Weaverly

I tried weaving some English Tabby (see drafts in my previous post) on a 6″ wide sample warp and weft of 8/2 cotton, in pale gray. Then I repeated the exercise three more times, with beige , pink, and then pale green wefts, just to see if I had any favorites. I wanted a minimum value contrast between warp and weft, and my goodness, that’s what I got! In the photos, there’s not much to choose among the four samples, post washing. I can’t say it was time wasted, because I love sample weaving, and it was kind of fun to get into the rhythm of throwing double wefts from time to time.

After all that, I think I will go with the monochromatic gray/gray version, and look for drama in some fancy selvedge stripes in multicolor. I think the texture of the English Tabby structure is very appealing in its homespun look, and I will enjoy adding a few new napkins in this structure to my personal collection.

Meanwhile, there was enough of the gray warp left to weave some more samples. I had left the lease sticks in––the E.T. structure does not allow a true tabby––and I rethreaded to a draft I found on handwaving.net If you’re curious, it’s draft #33462. The fun and games here is to see what happens when the tieup is wrapped or shifted. In this case I wove the first sample as drafted, then each subsequent version will be shifted one position to the right. In the following photo I am working on the third sample, and one more to go. There will be just enough warp left. And then into the washing machine.

Department of Books: I have just finished reading Soundings Edge; Nicholas Cruwys Naval Series Book One, by Adrian Westbrooke. If you’re into Naval Fiction (which I am) you might enjoy it, otherwise skip this one. Not nearly as good as the Patrick O’Brian Aubrey/Maturin series, which I love.

And for a change of scene, here’s the lovely full moon of a few evenings ago, from my front door. Take a deep breath.