I have seen the enemy and it is Log Cabin weaving

I have to admit to my complete and utter failure to weave an adequate Log Cabin pattern on my rigid heddle loom.  Well perhaps I exaggerate for effect.  If it was not a complete and utter failure at the very least it did not go as planned. 

With the arrival of my new 12-dent heddle I could now warp my loom with a higher contrast 5/2 mercerized cotton yarn in Bermuda Blue and Purple.  The colours were lovely and rich looking in the light, and I had high hopes for sufficient contrast to permit the Log Cabin loveliness to shine through.

Things fell off the rails when it came time to begin weaving.  I didn't know if I should be running a pick of the light colour AND a pick of the dark colour with the heddle in each position, or if I should be simply alternating the colours.  A Craftsy instructional video by Deborah Jarchow seemed to suggest that one should run both colours through the shed when the heddle is in each position, but all the charts I found on the internet suggest that one simply alternates colours.  In the end, I tried both ways, and I think that the alternating picks of colour with the heddle moving up and down is the way to go.

I threaded by heddle using the skipping slot technique I saw on Bon Tricot's blog, and was really pleased with the result - - I had many fewer crossed warp threads than in my first attempt (in the usual style).  That part worked well.

Detail showing the skipped slots and holes

What didn't work?  I kept losing track of my counts and lost my pattern over and over again.  The same thing happens to me when I golf - - am I lying 3 or hitting 3 - - I can never remember.  Have I just raised the heddle so now it's time for a light pick, or should I be lowering my heddle and doing a dark pick?  I could usually muddle along and figure out the colour, but I can see from my result that I kept forgetting whether I should be working on an up shed or a down shed. 

I tried both methods of Log Cabin weaving, both the 2 colours through 1 shed technique and alternating colours and sheds, and the latter came closest to replicating the pattern for me.  If I hadn't kept losing count, it might have been the way to go.  You can see from the example below that my various sections looked more and less Log Cabin-y, depending on my technique and accuracy.

So much for consistency...

So this was largely a frustrating exercise.  Some positive strides in threading my heddle and setting up my warp, but many many small frustrations in trying to make the pattern. 

So many mistakes...!  Don't weave while distracted, kids!

I am sure I am just having a minor block, and that one day all will be clear to me with more practice.  For now I will go back to a nice houndstooth pattern in the same blue and purple yarn just so I have the positive reinforcement of completing a project.