Saturday, January 2, 2010

"Dyed Warp and Small Loom......"

I would normally wait until Monday to write the next post, but I know you're anxious to see what the dyed warp looks like. Why would I keep you in suspense that long?

Here is the finished dyed warp in its final rinse. It looks pretty dark but as you will see, the colors lighten up and become quite vibrant when it is dry.


The colors blend from one to the other nicely. I hope that my plan for them to show through the weft, when woven, works. ;)


Having brought the small, 4 harness Macomber floor loom up from the basement, I proceeded to get the little stand I had constructed for it, attached. I needed the loom to be slightly higher than it was so that I would be more comfortable when weaving. Plus, I also needed to take the warp and woven sampler that I had left on it after a workshop from 2 years ago. How time flies!


The scarf warp spread on the loom and ready to be wound onto the warp beam. I LOVE Spring Clamps! They have made warping looms so much easier for me.


Another view of the warp which shows the color variation again.


The warp wound onto the warp beam. There is even some slight color variation on the warp from side to side.


Here I am cutting the looped ends of the warp so that I can thread them through the heddles. Notice the bright little strip of white on the warp near the end? That is from where I tightly tied a string around the mass of warp threads to keep them in place, and the dye was not able to penetrate through the bound area. When I tied the warp together in other places along its length, I loosely tied it so that the dye would be able to penetrate through the entire mass of warp threads.


Don got a couple of views of that process.


And a close up of the dyed warp thread, too.


I'm now in the process of spinning more yarn for the weft. I will most likely complete that today and then dye it, once again, using the crock pot. This time, I will be using straight black, hoping to get nice even coverage without any variation in its intensity.

More of this weaving project as it progresses.

2 comments:

Barb said...

Hi Michael, Great posts! I loved the video and the yarn is gorgeous. Can't wait to see the scarf. --Barb

Molly Bee said...

OMG! My colors!!!! Gorgeous dying there Tex!