Space Invaders Have Taken Over My Loom

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A couple of people have asked about the 40th blanket project...  It's still a pile of warp chains at this point.  Why?  Because aliens have taken over my big loom.

This is a project that I put on the loom (mumble-mumble) a year ago, for Lillian Whipple's fine-thread study group.  It was the first thing I'd designed for my new 16-shaft loom, and my first-ever Taquete design, so I enthusiastically put on 9 yards.

Problem the first: I hadn't thought through the scale of the project.  My warp is 140/2 silk, warped at 72 ends per inch (4/dent in an 18-dent reed).  That means that even at 8 inches wide, this was 576 threads to measure and warp.

Problem the second: I didn't consider the implications of Taquete on the weaving.  As a double-faced weave, Taquete takes twice as many weft shots to weave, and it's a weft-faced weave, so even using a relatively thick weft (60/2 silk) the number of weft shots per inch (ppi) was 114. 

9 yards of cloth, at 114 ppi, takes 36,936 weft shots to weave off. (Loom waste never looked so good.)

If you hate warping, might I suggest weaving fine-thread Taquete?  You'll only have to warp every year or so, and will have a wealth of design opportunities to play with.

As for me, I'm (finally!) nearing the end of the warp.  Slowly, I'm shooting these alien invaders off my loom.  As soon as I'm done, I'll put the 40th blanket project on the loom.

Note: Details and the weaving draft for this project will be published in an upcoming issue of the Complex Weaver's Journal.