Sunday, March 6, 2011

Networked Twill Free Form Weaving Part Two


I loved weaving the first Free Form scarf I did in February and so I searched through my stash and found some 2/20 silk that I had dyed sometime last year. I dyed this silk by immersing it in a dye bath. Quite different from my ‘smooshing’ method on Free Form One where I work splashes of colour into the wet silk with my hands.I decided to use a tone on tone colour way with this scarf and it didn’t take me long to see that the single, slubby silk in bronze was not going to work!This was the wrong weft to use on two fronts, colour and texture! The colour masks the pattern and the slubby texture just made it look sloppy! With no remorse at all, I cut it out.I changed my weft to 2/10 black Tencel and was immediately much happier!Although you can’t see it, I tried to tame the frilling on my selvedges by adding 6 extra warp threads in tabby on each edge. Although it was a good idea, it still didn’t quite tame the tendency of the selvedges to torque as the pattern threads came close to the selvedge.I’d better tell you that I steered you wrong in my last post about this pattern. I said that it was treadled network twill; what was I thinking? I just didn’t look at my paperwork I guess! In fact these scarves are both treadled Taqueté or in other words in Turned Summer and Winter. Taqueté is typically treadled using repeating shafts alternating with tabby picks (41424142 51525152 for example, with tabby being 1 and 2). Mea Culpa! Thanks Ngaire for seeing my mistake, seems the apprentice has learned very well indeed!As I wove this scarf I again took liberties with my treadling pattern and went with repetitions of the parts of the pattern that please me at the time, so although there is continuity, the scarf has no pattern repeat. What a wonderful way to weave!I’ve accepted and enhanced the frilling edges and I’m more than happy with the results. I would weave this again in a heartbeat! I love the way the slight variations in the rust colour come through randomly in the warp, and the pattern pops these variations to the surface without showing streaks of colour.
I can't wait to do it again!

6 comments:

Ngaire said...

Hi Mum,

In the pictures the scarf looks a little orange but in real life the variations of rust and brown are gorgeous. The pattern really enhances the bark like colours. And what wonderful photography!

Ngaire

Lynnette said...

Hi Peg,

Sorry if I wasn't clear with the description of my treadling. Esentially you just treadle as for Summer and Winter, so it's pattern treadle A, then tabby a, repeat pattern treadle A, then tabby b. You repeat this sequence moving through your pattern picks as often as you like, just ensure that there is a tabby pick between each pattern pick. In my case I had 8 pattern treadles tied up and 2 treadles to accomodate the tabby.

Susan said...

I love the colours! The black certainly makes the colours pop!

Its wonderful to know that we can be more free spirited on the loom. There are times when the warps, drafts and organisation of the equipment seem to force you to operate in tight confines. I can understand the appeal of Saori and methods such as Theo Mormon.

This free form summer and winter is a nice alternative!

Susan

Peg Cherre said...

Thanks for that info, Lynnette. I'm weaving my first summer & winter as we speak. I'd wanted to learn how for a while, and figured I'd have the impetus if I joined Su Butler's International Napkin Exchange. I have my sample and 3 1/2 napkins woven. I do like the results.

My preferred loom is my lovely 4H counterbalance. I also own an 8H Macomber that I haven't had as long and am not as comfortable with, so I haven't done anywhere near as much experimenting/exploring/learning on it.

I do appreciate your information.

Unknown said...

Love this one!

Lynn Majidimehr said...

Beautiful Scarf!