Well, it appears I’m catching Mike’s cold. I’ve been sleeping 10+ hours/day, which is usually a sign that I’m coming down with something – my body shuts me down for a couple days so my immune system can get cracking. It’s too bad really – I would have loved a few more unencumbered days to weave, weave, weave!
I got the loom warped for the bookmarks today – using the weights to tension the warp made things way faster. No stopping every eight inches to tension the warp, no tangles whatsoever – just wind on, stopping every 5-6 feet to reposition the weight. I tied the warp kitestick to a 2.5 gallon jug of water and wound on that way. Then it was a simple matter of threading, sleying, and tying on – with only 100 threads to contend with, that was quick and easy.
And here is the first baby bookmark:
I’ve been weaving them in embroidery thread (left over from my dye experiments) – two strands of embroidery thread is roughly (I think) equivalent weight to the 3/50 Loro Piana I’m using for warp. Thus far I’ve discovered that high contrast is good – in purple and orange, the pattern shows up nicely; in magenta and orange, it’s much more subtle.
More colors, and color experiments, tomorrow.