Polychrome Crackle

Another year, another batch of Cross Country samples to deliver. The difference is that this is my last year participating in this group. Much as I enjoy the challenges and the communication with other weavers from all over the country, I've been doing it for well over twenty years and it's time I moved on. It's also time I stopped accumulating more and more samples. I love getting them, but where to put them? I have about ten large folders full which used to sit on top of my yarn shelves -- before the earthquake! Now they have to be part of a re-shuffle and I'm not sure where they will end up.

This year's topic for my group was Crackle. It's an interesting weave but not one of my favourites so I have to go back to the drawing board if I want to use it. This time I found an article on polychrome crackle in an old Handwoven magazine and used that as a base. I first tried out the four possible blocks on 4 shafts, using pairs of all the various colours I could find in suitable yarn.

My favourite colour combination was lime green with a dusky blue so I used this for the rest of the warp and treadled the blocks A B C D C B to make a diamond pattern. This was the piece I cut into samples and send to other members of the group.

 The orange warp was cotton from WAY back and looked better after a wash. This is the first time I have used orange without it screaming "1970s" at me. So that is ticked off and I am happy with it but intend my next project to be a lot more fun!