Knitting Progress

Here is my waiting room knitting progress.

working on knitting the right front

If you missed that post, it's a sweater designed by Westknits. With Dan in recovery mode from surgery, our routine is different, including the time I have for writing, reading, and computer work. I've been doing Dan's chores and all the driving, plus spending more time in companion mode, which means watching more videos than usual, and that means more time for knitting. 

This particular sweater is a pattern test for me. I dutifully read through patterns before I begin knitting, but most of the time they don't make sense to me until I knit to each point and can see it in my hands. But I needed a project quickly and so chose acrylic yarns in colors that I'm not especially fond of. In other words, it won't be a disappointment if I make mistakes or it doesn't turn out satisfactorily.

The welts were new for me and fun to learn. He has a video on how to make them, which helped.

knitted welts

I think when I make one with my handspun, I'll make the welts with fewer rows so they don't stick out as much. 

The other thing I want to experiment with is sleeve length. The pattern features short sleeves, whereas I would prefer long ones.

All in all, I like the way the sweater is constructed. There will be no pieces to sew together. All rows are finished with slipping the last stitch with yarn in front and then knitting them on the return. That makes a very nice selvedge for picking up stitches for the next section. 

Another plus is that it's almost all in garter stitch. Except for the stockinette stitch welts and the back panel which is in seed stitch, there has been very little perling! So it's quite easy and quick to knit. Garter and seed stitch make for a thicker, warmer fabric too. 

I was a little hesitant on spontaneous color selection at first. But once I got knitting it started to come easily and I could see what color I wanted to use next and how much. I think it will be a good project for using up small skeins and leftover balls of my handspun.

Knitting Progress © 2026

 by Leigh at Leigh's Fiber Journal

Leaf Motif Dishtowels: Random Warp Notes Part 2

 Sleying the reed has begun.

I want 20 ends per inch and my closest reed in 10 dents per inch. So I'm sleying two ends per dent. 

It's been fairly quick. I wound the yarn onto the warping board in a random color order, so now it's just a matter of making sure I don't have two of the same color in the same dent. 

Leaf Motif Dishtowels: Random Warp Notes Part 2 

© 2026  by Leigh at Leigh's Fiber Journal

Leaf Motif Dishtowels: Random Warp Notes Part 1

At last my first leaf motif warp measured and I have thoughts.

Measuring the warp presented some challenges.

Designing a random warp. Previously, I mentioned the challenges of designing a random stripe warp, here.

Winding a random warp. Thoughts and ideas here.  

Threading Order and the cross. Weavers rely on the cross to maintain the threading order. This is true of both the threading cross and when warping back-to-front, the raddle cross. Orderly threads means no tangles! Stripes with groups of threads in one color are typical, but my random warp meant each end was a different color. I chose to not cut each thread and tie on a new one when I changed the color.  Instead, I just set that color aside and continued with the next color. That meant that my threads crossed one another at the turn of the cross. 

It didn't take long to realize that because the various colors passed over the other colors each time I used them, warping back-to-front wouldn't work. So I'm opting for front-to-back, where I can choose which thread goes next. I may have to shake out a few tangles when I wind the warp onto the back beam, but it will prevent tangles at the raddle cross due to crossover of the threads.

That probably doesn't make any sense! So let's just say I'm having to adjust my technique to address the circumstances. 

Conclusion. Even though I get better warp tension on my Glimakra by warping back to front, if I do another random warp from scratch in the future, I'll warp it front to back. I don't have it all figured out, but it wasn't a waste of time because I learned a lot.  

For my four seasons color motif, the next warp (spring) will be tied on, which will make things much easier.

Next up is sleying the reed (and seeing how well I do with my random color for that).

Leaf Motif Dishtowels: Random Warp Notes Part 1 

© 2026  by Leigh at Leigh's Fiber Journal

Treasure Chest

 I recently inherited my stepmother's old cedar chest. As I thought about arranging my newly remodeled weaving room, I knew exactly where to put it.

Cedar Chest in its new home under the front window.

It's not something I recall seeing at my paternal grandmother's house, so I'm assuming it was passed down through my stepmother's family or perhaps purchased for her or by her when she was a young woman. 

I couldn't find a date on the chest, but I was able to find information on the manufacturer. It was made by the Ed Roos Company which operated between 1918 to 1951 in Forest Park, Illinois. By the 1930s, it was the largest cedar chest manufacturer in the world, employing 400 people and utilizing something like three million feet of cedar annually. The chests were popularly sold as hope or dowry chests and were shipped all over the world.  

What treasures am I keeping inside it? 

Quilts!

Many of these were made by my great-grandmother. I remember as a very little girl, I was allowed to play with her 1-inch quilt squares. She was bedridden in the latter years of her life, and my grandmother said that her quiltmaking was a lifesaver. It kept her productive and creatively engaged until the end of her eighty-five years. The first four quilts shown here made by her.

Wreath of Leaves

My grandmother penciled the name of the pattern, the quilt
 maker, and the date of completion in the corner of each quilt.

All of Great-grandmother's quilts are completely handmade and it is remarkable that she hand-stitched eight to ten stitches per inch.

Desert Flower 1952

  

Rose of Sharon, or Garland Quilt. 1943

They're all in good shape, except a little dirty from use. My grandmother felt that they were meant to be enjoyed, so instead of keeping them packed away in a trunk, she would change them out periodically for the bedspread on her's and my grandfather's bed. When my grandmother passed away, each of her nine grandchildren were given one of these quilts. Plus I had one given to me previously, and received the one given to my stepmother. 

Although I have mostly applique quilts, my great-grandmother also made pieced quilts. This one is my childhood quilt, made for me by her, and one I loved dearly as a kid.

This one is dirty and badly love-worn and has no date. 

Other quilts in the cedar chest are of unknown origin.

Simple beginners quilt given to me by my grandmother. Either I don't
recall who made it or perhaps she didn't know, but someone in the family.

I believe the next several came down from my stepmother's family. There are no names or dates on any of them. 

a log cabin quilt

a tied quilt

double wedding ring

Lastly, there are a few made by me. Quilt making was one of my first adventures into textile arts (after learning how to sew and embroider).

My own beginner's quilt, 'Moon Over the Mountain' in phases of the moon with unrelated 
scraps of fabric. It was hand-sewn and hand-quilted. I used an old blanket for the batting.

This was my next quilt, hand-pieced and hand-quilted.

The crazy quilt I made for my dad and stepmom.

The story behind my crazy quilt is that it began with a series of embroideries I made over the years for my dad and stepmom as Christmas and birthday gifts. (You can see photos of the individual bird embroideries here.) Eventually somebody said they ought to be made into a quilt, so I agreed to make it. I got started on it but it was set aside when I had two small children to tend to. Years later, the quilt still wasn't done and it became quite the family joke where my dad would call and greet me with "how's the quilt coming along?" 

One day Dan and the kids said, "you've got to get it done." They agreed to do all the cooking and housework to let me work on it and finish it. Finally it was done! My folks got to enjoy it on their bed for many years, which I'm glad of. I'm also glad it came back to me. 

As you can see, my quilt collection pretty much fills up the chest. Heirloom quilts are indeed a treasure, and so perfect for a treasure chest. 

Treasure Chest © 2026 

by Leigh at Leigh's Fiber Journal

Waiting Room Knitting

My husband had a knee replacement yesterday. In preparation for waiting room waiting, I decided on taking a book and a knitting project. At first, I thought I would knit some socks, but after leafing through my sock knitting books, I just couldn't work up the enthusiasm for selecting a pattern. Then I saw a sweater our librarian made, and she directed me to Westknits.com. I'd found my project. 

Source: Westknits

The pattern is perfect for scrap yarn, of which I have a lot, especially handspun. But I couldn't quite visualize how it would work out, plus I'd like to go for a longsleeve version. So I decided to knit a trial sweater with some of the worsted weight acrylic yarn I've collected over the years. 

Picking up along the edges of the seed stitch back panel to knit welts.

The yarn is worsted weight and the needles are US8. As a trial sweater, I have several advantages.

• No swatching to fuss with. Size and fit aren't terribly important here.
• I'll be able to experiment with the sleeve length. 
• It's using up yarn I don't like to work with anyway (acrylic). And I'm not especially attracted to those colors, so I'm not emotionally attached to it. It will be easy to gift to someone who likes it
• I'm not very good at serendipitous color knitting. I feel I need to follow a plan because I want to know how it will all come together, but in my mind a sample sweater doesn't matter. I admit knitting the entire back panel with one variegated colorway wasn't very creative. Hopefully I'll get freer with color choices as I go along.

The surgery went well and he spent a lot of time dozing afterward, so I pretty much had the entire day to indulge myself in knitting. It's a small town hospital and so neither overcrowded nor noisy, so it was perfect for contemplative knitting.  

Waiting Room Knitting © 2026 

by Leigh at Leigh's Fiber Journal

Tips for Winding a Multicolor Warp

 

Random winter color theme warp

While struggling to figure this out on my own, it occurred to me to search 'how do I wind a random color warp?' Some of the advice is for multicolor warps rather than specifically random color warps, but the ideas sort of belong together, so I've made notes of the suggestions I learned.

• Some people cut each color when it's wound and tie on the next one to the cut end. Since I'm changing colors for every warp end, that did not appeal to me. At. All. 
• Madelyn van der Hoogt, on the other hand, doesn't cut. In her article, Ask Madelyn: Winding Multicolored Warps she states, "I never cut and tie as I change colors. Just wind the ending thread 4 or 5 times around the peg where it ends to secure it (either the start peg or the end peg). When you need to use that color again, simply pick it up and continue, leaving the windings on the peg." That's close what I've been doing, except at the raddle end, where I need everything to be the same length for the end stick.
• From Glimakra USA: "If you want to wind warps with random colors or textures, you can warp back to front by placing the warp bouts on a table and mixing the colors and threads in the raddle or pre-sley a reed to use as a raddle."
• Ideas suited for warping front to back:
• Wind each color separately in its own bout and either sley each color separately, or select colors while threading the reed. I'm thinking this would work best for a planned color order.
• Wind all colors together as a group, then select colors while threading the reed. I'm thinking this one would work for my next seasonal color warp because I plan to tie it on. 
• Then there was this idea from Rock Lake Weaving's video, Changing colours while measuring a warp. The picture below is a screenshot from the video.

She threads the yarn ends through a reed to keep them from tangling. See the video for details.

I thought this a very clever idea and tried it when I started bout #2. But because I'm not cutting each color when it's wound and tying on a new one, I still had tangling. This time it was all above the reed, so that I couldn't rearrange the cones to sort it out. I'll abandon it when I get to bout #3, unless it becomes too tangled to proceed as is. 

So that's the notes from my research so far. If you have suggestions for preparing a multicolor warp (especially a random one) I'd love to hear them. 

Tips for Winding a Multicolor Warp

© 2026 by Leigh at Leigh's Fiber Journal

Begun! Leaf Motif Random Warp: Winter Colors

 I've started measuring my warp! The last of the construction details are done in my weaving room, so I can finally start on this project. I figured out a way to hang my warping board on my Glimakra and have made a start on my random winter color warp. This post is to document my start date, observations, and notes for next time. 

first 30 warp ends in 8/2 cotton

I'm following the checklist I created last month with a random color generator. 

My checklist. Working with groups of five helps
 me keep count of raddle groups and threading cross.

Things that help:

• Deciding beforehand that it would be a slow process. 
• In other words, be patient.
• Accept that the yarns will tangle and take the time to sort them out frequently.
• Know that I'll figure it out as I go along. 
• Label my colors with the color names on my check-off list
• Good lighting. The colors are close in value, so the browns especially are harder to tell apart.
• Check off each color on my checklist as I go along. 
• Don't worry if I think I'm making a mistake. It's random color order anyway, so, so what?

scraps of paper with the color names have been helpful

I don't have as much time for weaving as I used to, but making progress makes me feel good. 

Begun! Leaf Motif Random Warp: Winter Colors

© 2026 by Leigh at Leigh's Fiber Journal

Progress

While no actual movement, measurement, or manipulation of yarn has taken place, I'm still calling it progress because, at last, all the dusty, sloppy, messy jobs are done in our front room remodeling project, and the dust covers are off the loom.

sneak peek

There is still dusting, rearranging, and organizing to do in the room, but I can now actually see myself getting started on this warp. What a blessing.

Progress © 2026 by Leigh at Leigh's Fiber Journal

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

Horizontal Color Stripe Experiment #4 (Random Stripes)

In my Horizontal Stripes From Nature post, I made the observation that when I repeated the random stripes I extracted from a photograph, I ended up with a pattern. Meg (Unravelling blog) left an interesting reply,

"Regular repeats make things look the opposite of natural? I wonder if you could print one of them, cut them up, and try placing them in orders that appear less predictable?"

I'm always up for a challenge, so I decided to give this a try. I decided to see if I could expand on my sample stripes to create random stripes.

Here's the photo I chose. 

And here are the stripes I got.

Could I make a larger sample with more stripes without getting a pattern? Could I create a random look by dissecting the image, rearranging the pieces, and then putting them together in a random way?

I worked on this for several days. I didn't print it out, but used my photo editor to crop out various sections of stripes. Try and I might, I ended up with an identifiable pattern. I recall experiencing the same thing in the past when I tried to serendipitously make a random stripe warp. For some reason, it never looked random.

So I let it sit for several days, thinking I was going to give it up. Last night I had an inspiration. This morning I worked with smaller sections of stripes, flipping some, and even changing their width. I managed to produce this - 

Do you think it will pass for random?

What I discovered, is that it's a lot more work to create something that looks unpredictable. It required way more planning and experimentation. I had to evaluate each addition by looking for a pattern to appear. So this was definitely an interesting experiment. Probably one I wouldn't have tried without Meg's questions. 

Would I ever use random stripes in a weaving project? Actually, I have an idea for something which I'll try in the near future. 

Horizontal Color Stripe Experiment #4 (Random Stripes) 

© 2026 by Leigh at Leigh's Fiber Journal

Horizontal Color Stripe Experiment #3

For experiment #3, I chose a photo with muted winter colors.

For this one, my first step was to add guidelines, just to see if I find them helpful.

They do help me visualize the width of the stripes as a whole pattern, which I like. I followed the same procedure for filling them with color as I did with my first experiment.

One thing I've discovered is that if I want to get really fussy about which color I choose with the color picker, I can enlarge the image 800 times. Then I can select from the individual pixels of color. 

This was helpful because I want to approximate the shades of the color bands my eye sees in the photo. This was quicker than making multiple random guesses with the color picker.

Here's what I ended up with

To do something different. I copied it and flipped the copy vertically. Then I put the two together.

I would like that one as a throw rug. 

Here it is with eight of these together pasted together to make simple horizontal stripes.

It kind of reminds me of a button-down shirt Dan used to have. 

So that's a simple way to take an irregular stripe pattern and give it a sense of symmetry.

Horizontal Color Stripe Experiment #3 

© 2026 by Leigh at Leigh's Fiber Journal