New old loom for weaving tartan

[jsrnephdoc]

Ohhh! this is a big deal raw nerve you're hitting, healing now...
Thank you, I do appreciate people who help me stay honest and focused. Even if my local guild is not much help, you are.
This muscle memory thing is the one reason, the one fear i had, that caused me stop my project for nearly a year.

First, I agree 120% with you regarding the importance of muscle memory. Without it, them squares, they ain't. I don't have that kind of skill (I even developed a robot to do calligraphy in my stead), nor have much intention in trying to develop it, as I know my limits. Yet I'm moving ahead now, because I figured out a way to cheat. That's the automated positive take-up. Took me a couple months to perfect it, until last week. We'll see...

You may be wondering about your weaving skills on your project loom, but you've just demonstrated mastery of weaving conversations on XMarks!

I hope you'll tolerate a few comments on why I find this conversation so pertinent.

My interest stems from my desire to have cloth woven (probably by House of Edgar) in a variant of the usual Robertson Red tartan that apparently has not been produced for 2 centuries, but IS listed on the SRT website. It's Robertson Red (white line). I've always felt that the usual Robertson Red is just TOO MUCH RED, and the narrow white stripe shown in this variant on the SRT website seems to break up that mimicry of a stoplight quite nicely.

HOWEVER, many of the more experienced contributors here have cautioned me NEVER to trust a "digital swatch," especially for color accuracy, but also for feel to the hand and appreciation of how the tartan actually would look in a finished garment. Peter MacDonald responded to a query I posted online saying that such a project would be "too much, too expensive," (not a direct quote but the essence of his thoughts, I believe). That surprised me a bit, so I asked a person I'd not communicated with in well over 3 decades (former spouse) who WAS an accomplished hobbyist weaver back when I knew her. I don't know whether she knows anything about tartan, but she suggested as well that I contact my local (Las Vegas) weavers guild. Their spokesperson said no one here is up to that challenge.

Perhaps I don't even NEED a swatch "in the cloth;" I could just obtain a sample of House of Edgar's 13 oz "standard" Robertson Red, but inasmuch as that narrow white line is interposed in a wider contrasting color stripe, that nuance might be useful to see, methinks. Of course, that presumes that the BASIC color issues would be addressed by that sample of HoE's standard fabric and an order to use their same yarns for my custom weave, with the addition of the white.

Even THAT is problematic, however, because Peter has posted that one of the rare examples he's seen of this fabric used SILK for the white stripe, and while he reported that it looked VERY nice, actually using silk to make that stripe in new fabric would create a whole NEST of problems.

But, beyond my OWN concerns, the more generic question this poses is whether weaving a sample swatch on a home loom could at least address the "I can't trust the color balance on my monitor to be the same as on yours" and the standard caveat offered by virtually all competent kiltmakers to "always get a swatch in the cloth beforehand when deciding on what to use for a new garment."

Thanks so much!

I must comment that your "back to first principals" approach rivals in complexity a common joke among undergraduate collegiate students fearing that their European History survey course would include an essay question along the lines of "Describe the Universe, and give two examples."