Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Back to Maudie Mae

Ian came up to check on me, because I can't hear him when I'm listening to my iPod. I'm back in my studio, loving the natural light and totally enjoying Maudie Mae. I had forgotten what a solid little citizen she is. I was so focused on getting acquainted with Goldie, that I hadn't woven on her in months.
I've started another set of dishtowels for a birthday present later this month. I'm doing these in 2/2 twill, again from the four-shaft pattern book. This exercise has really helped me to understand the interplay of threading, tie-up and treadling. This towel has a 14 treadle repeat: 3,2,1,4,3,2,1,2,3,4,1,2,3,4.
This towel has a 16 treadle repeat: 3 4,1,2,3,4,1,2,4,3,2,1,4,3,2,1. I can tell you that I'm not ready for eight treadles yet. I still get confused and lost on four! I finally had to turn off the music. The temple I ordered for this size is still back-ordered and so I soldier on with the selvedges. However, I'm finally getting comfortable with throwing the weaver's angle. Click for big to see the difference the treadling makes in the patterns.

I'm a big fan of plain weave so the third towel will simply be tabby with stripes. I haven't decided what the fourth towel will be. It might be tabby again since it's so fast. I need to get this project off, finished and mailed. I've made a folder in my pictures for towels and am putting photos in of them when finished and how I made them. I hope that will be good information later on.

9 comments:

Valerie said...

Lookin' good! How about just a straight twill as the 4th towel. 1-2-3-4...the challenge is to see if you can get a 45 degree angle in the twill diagonal.

Have fun!

Leigh said...

What great dishtowels! I like plain weave too but is sure is fun to experiment with the twill variations.

Alison said...

Hi! I found my way over here from Leigh's blog, and noticed you were talking about temples. I was reading about paperclip temples yesterday, on Weavolution, and wondered if it might be worth a try for you? (I can't vouch for them myself, but others seem impressed!)

bspinner said...

Great towels. I like both plain and twill and the colors you chose for them.

Anonymous said...

Nice towels! I need to put some on my "to do" list, mine are all getting to the rag bag stage! I had no idea it could be so cool and snowy down there! Evelyn

Benita said...

I love the last one very much. I caught myself trying to reach out and touch it. I can imagine how it feels and I like it!!

Jenny said...

I love towels!! Yours are looking very nice. I also get confused with the treadling until I get a rhythm going. Have you seen my entry about the paperclip temple on my blog:

http://jennybellairs.blogspot.com
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Working on Selvedges and Speed

Life Looms Large said...

The towels are looking good!!

Don't be afraid of 8 shafts!! I think it's easier in some ways not to get lost. There are more numbers, but it's less likely to be just a bunch of 1,2,3,4's. Plus, your feet can kind of remember if you're somewhere toward the left or somewhere toward the right.

Stay warm!

Sue

Robin said...

Very pretty!! Makes me sorry I sold my looms!