Painted Warps Dry

Now for the hard part............ waiting for everything to dry before I really know what I have. You really love the colors when your warp chains are wet, but you really need to wait until they are dry to get the 'real deal'.

I think I was thinking that I would take the fuchsia chain and combine it with the one beside it. It's the purple-ish chain. These were to weave the Bateman Boulevard draft I had picked out. But then again, maybe I will find some other draft to weave before I get them on the loom! Since I have the fustian on the big loom, I will put these colorful chains on the Baby Wolf. I also have some warp left on the table loom for some Theo Moorman.... A happy weaver is one with something on all their looms at the same time!

More Fiber Fun - Painted Warp

As I continue to weave the fustian yardage, I am also getting ready for a dye workshop this weekend. I found this fiber while at Midwest Weavers Conference 2013. I think I will dent it 24 epi. But I "might" sample first.

 

I am winding four yards. I plan on weaving a scarf. Because I will be painting this warp I have tied in in several places to keep it in order. I will loosely tie it so the dye can penetrate all the fibers.  

 

Her is where I have found my inspiration for the colors I will paint this warp. I love this magazine. (It's free if you live in Missouri.) So now I have my threads, the colors I will try to match and the draft. This draft is from the book INTERLACED, page 124. ASCOT scarf by Suzanne Rothstein. I think this boulevard weave will look really great with a painted warp. 

Pause

Before I get to far into these bookmarks, I wanted to share the Bateman Boulevard runners. I wove three versions. I washed them in the sink with dawn dish soap, let them dry a few hours on a towel, then ironed them dry. This first one had a treadling error, so I didn't hem it. It will be put in the 'oops' pile and may some day turn into a purse, pin cushions, book cover......what ever...... The weft color was the same gold that was in the warp. I have a friend (you know who you are) who will tell you that this runner is "orange- I don't care if it does says it's gold". LOL  For this one, I treadled 8-9-10-9-8 pattern treadles for the center area. The pattern shows up better in person.

Now this next one I have treadled the same two treadles to achieve the center area. I think that works better. Looks more like the feathers of the Eagle I was going for. I used a Bambu 7 light brown as the pattern weft. It looked good on the loom, not too sure I like it off. The effect is like a white on white. You have to look at an angle to see the pattern.



This last one is the one I am calling my success. I wanted it for the kitchen table and was afraid the color of the light in the kitchen would cause the cream pattern weft to look dingy. (I still have the old light bulbs in there). But I think it's OK. I treadled it the same as the center runner.

Final Draft, maybe

Boulevard, Six-Thread Blocks

This is the draft I am using to get my table runner and samples for my Complex Weavers Bateman Study Group. I looked back over Dr. Bateman's examples and saw that he usually treadled each pattern shaft twice before moving on. So with this draft I have done the same.

I did not add the tabby picks to this image, it just made it to busy to see what was going on. Also, I can't figure out how to get browns with my weaving software, hence the green. But this give the general idea.

More Sampling

OK, this Boulevard warp is being difficult. Or maybe it's the operator! I just can't seem to get the look I am after. I don't know if it's my treadling or the colors I have chosen to use. I re-read Dr. Bateman's definition of Boulevard to see what I was missing.

* Boulevard is a unit weave.
* It has a tie group of three threads always on shafts 1-2-1
* The tie group can be used to separate the blocks or can be woven in tabby giving a stripe effect
* The six blocks (I am using) are arranged in Tag form

OK, I get that. But how does he work with the treadlings of this weave? One way he says you can weave is as-drawn-in (which I was not doing). So maybe it's my treadling and not the color choices I have made.

So I have woven pattern treadles 8-9-10-9-8  (with tabby).  This is getting closer to what I am looking for.



I am using the same color for pattern weft as pattern warp with a dark brown as tabby.



Recharging



Today's photo post is brought to you by DH (Merlin).

 Still trying out different wefts on the Boulevard warp. What I had in my head isn't transferring to the loom. Wonder if others have this same problem???? I did get one small runner that is OK. But I am looking for 'wow, that's nice' ! To me, my warp speaks "Thanksgiving". So I do have a few months to get it right.

Sampling Boulevard

Sample! Sample! Sample!

I had picked out the threads to use for my table runner, and guess what? Didn't work. (These are the reasons we sample!!)

I found that the pattern weft I had picked out was to thin. It was a 10/2 cotton. I have replaced it with 5/2 cotton 'near' the same color. I think this will give me the weight of cloth I am after. After all, you don't want a table runner to slide off your table during a light breeze.

You can see from this close-up view the cream 5/2 cotton pattern weft. Click to enlarge.

Tag, you're it!

I am working on a six block Boulevard weave with six threads in each block. The first three threads of each block are always on shafts 1-2-1, and are the tie-down threads. The pattern-group of three threads are in point twill order.

This is the list of blocks I am using:

Block A= 1-2-1, 4-3-4

Block B= 1-2-1, 6-5-6

Block C= 1-2-1, 8-7-8

Block D= 1-2-1, 4-5-4

Block E= 1-2-1, 6-7-6

Block F= 1-2-1, 8-3-8

I have arranged my draft in a point twill profile. Dr. Bateman says when the blocks are arranged this way the blocks will be woven in tag form. Blocks DEF will 'tag' the ABC blocks, because they have threads in common.

I am using my 8 shaft Baby Wolf, so I can sit at the front of the loom and thread front to back. I select the six heddles needed for the next block in order and thread them, push them aside, then select the next six. This way I cut down on my threading errors.

Bateman Weaves

Another of my Complex Weavers study groups is based on Dr. William G. Bateman's Manuscripts. This year our Bateman Weaves Study Group will tackle Boulevard, Chevron and Combination Weaves. Edited by Virginia I. Harvey. Shuttle Craft Guild Monograph Thirty Eight.

I have been working with the six thread six blocks that appear on page 29 of this Monograph. Dr. Bateman says the blocks are arranged in tag form. I have kept to his general idea and created my draft. My goal is table runners (and study group samples).

Now for the colorway. My inspiration was from the December 2011 Missouri Conservationist and a photo taken by Noppadol Paothong.

My warp will be multicolored. I am using brown for the 1-2-1 tie-downs and gold for the pattern shafts. The weft pattern color will be the cream with the blue as tabby. But of course, I will have to sample to see if this will work. 

I am off to wind the warp!