Notes on the Rugs

The rugs have been giving me fits... I've never done an rug on the big loom that's weft faced (I've done a couple of small items using Navajo techniquest) so I'm a bit at a loss for the right technique here.

There have been 2 main issues; the weft doesn't always cover the other color and the sometimes the warp, and the center is occasionally dipping giving me an uneven fell line.

I did some research and found another weft faced rug in Summer and Winter, and in the sections where there are multiple colors, both colors are visible. So I assumed I was doing it correctly. I had no idea what happened to my fell line. Yes I could ask for help but without asking a rug doctor to make a house call, or taking a class, I was a bit at a loss.

I had to pull out 1 1/2 inches today to fix an error; it would have always bothered me. After I'd backed out the error, I had the issue of coverage again and started wondering if I was bubbling the weft enough so that there was plenty of yarn to cover...  Also, I was creating a bubble (about 3" bubble) and pulling it down at the center of the weaving. As I started reweaving, with a larger bubble (about 5" bubble) and pulling the bubble down at the 1/3 and 2/3 points, I noticed that the coverage was MUCH better, the uneven fell was cured and the rug was a bit thicker.

I'm going to continue with the last 1/3 of the rug using the new technique and see if I keep getting good results; the rug will be uneven, and I'll put it on the least visible side of the bed and I will celebrate that I've learned a lot about weaving rugs. The 2nd rug will be better and hopefully more consistent.

On the subject of rugs, the other pattern I found has very different tie up and treadling. I haven't investigated enough to determine if it's really just the same old thing presently differently, or if there is a difference between the two... I'm thinking of trying the latter method for the 2nd rug. I'm also thinking of adding a card woven edge to make it smooth and pretty.

I've been struggling a bit with motivation and was afraid with S. travelling that I would lay on the couch, feel sorry for myself, and not do anything. I let myself be lazy-ish Friday, and yesterday I was in a class most of the day but today I did a bunch of stuff. 

• Worked out (yay!), swam and covered the pool. It was cold and now the pool cover will do its magic. I also made a detailed todo list for tomorrow as tomorrow will be complicated.
• Picked out the errors on the rug, wove it forward, and am now ready for the 3rd color. I also made sure that I'm okay with the likely outcome (imperfect).
• Retensioned the diversified plain weave (more on that later) and wove a bit. I'm trying to differentiate the pattern with texture but I suspect this will be difficult and frustrating to weave. I'll do part of the sample with color.
• Cut out camp shirt #4 out of Japanese double gauze.
• Realized I'm dyeing next week so I dug out the two shirts that need overdyeing and am doing a stitched shibori on them. I started the stitching but will likely finish it at knit night tomorrow.
• Searched for and found my lino cutting tools; now I can cut some lino!!!
• Realized that the pattern I came up with for my ikat scarf isn't great for a Shifted Ikat class (it didn't want shifting) so I came up with Plan B based on the Ikat photos from a book I got in Tokyo. I think I'm ready to wind a warp.
• I added all this info to my blog.

Other things going on:

• I'm knitting on a colorful cowl from handspun that will coordinate with my hiking clothes.
  
• I might take a Jane Dunnewald class with T. in color.
• I do want to take the online quilting class in how to use the Bernina pinpoint placement.

I am holding off starting anything else, as this is a lot; I do tend to overcommit; we'll see what happens in the next few weeks, what with S. out of town and me holding down the fort.