Phoenix Rising sample warp, round 2!

I spent Saturday and Sunday mornings (before the workshop) debugging the second sample warp for Phoenix Rising, and finally managed to sit down and weave today!

Here is a photo of the result:

This particular section has a black ground warp and a gold/orange pattern warp. (Turned summer and winter, 80 epi, 120/2 silk ground warp and 60/2 silk pattern warp.) I wove the first section with black 120/2 silk weft, and didn’t like it – the background isn’t dark enough to really “pop” the phoenixes, and the black lines inside the phoenixes give the gold a sickly greenish tinge. So the next section I wove with a bright scarlet weft, giving a smoky red background to the phoenixes, and I liked that a lot better. I’m not sure I like it better than the first sample, though, which if you recall looked like this:

I love the bright and cheery look of the scarlet-and-yellow sample. However, there’s a lot to like about the smoky red background in the second sample. I feel it captures the idea of fiery destruction better than the first sample.

However, I have 11 yards on this warp and have so far woven about six inches, so there’s room for MUCH more investigation! The next 27 inches will be a black ground warp and a red-to-gold gradated pattern warp. I want to try several different weft colors, to see what happens (and which works best!).