I finished up a pattern that I liked and, with the help of Photoshop, managed to map out what it would look like with a black weft:
You will unfortunately have to imagine the full pattern, but it’s symmetric so that shouldn’t be too hard.
And here is a similarly partial view of what it will look like with a turquoise to fuchsia weft:
The actual piece will have slightly better contrast (click for the larger photo, that helps some) but the overall texture of the color should be about the same. I switched from turquoise at the edges to turquoise in the center so the four-leafed design in the top right and top left corners would show more clearly.
This is proving to be a pretty exciting project – it’s neat watching it unfold. And between Photoshop and Fiberworks PCW, I have a powerful pair of simulation tools.
I very much like the black weft and think that this is pretty much what it would look like woven. I like the concept of the second but I don’t like that big bright fuschia blob at the top. I think in this case the computer is not quite telling the truth about what the woven effect would be. The wove effect would not be nearly so brilliant. I think I would like that better. The first one would be really easy to do. The second one is going to take more thought and work! But I think that one could end up being by far the best. Perhaps both wefts could be darker than the warps? Or somehow slightly different? Perhaps more than two weft colors, or more shades and tones of the two weft colors you are using? As you can tell, I’m quite fascinated!
The time spent with PhotoShop and FiberworksPCW together will be helpful if you ever do custom weaving. I have used this method to show a client approximately what to expect, offering three choices. Without some kind of simulation, it is hard for people to separate the dyed yarns (I was working with more of a painted warp) and the weave structure.
Beware of weak dark yarn. Sometimes it is weak because it has been through too many dyepots, overdyes to get a darker black. This kind of weft can break at the place where the weft turns at the selvages. But I think you have used it before?
You might consider making something smaller than a shawl for WeaveZine if you would rather make the shawls using your 24 shafts. Just a thought.
Bonnie