debor048

 The Plan: The Yarn: Hope this works out! We spent a lot of time each summer morning walking with Big Grandpa!  Here's a shot!

I have been doing a lot of thinking about the echo weave color choices and which would be best.  There is great information on pg 38 of Marian's book "Weaving with Echo and Iris."  She says to use 4 colors that follow the color wheel:      1. red, or a color that uses red, for example purple or orange      2.  blue or a color that contains blue      3. green or a color related to green      4. yellow, or one that is related to yellow Marian also says that a combination of 3 analogous colors and their compliment would also work well... of course, this also follows the rules to the above 4 colors if you use them all! Keeping all these guidelines in mind, here are some combinations I came up with while playing in the paint program: My favorite so far was combination #3.  I made a warp using colors from #3.  Marian also suggests grouping your colors in order that they would appear on the...

This is what my sample looks like with a medium blue in the weft instead of natural.  I like it more than the other ones, but still my sample colors are overall gross!  I can't wait to throw a new sample on the loom and get some more work done.  I want to weave this design again, but with a repeat in the warp colors so it mirrors what you see here.  That would look really neat! David likes it!

 This is what I was working on from page 5, with the treadling reversed at the top: And this is the treadling found on page 46, bottom figure: Wow, I really like this 2nd piece!!!  It's so awesome looking!  Again, I'm not fond of my choice of sample colors, but in some other colors, this would be fantastic!  Also, if I included a reverse of the warp design like in the example in the book, it would be even better!  This is really fun!  I like that it's a whole project color-dependent design, rather than little twill designs that keep repeating themselves over and over again.  It's so new!  This adds a whole new dimension to my weaving!  I'm so glad I bought the book! Next I should try changing the weft color and see what happens... On page 38, Marian makes a note about color choices.  She says, "In these weavings, colors float on successive shafts two by two.  An optical color merging takes place by which they [the colors] diminish i...

This is the sett at 30 epi.  I had to cut off the old one and re-slay a reed and re-tie it all on, that is why it looks separated at the bottom....  But the adjusted epi is much better!  I don't feel like I have to be super gentle with my beating the weft in! I really think this weave is neat and has a lot of potential, but I don't like my sample very much.  Good thing it's small and just a sample!  I think this would look neat with some greens, blues, and purples!  That has to be my favorite color grouping, even though I am not a fan of purple, I like it in just the right group.  Maybe a yellow, green, blue, purple would also be neat.  Or better yet, green, blue, purple, and red!  I think I might go that way... but first, I must finish my sample and learn some more! Ever since David was born, I have been taking a picture every single day and then putting it together into the same document.  At one point, it became way too large, and the...

First sample has been started... and it's ok.  First, the epi seems like it could use some tightening up.  It's sett is a tabby sett of 24 epi, and it could probably tighten up to a twill sett of 30 epi.  Second, the light green and light yellow are so light that they almost blend together.  I think a slightly different tone would be good.  But this really is just a sample...  Otherwise, it really does look like it's supposed to!  The weave structure is really neat.  There are some longer floats mixed in with very short threads.  I wonder what it will look and feel like when it's washed up! I might try a tighter sett for the next sample.  Also, it needs some floating salvage threads on each end! A little bit of David showing off in the mirror.  He loves watching himself move and talk!

I couldn't wait to dig into my new book! But I have no idea what I'm doing or what it's saying to do yet! It's very complicated. I decided I needed a base to start, so I found the very VERY basic draft on pg 5 and decided it was a good place to start.  I studied it very carefully, and then I put it into a weaving program: It still didn't make a whole lot of sense to me, so I zoomed out: Very pretty! Then I threaded my loom.  The threading made a lot more sense once I dug into it.  At first, I was a little intimidated by it, but you basically have an odd shaft group (1-3-5-7) and an even shaft group (2-4-6-8).  Each threading starts with the 1-3-5-7, then does the even numbers 2-4-6-8.  Then, it goes back to the odd grouping and drops the first shaft number to the end, 3-5-7-1, and then the opposite, with the same first shaft dropping to the end: 4-6-8-2.  It just keeps rotating around and around like this until it's back to the beginning with only 8 total r...

Towels are all washed and sewn!  Finally, I'm done with these pinkless towels! I love the way they turned out... each and every one of them! I like them more now that they are done and not on the loom... sometimes it happens that way. My friend really wanted the one on the far left, the striped one.  What a good choice! For those of you who bought a copy of my book, you might recognize this little fabric book as a sample project in it!  I guess David thought I said to "eat it" rather than "read it"!  

 I finally cut the towels off the loom.  I'm actually glad to be done with these ones! What did I do with the edges of the very colorful ones?  Well, I just cut off the threads and left it.  Turn your head away if you must...  But I figured that there is enough weaving with each color that it will hold together well enough.  And if I'm wrong?  Well, I'm wrong and I'll know for next time!! Look at the goodie that came in the mail last week!!  I'm so excited to get started!! Look who's using a little chair now??  That would be David!  He's not eating solids yet, but I like to put him in this at the dinner table so he will adjust to it in time!

For this last towel, I decided to go back and do another pinwheel, because it overall was my very favorite design. This time, instead of changing colors every row, I decided to do groups of colors.  I am doing a few rows of the same light yarn and the same dark yarn, and when it runs out, then I change it. I like it the best of all!  The edges are much cleaner and you can still have the fun pinwheel look, but without all those color changes. This time, it's actually relaxing to do these pinwheels!  I was so tired of the color changes, and I'm still not sure what the best method is to fix the edges of the first 3 towels! If the color ends somewhere in the row, then that's ok!  I just pick up where I left off and keep going!  I think it looks neat! And this little munchkin has grown so fast, it's time to bring out the larger sized clothes!  He's fitting 3-6 months now!  But of course, he's nearly 4 months old, so it shouldn't be a surprise! I made him so...

 Forget the weft color changes this time around!   It's so nice just to weave with one color! I like the flow I can get into!  This is one of my most favorite 4-shaft weaves.  I love this texture!  I discovered it 5 years ago when I first got my loom.  I wove a very small ending piece and I have loved it ever since!  I loved how nicely it washed up, and it's something different.  The texture is always so nice with this one! I decided to use natural colored weft so that no one color would stand out.  Here is the pattern for 8-shafts, but it's originally a 4-shaft pattern. These warp stripes make this towel look like so much fun! And this looks like fun, too!