Thursday 19 April 2007

So many threads, so little time...

My first full-scale trial piece of the "Eric of Pomerania's Belt"-weave is progressing slowly and I'm reasonably happy with it. The cheap spun silk I'm using as a substitute for the more appropriate reeled silk is a bit fuzzy and the fake gold thread doesn't cover the background very well, but otherwise it's working. I had a hard time pulling the weft tight enough to get the band down to the correct width today (approximately 3 cm). There are over 100 threads/cm and although the edges are nice and tight, the threads in the middle still look a little too spaced-out. But they do that in the original too, so maybe I shouldn't worry about it...

Here's a close-up of today's work. Remember it's only 3 cm wide!








4 comments:

Gina-B said...

This is soooo beautiful! Now I know what you were referring to over at the Soper Lane site - You're so lucky to have been able to the original 'in the flesh' so to speak.

With regards to your thesis 'angst' - ok, so I won't be the one deciding a grade, but I know of many people who would love to read a full - historical - type analysis - me included!

Are you using a warp spacer? This can help keep the warp threads a little closer - although with a large amount of tablets I have had the same 'problem'. The warp spacer is seen on historic depictions of TW looms, so it may be worth trying.

Congrats again. This is truely a work of art.
Gina

Arachne said...

Thanks Gina!

I'm not using a warp spacer, but I agree that it would probably be a good idea. I'm going to continue experimenting with this weave after I've handed in my thesis (just try to stop me ;-)!!!) so I keep a list of all the things I don't have time to try out right away.

Isis said...

amazing work! i'm looking forward to see more!!!

i'm one of the people that would love to read a full - historical - type analysis, together with gina!

Sarah Ketley said...

ohhhh how complicated does that look.

I have a simple loom and have made some simple "4 forward 4 back" type things but that will be really amazing when finished. Do you have any more recent pictures, or has it been put where my loom is, in the back of the hall cupboard.

Constance