Sunday, October 19, 2008

Still Not Aching

As in, this series has not been achingly beautiful. Never mind, I learned a few things.

I think it's safe to say this warp is muted; none of the colors jumps out, saturation is medium-to-dull, value contrast is kept at a minimum. So, gorgeous, Peg? Elegant, Dianne? Thank you, and I mean it, but not achingly so, not to me. I don't think this warp is not going to ache this week.

In daylight, strong wefts didn't overpower the warp, but did what I had hoped, in subduing the warp. Wefts with greater value contrast, on either direction, looked better than wefts with same/similar hues or values, which looked dirty and dull. So Scarf 1, I started with a bright blue weft, in a simple draft that I thought I wouldn't use but sampled anyway. It's a less nuanced, "childish" scarf, but summery.

A great find was the screaming loud orange; here the weft was subdued by the warp and looks almost an elegant brick orange in the light. Less dramatic but similar changed occurred with slightly-darker-than-prototype purple; it looked a respectable ancient purple in this warp, and the cloth reminded me of the silks they use to wrap and store imperial treasures back home.

In the dark, however, wefts in similar hues and values looked the most elegant, so my first choice from last night will most probably be Scarf 2, and it will have to be hung in the dark part of the wall.

Then there is the yellow mystery yarn, which has a great sheen and produces a nice contrast with this warp, but since I have tons of yellow/gold small scarves as fillers, I probably won't weave this one this time.

OK, back to the basement.

(EDIT) For those of you who think I'm still on some hysteria trip, "achingly beautiful" was a phrase Randy Darwall used in his workshop in New Zealand in 2006 to describe one of Dianne Dudfiled's scarves or class samples. I also think he used "screamingly beautiful" in describing other cloths, but if not, well, then it's mine.

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