more moiré

Finished another sample, using 4 colours

Above photo shows the back of the warp but this is the right side

and here, as I saw it, when weaving.
Looks like some warp tension differences looking at the green block :-(
I will not be able to have a good look until it's cut off the loom but that will have to wait.

The first 3 block sample there were parts that had the same shafts lifting in some colours. So in this 2nd sample I looked for different shafts lifting at each pick. By the way, this was 492 picks to weave. The previous sample 300. Only the centre part you have to juggle with the 4 shuttles. I stuck to an order. So here, the first block was purple and that was my first colour all the way, next adding dark blue, that was my 2nd colour and the green was 3rd. When the purple was finished, the dark blue was first to weave, followed by green.

The next part of the workshop is weaving moiré twill, so I will be studying this before I continue weaving.
But first I have to go and look after my sick granddaughter tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing her but not for this reason....

juggling shuttles

In the middle of a sample, juggling 4 shuttles!

This is what I have in front of me :-). Mind you, one (weaving the warp colour) is on my lap and the block colours are on the weaving. One in hand and the other 2 wobbling on the weaving. I'm sitting on a stool so no space for shuttles on a bench.......

And this is what it looks like underneath. I'm just over halfway weaving these 3 blocks.

And here this sample is finished. The 3 blocks are a combination of 3 of the patterns I wove earlier, that I liked best. Looking at the photo (in green block most visible), I think I might have made a mistake in the lifting order of the shafts. And I thought I had a good system of keeping track :-(
May be I'll make another one with different colours.
But the dobby loom is calling too......

1st samples moiré

I've finished the first samples and cut them of the loom so that I could have a good look at them as looking with a mirror at the back is not the best way to judge what you are weaving.
It's washed and pressed, here the pictures:

This is the front-side, that what you see when weaving.
For both photos: top is as it came of the loom, bottom after washing and pressing. Colour of weaving of the loom is more as is.

This is the back-side, the right side. Now I can have a good look at all the different patterns and I have a few favourites. From right to left, I like 2, 4, 6, 7. 1 and 3 are the same but with 1 I made a mistake in the weaving sequence (I did not yet understand what was happening and what I saw was that I liked part of what I was weaving and just repeated that, resulting in stripes)

I will tie on again and start to play a bit, now that I have seen how the weaving looks. Just wishing the weaving would go faster, but with 3 shuttles......
I will use both colours again. I thought the red/green was to much contrast but now that I see it as is, I like it. But blue/green I like too.

other activity

in my posting here i mentioned having joined facebook.......
well, i've joined a fitness group on facebook
it runs for 12 weeks and i've finished the first week now and lost just over a kilo ;-)
lots of muscle aching but i feel great for doing it
my aim is to feel fitter, last year i did not feel well at all

here i get the encouragement to keep going and also keeping a log of what i eat and drink, working well this group!
left out the wine this week but will enjoy a glass in the weekend :-)

moiré

another view of my slow progress

difficult to photograph but at the back you can see the different patterns coming along :-)
have a good weekend all

flowers in january

just had a look what is happening in my garden. surprise, flowers in january!

 lavender in winter :-)

 roses, this one usually flowers well into december when the frost will make an end to them, not this year.

 more roses

another bunch of snowdrops, the earlier ones are now finished flowering.
bulbs are already coming up: tulips-daffodils-spanish bluebell

moiré

i've been weaving some samples. it's slow and i cannot see what it will be like whilst weaving (photo on the left) as the front is underneath (photo on the right).

the first sample (bottom of the photo) i wove wrong as i continued with a part that i thought would be more interesting but it's the combination of the whole pattern that creates the moiré effect. now it just looks like stripes. the last woven sample (top of the photo) is the same pattern but woven as it should have been, woven with other colours and now it shows the pattern that the first one should have looked like. the middle sample is another pattern. i have several patterns to weave. but it's slow and i have a bit of a cold. the temperature is now much more like it should be this time of year, we even had some hail tonight.

dancing with light

blown away by this
thanks fiona for the link!

selvedge

selvedge magazine in the post today: the hollywood issue
looking forward to a good read tonight

inspired by examples about moiré weaving at my guild today, i'll have some fun with my own moiré now

new garage light is working, but some more tidying to do now, so the car has to stay out another night

detours away from the loom

the moiré is still the only warp i have made so far this year
tomorrow is guild day and i will be working more on this warp there.
the dobby loom is still empty :-(

yesterday was time spent with the grandchildren, going to the dentist with them ;-)
today i have a friend sorting out my garage light that has not been working for the last few weeks, so will be nice to have good lighting there again.

scary undertaking, joining up to facebook last night, after having said for years that i would never do that.....
but i want to join a closed group for the next 12 weeks, so, unless i joined facebook i would not have been able to sign up to this group. more on this later...

i now have time to think about a warp for the dobby loom. i have to many options and unable to make a choice. still to connect the new laptop to the interface, may be i should start with this....

job done

something that was on my mind for a long time was getting the garage tidied so that my car can go inside again. over time the floor seemed to have filled up with stuff.
this afternoon i finished clearing up and the car is back inside again :-)

i can now think about a warp for my dobby loom. so many options i just do not know where to start. tomorrow i'll go and see the grandchildren, meeting them at school. so, not a lot of time that day but i can make a start. still have to install the new laptop to the loom interface. and another thing i will have to do is go inside the box as some of the shafts where not working fully, so need to check it out before i start weaving again.

the weather is still warmer for this time of the year. it's only january so a lot can happen before it's springtime again......

more progress

Warping was finished by Sunday and so have woven a tiny bit, doing the homework for the guild meeting.

It is in fact clasped weft weaving, this bit. Had to make 2 designs with lines on transparent sheets and merge them together.
A week on Friday is our next meeting, see what we'll do next with the moiré.

I have added a light to the Jane loom, this has helped with the threading. The only place I could add a light was at the back of the shafts.

For weaving it is not really helpful as the shafts and the handles at the front block the light when weaving.

With the threading the handles were up, so not obstructing the light. The light is clipped on, so when taking the loom with me I can just clip the light away from the loom.

Another thing I have been doing is putting up some shelving in the garage. Wow, I did it. All by myself.

Now to sort through bits and pieces and fill the shelves; hopefully my car will soon be back in the garage.

progress

I found an inexpensive 2nd hand laptop that was just right for my loom. Today I will try if it will talk with my interface, meaning if I can find the correct port on the laptop ;-)

I'm also winding a warp for Jane and over halfway, so should get this finished today and see how far I'll get warping the loom. It will only be 20 cm wide and 6 th/cm, 8/2 cotton for Moiré weaving. I made the warp short as I do not want to be stuck with a long sampling warp. We have another guild meeting in 2 weeks time, so will leave a bit for that meeting.

day out

Yesterday we went to an exhibition in Rotterdam. Very interesting, just in time before it closes this weekend.
Syb enjoyed it very much, this was at the end of the exhibition ;-)

I only had my phone with me, so no clear pictures from the exhibition but this next one did come out ok

We went for a walk in the sun after lunch, I love Rotterdam and it's architecture.
He has gone home now, it will be quiet.

Time to think about the loom laptop problem and making a warp.

a day in the life of looms 2014

Happy New Year!
Joining Meg with her idea of showing what is on our looms on the first day of the new year.

For me it's a sad state: nothing on the looms
You can see both the magic dobby and the jane (folded up on the right side in the photo) without any warp

Still holiday time but after Friday when grandson is going home, I will be able to turn my attention to the looms. The problem of my laptop not wanting to start up is not yet solved, so unable to operate the dobby at the moment anyway.

I have not mentioned my other looms: vera bross, glimakra, thumm and leclerc. They have been idle for so long now and snowed under, I've almost forgotten about them. I will have to make a decision as to what to do with them all. Start using them again or letting them go to new homes where they will be used.

I'm looking forward to the new year: 
like using up yarns from my stash and putting into practise what I have learned and may be setting up some new challenges

A year ago I would not have thought it possible for me to translate a book, but I did it, so now anything is possible! ;-)

Happy 2014 Weaving to all!!