Like Words on a Page

I still haven’t worked at the floor loom, as I’m engrossed in weaving on the RH loom!  For every scarf I weave, I chart 5-10 more drafts, so as soon as a scarf comes off it, another warp goes on.  Only a few of my ideas don’t translate well into a scarf, although they’d be fine as yardage, where too thick selvedges don’t matter.  

In this Handwoven article about Nell Znamierowski, it says, ”For Nell, sampling was the joy of weaving. Making an actual project—yardage, scarf, or whatever was a byproduct.”

I understand what she meant.  I’ve long been in love with color.  Not masses of every color everywhere, but instead, carefully chosen and placed color.  Like words on a page, color needs white space.  They also seem to need at least one other color to *bounce off of* –  colors singing in a harmonious voice.

These days one doesn’t need to warp and weave in order to sample color placement, there’s software to, at least, get the ball rolling by creating a visual. I’ve only used PixeLoom (on a Mac), so I can’t speak to other software or hardware, but PL is easy to use, at least for 2 or 4 shaft weaves.  I haven't yet put the software through all its paces, just using the basics thus far, but, I could sit all day and play with colorways for drafts, working to find patterns that sing to me!

Here’s the first grouping of scarves for sale in my Etsy shop, with a few photos below.  I just finished the 10 listings. One more scarf is lying flat, blocking, and I can't wait to get another warp on the loom, using the squishy, supersoft, extra fine (19.5 micron) merino and heavenly baby alpaca yarns which arrived yesterday!

Along the way, some scarves may be gifts, and one or two may go to a local charity which collects warm clothing for the poor (along with some other wool handknits to also donate). I would like to weave a scarf for my two grandkids, and already have a few drafts created just with them in mind.

I wonder if Nell ever repeated her designs.  Some drafts I may only weave a few times, others please me enough that I want to weave them in many alternate colorways and in different yarns.  But they all came about through play.  And who ever gets tired of playing?  It’s what keeps us young!

Onward, Dawn