Warping up
After reading and re-reading the warping instructions and watching a number of online tutorials, I realised that I'd warped only half the required number of ends and what should have been a rolling warp of 40 ends was in fact only 20. To make up the desired 40, I was effectively weaving the two warps together.
Fortunately, there was enough movement in the warp as it was to make the first sample piece.
Selecting the yarns
For this I selected yarns, threads and other materials in a range of shades of blue.
Starting to weave
I used a hemp warp and a hemp edging, then wove in plain weave using 2 shades of a basic blue knitting yarn.
I continued with short lengths of naturally indigo and woad dyed wool, making Ghiordes Knots across the warp, using 9 4-ply threads per pair of warps. I worked 2 rows of plain weave, followed by another row of knots.
Several rows of thick wool followed by a row of 3 rows of Soumak, interspersed with 1 row of plain weave. For the Soumak, I worked 2 of the rows weaving right to left, the third row I reversed the direction of the wrapping and worked left to right. Pairing a left with a right direction created an interesting effect, rather like chain stitches.
After several more rows of wool plain weave, I wove a section using curved wefts.
After levelling the warp with several rows of plain weave, I finished the piece.
Before cutting the piece from the warp, I trimmed off the knots to give a satisfyingly dense and fluffy texture.
After cutting the piece off the warp, I knotted the ends in pairs.
Thoughts:
Setting up the warp was complicated and time-consuming (as evidenced by the fundamental error). However, once weaving was underway, it was fascinating to watch the fabric grow and it progressed relatively quickly.
This first piece was purely experimental, however, it was interesting to note that, when viewed from a distance, the fabric had a very landscape feel to it. The lower section was reminiscent of sea with foaming waves (the knots). The Soumak created a horizon line above which the tonal dark blue/brown gave the impression of hills surmounted by clouds and sky.
Action points
Although this piece was not formally planned, it's clear that it would be possible to recreate quite complex and attractive imagery using this technique. It would also be interesting to explore possibilities offered by the knotting process, perhaps making a graduated fabric varying the colours used in each knot across (or up the piece) as it progresses to achieve subtle shading.
Making the curved wefts took a little practice to persuade the pieces to fill in without gaps and also to get the tensioning right.
The hemp warp used was strong and had a certain amount of grip which made the wefts easier to push together. However, for a proper project I would need to consider carefully how to finish off the top and bottom edges. Perhaps binding with fabric? The hemp was too stiff to be readily woven in and wouldn't hold a twisted cord/plait readily. The hemp could have been softened first but this would have potentially made the warp too floppy and difficult to keep tensioned. This is something which needs further research.
