The Design Process

Day 35: In weaving, as with many other art forms, the design process is not always as straightforward as could be hoped. What looks good on paper does not necessarily translate well to fiber. Colours refuse to play nicely with others, those which were expected to be dominant suddenly exhibiting recessive traits due to mutations in sett or beating. Behavioural anomalies remain hidden until after warping, when the weaver finds themselves faced with something quite unlike their original visualization. These peculiarities needn't be fatal to the point of cutting the warp off the loom unless one is working on a schedule, and quite frankly, if you're weaving to meet a schedule, you should probably take up a different hobby. One of the delights of weaving is its ability to surprise, and very little which comes off a loom can be considered a total loss. In this instance, the two-inch band currently in progress on the bonker loom bears very little resemblance to what I had in mind for the friend who requested a band for her mandolin, and the flaw lies in my interpretation of the pattern, not in the pattern itself. A slight re-thinking, another sheet of graph paper and a serious look at my fiber stash sent me back to the warping board with a different palette. The good news is that this is a short warp which I can finish up in a few days, and I already have ideas how to make use of the piece.