was a mess. Some groups of three were problematic, some of them were actually braided together. Winding on the back beam took 2 and half days and that is with not much away-from-loom time. I don’t care. I wanted to get 98% of my 25 yards safely wound on and packed with the contractor paper between and I did it alone and slowly. Front of loom, back of loom, front of loom, back of loom. So it went. It takes the time it takes. I am growing as a person. I love to play with this giant LeClerc!

I threaded the reed. Three threads per dent in 10 dent reed. With three colors in the warp, this was much easier than my last warp! 30 epi for 8/2 rayon according to the teacher, so I went with it! Seems to be working thus far.

Turns out I had one threading error which I fixed after a few inches of weaving. I also have a design area that I am iffy about between the repeats, at the edges of them as it were…may redesign, may not. I have to try several patterns first and see how it reads in each pattern. Plus each pattern I try with and without tabby pics between. Initially I planned to use tabby through out all of this project and made my tie-up to walk the treadles (new for me) so I made treadles 9 and 10 the tabby. Boy does that take some getting used to! For years I had 1 and 10 my tabby treadles and was so on auto-pilot for that. Cellular memory and everything. But I can learn new things! I can adapt, especially to something more efficient.

So off I go, here’s a visual account of my exploration. Click the pic for a larger version