Lessons In Tie Up

I kept looking at my Glimakra loom and puzzling over all the connections. If I shorten this cord, what happens to the shed? If I lengthen that cord, what happens to the shaft it’s connected to? I needed some practice to absorb how the countermarch mechanism on this loom really works. I decided to put on a thirteen yard towel warp. I planned to weave two towels, change the tie up, and repeat six times. While I was at it, I tried turned twill, which I never tried before. And eight shafts, which I also never tried before. That’s a lot of new at once. Some days I sat at the bench just thinking.

In turned twill the front and the back of the cloth can look quite different.

The front of this towel…

…Is the inverse of the back!

I like the big picture view…

… And the close up detailed view.

…Because everywhere you look, it’s different!

This towel features areas of broken twill next to areas of regular twill.

I like to run my hands across it to feel the texture change as it moves from broken to regular and back to broken.

I like the pinks and blues and reds shaking hands with one another…

… And the gentle grey dancing with the pink and cream.

A softness you can almost feel…

These were just so fun to make!

Now I’m much better, faster and more confident with tie up!

Special thanks to my daughter, who is pretty good with a camera.