I spent some time tinkering this morning and came up with the following profile draft:
It still needs considerable work (the profile draft is on 24 shafts so I need to respace/resize it for 22 in order to weave it as a tied weave) but I really like the image – it’s obviously a bird and the spread-out tail suggests flight. Put it against a flame-colored background and you have a phoenix rising from the ashes.
The plan is as follows:
- Finish profile draft and convert to a turned double two tie weave structure.
- Wind two 12″ warps, one for the 60/2 pattern warp and one for the 140/2 tabby warp.
- Paint the 140/2 silk warp in orange and red. Rinse out and beam on.
- Paint 60/2 pattern warp in shades of yellow and gold and toss over trapeze (in lieu of second beam).
- Thread, sley, and tie on.
- Dye 140/2 silk weft skein in shades of orange and red.
- Weave fabric. Phoenixes should appear yellow/gold against orange/ red.
There is quite a bit of uncertainty in this piece, since I’ve never woven a turned tied weave before, and weaving with 140/2 silk has so far eluded me (lots of broken threads), so I expect lots of snags. Still, that’s the plan. It will be neat to see the sample!
First, however, I have to write a few more sections of the book. I didn’t write anything while I was at Seminars, so I have less than a week of posts queued. So I’ll spend some time working on that this week as well. (Not to mention catching up from a week away!)
Speaking of the book, the latest post is up – this one on what to do if you’re missing some skills that you need for a piece. (Very apropos, since I’m missing quite a few skills for this sample, but intend to do it anyway!)
