I have created colour compositions with photoshop and yarn in order to gage proportion and scale, experimenting with larger areas of brights and lights. This will help to give my body of samples variety, whilst still being part of a distinct collection. Incorporating small sections of lurex yarns will reflect light and add another element of excitement to the already vibrant colour palette.
Referring back to my images, I picked out another bright colour to experiment with in the weft. Using photoshop gave me an idea of how the colours might blend together, but sampling the design showed me that the orange and light blue clashed and didn't compliment each other as well as on screen. This shows that although designing on photoshop is a quick way of getting ideas across, sampling on the loom for me is the best way to make decisions about colour and composition.
I found that the size of the checks were not weaving square due to the size of the pattern and the repeat of the pattern with the correct colour changes. By experimenting on Scotweave, lengthening the pattern and beating slightly softer, the pattern elongated slightly creating squares making the fabric look more professional, showing that small changes can make a big difference to the overall appearance of the fabric.
The sample on the left is the original sample
The sample on the right is the altered, elongated pattern.
I have found that the acrylic yarn (the pink yarn) is breaking very easily, meaning a lot of time is spent fixing broken ends, but the depth of colour lifts the overall look of the fabric. Ideally, I would have liked to have had a 100% merino wool warp, but the variety of colours didn't extend to this bright pink. This has shown me that yarn sourcing is very important, and if I was to have used more than 8 ends in total, I might have had to compromise for a pre-dyed colour or use the dye lab to achieve such a bold shade.