The guild ikat project has moved on after the last meeting. Our goal was to tie up the resists so that the warp could then be put on the loom. Everyone had a go, and all seemed to go fairly well.
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| Attentive (or was the confused) audience |
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| Anne and Jinnie busy wrapping the resists onto the warp |
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| Resists tied - using both rafia and plastic |
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| Resists, after the dyeing |
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| Resists removed. |
The dye used was Ashford wool dye - a mix of yellow and red, based on the dry weight of the wool.
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| Tied on using the shifting board. |
The loom was dressed front to back (a first for me - I usually dress back to front), as this was the simplest given the unique way of offsetting the warp. Once the reed was sleyed and the heddles threaded the step shifting board was attached to the back beam (bungy cords) and using the 'off-sets' of the steps the warp was tied on. Once the shifting board was removed and the warp pulled back through from the front the off-sets become obvious.
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| The off-set blocks of the stripe. |
Once wound on to the warp beam the front was tied on and now I only have to wait for the weft yarn dye to take (24 hours) and then dry and I'll be ready to start weaving.
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| Stripes painted on weft wool. |
Using Earth Palette dyes I painted colour stripes on the weft wool (some of it - it will be done in batches). Nothing precise, but the red and yellow are in approximate positions - marked on the wood. That was then wrapped and is sitting in the hot water cabinet for 24 hours. Once rinsed and dry the wool will be put on a bobbin and will form stripes through the length of the scarf, but off-set so should wind from side to side, based on the repeat width.
