New Wood Series Design

I've finally got the latest Wood Series threading ready to go. Here it is with one of the treadlings that'll be used with the threading:



You can click on the screenshot to display a larger version. The really interesting areas in the cloth are where the two design lines converge - the color blending in those areas are really fun to watch during the weaving. It can be difficult to predict how the color interactions will look.

There's a wood that DH has worked with in the past that is mostly pale beige but occasionally occurs with pink streaks in the grain that are caused by bacterial action. I just asked him what kind of wood it is, and he's trying mightily to remember the name!

Usually, this kind of bacterial action happens because the wood has insect damage or cracks or other air gaps that let in moisture, which causes mold to develop, and the resulting streaking is typically dark brown, dark grey or black. This is called spalting, and although there's a certain yuck factor to the uninitiated (it is rot, after all), it's highly desirable to the woodworker. Spalted maple is way more expensive than plain old maple, or even figured maple...

Anyway, the colors in the wood-dyed yarns for this project (see previous post) remind me of that name-forgotten wood. Once DH recovers from the senior moment and remembers what wood it is, I'll post the information.

In the meantime, I've been able to beam most of the warp. I had several episodes of the WeaveCast podcast on my iPod, so Syne and her guests are keeping me entertained while I wind sections on the warping wheel. If you haven't discovered WeaveCast yet, go there now! You'll be glad you did; the last few episodes are even more wonderful than their predecessors.

I just browsed to WeaveCast myself, and discovered there's another new episode ready to download, so now I'm gonna go start up iTunes and have another podcast ready for tomorrow's warping session. Pictures to follow as the process continues!