- The yarn I used for the first set of samples was 10/2 cotton
- The yarn I used for the second set of samples was fingering weight knitting yarn.
Here's the chain of hearts draft.
Here's a side by side comparison of the two samples woven with that draft but different yarns.
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| Same threading, same tie-up, same treadling, different yarns. |
Because the hearts in the sample on the right are flattened, I tried again with a lighter beat.
The hearts look more proportional, but I can see how the beat very much makes a difference in how my eye interprets the motif. The two outer columns look like hearts, but the center column and its neighbor on the right begin to morph to faces where the beat didn't pack the weft in just right.
Next, I tried the circle and cross draft. This one has the same threading and treadle tie-up as chain of hearts, but it has a different treadling.
Here's a side-by-side comparison with the two different yarn weights.
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| Same threading, same tie-up, same treadling, different yarns. |
As with the chain of hearts, the sample with the heavier yarn looks more like the pattern in the draft than the sample with 10/2 yarns.
One more sample. This one is the circle and cross pattern with alternating weft colors.
Here is my side-by-side comparison.
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| Same threading, same tie-up, same treadling, different yarns. |
And here's the entire sample.
Observations
- For whatever reason, the finer yarn didn't translate the pattern as well as the heavier yarn. I assumed I'd have the pattern in miniature, but different elements became visually prominent instead.
- Beat is an important element, obviously, especially consistency of beat.
- The cotton yarns produce a flat looking fabric, whereas the knitting yarns are loftier so the fabric has more texture.
- For the plaid sample, I think I'd prefer better weft color contrast. Perhaps make the warp stripes very light in color, and use darker weft colors for the horizontal stripes.
All in all, I found this experiment extremely interesting, and perhaps the stuff of more study someday.
4 comments:
Leigh, it is completely sensible that different types of yarns would yield different results, but I never thought of it at all. Of course it would. Shows you my provincial attitude about the fiber arts.
TB, honestly? It's something I had never considered either. So it's been most interesting to explore it!
Interesting and educational!
Michelle, that's weaving in a nutshell. :)
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