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Waves and Water

I have almost finished twisting fringe on the last set of scarves....one more to go....and then I will be wet finishing them and hopefully getting some pictures taken:) Thank you for the comment on my last post, Susan:) I always feel like I don't get anything done......I only have about three hours to 'work' at night when my son goes to bed. I am thankful that during the day, when we are together, there are 'down times' when I can get to the computer to do some research, work on patterns, update the blog/website, and all of that fun stuff.....usually about 15 minutes tops;) ! There are days that go by so quickly.....he is wonderful for keeping me 'ever busy'! :)

Tonight the plan is to wind a warp for the Waves and Water shawls. I have been working on these for quite some time now and can't wait to see how they turn out. I have decided on a two tone blue for the warp. As far as the weft is concerned, I have only picked black and am going to have to go through the stash to see what other colors I have that will work.....this will depend on how long the warp is going to be for these. I am thinking a maximum of three. I am planning for these shawls to be 18" wide and about 75" to 80" long with fringe. Nice and long for a great wrap:)
Oooooooh!!! This is an addendum to the above.....after I posted, I went back to take a look at the picture in the blog. Do you see the break in the 'wave'? Oh my gosh!!! I have been scratching my head for a little over an hour trying to make this work. I was having one heck of a time getting it to 'not break' like that to get some flow.....I certainly don't want to not have flow in this shawl!!! I started doing some research on progressing twills to find out what in the world I could be doing wrong. I grabbed my original graph paper with this twill on it and it hit me at once. I had changed the 'tie up' so that another pattern that I was using this same tie up for would not have floats 7 threads long. This made the twill unbalanced......THAT'S why the pattern was showing up with a skip in it. Phew! I quickly changed the tie up to a balanced one that I had created and no have this as my final decision.

Could you imagine I wove the shawls then noticed? I would have been devastated!!!
In the picture above, the twill on the left is balanced and the twill on the right is modified from the balanced twill but, is not balanced itself. In trying to use the unbalanced twill (right) I could not make the pattern 'wrap' properly, which made the break in the wave.
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Comments

Lynnette said…
Shannon I've got to say how much easier your blog is to read now that the background is no longer black!
I love the pattern you've developed, I just be the shawls will be fab....
April 22, 2009 at 12:26 AM
Anonymous said…
Beautiful, beautiful waves! Glad you got past that scary moment, too - it's horrible not knowing WHY something isn't behaving itself.
April 22, 2009 at 6:50 AM
Sharon said…
I'm a little confused but think that what you showed us is a computer drafted design. I haven't invested in a program because I have so little time to weave that I'm still trying to get the basics. I'd sure like a weaving program that wouldn't break the bank - my bank, that is.
April 24, 2009 at 10:42 PM
R. Delight said…
I love the look of flowing water depicted! Thanks goodness for computer software. It makes weaving a bit easier and is certainly a lot of fun to play with. I am always amazed and in awe with how much you get done with a child to care for and all.
I love twills in fact, I named my dog Twill! They are endlessly interesting. -Renee
April 25, 2009 at 10:09 PM
skiingweaver said…
Hi there! They're *both* beautiful... Call me crazy, but I actually kinda like the one with the breaks. :) (Maybe because I surf, so it's all about the break for me? LOL!)

What program do you use, if you don't mind my asking? I just bought Fiberworks for my to-be-picked-up-in-two-weeks Weavebird, but I haven't had much time to really start poking around on it.
May 7, 2009 at 11:08 AM
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