Tue 10^th Jan, 2017

                Over Christmas I was able to create more drawings using my colour scheme and sample various materials and textures within those drawings. However I still don’t have a definitive idea of what I want my warp to be. Today I will create more warp wraps focusing more on using blocks of colour rather than trying to blend them. This is because, after a group discussion, I noticed that my drawings are very flat and have a graphic style to them making them look fairly neat- Therefore I want to transfer those qualities into my weaving. By the end of the day I hope to have a warp plan so that I can create it tomorrow.

Wed 11^th Jan, 2017

                Having made a decision on my warp I was able to start to create it on the warping mill. I managed to pick up the technique fairly quickly but had some issues with yarns running out. Therefore one of my colours had to be changed half way through. My worry is that the new yarn (closest available in colour) is mercerised cotton whereas all my others are soft to give a more matte appearance; hence the mercerised cotton stands out and doesn’t link too well with my previous work. However, as part of my warp, the new texture looks aesthetically pleasing within the design.

Thurs 12^th Jan, 2017

                After making my warp I was able to transfer it onto my loom. Due to the high thread count and the types of yarn used, it became quite difficult to untangle and roll onto the loom smoothly. Another issues I had was that the mercerised cotton and the soft cotton was causing lots of friction creating balls of fluff that would stop the process. Now that I have a better understanding of the yarns available I will hopefully be able to avoid issues like this in the future.

Fri 13^th Jan, 2017

     Today I began to work from the front of the loom, getting the yarn through the heddles on a point. It was a very long process and although tedious, was bizarrely entertaining. From chatting with Rebecca I found that the amount of ends I have is quite a lot for a first go, but in a couple of years I could be working with four times as many which is a challenge I am looking forward to. When I finally completed the task I found that I had four yarns left over that didn’t fit into a rotation; therefore I have miscounted somewhere along the way and may not be able to rectify the problem, but will find out in the next step.