Decision About the Random Stripes

I laid out my thought process in my last post, which was helpful as it gave me a chance to organize my thoughts and look at my options for comparison. I decided to go with using a random stripe generator and warping back to front. 

The generator gave me both a visual chart of what the stripes will look like, plus a list of the color order by color names. Since my yarns don't have color labels, I'm going to have to assign them names in order to know which ones to wind as I follow the list.

My actual yarns I would call brown, beige, gray, and khaki. The closest picks I got from the generator were called Camel, Mocha, Mushroom, and Meadow. Gotta love those descriptive color names. They look good on labels but are pretty meaningless when trying to find substitutes or describe something to someone else. 

As an aside, I just finished reading a book entitled Where We Meet the World: The Story of the Senses by Ashley Ward. It will likely come as no surprise that scientific researchers have determined that people don't all perceive color the same way. We don't see the same color when we look at them. We may identify something as green, but how that green appears to us may be different than the person standing next to us. Makes me wonder if my fussiness about color only matters to me. 

Once I chose the colors, stripe width, and number of stripes, I could keep hitting the "generate stripes" button to get different groups of 50 stripes each. 

The visual they gave me looks like this

First 50 random stripes

The colors aren't a good match to my yarns, but it gives an idea of the randomness. For winding the warp I think I'll do best to follow the list and check them off as I go. I'm including the list here in it's entirety, so I don't lose it. 

 Camel, Mocha, Camel, Meadow, Mushroom, Meadow, Mushroom, Camel, Mushroom, Meadow, Mushroom, Camel, Mushroom, Mocha, Camel, Mushroom, Camel, Mushroom, Camel, Meadow, Mocha, Mushroom, Mocha, Camel, Mocha, Meadow, Camel, Meadow, Mushroom, Camel, Meadow, Camel, Mocha, Mushroom, Mocha, Meadow, Mocha, Meadow, Camel, Mocha, Mushroom, Camel, Mocha, Camel, Mocha, Mushroom, Camel, Meadow, Mushroom, Meadow

Mocha, Meadow, Mushroom, Meadow, Mocha, Camel, Mushroom, Camel, Mushroom, Camel, Meadow, Mocha, Mushroom, Camel, Mushroom, Camel, Meadow, Mocha, Camel, Mocha, Mushroom, Mocha, Meadow, Camel, Mocha, Camel, Meadow, Mushroom, Mocha, Camel, Meadow, Mushroom, Camel, Mushroom, Camel, Mushroom, Camel, Mocha, Meadow, Mushroom, Camel, Meadow, Mocha, Meadow, Mocha, Mushroom, Meadow, Mocha, Meadow, Mushroom

Mushroom, Meadow, Mushroom, Mocha, Meadow, Mocha, Meadow, Mocha, Camel, Mushroom, Mocha, Mushroom, Mocha, Camel, Mushroom, Meadow, Mocha, Mushroom, Mocha, Meadow, Mushroom, Meadow, Camel, Mocha, Meadow, Mushroom, Camel, Meadow, Mocha, Camel, Mushroom, Mocha, Mushroom, Meadow, Mushroom, Mocha, Mushroom, Camel, Meadow, Mocha, Camel, Mushroom, Camel, Mushroom, Camel, Mushroom, Meadow, Mocha, Camel, Mushroom

Mocha, Mushroom, Camel, Mushroom, Camel, Mushroom, Meadow, Camel, Mocha, Camel, Mushroom, Mocha, Camel, Mushroom, Meadow, Mushroom, Mocha, Meadow, Mushroom, Mocha, Meadow, Camel, Meadow, Camel, Mushroom, Mocha, Camel, Meadow, Camel, Mocha, Mushroom, Mocha, Camel, Mushroom, Camel, Mocha, Camel, Mocha, Meadow, Camel, Mushroom, Mocha, Meadow, Camel, Meadow, Camel, Mushroom, Camel, Mocha, Camel

Mocha, Mushroom, Mocha, Meadow, Mocha, Mushroom, Mocha, Camel, Mocha, Meadow, Mocha, Meadow, Mocha, Camel, Mushroom, Camel, Mocha, Mushroom, Camel, Mushroom, Camel, Meadow, Mocha, Meadow, Camel, Mushroom, Camel, Mocha, Camel, Mushroom, Camel, Mushroom, Meadow, Mocha, Mushroom, Meadow, Mocha, Camel, Meadow, Mocha, Mushroom, Mocha, Meadow, Mushroom, Camel, Mocha, Meadow, Mocha, Meadow, Mushroom

Mushroom, Camel, Mushroom, Mocha, Meadow, Camel, Mocha, Meadow, Mushroom, Meadow, Camel, Mocha, Mushroom, Camel, Mocha, Meadow, Mocha, Camel, Mushroom, Camel, Mocha, Mushroom, Camel, Meadow, Mushroom, Meadow, Camel, Meadow, Mocha, Mushroom, Meadow, Mushroom, Meadow, Mocha, Mushroom, Meadow, Mocha, Meadow, Mushroom, Meadow, Camel, Mushroom, Mocha, Camel, Mocha, Mushroom, Meadow, Camel, Mocha, Camel

Decision About the Random Stripes

© 2026 by Leigh at Leigh's Fiber Journal

Designing Random Stripes

 Something I seem to recall, is other fiber artists mentioning that their attempts at random usually end up looking like a pattern. It's an interesting phenomenon, interesting enough that I did an internet search on how to create random stripes. Almost every web article recommended a random stripe generator, of which there are quite a few out there (very popular with the crochet crowd). For example:

• Stripe Pattern Generator
• Striped Pattern Generator
• Crochet Stripe Generator
• Best Stripe Pattern Generator
• Stripe It
• Etc.
• Etc.

A generator is easy to use, but my hesitation is having to somehow keep track of the colors as I wind my warp. I've done this before with a checklist. It's a little slow, but as long as I take care to not tangle the treads coming off the cones, it goes well. (For me, however, tangling seems inevitable.)

Advantages:

• Probably the best guarantee of randomness
• I could dress the loom back to front, which I prefer with my Glimakra
• I wouldn't have to figure it out myself

Disadvantages:

• I don't have a printer to print off the list, so I'd have to go to the library for that
• Or copy it off by hand
• I'd have to remember which color name went with which cone
• Slower (keeping track of which color is next)
• Thread tangling as I wind the warp. 

The other option would be designing as I go. To do this, I could wind on multiple threads together and then pick them off the cross in a random manner as I thread the reed. 

Advantages:

• faster

Disadvantages:

• I'd have to warp front to back
• Would still likely get tangling
• Possibility I'd not be successful in a truly random pattern

Obviously none of these is seriously monumental. And yes, I'm probably over-thinking it (but then, it's my nature to over-think everything). It probably even seems like I'm procrastinating (which I am to a degree as I finish painting the room my Glimakra is in). But I have to make a decision somehow. 

Designing Random Stripes © 2026

by Leigh at Leigh's Fiber Journal

Random Stripe Dishtowels. Winter: Colors & Yarns

If you were asked to pick the colors of winter, which would you choose?

My project idea is to make four nature themed dishtowels, one in different seasonal colors. Since it's been snowing, winter is the season I thought I'd start with. For color inspiration, I chose this photo, thanks to our recent winter storm.

It isn't a stripe inspiring photo, so I created a color palette. 

Then I took a look at my stash to see if I had anything close to those colors. I have no shades of brown or gray in 10/2s, but I do in 8/2s. My idea is to use snow white for my weft and leaf browns and grays for my warp. Here's what I have for browns and grays in 8/2s.

It's interesting that in the photo the right most cone of yarn is greenish. In real
life, it's brownish looking. Ditto with the 2nd to the left, which is bluish here.

Next I used a Random Stripe Generator to create some stripes. Their color choices didn't quite match mine, but I just wanted an idea of how similar colors in a random arrangement might look.

At this point, the thing to do should have been making a digital model with weaving software. Except I don't have weaving software installed on this laptop, so I had a play with it in Gimp. I turned the stripes vertically as the bottom layer, superimposed the leaf weave draft as a top layer, and did a little color replacement of the original draft.  

My first thought was that the leaf pattern became somewhat lost. It might look better if I could zoom out, which weaving software would help with. So would sampling, and I'm thinking I should try both an 8/2 white weft and a 6/2 white weft and experiment with the beat to make sure I don't lose the leaf pattern.

My other thought was that it might be best to stick with warp colors of similar value, so there's no visual competition with the leaf pattern. I want variation in the leaf motif to be subtle and not compete with the pattern. If I do that, I have four colors closer in value.

My other observation is that replicating the stripes from the random stripe generator would be a tedious task. Especially since I'll likely need something like 370 ends! So I'll have to come up with another way to design a random stripe warp of that width. 

So this is my starting point. We'll have to see what develops from here. 

Random Stripe Dishtowels. Winter: Colors & Yarns 

© 2026 by Leigh at Leigh's Fiber Journal

Random Stripe Project Idea: Season Themed Dishtowels

 After my successful experiment in random stripes, I started to think about how to apply random stripes. An 8-shaft leaf draft I found floating around the internet gave me an idea.

Even with its complicated treadling, the leaf motif is perfect for an "inspired by nature" project. My idea is to make four sets of season themed dishtowels, using different colors to represent the seasons. 

• The weft forms the shape of the leaf. I can use one representative color for each season. That will make for easier weaving, since I won't have to keep track of and change weft colors.
• The warp colors color the leaf. Here's where I'm thinking about the random stripes. If I choose a variety of yarns in seasonal leaf colors, I can give the leaves some personality, i.e. they won't all be exactly the same. At least not horizontally.

So that's the idea I'm working on at the moment. As soon as I finish painting the ceiling in our newly remodeled front room, I'll be able to get to work dressing the loom. 

Random Stripe Project Idea: Season Themed Dishtowels 

© 2026 by Leigh at Leigh's Fiber Journal

Pattern and Randomness in Nature

I started the year with a goal of permaculture weaving. Exactly what that meant, I wasn't sure, but I knew I wanted to apply permaculture principles to weaving design. I wanted to use nature as the basis for my weaving. I made a list of four things to form a starting point: colors, patterns, shapes, and fibers from nature. 

Pattern is one such permaculture principle. I see patterns everywhere in nature: waves, spirals, lobes, branches, nets, scatters, cloud forms, tessellations, Fibonacci sequences, the golden rectangle, etc.

Trees grow in a predictable branching pattern. It may look
different for different types of trees, but the pattern is there.

When I started making my stripes from nature photographs, I found myself asking questions. Does everything in nature fits a pattern? I'm applying human tools and techniques to get color stripes from photos. The result is a set of random stripes. But when I duplicate them to make a larger design, a pattern always emerges. 

In experiment #4 I managed to create random stripes, but they didn't come easily, they came with quite a bit of mental effort. It got me asking the question, is anything in nature truly random? Permaculture leans toward answering that question with "no." Curious, I brought the question of randomness in nature to the permies.com forums. It lead to an extremely interesting discussion, which you can read for yourself by following that link. 

After thinking about the various views, my takeaway is that what we see and how we see it is a matter of perspective. For example, these fallen leaves

I see no pattern in the way they lie upon the ground. Yet in reading other peoples' views on the forum, I realized that the pattern is in the seasonal cycle of growth and dormancy. In spring new leaves grow and in autumn they die and fall to the ground. This is the pattern. Perhaps "random" is what we see when we focus on details instead of the big picture. 

Trying to translate that to permaculture weaving will be a challenge. I'm not working with tangible objects such as growing zones, varieties of plants, weather patterns, the slope of the land, the type of soil, etc. I'm working with yarn, color, texture, and the interlacement of warp and weft. At best, I can create an abstract interpretation of what I see in nature. 

Artists and artisans must focus on details to decide how to interpret them with their art or craft. In weaving, this is the basis of weaving draft design. My challenge will be applying my knowledge of weaving to what I observe in nature. Should be fun. 

Pattern and Randomness in Nature 

© 2026 by Leigh at Leigh's Fiber Journal