Surprise!

In that, once in a great while, I am satisfied with what happens on my loom as I weave. In this instance, a measured one, but I am happy with the colors I chose and how they are appearing. 

 

On my screen, D looks pretty accurate, but I think A is pinker and B redder. C and E are dark in value and would have looked lovely next to each other, but I didn't want a flat-looking cloth, so I inserted the whiter D, and I'm glad I did it. I had to label the paper bobbins because under florescent light telling the difference can be hard. I also think the draft, Handweaving.net's #   modified, suits the color arrangement. Or is it the other way around?

I know that color is the first thing I noticed about textiles, and when I select yarns, I concentrate on the hue; intensity and values are more subconscious, or as afterthoughts, as a way of justifying or understanding my decisions. I don't like facile gradations, (therefore, my problem with Warp of Shame,) and likewise the gradation in this piece's wefts pleases me only as a step. But I am happy that I went against my usual tendency and made a place for D, and I hope I'm a step closer to understanding using values and intensity in making interesting cloths. 

But just so you know I'm not completely, uncharacteristically, happy, the B-side of this cloth is not interesting, right selvedge is wreck, and it's still that coarse warp so the hand will be more suitable for an exfoliating cloth.

But I must be happier because the first piece, in spite of being in more "my" colors with three purples in the weft, I couldn't be bothered shooting. The colors shimmer, but I feel it's more predictable. Maybe not.

My mom is struggling with colors; that's been the topic of our weekly Skype sessions for a few weeks. But let me tell you, Mama, it's like anything else; the more you try different things, it most definitely gets easier. Remember when I owned only navy blue wool yarns? One way of looking at it is to try and make the ugliest thing you can ever make and see how not ugly it turns out.