I’m back to the squid design again on a cloth that I really wasn’t comfortable weaving at first until I heathered the yarns.

The warp was a clumsy mix of blues and striping effects in tans. A good combination I thought when I went with it but it just didn’t feel right once the shuttle was in the zone. My tans were too liney against the blues and I should have dispersed them more throughout the warp. I started out weaving without the reed which made the best of the variation in the sett of the piece but still – not happy. Then threaded it again with the reed and tried heathering. Then I was very happy. It is a subtle thing to do but really softens the stripes that were set up in the warp. It may be a way to explore stronger stripes in the warp too.

These are the cottons I used wound together on the bobbins to make the heathered yarn. Very similar in shade with a small variation in tone. This also illustrates how good finer cottons can be in your work as you can always ‘grow’ a yarn but reduce the thickness. Aside from dyeing yarns, working with mixes, graduations and heathering make another way to work with what I have and bring out the best in the weave.

This the the best thing about Saori weaving. It’s not planned or structured and I learn to mix and work as I go. I don’t sample as I would in conventional weaving as I know I can use all of the fabric in some way. It is certainly an art practice for me and its unpredictability keeps my interest piqued.

Now I have another wearable squid design which is really comfy. The squid bias design is no 33 from Shitate no Hon

Keep weaving.