Tien Chiu

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You are here: Home / All blog posts / Hey, wow! Math works!
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October 5, 2011 by Tien Chiu

Hey, wow! Math works!

I finished the second brightly-colored panel today.  I had calculated (based on my samples) that a 70-needle row was almost exactly equal to a single 23.5″ pick of weft, and that at 64.5 picks per inch, 290 rows should yield 4.5 inches of woven fabric.  And, thus, 11 sections of 290 rows apiece = 11*4.5 = 49.5 inches.

And then I knitted the blank, dyed it, unraveled it, and wove it up.  Finished a few minutes ago.

And behold!

woven panel, 49.5 inches long, exactly as predicted!
woven panel, 49.5 inches long, exactly as predicted!

(In case you’re wondering, the yellow “measuring tape” is actually a ribbon with measuring-tape markings printed onto it, courtesy of Joann Fabrics, which sells it in three-yard rolls.  Handy for weavers!)

I’m also pleased to say that I benchmarked my weaving speed again, and it has actually increased from last time – 1.7 seconds/pick (hand thrown shuttle across a 24″ warp) as opposed to 1.8 seconds/pick previously (and 2.5 seconds/pick when I first measured!).  This may not sound like a huge deal, but you may recall that my CompuDobby IV was originally too slow to keep up with me, and I had worried that even the sped-up version was going to slow me down.  This is proof positive that it doesn’t.  Even if I speed up by another 10% (which is the absolute best I think I could do), I’m certain the CD IV will be able to keep up.  So I am very happy.

(For me, it’s not so much about the absolute speed, as it is about smoothing out the movements and making them more “elegant”, in the mathematical sense – which is to say, smooth, with exactly the amount of movement needed – nothing more, nothing less, and no wasted effort.  But speed is a goal as well – since I weave yardage in fine threads, cutting the time for each pick lets me weave more, faster.)

At any rate, I am now done with weaving the second panel.  I unraveled the blank for the third panel last night, so tomorrow morning I will start weaving the third panel and also start knitting the blanks for the next set of panels.  At this rate, I may be done weaving by the time I see Sharon again, which will be in late October, and done with the project by the New Year!

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Filed Under: All blog posts, textiles, weaving Tagged With: autumn splendor, knitted blanks

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