Scottish Wildcat Tartan: first look

[Alan H]

And another.

https://scontent-sjc.xx.fbcdn.net/hp...32&oe=558B3D86

I certainly understand the confusion over what the exact color palette of the tartan is. So far, almost every picture looks different. The first pictures from Paul Henry looked very brown. They were shot with outdoor, afternoon light (exactly as you suspected, Benning Boy!). Then the ones with the tape, measuring the sett were shot indoors. Now these pictures by Barb show a much more gray tartan (which is what I expected). I'm REALLY curious to see the stuff in person!

In a way, I'm finding this to be fascinating, how the appearance of the tartan changes so much with the lighting. While it's confusing as all get-out here online, I think the, well..."natural ambiguity" of the coloration is actually rather cool. It really is a lot like the Wildcats natural color, it blends with the lighting and surroundings. It's very "catlike" which is exactly what we were hoping for.

[MacKenzie]

Yes. When I saw those first pics from PH I said to myownself, "Umm, waitaminute...."

[The Wizard of BC]

Well, we now know that the pics in post #10 are actually just an arithmetic error. And that answers my question about it being out of square. It is indeed "in the ballpark".

Now we can concentrate on how nice the design and fabric are.

[Barb T]

I can second what Alan said about tartan typically not being "square". In fact, my experience is that the sett in the warp and the sett in the weft generally do NOT match. And I wrote that in TAoK many years ago, long long before this post. In fact, I would actually be surprised if I measured a piece of tartan and DID find the setts to match in the warp and weft. I also discovered even longer ago that commercially woven fabric for counted cross-stitch, which you'd _think_ would be a 45 weave is also not a 45 weave. So, you can't make a perfect square by stitching the same # of stitches in the two sides of a box. And, people still make squares by counting stitches, and no one actually notices that they aren't truly square. So, I actually wasn't surprised when I first discovered that tartan is rarely a 45 weave.

So, if you're going to hold every commercial weaver to a perfect 45 weave and call the work "slapdash" if it doesn't meet that standard, you're going to need to send back an awful lot of beautiful tartan. Come on. We're obsessing about something that is truly not noticeable.

Having said all this, I am very picky about tartan, and I have gone over the 27 yards of Scottish Wildcat that arrived at my house two days ago, and there is NOTHING slapdash about this piece of fabric.

[Tim Little]

Fantastic; very nicely done! Can't wait to see a finished kilt.

[Barb T]

I'll also say something about the colors. Neutral shades are really really hard to show accurately in a picture, because there are so many confounding factors, including the color temperature of the light illuminating the tartan, the color balance of the device taking the picture, and the color balance of the monitor showing the picture. And even if all you have is the tartan, the color balance of the illumination affects the color you perceive, and the problem is particularly acute for grays, off-whites, etc. So, don't decide whether you like or don't like the colors in this tartan until you have it in hand.

In terms of the gray that we actually chose for the tartan, there are bluish grays, greenish grays, yellowish grays, reddish grays, purplish grays, brownish grays, etc.. When we were picking the mill to weave the tartan, we had the most trouble finding a suitable gray. The grays available from all of the mills except Dalgliesh were bluish, cold, hard grays. One of the reasons that Glen liked the Dalgliesh colors is that they had a gray that was slightly brownish and warm - it went better with the other colors in the tartan (more cat-like). It is definitely not brown, but it is not a hard, cold gray either.

[seanachie]

I have no dog in this fight, but a couple of comments from someone who loves kilts but is not an intellect in the finer details. Color pallette being less than exact is not something that really bothers me, it lends to the uniqueness and flavor. There is a well known sporran maker here whom I really like. He has some "stock" designs. I own one of those designs, but in all the pics I have seen the hue the leather and a few other things are always a tad different. I like that rather than regret it. Alan and Glen et al. very nice design. You are also working with a very talented kilt maker and he is a real gentleman. He has answered numerous "educational" questions on things like asymetrical setts and the like and I give a real shout out to Paul for his willingness to help people.
I would also point out this thread as a reason to laud rather than lambaste this community. Steve's post opened my eyes, without the photos and explanation I would not have understood the warp and weft dimensions. So to all involved in this thread and their contributions, thank you. It keeps things vibrant.

[Barb T]

Here's an example of what a difference lighting makes. I took the following pic with my iPad. The left side of the tartan is illuminated by the room lighting and the right side by north light coming in the window. Three shades of gray - one on the left, one on the right, and a mix in the middle.

In the lower left of the photo, you'll see a black-yellow-black pivot flanked on each side by gray blocks. The blocks on the left are facing the window and look grayer, and the blocks on the right are facing the room light and look browner. They look different in color in the picture, but, "in person", the color is identical.

[sailortats]

Very interesting Barb. Thanks so much for taking the time to set this pic up and to offer your comments. I have to admit I like the coloring from the indoor light a little better but in any case it is a beautiful tartan.

[Barb T]

Not even people look their best in the cold light from a north-facing window on a snowy day!!!!