Weaverly

Unwashed and Washed

The 8-shaft crepe samples have been hemmed (while watching snippets of the Royal Wedding, I confess), washed, and rescanned. The crepe weaves are noticeably different after wet finishing, as expected. One draft in particular (#810 in my records) shows striking differences. I've converted the scans to grayscale to eliminate the distraction of the bright yellow, and here are the before and after pictures.

My conclusions:

1. Washing improves crepe (a no-brainer).

2. The queen's hat looked like a Quaker Oatmeal box.

 

Scanning Day

The yellow warp was cut off yesterday, and I was in a great hurry to get it washed, but first I had to scan the pre-washed fabric. 

After the washing, these samples will be cut apart and hemmed, then rescanned. I'm expecting the difference to be significant. 

Meanwhile, in the great outdoors, the roses don't care about scanners and Internet connections. They just do their thing, thank goodness. I do remember to take a break onece in a while to enjoy this sight. An hour or two in Ampersand House with a good book is a wonderful thing.

Technical Difficulties

This morning just after breakfast we visited the Furman Rose Garden to take advantage of (1) the incredible mass blooming of hundreds of rosebushes at this fabulous garden, and (2) the overcast weather, which is perfect for flower photography. I ran out of battery about halfway through the session, but did have my little camera in my pocket, so was able to take a few minutes of video. I tried to upload my video to Vimeo, but they are having major difficulties today. So I have nothing to show you except this:

The weaving equipment, on the other hand, is in top shape, and the day's crepe samples are very exciting. You just never know from looking at a draft what crepe will look like woven. The current batch of 8-shaft simulations resembles waffle weave more than anything.

Pattern, Sublime and Mundane

Where does he find these things? Coccolithophores from N. Miami.

My response: a first try at a liftplan for straight threading. If this sort of thing interests you, check out The Woven Pixel and The Liftplan Connection.

This morning: a visit to the State Farmer's Market, always fun on a Saturday. I bought zucchini, tomatoes, okra, honey, and a pot of chives. The flowering plants were gorgeous. Best of all was the patterning we saw in the industrial zone behind the market. Here's the back of the chicken processing plant:

…and graffiti at the railroad siding:

And a philosopher:

Yellow

Bruce is in the habit of photographing whatever turns up on the breakfast table. Today was no exception. His interpretation of the standup sack is very poetic, I think.

The yellow warp is now threaded and sleyed. No threading errors. The hardest part was getting the loom bench bolted back on. 

This project is quite a change for me—monochromatic, and it has blocks, no curves. I tried sacrificing eight shafts for selvedges, and I'm using an 8-shaft granite weave for these. It's working well so far.

Lighten Up

Testing time for the standup sacks. I put a pickle jar inside this sack, filled it with water, and stuck in a bunch of tulips. It works! Stands up nice and steady. 

Just as I was writing today's entry, Sue Mansfield sent me a link to a delightful video. It features a mill in Sao Paulo. Weavers, you will love this one.

Found!

I just found this, hidden in the back of a drawer. My very first weaving. Sixty-one years ago.

I wrote about it here, so I won't repeat the story. But I sure am glad I found the weaving. It had gone missing for years. The indelible mark in the middle was done by one of my kids (I don't remember which one, just as well), and I hope it was a creative response to the Honeysuckle pattern. I like to think so.

Still no more action on the yellow warp. I've been busy. This is what six dozen matzo balls looks like.

I think they need a little more salt.

Anderson

Today we drove to Anderson to see the juried show at the Arts Center. It was pretty good, except that there was only one weaving, if you don't count the baskets and the woven paper works. Sigh. Once back on Main St., I felt a great need for a cup of coffee, and we stopped at a sidewalk cafe. Brilliant idea. It was like a mini vacation. Downtown Anderson is much spiffier than it used to be. 

Anderson is sometimes referred to as "The Electric City," because it was the first city in South Carolina to have electric power. Just so you know.

A Yellow Warp, and Looking Back

Enough of this messing with computers! Good-bye Help Desk! Down with "Your call is very important to us." Back to weaving.

Here is a new yellow warp. I want the weave structures to photograph well, so I am choosing light colors for warp and weft. 

In other news, Karl impersonated John C. Calhoun in his third grade class wax museum. The next day this drawing appeared on his family's refrigerator. I'm hoping this is not a personal political statement, but a good actor getting into the role.

The spoken words are "In looking back, I see nothing to regret, and little to correct." 

A Dispersal

When I was cleaning out my studio last month, I filled two huge garbage bags with scraps of handwoven dobby and jacquard fabric, samples, and other no-longer-loved handwovens, and was getting ready to throw them out. I really needed more storage room, and some of these fabrics had been languishing for over 30 years. Out they must go.

Upon rethinking, I decided to throw the bags in the car and bring them along with me to Fiber Forum. Perhaps someone might be able to use cloth that I no longer loved.

Daryl Lancaster was teaching her class on constructing vests from collaged fabrics, and I asked her if her class would like to have my scraps. She graciously agreed to let me dispose of my "garbage" in her classroom. I told her that the students could have anything they liked from the stash, and that scraps left over must be disposed of; I didn't want anything back. 

What happened next can only be described as what my fishing friends call a feeding frenzy. Daryl's class added my scraps to the ones they had brought from home, and incorporated all into their beautiful vests. The following pictures show vests in progress, and I'll let you guess which fabrics are mine. I was incredibly moved by this experience. Knowing that bits and pieces of my work are now dispersed all over the Southeast in clothing that will be worn, displayed, and enjoyed is a high like no other! Thank you, Daryl. Thank you, Fiber Forum.