As a brand new student weaver back in the early 1990's, I was taught to combine the art of journaling with the art of documenting what I planned to do, and then what I did. Draw-downs and pattern drafts were meticulously copied onto graph paper by hand. Glued into artist notebooks. Sample fibers were pasted beside the notes with those hole reinforcers you get from an office supply store. Remember those?
I saved those notebooks, full of hope and notes. For the journaling part sort of outweighed the details of the weaving part sometimes. A beloved Log-cabin pattern became placemats made for Grandmother and Grandaddy (of blessed memory). An overshot table runner which matched our china set - only to realize there's a treadling error YEARS later!
Fast forward a bit...and now we have computer systems to print out endless options of draw downs and drafts. If I change one thread here and a treadle there - whoa! - a whole new draft is born! Thank goodness .wif files don't take up a lot of space. Hours and hours spent by hand are replaced with a simple click of the mouse.
Why bring this up? Well, there's a yarn in my stash. A linen, I think. The label long lost from the skein. How much yardage is another question for the McMorran Balance to answer. But lo and behold! There, in my notebook from 1995, the very yarn in question purchased to sample for a project. The sample was sadly never produced. The hand-drawn draft alongside the notes from the planned project reveal a hope of a fabric to match long-since removed wallpaper.
A weave-a-long on Ravelry has piqued my interest. I seldom participate, as the themes typically don't match my planned desires. But this one is a plain weave WAL. And this lost linen could be made into something quite beautiful. Linen responds well to simple weaves. The Rasmussen loom is empty...perhaps a 4S huck lace? Off to the bookshelves to investigate!
Come along with me to see what comes out of this experiment, or if this linen waits for another opportunity?
