Tien Chiu

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More gradients

My fingers are twitching to get into the dyepots.  Here’s what today’s Photoshop simulations turned up:

Block doubleweave with three gradients in warp and weft, back view
Block doubleweave with three gradients in warp and weft, back view

Here the blue/purple background is transitioning gradually from fuchsia at the edges to turquoise in the center, both along the warp and weft.  The other layer (orange/yellows) has a solid yellow warp, and a weft that changes colors gradually from red to orange and back again.

Here’s the back view (please click for the larger version, the resizing function blends out the colors unattractively in the smaller view):

Block doubleweave with three gradients in warp and weft, front view
Block doubleweave with three gradients in warp and weft, front view

I like this pair quite a bit.

Then I said to myself, “Too much is not enough – what if I did FOUR gradients?”

And of course I had to answer my question:

Block doubleweave with four gradients in warp and weft, back view
Block doubleweave with four gradients in warp and weft, back view
Block doubleweave with four gradients in warp and weft, front view
Block doubleweave with four gradients in warp and weft, front view

Ooh, pwetty!  I MUST try it!

Of course, first I need to dye another 60-odd colors, so I can get those smooth color transitions in fuchsia/blue and red/orange…and finish weaving this warp so I can start up a double color gradient warp…

…and I can’t do any dyeing until AFTER the wedding (T minus 6 days!)…

…so instead, I’m sitting on my hands and saying “MUST….NOT…DYE…YARN!!  MUST…NOT…DYE…YARN!!”

I’m sure it would be amusing, if I weren’t so eager to get into the pots.

Meanwhile, the ceremony is finalized, the music selected, vows written, my little speech to the groom sent off to the officiant…pretty much everything is ready.  So I’ve been burning off my nervous energy by cleaning up the house.  It’s not neat by any means, but it has less stuff cluttering every surface than it usually does.

Comments

  1. Those gradients are going to be beautiful!

    Have a beautiful day on Saturday, and a wonderful trip to Vancouver.

  3. Beautiful drafts! Did you try placing the colors the other way around? All sorts of permutations are possible before the warp is on the loom.

    I think you will see iridescence in some of the twill blocks. It happens with twills, particularly where warp and weft are opposite each other on the color wheel or nearly opposite. Fibers that shine will give more iridescence than others. I wonder what that would do to the look of the finished piece…

    Have a wonderful time with your wedding and honeymoon! Vancouver will be a special time with Mike (not a time without loom or dyepots). You like to travel and Mike is a good companion and more. All the best!
    Bonnie

  4. What I find fascinating about these is the optical illusion of wavyness, or receding center, variation in size of blocks, or whatever happens visually just because of the difference in colors. It adds a lot of interest to the color changes, but sometimes makes it actually difficult for me to see them clearly.

  5. Actually, there *is* a variation in the size of the blocks built into the draft – they get smaller in the center and bigger towards the edges. (You’re not seeing the entire shawl in the simulation – just as much as I could fit into a screenshot!) I think it produces a nice sense of movement, though you may be right about its making it harder to see the blocks clearly.

    And, of course, this is all in miniature on a monitor…need to print it out to see it clearly, really. Or weave it!