365Caws is now in its 14th year of publication, and was originally intended to end after 365 days. It has sometimes been difficult for me to find new material, particularly during the winter months, but now as I enter my own twilight years, I cannot guarantee that I will be able to provide daily posts. It is my hope that along the way I may have inspired someone to a greater curiosity about the natural world. If so, I can rest, content in the knowledge that my work here has been done.
Thursday, July 13, 2023
Ready To Weave
Day 273: An empty loom is a sad and lonely thing, and cannot be left to mope for long. Mine seldom stands bare for more than a few days, and in this case, I had a measured warp already waiting. Yesterday, I mounted it on the back beam, and had threaded the heddles and half the reed before I turned in for the night. Threading the heddles is the most demanding part of the process, or rather, the one which requires the most mental focus. The warp threads must be loaded in a precise sequence to achieve a particular pattern. Any mistakes will show up as soon as weaving begins. On the other hand, threading the reed is relatively simple. Each thread passes through a slot, following the order in which they come through the heddles, one after another. In other words, the heddles set the pattern and the reed controls the spacing. For these towels, I am using a 15-dent reed, i.e., 15 threads to the inch. The pattern will be my favourite summer-and-winter "plaid," worked with a cream tabby and whatever colour strikes my fancy. With two shelves full of options, this should be fun.
Labels:
dressed loom,
summer-and-winter weave
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