Did you have enough variety in your collection of yarns and other materials? Which kind of yarns etc. did you use most? How do their characteristics affect the look and feel of each sample?
I found a good selection of yarns and materials in terms of colour and texture. Some of the yarns were rather fine so working with several strands was needed in some areas. It would have been useful to have a wider selection of thicker yarns. I used yarns the most, largely because these produce excellent warp coverage, offer a good range of textures and are easy to manipulate. The thicker (or multiple-stranded) yarns create a firmer, more dense fabric which would be well suited to sturdier projects such as rugs. They are also quick to work, filling up the warp at quite a rate.
Finer yarns are much slower to work with (more wefts needed to cover an inch of warp). The advantage, however, is that they offer more scope for subtle colour changes. Curved wefts and patterning can be quite delicate and detailed. If working to an image, it would be possible to produce much finer detail. Being able to combine finer threads means subtle texture can also be incorporated, for example, a fine boucle thread with one or more smooth wool yarns, or a metallic with plain yarns.
How did you find weaving in comparison to the other techniques you have tried? Did you find it slow or too limiting?
Despite the intial setbacks with warping, I actually found the second warp surprisingly satisfying, particularly as I knew I should be able to make several pieces from one warp. Weaving lends itself well to my yarn collection which has lots of interesting textural yarns, handspun and hand-dyed yarns that aren't readily incorporated into stitching, other than via embellishment. These yarns suit the scale of weaving better.
Clearly there are limitations with weaving, imposed by, for example, the size of the loom. However, with careful planning I think there is considerable scope for developing exciting pieces using this medium.
How do you feel about your finished sample? Are you happy with the relationship of the textures, proportions, colour and pattern to the finished size? Is there any part that you would want to change? If so, try to identify exactly how and why you would change it.
I like the intensity and variety of colour in the piece. I think overall the piece captures the combination of warmth and earthiness of autumn. The textural qualities of the materials have worked in the main. However, if I were to repeat the piece I would look to lighten the bottom of the weave and almost certainly re-think the braids which are out of balance with the rest of the piece.
Was there any stage in the whole design process, such as choice of source material, deciding proportions, choice of yarn or colour, translating idea to sample, that you felt went wrong? Would you tackle this process differently another time?
Additional sampling, in particular, considering the impact of weight and thickness of the non-yarn based materials (the fleece and roving) would have benefitted the finished sample.
Which did you enjoy more - working from the source material or putting colours together intuitively? Why?
As weaving has to be carefully planned, whether working intuitively or from a pre-determined source, there is arguably less scope for spontaneity than with other techniques. I enjoyed the structure and discipline of working to a specific source and this gave a certain reassurance that the piece would turn out according to plan. Working intuitively, on the other hand, was more challenging as it required regular review of the work and there was more risk of areas that didn't work. Given the scale of the pieces this wasn't a particular issue but I would sample first if I was working on a larger or finer piece. I would like to experiment with working from a cartoon, replicating a specific image.
