I have been making progress, albeit of a slow and not very glamorous sort. Mike’s cold is slowing me down and making me feel “stobbed ubside by head”, although I didn’t get it as badly as he did. Nonetheless, I have been making progress, especially in understanding network drafting. Bonnie and I have been trading drafts and I’ve learned a lot more from her in the process. She has a way of sending a single file with a comment or two that requires four or five hours of thought to really absorb the implications. It’s really interesting. Would probably be simpler were I a more experienced weaver, but with “new eyes” I really have to think hard about simple concepts – building my object model, as it were.
I have also sewn the first muslin for the jacket. Sleeves need to be shorter and more width across the chest, I think. Will have to do a second muslin later. Better two muslins than an ill-fitting jacket, especially with my precious handwoven fabric.
I have dyed the warp yarns and will start winding the warp today. I’ve picked out a threading – basically a variation on the “orange peel” theme I was playing with a few weeks ago – except that, with Bonnie’s help, I’ve cleaned it up a bit so there isn’t as much static in the diagram. Here are .jpgs of my initial attempts (you may have to magnify it in Firefox or IE to get it to display properly – it does not reduce well):
They’re pretty similar in general shape but the rose fashion has a circle in the center and the star has, well, a star pattern. Coupled with different colored wefts and/or different treadlings (see the second and third sections) they should wind up looking pretty different.
So, I have been making progress, but of the very slow sort. I wish I weren’t sick. I’m hoping to get the setup completed (loom threaded, etc.) before I start my contract job on Friday.
