I've been thinking about is my first project since reconnecting with weaving. The sampler helped me dip my toe back into weaving waters after being away from it for so long, and to be honest, I initially wondered how I could weave two yards of warp with just samples. Wouldn't I get bored? With the help of Marguerite Porter Davison's A Handweaver's Pattern Book and Helene Bress's The Weaving Book, once I got going, I became fascinated with what I was seeing. My mind was constantly exploring the possibilities of whatever sample I was weaving.
My first idea was something woven in pebble weave, a color gamp of graduating shades, possibly dish towels. I also thought that I might as well warp for three towels, and considering how much fun I had with my sampler, I decided to use different treadling for each towel. Then, I discovered I don't have the range of shades I envisioned. That pointed to a plan B.
After taking the sampler off the loom, I realized I didn't want to stop exploring all those weave structures. The Weaving Book explores extensive treadlings on four common threadings: plain twill, point twill, rosepath, and broken twill. Wouldn't it be more interesting to thread my gamp to explore these too? Even with three towels I couldn't exhaust all the possibilities.
My first step was to dig through my stash and see what color combinations I could come up with. I liked the sampler fabric, so I'm choosing 8/2 cotton for this project. Here are some possibilities:
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| A |
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| B |
Or, maybe swap navy blue for the dark green.
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| C |
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| D |
As partial as I am to green, right now I'm leaning toward A, the turquoise, yellow, and blue.
What do ya'll think? Opinions? Preference? Other ideas?
6 comments:
I think any of those color ways will work, just depends on what you want to gaze at while you are working on it.
In an earlier post you asked about weaving books that might be of interest. I would suggest taking a look at Janet Phillips books: https://www.janetphillips-weaving.co.uk/shop/category/books
"Designing..." focuses on a gamp for 2/2 twill and using that gamp for designing projects
"Exploring...." focuses mostly on 8 shaft structures. There are a variety of gamps to use as design springboard. It has a wider breadth than the earlier book.
PS: to get a sense of Janet Phillips you can watch her HGA Textiles and Tea interview on either FB or Youtube.
Here's the Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tA_u7gGZnXM
Valerie, thank you! Very true what you said about the colorways. I realized yesterday that "C" is almost identical to my current kitchen dishtowels(!)
I especially appreciate the Janet Phillips recommendations - both books and videos. YouTube wasn't around in my previous weaving life, and what an asset that's turning out to be!
What about swapping out the navy in A for the dark green?
Michelle, I'll give it a try!
Valerie, I just finished watching Janet Phillips on Textiles and Tea. She's definitely somebody I'm interested in. I'm putting her Designing book on my to-get list. It sounds like a book that I need in my library!
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