The Twill Self Study

 

Perfect Angle I Can't Confirm Yet

I am going through a self-study course via the OHS, and I am currently on Unit 1: The Basic Weaves. I have already written about my mis-haps and adventures with the first several weaves. The fifth project is the first twill, and it's the first time I've finished a weave and genuinely not known whether I got it right.


Right now, on the loom, the twill line looks like it's sitting at 45 degrees, which is what I'm after. But here's the thing about twill, and about this wool in particular: what I'm looking at isn't the final answer. The angle you see on the loom is a negotiation between sett, beat, and what happens in the wash. Once the cloth comes off, gets wet, and the wool relaxes and fulls, that line can hold steady, shift steeper, or go shallower. Until then, I'm reading a draft, not finished cloth.


And if you've been following along, you know the wash is exactly where this wool has surprised me before. The basket weave looked fine on the loom and then shrank the most of anything I'd made. So, I've learned not to trust a result until it's washed and dried. I think it's 45. I'm not willing to say so yet.


This one ends on a cliffhanger. I haven't done twill in Shetland wool before, but I'm putting my prediction on the record (45 degrees, holding), and next time I'll show you what the wash actually did. Being wrong on the page is fine by me; that's half of why I'm documenting all this in the first place. That is why I am doing this self-study.


Beginner takeaway: A twill angle on the loom is a promise, not a receipt. Sett and beat set it up, but ultimately the wash decides. Don't measure your success until the cloth has been wet and dried especially with sticky, fulling wool.



Stay tuned: the wash reveal is coming!!
Location: Pine, CO 80470, USA

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