My final sampler for this section, the word-association piece. For this piece, I chose a word I knew I'd be able to get plenty of wide-ranging imagery/topics for - the word 'precious'. As you can see here, I've got 5 sections, in which I've taken very different approaches. Here they are step by step. The first section (seen the right way up) is in gold and red crochet cotton / thread yarns. My idea for this one was to have an obviously regular pattern and to hold myself to it, making sure I kept the number of threads and their tension the same on both sides. I thought this would be good practice for keeping the other sections in check. However, by pulling up the sides until they were very taut indeed, the warp threads began to pull in on one side, and white yarn began to appear. Again, I used the fork to try and rescue the situation, but keeping the tension right whilst using such a slippery metallic thread was more of a challenge than I thought. Filling in the centre and 'locking' the side threads meant that it became a little more regular again, though thinking about my initial source for this section - that of Anglo-Saxon garnet jewellery - it felt like it wasn't enough, and I was ashamed of my effort. I soumak'd/over-stitched the red section in more of the gold thread, and felt a little better - the centre WAS regular. The sides were a let-down. The important thing about hand-weaving, I realise now, is not to have every thread pulled to breaking point, but to make sure they lie nicely over the top of the warps. Beating them down is the important part, the part that requires the most force, not tugging on the thread itself. Luckily, the next section made a pleasant break.
The inspiration for this section was, of course, Ermine fur. A very simple weave of white fur effect or 'eyelash' yarn, punctuated by black tufts of the same, applied in the Ghiordes technique. The only extra technique I needed to use for this section was plucking all the white fur to the front of the loom with a yarn needle.
The third section is very frustrating. The original idea - needlewoven borders surrounding a lovely lace square - came out beautifully. The irregular and elongated shape now visible was due to my own short-sightedness. I completed the sides, as well as a few rows at the top and bottom across the width of the warp, and in my excitement, decided to cut those warps, stitch them back as hems, and make the lace. Then, when the next section was to be worked, and the warps had seriously relaxed, I added wooden rods at the top of the loom to straighten them. The correct tension for weaving couldn't be reached without pulling the semi-stretchy lace to it's limit. Hence, this section and the next cannot be neatened further without being sewn down to a backing. A good idea gone astray for lack of foresight.
The fourth section was inspired by the worth placed on leaded glass in the past. I'd heard about bead weaving before, and thought it would make an interesting addition to the sampler. I got hold of some clear glass beads, and made frames for them with further needle-weaving, counting the turns in each black block as I went along. Then, as it was an asymmetrical pattern, I worked out what fraction of each diamond was seen on the edges, and made sure to keep the rows of beads regular as I went along, 'fading' them out to leave two warp threads as edging.
For the last section, I thought it would be good to attempt (now that I'd hopefully honed my skills a bit) to make something which would have been considered a valuable piece of weaving itself. I wanted it to resemble renaissance Italian velvet. Nothing like being ambitious! Again, the gold thread was very slippery, and any attempt to tighten it made white threads appear prominently. I was especially disappointed with this one - the by now extremely uneven tension of the warps made this part very difficult. It just goes to show - the oldest, most basic of techniques, and it still requires practice and know-how. But the ghiordes knot pile actually came out beautifully, hiding the rough edges and making a nice, soft surface. In my photo, which highlights the white, it actually looks worse than it is.
I wanted to end the folder-set part of this section on a high note, but I actually found myself admitting that I am a beginner at this method, and it shows. Perhaps that's important to note, though - it's all a learning experience, and maybe 'the worst' is over.
