Sunday, January 13, 2008

Continuing With Advancing Twill Samples

By Leigh

After my last weaving post on advancing twills, my mind set to the problem about the reverses. If you remember that post, then you may remember that the problem with my draft, was the long (5 pick) warp floats when I reversed treadling (draft here):

Close-up of sample 3.
I realize that you can't actually see those long floats in the above photo, but trust me, they're there.

So I did a little experimenting with the treadling. I found that by skipping one treadle before reversing, (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 1, etc.) I eliminated those long warp floats. I finally ended up with this.....

Experiment in advancing twill treadling reverses.
....... which might make a nice upholstery type fabric.

Continuing along that line, I wove a few samples, this time using the blue for my weft as well. The result is a more sculptured look, as the light plays of the warp and weft. It is more difficult to see, but in "real" life I like it.

I tried two treadlings. First this one :

Another experiment, this one with a Fibonacci treadling.
The asymmetrical look was obtained by counting treadles with a Fibonacci sequence - 8, 13, 21, 34, 21, 13, 8, repeat.

Then I tried something more regular:

And yet another, more regular looking experiment.
34 treadling in one direction, skip one treadle, and then 14 picks in the other direction.

I'm not sure which one I like better. Fortunately I don't have to choose, because these are all experiments. I may use the fabric for something or other, but the real value is in what I'm learning about advancing twills.

© Jan 2008 by Leigh at Leigh's Fiber Journal

Related Posts:
Twills - The Basics
Advancing Twills - A Simple Definition

10 comments:

Cathy said...

Leigh - I love your focused and methodical approach to learning about something new, and best of all, we all benefit!

Laritza said...

Beautiful! all of them!

Sheepish Annie said...

Oh, I just like 'em all!!! And I agree with Cathy's comment about how methodically you approach the task. So much more effective as a part of the learning process!

Anonymous said...

I tried plying from a center pull ball using your put it on the thumb method and it worked great! thanks for sharing this awesome trick.

Anonymous said...

You do beautiful weaving Leigh - I did weaving for awhile, but having to warp the loom took so much time that I decided I needed something with a little more instant gratification - so I knit, cross-stitch, stuff like that. Keep up the good work!

Lea

Dorothy said...

I like the look of your blue twills.

I think you're learning something I discovered with advancing twills - some work, some don't, some of the ones that do work are worth all the trouble.

DEEP END OF THE LOOM said...

I like the blue twills lots of movement, but I really love the blue and white. I like the contrast, you can really see the the pattern and where it's going.

Leigh said...

Annie, you are absolutely correct about weaving as drawn in. I only got into trouble with the floats when I tried to revers the treadling! :o

Peg in South Carolina said...

This is unlike me, but I really like the last more regular one. In any case, my vote is for the blue on blue........ It all depends, of course, on what you want the fabric for. Have you listened to the Weavecast episode on the COE certificate? One of them, for her second part, took on advancing twills. It was an interesting listen.

bspinner said...

I agree I don't know which one of your samples I like best. I also agree with your idea of doing something with them. I have so many samples stuffed away. Every once in a while I get them out thinking I'll do something with them then just put them away again.