Aaauuugghhh ... weaving lets you know when you're too tired. Or when you've had one glass of wine too many.
I sat down tonight, and even took a photo or two to show the shuttle in the shed and how the weft, in this project, has to be laid at a steep angle to allow proper takeup in the warp. Because the weave pattern is plain weave, simple over-and-under, more weft thread is taken up per throw than if the weft were skipping some warp threads, as it does in twill, basketweave, and many other patterns. So you have to throw the weft across at a steep angle to let more length of thread be pushed down by the beater.
Anyway ... I'd been merrily throwing weft shots for a little while, when I realized my selvedges were going to hell. The selvedges are the lengthwise edges of the fabric. Suddenly I realized that not all the edge threads were being 'caught' as the shuttle turned to head back in the opposite direction. Then I looked closely at the warp and realized I had major floats ...
Floats are good when you want them; they are not good in plain weave.
I have spent the past 20 minutes unweaving everything I did tonight. All because I put my feet on the second and third treadles, rather than the first and second. You'd think I'd've noticed.
I'll take this as my offering to Athena, so that I don't end up with Ariadne's curse. The end product won't have any errors (thanks to my OCD) but Athena will know about tonight's error.
