坎坷的最後一片 Difficult ending of the project

 Finally the first panel of "Wall of Tree" was re-woven. When I started to weave this piece, I knew the length of the rest of the warp was not so sure; but still wove it. It was very difficult to weave the final part. The short warp made the warp thread lifting very hard and had uneven tension. A new idea came to my mind. In stead of cutting the old warp before tying a new warp; do the tying first, then keep weaving the old warp to its very end. From the photo below you can find this situation. I don't recommend this way of weaving. Because I don't have time to re-do this piece again, therefore this is an alternative way. I did get the length I need.

終於重新織完第一片，過程有點坎坷。在織這片時已經知道所剩經線長度有點危險，還是織看看。果然到最後的30公分時，經線張力不均，實在很難織。突然想到改變以往的做法，先把所剩白經線和黑經線一支支先接好，然後繼續把白經線織到最後，才結束白經線的部份。剛接好線開始織的時候，經線張力亂七八糟，只好儘量調整。最後終於織出約300公分長的布塊。

After tying two sets of warp, the weaving kept going. 把新、舊經線接好後，繼續織。

The piece was finished. The black new warp was drawn through reed.

終於織完，新的經線拉過鋼筘，然後下機。

Keep weaving

This is the last panel of this "Wall of Tree" project. There are 5700 picks to go. After two panel were woven, I decided to re-do the first panel. The first panel is way too short compared with other panels.

織完第二片時，決定要重織第一片，因為和其他片比起來實在太短。現在已經是最後一片，還有約5700道緯線、兩個工作天。

織完第一片 The first panel was finished

The first panel was finished yesterday. The length is 280 cm!! My design is for three meters high and four panels to make one image. What's wrong? I forgot to add the shrinkage of the warp and the beating is too heavy. It must be careful to control the other panels to match this height. Even though we need to weave test piece to find the aspect ratio of every Jacquard work, the ratio we get will not always 100% accurate. Beating, weave structures and the size of the thread will affect the aspect ratio. If the work is long, the inaccuracy of the ratio will show dramatically. Like this case, the work has 20 cm shortage. If this is a public art or commission piece, I would re-do the weaving. This happened couple times before.
昨天第一片織完下機，一量長度是280公分！！設計是四片三公尺長拼組成一個畫面，現在其他三片要小心控制成和第一片尺寸相近。可能經線的縮率忘記加進去，也可能打緯太重。在織作提花織物時，一定要先織一小段測出經緯比，再依此數字去計算整件作品需要多少道緯線。但經緯比會因打緯力道大小、織紋結構分佈的情況而改變，特別是織一小段來測，總會有誤差。作品短時，有誤差時不明顯。如果作品長時，微小的誤差可以累積出出驚人的長度，就像這次的情況。如果是公共藝術或訂製的作品，那一定要重織，這樣的事就發生好幾次。

雪莉的快樂時刻 Shally's happy time

Shally likes to play on the grass of our campus. It is her happy time.

雪莉喜歡在學校的草皮上玩，這是她一天中最快樂的時候。

The big project reaches two-third of first panel. It is similar to the last one, white ground with steel, luminous and UV thread. If you don't feel bored, this is how it looks on the loom.

今天的進度已經到第一片的三分之二，和上一件作品有點類似──白底和銀色圖案。

新春愉快 Happy Lunar New Year!

Happy Lunar New Year!
The final trial was finished before the New Year Eve.
趕在農曆除夕前，最後試作的另一半終於織完。兩片拼在一起後，發現第二塊長了快十公分。手工梭織最難的是多塊布能準確拼出正確圖形，特別是提花梭織不規則的圖案。再來就需要將經線的線頭修補好，上下端縫上木條以便懸掛。以下是在不同光線下的效果：

normal light     正常光線

UV light     紫外線

without light無光線

I am weaving another big project now. Today is day two. After about 1000 picks was woven, I re-adjust the size of design and re-start the weaving from the beginning. From my experience, I can weave about 3000 picks per working day (8 hours). This will needs about 12 days' weaving. More photos will be posted, stay tuned.

這幾天開始另一件大型作品，前天做好檔案、測試、根據測試做調整檔案、織作。昨天已經開始織，今天又調整設計，重新開始織。一般一個工作天大約可以織3000道緯線，預計需要12個工作天。