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Thursday, May 20, 2010

Confessions of a Notorious Non-Swatcher

I have never been much of a swatch-maker.  If I start knitting something and don't like it, I rip it out.  I don't keep records of my spun yarn.  I don't try to figure out twists per inch - I just decide if I like it or not.

This habit (or non-habit) is not going to serve me very well as a weaver.  Could it be that a reformed attitude is in order?

Although I am getting much faster at warping my loom, it is still time-consuming.  Once the loom is set up, I want to weave.  If after an inch of weaving I decide I don't like what I'm seeing, I am in trouble.  It is no easy task to "rip out" a warp and start over!

So, I am sampling.  Check out these two samples/practice mats.  I used the same three colors in each of the projects.  In the runner I used hot pink for the weft.  In the place mats I used bright turquoise.  What a difference.  (I also made fewer mistakes in the placemats - learning curve!)


For plain weave items I can sample on my Cricket loom (another good reason to have one) but for bigger, more complicated projects I'll have to sample on the big loom.  Can do.  Can do!  I can see that in the long run it is going to be worth it.  I am going to reform.  At least as a weaver!

2 comments:

  1. Hi Kristine! I'm loving your blog! I've finally had time to "catch up" so to speak with your doings. I'm SO HAPPY you've learned to weave. I'm trying to avoid it (after a decade), but it's calling me back––which brought back a memory.

    I worked in a studio weaving color samples for Woolrich. Since they used primarily a 2/2 twill, when we finished one sample, we would cut it off the warp, then tie the next warp on using square knots, and crank it back.

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