You can never get away from Sampling

A weaver once told me in earlier years of weaving…”you can never get away from sampling.” At the time I was trying to determine a proper sett for a new canvas weave and I really didn’t want to sample. Over the last year or so I have learned to love sampling beyond a workshop. Saving your samples and notes can be really helpful to return to as a frame of reference.

Sampling for color and epi

In these samples, I was weaving for a variation of Deflected Doubleweave I designed. In the sample on the left, I first samples for color, but as I was weaving more, it just didn’t look as I wanted. Even after washing, it was flimsy at best. The sample on the right yielded better results. The difference between the two was 16 v 18 epi.

Sample card for fibers

I will often mix a lot of fibers so having a sample card helps me to remember the size, color and name of the fiber. In the photo above, I’ve used the same colors as the earlier photo, but I have changed the draft and fibers used. I actually sampled for finishing/shrinkage of zephyr.

Sample variation

The next samples were completed for color and fiber. I decided to explore using zephyr (right photo) in the weft only of this deflected doubleweave. Using the zephyr created a lovely scalloped effect in this deflection. The completed scarf as shown was part of my featured artist exhibit in October 2019.

Color and Finishing samples 2020

The first two samples on the right show both the front and back of a fulled sample. In the bottom sample, I lightened up a Tencel weft choice and varied my treadling. The finished piece ended up being a variation of treadling and wet finished for movement as opposed to differential shrinkage.

Samples

What do you sample for and how do you organize your samples?