New (to me) leno weave variations

I've been working through weaving some leno structures from a book published in 1908.  The book is in French, and doesn't have much explanation for the diagrams, so this is my interpretation of the weaves.  The ones pictured here all have two ground (stationary) warp ends for every doup warp end (the end that crosses under the grounds and back).  They are 10/2 cotton set at 18 epi.  Some extraordinary variety is possible on just one or two threadings!

Doup leno sheds - AVL

Continuing the experiment, here are the sheds I can get on the AVL, which has a smaller shed than the Macomber.  Using top doups, crossed shed.

Top doups, uncrossing shed.

The normal shed opening for this loom with the top doups installed.

Using bottom doups, crossed shed.

Bottom doups, uncrossing shed.

The normal shed opening for this loom with the bottom doups installed.

Top vs. Bottom Doups

The first in a series of experiments comparing top-mounted doup heddles to bottom-mounted.  This experiment is on my Macomber loom.  The first photo is using the top-mounted doups, the shed where the doup warp end is crossed under the ground (stationary) end.  You can just barely see the crossing going on in the shadows behind the reed.  The lower warp ends have lifted well off the shuttle race and the shed is small compared to what the loom usually produces.

The second photo is still the top-mounted, with the shed open where the doup warp is raised on the usual side of the ground, uncrossing the warps.  The shed is larger and the lower warp ends are still on the shuttle race.  But it's not as large as the normal shed on this loom, because the doups are deflecting the upper warp ends a little.  Again looking in the shadows reveals this deflection.

In the third photo, I rethreaded the loom using bottom-mounted doups instead.  The crossing shed is much larger than the one using top-mounted, but the lower warps are still lifted off the shuttle race.  I've found that on this loom I can alleviate this by not pushing the treadle all the way down to the floor.

The fourth photo is bottom-mounted doups, uncrossing shed.  This shed is the same nice large shed that the loom produces in normal weaving without doup heddles, because the bottom-mounted doups don't interfere at all with this shed.

Leno Iridescence - result

One of the scarves I wove in this series - they're all iridescing (is that a word?), but this photo shows it up the most.

Leno Iridescence?

My summer project is to do some more experimentation with leno and gauze weaves.  One thing I wanted to try is to push the boundary of how light and airy I can go with this structure, so I am trying some very fine silk yarn.

I also thought that with all the different angles the yarn takes, it might be a candidate for iridescence.  The real proof will be when I get it off the loom, but I think it is happening: here are photos of the fabric on the loom from two different angles.  One angle is showing the reddish weft more, and the other the blues in the warp.  This fabric is plain gauze, with each pair of warps twisting the same direction at the same time.
 

Weaving at the senior center

I've started going over to the senior center in town, where surprisingly they have a weaving room, which has accumulated a half dozen floor looms, most of which are sitting unused.  I thought I'd come hang out and see if I can lend a hand at getting the looms operational and in use.  One of the looms has had an abandoned cotton and linen warp sitting on it for a few years, so I fixed some errors and got it tensioned and weaving after a fashion.  I'm told it was to be a tablecloth.  I chose some various whites and off-whites and a turquoise accent to complete the windowpane check.

You can see one of the apron straps had frayed and finally broke, which we'll have to replace.  I'm wondering if anyone recognizes this loom.  It has an interesting side-tie-up system.  It's also missing its ratchet handle, which makes it difficult to tension, so I'm hoping we'll come across it and can get that back on once I get this warp woven off.  The loom will be pretty much impossible to use by someone without much grip strength.

Cool colors for a hot project

Painting a warp for some gauze scarves in fine silk.