09-04-2022

The warp is beamed and halfway threaded.

09-05-2022

I finished threading the heddles, sleying the reed, and tying on to the cloth beam. I also wove the header and the hem (1-½ inches of plain weave) and half a repeat of the pattern. I am using floating selvedges. This project is not going to be quick, but the treadling pattern isn’t too complicated and the weaving is easy to read, so I don’t think it will become tedious, although I am kind of questioning my decision to put on a 9-yd+ warp. LOL

09-05-2022

I’ve completed a couple of pattern repeats and figured out how to handle the FS on each treadle. It took me a while because at first, my selvedges didn’t look right and I missed the FS quite a few times. I tried a couple of different things, but finally figured out that the standard over when entering a shed and under when exiting works for every treadle. That makes it a lot simpler.

So far I am weaving the first towel, which is going to be a full-sized sample, without using a temple. I am a fan of temples, especially when weaving towels, but for reasons I don’t really understand--it probably has something to do with having a pattern weft and a tabby weft--I am getting a nice, straight fell line and don’t have to beat really hard.

I think that 10 pattern repeats will make my towels a good length, but I am thinking of adding a repeat of the 4th treadling repeat at the beginning because I think it will make for a nicer transition from the tabby hem.

I have made a few errors in this first, sample towel that I will not be correcting because I don’t want to take out all the weaving to get to them. If I had noticed them sooner, I would have unwoven and done it correctly. But since this towel is a sample/practice that is serving to help me learn this pattern and figure out how many repeats, how to handle the FS, whether to add a treadling sequence for symmetry, etc., it isn’t worthwhile to fix the mistakes imo.

Although this project makes for slower weaving than my last two projects, I am really enjoying slowing down, minding my selvedges, and watching the pattern develop.

9-06-22
I have woven about 11 inches of pattern so far, and I’m getting a bit of a rhythm going. Because I have a countermarch loom, I don’t change the tie up because it is a terrible ordeal for me. I cannot get down on the floor, and I haven’t switched to a top o’the lamm tie up. So I adapt the treadling pattern to my tie up, and for this project, the treadling is a little complicated because my tabby tie up is on treadles 4 and 6, and my pattern tie up is on treadles 1, 2, 5, and 7, so my feet are kind of all over the place. But it’s copacetic because I find it easier to adjust the treadling to my tie up rather than changing my tie up.

Speaking of tie ups, so far I haven’t had to tweak any of my sheds.

09-27-2022

I am almost finished with this warp. I wove 8 towels total using treadling II of the Summer & Winter Plaid, including the “sample” first towel, which has a bunch of treadling errors, in the following colors:
#1 (sample) green
#2 lavender
#3 red
#4 black
#5 dusty blue
#6 charcoal
#7 light gray
#8 pale rose (There’s one treadling error in this towel that I didn’t notice right away and I didn’t want to unweave or cut the weft back that far. I marked the row with a locking stitch marker and I may try to repair it when I cut it off the loom. But probably not because it would be a monstrous pain in the ass, and it’s not very noticeable.

I wove them all without a temple and draw in is about 1 inch and my selvedges are the best I have every had, but I did have to fiddle with them a bit.

After finishing towel #8, I knew I didn’t have enough warp left to make a full-sized towel, so I decided to try treadling #1 using yellow for the pattern warp. I don’t like I as much as I like II, but it’s fun to explore the different looks one can get with summer & winter.

09-27-2022

Another thing, while I am thinking of it. This draft works really well with both bright colors and light colors, and would make a great stash buster. The green, red, black, and yellow wefts were all done with leftover cotolin in my stash. Also, using 8/2 for both warp and pattern weft and 16/2 for tabby weft works really nicely.

10-01-2022

I got all the hems turned and pinned last night while watching Broadchurch on my computer. I wove turning threads into the hem, and just finger-pressed into place and pinned. Really, it works so much better for me to turn, finger-press, and pin the hems before machine sewing than to turn and press with an iron. I have a couple of treadling errors in the towels but several of them are error-free, and the selvedges are fabulous for the most part. Also, these towels are going to be quite generously sized judging by the green sample, which has been washed and dried (but not hard pressed yet). Before and after measurements to come, if only I remember to do it. LOL