This May Take A While

Day 83: This may take a while. The new project is on the loom: three six-foot table runners worked on a rose path threading. The repeat is 22 throws, just slighly over an inch. I warped at 15 dents per inch (i.e., the number of warp threads per inch) and the weft (crosswise threads) is packing at 21 throws per inch. The thread is a 6/2 cotton, natural in colour for the warp and a dark blue-green weft. Amazingly, I completed slightly over a foot of cloth before bedtime last night.

This is the type of weaving project I most enjoy. It takes quite a bit of concentration, as opposed to the brainless "tabby two-step." In fact, my attention faltered for a moment during one session last night and just as I began what should have been a new sequence, I noticed that my last diamonds only had a single eye rather than the two they should have possessed. I picked the work back about eight throws until I came to a position I could identify easily and then resumed at the point where I had gone astray. Mistakes are usually obvious, but you have to be paying attention to catch them.

Weaving Rose Path

Day 60: The weaver's talent is put to the test before the cloth is begun. The warp is measured first, then gathered in a chain or some other fashion to keep it from tangling, and then it is mounted on the back or front beam, depending on the weaver's preference. I like to wind it onto the back beam, and in doing so, I space the threads out over the approximate width of the projected cloth by running them through a set of dividers known as a raddle. From the raddle, each strand is taken through a heddle (a metal or string upright held in the harnesses), and this must be done in careful order depending on what pattern I've chosen to weave. My loom has four harnesses. To weave Rose Path following this particular threading, the strands of warp pass through heddles held in harnesses 1, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, 1, 4, repeated across the width. This is the most critical part of the manufacture of the cloth. A mistake will become apparent as soon as the weaving is begun. After the warp is strung through the heddles, it passes through yet another separator known as the reed. This device is mounted in the beater bar. Then the strands are tied to the front apron and weaving may commence.

The actual weaving is repetitive. The sheds (separations of the warp through which the shuttle passes) are raised by means of  four foot pedals (one per harness). The treadling sequence for this particular pattern is 1,4; 1,2; 2,3; 3,4; 2,3; 1,2; 1,4; 3,4. A good treadling rhythm is similar to hiking up the trail, i.e., step, step, step, step. The shuttle is passed left to right, right to left, back and forth, back and forth. The sound of the heddles in the harnesses is also soothing, a sussurating timbre I can only equate to that of a polite rattlesnake shaking its tail to let you know you know that the sunny rocks on this slope are already taken: "Please don't step to the right. This is my spot and I'm comfortable here." In other words, the work is done. Now just relax and weave!