By the Numbers
One of the old jokes I constantly hear from and share with my fellow attorneys is: "I wasn't very good at math, so I went to law school."
I used to think math was not my thing.
However, I am actually quite good with calculations, and I spend a good bit of my off time crunching numbers for my hobbies, particularly weaving.
To get a general idea of project numbers, I use this weaving calculator, especially if I want to know how long to weave something under tension, as it takes into consideration draw-in and shrinkage.
Tea towels are my go-to projects, and I have a really good idea of how much they will shrink once they come off the loom.
Depending on the design, I typically prefer larger towels and weave them 24" wide and about 36" long before washing, hemming, etc. These figures give me finished towels between 20" to 21" wide and about 31" long. The sett, different weights of weft used (8/2, 10/2, 5/2), and the weaving pattern (plain weave, twill, or something else) all play a role in how much take-up occurs in the process.
Thus, I rarely use the calculator for my tea towel projects anymore. I spend more time looking at the design draft I want to use and ensuring I center the pattern in the middle of the weaving.
Warp length is pretty straight forward for me. If I am preparing a warp on the mill for plain beaming, I try to keep it around 10 yards in length, although, I have been known to push it to 16 yards.
With sectional beaming, I usually plan between 12 and 20 yards. Again, I have been known to push that, as well, to 25 or more yards.
This morning, I pulled some colors out simply because I liked them.
My thought was to created towels with these five colors in thick 2" stripes.
As I want the weaving width of the towels to be 24", I need twelve 2-inch stripes.
Playing with them in different orders, I came up with the following sequence, beginning and ending with the greens.
LT Green
Med Green
Salmon
Lipstick
Purple
Med Green
LT Green
Salmon
Lipstick
Purple
Med Green
LT Green
This order dictates each of the greens will be used three times each, for a total of 6 inches per green.
The remaining colors will only be used twice, for total of 4 inches per color.
Both greens and the salmon color are Brassards half-pound cones of 8/2 cotton.
The greens are untouched, but I have tapped into the salmon.
Here are the actual notes I made to the project on Ravelry, which outline my thought process:
For a sett of 24, there would be 576 ends (24 x 24").
For a 15 yard warp, total warp required would be 8,640 yards (576 x 15 = 8,640).
There would be 6 inches for each of the greens (LT and Med) or 2,160 yards for each color. (24 ends per inch x 6 inches is 144 ends x 15 yards equals 2,160)
There would be 4 inches for the remaining colors of salmon, lipstick, and purple. (24 ends per inch x 4 inches is 96 x 15 yards is 1,440 yards per color).
Unfortunately, the greens are both half pound cones or 1,680 yards each...
So, 1,680 yards divided by 144 ends is 11.67 yards.
Looks like this will be an 11 yard warp. LOL
I will also only need 1,056 yards of each of the other colors.
Dang it! The salmon mini cone weighs 149 grams, including the 12 gram cone. I have 137 grams of the salmon, but need 142.5 grams of that color.
My math:
1056/X x 3360/454 (3360 represents the yards in one pound of 8/2 cotton and 454 grams is equal to a pound)
X = 142.5
I have 1,013 yards of salmon (X/142.5 x 3360/454). X = 1,013 yards
1,013 divided by 96 ends equals 10.55 yards, which now means, I will have a 10 yard warp...
You can see, I actually went about this backwards. I started with what I wanted to do, instead of what I could do.
I could have saved myself quite a bit of time, if I had merely begun with the salmon and figured out what I could do with what I had; however, I actually enjoy the computations. It is like a puzzle, and I enjoy solving puzzles, particularly ones where I know there is an answer.
Of course, I could order extra cones of the greens and the salmons...
As boring as it sounds, I am actually thinking of making these towels in plain weave.
Of course, at the very least, I will do a straight draw to enable twill weaving, just in case.
For those who do not follow me on Instagram, I posted the other day that I am down to one loom. The 24" Macomber (Meg) is waiting on aprons. The 32" Macomber (Lil Miss) is waiting on new treadle hooks, as I had had no idea there were super hooks for B4 looms and slightly shorter ones for the smaller B5 looms. I had an abundance of B4 sized hooks, but just a handful of the shorter ones...
Well, the Beast is now immobilized.
I have a 16 yard warp of Brassards 8/2 cottolin in natural on him. I am 15 waffle weave face cloths along, out of a total of 36; however, when we first put the cable on the friction brake during the sectional beam install a while ago, we made it too long. When the brake release was fully depressed, it would come off the drum, which was beyond annoying.
One time, it became caught under another cable and kinked as I tried to pull it off. The kink is now permanent, although the cable length has been adjusted and is the perfect length. The only problem, that kink encourages the cable to become caught under another cable.
When it does... it requires more strength than I seem to possess to dislodge it.
I actually think it is not a strength issue, as I fine tuned the cable length not long ago to ensure there was just enough slack to advance the drum without the cable coming off at all. Now, there is not enough slack to remove one cable from beneath another.
The brake cable needs to be replaced. The handy and handsome husband has promised to do that. He even bought a cable a few months ago, but I did not want to disrupt my weaving to address it.
Well, good thing it is the weekend because I am fully dead in the water weaving-wise, until he does.
I guess I will spin for a while.
This is the current project:
The fiber is polwarth from Created by ElsieB. The bobbin holds 4 oz in Teal. The braid is Bahama Breeze. I will ply them together.
It is easier to watch college football while spinning, anyway...
It's all good!
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