"Random", What a Strange Concept - The Tied Unit Weave Warp Samples Part II

I'm glad I did more sampling, ostensibly to test different washing cycles, but in trying out different styles of lift plans, too. In the course, I made a big discovery, or should I say, had a monumental "Doh!" moment: whatever anomalies I include, I am weaving a tied unit weave, yielding its characteristic A- vs B-side "opposite" looks.

I apologize the colors in these photos aren't accurate, (and rather dull,) as they were taken over multiple days in different lights. But I did pull out my trusted camera so at least the focus is better. I've always woven 20/2 cotton, regardless of the structure, at 42EPI; the tension and beat at or near highest possible, though they differ depending on the loom. I use a 6-dent reed.

First, the wash cycle:
* Sometimes reed marks remain in the cloth post wet-finish, but after a while they disappear while handling. They really do!
* I put all samples in laundry net/bags.
* As regards wrinkles, these cloth tend to straighten themselves out in due course, even without steam press. 
* Re. 60/2s, when I say visible, you can see them if you know they exist; I'm not sure if the wearer will even notice during regular use.

Quick Cycle/cold water: 20/2 doesn't seem to full as much as other cycles; retains reed marks; not a lot of wrinkles, and what is there comes out in dry pressing. 60/2 is equally visible on A- and B-sides, particularly where the hue contrasts that of the pattern weft, but not enough to influence the overall appearance of the cloth; they are more like dots in between fat threads.

Quick Cycle/warm wash: 20/2 fulls well; reed marks are gone; very little wrinkles, which comes out in dry pressing. I may be imagining but the dye may wash off slightly more than cold washes. 60/2 is equally visible on A- and B-sides, particularly where the hue contrasts that of the pattern weft, but not enough to make a difference to the "colors".

Regular Cotton Cycle/cold water: 20/2 fulls well; reed marks are gone; finished cloth is very wrinkly and does not straighten out in dry pressing. 60/2 is more visible on the B-side, but still hard to see. (In contrast to the other two, I stuck this in with my regular laundry.)

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Now the tied unit weave part:
Now that I realize it's just a tied unit weave, I see its characteristics all over, the previous smaller pieces included. The difference is what I called "design cells" sometimes being smaller. (You've probably been shouting this since 2020, even 2010.)

This time around I prefer bolder designs.

A-side.

B-side of the approximately same section. I also decided I'm not a big fan where the same warp is lifted too many picks in a row. Also, lifting in fussy ways I used to, for e.g. 1&2&5&7 may not make attractive shapes/lines I want in this project. (I tried it somewhere in these samples, but I can't even tell where, which tells me something.) 

I also liked sections where I used two pattern wefts after one tie-down.

A-side.

Bottom combination is similar yellow and yellow-green pattern with light teal tie-down.

Sorry about the tragic photo. Top combinations, I first used the Christmas red and green in the pattern, purple for the tie-down; later I switched to a saturated, (doesn't look it here but trust me,) teal and red in pattern. The top section with teal looked absolutely dull/dead while weaving , I had to see if it looked as bad without the red, and it didn't.

B-side; the colors are pretty accurate. The first section with similar colors looks "delicately striking" in certain lights, but I couldn't capture it in a photo.

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I've been thinking about randomness in weaving. Nearly 20 years ago I did a swap with a local bone and stone carver and he wanted me to weave something "random". I thought about it for a long time, could not think of one element of randomness in the way I wove then, and ended up weaving something quite un-random looking.

Likewise, I say I thread thread the pattern shafts randomly in these projects; I say I choose colors quite randomly. But this is not true; I don't have concrete plans, and "play by ear," but I don't close my eyes and use whatever I pick up first, which is how I define random. The more I get used to weaving this style on the big loom, the less I worry about weft colors, or the tie down and shaft combo, but it's still hardly random. Because this question arose early in my weaving life, I'll probably think about this forever, every so often. But it's a nice question, don't you think?  

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I'll go back to making more lift plan drafts, in bolder rather than delicate designs. It's supposed to rain often this week, so I hope to get started on a scarf proper.