Weft Colour Matters

[igenlode]

My very belated attempts at tablet weaving (because I suddenly had a need to generate a cord of user-definable width).



It was an almost unmitigated failure... the mitigation coming when I took down the end of the strip that was jammed in the crack of the door, and discovered that my attempts at creating varied patterns had at least been bearing some fruit, but all on the back of the work -- as illustrated!

Admittedly I was working with very inadequate equipment (clothes pegs and a big knitting safety-pin fastened to the back of my jumper to hold the other end), only four cards instead of the recommended twelve, and had handicapped myself by starting with too much wool, so that my arms weren't long enough to reach the far end of the warp. But it's rather disappointing that the only really presentable rows were the stripes right at the start, and it just got messier and messier from there on, even when I tried simply going back to the start sequence (two turns left, two turns right).

I used a different colour for the weft, on the grounds that it would make it easier to keep track of what I was doing. It definitely does make a difference what colour you use!

Comments

[watervole]

If the weft is showing, your tension is too slack. I don't think a pin to a jumper is enough. Wear a belt and attach to that. It gives a much more firm anchor.

[igenlode]

The belt fastening is another thing that I think I need to work out -- I suspect some of my problems may have been due to releasing the tension with the left hand at various points, and it's certainly not practical to do anything other than a simple unison turn of the cards with the right-hand when working single-handed.

The main problem was that I simply don't have any belts long enough to fit *over* multiple layers of winter clothing -- it has been three-jumper weather for the past week or so (one thin under-jumper plus a main one, and an extra bodywarmer/fleece either over or under the main garment), and my belts are aimed at holding things up around a skinny waist. And I didn't particularly want to hike up all my layers and have a draught whistling round my waistband for hours, either!

Maybe a piece of string might function...

[(Anonymous)]

I started off using a piece of string round my waist. It's much better than trying to turn the pack with one hand.

Charity shops are good sources of belts - though, in time, you can weave your own, of course.

[igenlode]

Charity shops are good sources of belts - though, in time, you can weave your own, of course.

Yes, it did occur to me that the requirement for a stiff custom-length cord was a chicken and egg situation :-D