(the skirt progresses. I've got overtwisted doubleplied weft on the spindles, and am extending the weft beyond the tabletwoven waistband by passing the spindle around the dowel on the right. Periodically I pull the loops off the dowel and allow them to twist up, creating the fringe of the skirt.)
One of the things about weaving that I really enjoy is the ebb and flow of the creative work. There's a crazy dense bit of planning at the beginning – much of the structure has to be figured out just to get started.
Then the repetitive work begins, and a zen state sets in.
(detail of tabby weaving. I've just started a new weft strand. The leftmost warp is a four-ply cable, in an effort to produce the "heavy cord" at the top of both Egtveld and Hagendrup's waistbands.)
Experimentation versus achievement. Planning, as in the sketch shown in the beginning of this series, set against production. It's one of those yin/yang relationships, a necessary tension. The SCA struggles with it too – we try to set up the historic illusion…but the illusion is a composite of all sorts of times and places. Achievement of wonderful things versus fantastic opportunities to experiment (and learn) from the new.
that’s some setup you have there!
I’ve enjoyed following the string skirt thread. I’m familiar with the skirt, but I’ve never studied it in detail.
Thanks, Ann! (notice, I *finally* got into the academic Barber, after reading Women’s Work on my way to my first event in March 2006! Thanks for putting me onto this road.)
Now that I’ve done this, I’m feeling more confident about setting up a warp-weighted loom warp. Have you done that sort of weaving?
I’ve done warp weighted once–very long ago, very ignorant (don’t try this if the free yarn you have on hand is soft twisted lopi 🙂
Of course, now that you’ve experience “tablet weaving with fringe” — that’s how some warp-weighted projects were done, with a tablet woven header for strength and to space out the warp, and the “fringe” as the warp. (I’m away from home and books–I assume that the warp was cut when you tied on the weights, otherwise the warps would all be doubled.