Saturday, July 10, 2010

Collective Wisdom

Chandler, Osterkamp, Black, Tod, Piroch, Davison, Lundell and Dixon are names that spark a nod with weavers around the world.  They became my BFFs this week as I tried to problem solve the panel I'm weaving for the afghan project.

  Yes, I showed the beginning of my weaving last week, and I actually thought I would be miles through that warp by this point.  But, I've been reduced to tears, and my confidence is sadly shaken by that first panel.  My floating selvedges were the first to go...very quietly...no explosion...just hanging in the castle.  Tension was a problem, but I persevered and continued to weave.  I consulted my new BFFs and took their words of wisdom to heart.   I concentrated on my beat and making sure I left more weft in the shed.

Before I knew it, I had more broken threads just hanging in the castle.  It wasn't just the outer threads, either! 

  The good news is that this is the sample panel and it's my thread that I'm weaving.  I'm almost to my target length, and I'll cut this off the loom to wet finish.  My target size is 13" x 16" finished, so this will help me see what adjustments need to be made.

  This will also allow me to re-tie the warp and hopefully correct the uneven tension.  Maggie suggested that I use a smoother thread for the floating selvedge, such as an 8/2 cotton.  I'll add that to the back of the loom and rethread the mutinous minions before I tie it back to the rod.

  My horoscope for today said, "Keep your wits with you and just focus on what's right in front of you.  Record what's going on so you can review it later."  How did it know?????  (Can you see me slapping my forehead right now????)  It did forget to say to keep your fingers crossed and hope for the best.

  I just want to add that after weeks of NO RAIN, we got a wonderful shower yesterday.  We had plans to go to the free concert at Bissell Park last night to hear a local band, Soul Connection, that plays soul, blues and oldies.  We went to high school with one of the guys in the band, and this group has played at lots of local events.  After putting the lawn chairs in the trunk, we headed off to one of the new grills that opened up recently for dinner before the concert.  When we finished eating and stepped outside, it was still raining like crazy.  So....no outdoor concert!!!!  We took a drive instead!  We saw 1 buck, 4 does, a mama turkey with her brood, 2 rabbits, a coyote and a big beaver dam.  Oh, and we saw a BIG rainbow that had a complete arc.
  So......back to problem solving after a trip to the Farmers' Market. 
I wish you trouble free weaving.....
LouAnn

5 comments:

Bonnie said...

Oh, my. If you are having that much trouble, I just can't wait to start my squares. Hang in there you will get it figured out.

Maggie said...

Stupid cotton flake warp! I cannot WAIT to be DONE with it! By the way, cursing does NOT help, sadly enough.

I love the phrase, "mutinous minions." I might have to borrow that sometime.

Tina J said...

Have you girls tried using a temple?

Maggie said...

I'm almost done, one more color to go, which Pat just finished. My email's not sending right now--hasn't for a week--but one of us needs to tell her to NOT rewarp and do it over! It simply isn't worth the aggravation! Who cares if her squares have "design elements?" Not me! Adds charm!

Theresa said...

Temples are great and can make quite a difference! But I'm wondering if it isn't the cotton flake. I have some but its saved for weft only.