Dizzybats!

Day 172: If this doesn't drive you dizzybats, you probably need better glasses! I am now up to the "fun" section of the undulating twill project for the April Weave-Along, "fun" because it is an optic white weft against black and dark grey warp. It so befuddled my eyes that I took to installing a little piece of yellow slicky-cord (nylon cord) at the start of each section so I could tell where one left off and the next began. Without it, my squares weren't turning out uniformly square. The single-throw motifs want to be longer than their heavier, double-throw counterparts, so I am having to pay careful attention to how firmly I beat the threads into place.

Undulating Twill

Day 168: The April Weave-Along has almost officially begun, and several of us have gotten a bit of a head start on the project, including me. The first challenge I faced was that the tie-up in the assignment draft did not match the way I have Max tied up, so I had two choices: get down on my hands and knees again and change the tie-up to one I might never use again, or change the draft to get the same undulating twill pattern. The issue with changing the draft is that there are a lot of "moving parts" (so to speak), and changing one thing means you have to change another. Add to that the fact that I am just learning how to use this weaving software...well, let's just say that added a whole 'nother layer of complexity. My first attempts turned the drawdown backwards, sideways, and many combinations thereof, but eventually I hit on the solution. However, after I had it threaded and began weaving, I discovered my sett was too wide at 20 epi, so I pulled everything out of the reed and rethreaded it at 24 epi. My finished piece isn't going to be as wide as it should have been, but since I was using 8/2 cotton instead of 8/4, I had added additional width to the original to compensate, so the finished piece will be only slightly narrower.