Okay, last post for the day I promise!
I've been motoring on with the weaving. I've finished the two sections from Lesson 3 of Deborah Chandler's 'Learn to Weave'.
The first section gets you to weave three inches of plain weave in evenweave, warp faced and weft faced fabrics. My first attempt at evenweave actually became my first attempt at weft faced. <Blush!> Weft faced is where you pack the threads down quite close to each other. First lesson learned - don't beat too hard for evenweave! So in the picture on the left is weft faced at the bottom then evenweave and finally warp faced at the top. You'll notice my evenweave isn't actually all that even! Oh well, it will get better with practice. Plain weave is also called tabby weave and is where the weft thread goes over and under alternate warp threads. (Weft is horizontal, warp vertical)
The next section is what is called a 2/2 twill. This is where two adjacent warp threads are raised, so the weft goes over two and under two. Clear as mud? Yeah I thought so too. :-) This actually creates diagonal lines in the fabric. Take a look at your jeans, that is a twill fabric. The picture on the left is looking straight down on the loom and the evenweave twill looks just like the plain evenweave. You can see the diagonals on the more tightly beaten section though. The picture on the right is taken on an angle and shows the diagonals better in the evenweave section. I've also woven a looser warp faced bit at the top but as that is hard to photograph, I haven't!
The next instruction in the book is to play! That will have to wait though because I'm tired after my late-ish night and I've got work tomorrow. Sigh!
I discovered some more of what I'd bought at Ally Pally. I'd forgotten about these! (How could I?) Some Schaffer Anne yarn. The Jamiesons of Shetland Ultra that I'm using for my weaving and some size 3 and size 5 pearl cotton for dyeing and ummm... weaving.
I got my copy of Yarn Forward yesterday and I like it! So much so that I've started a pattern, the Timeless Cardigan, from it (sans pockets though). I'm using the plum alpaca I got on eBay a while ago and boy is it nice to knit with! I've done a whopping 12 rows so far, so no pics yet.
A Max pic. Because he's cute!
