Weaverly

Marathon

What a marathon! Changing internet providers is a major event. But I think we've got most of the bugs worked out. Nice to be back.

While I've been updating all of my accounts, I've had a little time to work on new drafts for my (currently naked) dobby loom. I'd like to explore more crepe weaves, specifically 8-shaft weaves, so here's a draft that will give me some options. The back 8 are reserved for selvedges, and the remaining 32 shafts are divided into 4 groups of 8 for various block combinations.

What you see here is blocks of 8-shaft crepe alternated with blocks of 1/3 and 3/1 twill combinations.

Coffee Beans As Inspiration

Here we are again at the public library. I hope to have my own internet service tomorrow. There are certainly worse privations than this.

For your entertainment, some more upholstery from a waiting room. What is it? Satin and plain? Hard to tell.

I've been prototyping a new standup bag, made of collages of scraps of my jacquard and dobby fabrics. This shape was inspired by a two pound bag of coffee beans. The bag, when empty, folds perfectly flat, but has an expandable oval shaped gusset at the bottom, so that it stands up smartly when open. Very clever. I thought that if I made the bottom out of Tyvek, the gusset would be (1) strong, and (2) very thin, so it wouldn't add bulk to the side seams. I inserted a tiny magnet closure at the top, which makes a satisfying click when you close it. The bag can be used as a lunch bag, a standup knitting bag, or a flower vase when a mason jar is inserted in it. Or whatever else you can think of!

Down But Not Out

Due to an unfortunate concatenation of events, my internet service is down this week. Tonight I'm at my public library, enjoying their wi-fi. I hope to get back online at home by next Friday. But here's a quick blog post to tell everyone I'm still among the living.

I do have some good news. Fellow weaver Chris Spangler has just announced her new blog, and you can read it here. Chris is an innovative weaver and always comes up with surprising and witty solutions to problems. I look forward to following her adventures.

 

A Mysterious Message

This morning in the gravel parking lot at Arrowmont, my wheeled suitcase made the following tracks:

A few minutes later, someone else had come along with a suitcase and made additional tracks over mine. I like to think their design was a response to my tracks, a dialog of sorts. It seemed to me that the weaving goddess was telling me that my class this morning should be about designing interlocking curves for dobby. And so it shall be.

Other good things happening at Fiber Forum—Catharine Ellis explaining a fine point of woven shibori:

Amy Putansu weaving a tapestry sampler in Tommye's class:

Today's the last day. I'm going to hate leaving this wonderful conference at a very special place: Arrowmont.

Class, Day One

We sorted out the extension cords and everyone got their computers plugged in. In this picture my teaching assistant, Richard, is mulling over a problematic draft with Diane.

Martha entertained the conference attendees with her banjo before the fashion show…

A basket of pirns at the Lunatic Fringe booth in the vendors' area…

Setting Up

Arrived yesterday after a beautiful drive through the mountains, and got settled in at Arrowmont. Fiber Forum vendors were already setting up.

Neal Howard had some gorgeous woven shibori jackets in her booth.

Tommye was setting up in her classroom.

Had a nice chat with Edwina Bringle, weaving teacher to thousands.

Daryl's keynote address was inspiring. And so to bed.

This morning, after noting the sunrise over the Smokies…

…I tried to figure out how I was going to get all my students' computers plugged into one outlet:

 

Ready to Roll

Now to load up the car with this stuff, and lots more, and head across the mountain to The Emerald City—I mean Gatlinburg—for Fiber Forum. It's a beautiful day, and I look forward to seeing the Smokies in their spring glory.

More Nice Browns and a Typewriter

As a reward for getting the taxes done, I went to one of favorite places, Fresh Market, intending to get some nice vegetables (which I did—golden beets), but then I got sidetracked to the candy aisle.

It makes quite a nice palette, actually.

And if I can tear you away from the candy, take a look at this. They say Hemingway used one.

You can still buy one here. Actually, I took one of these to college with me in the late 1950's. I wrote some terrible term papers on it. 

A Catalog

Textiles in a Tube is temporarily on hold. There were plumbing problems in the spaces on either side of the gallery. No artworks were affected, and they're safely locked away until repairs are made. It is expected that the gallery will reopen this weekend. Meanwhile, the catalog is available for browsing or purchase online, and contains photos of the artworks, artists' statements, and juror's statement. 

 Above: Arboreal, my contribution.

In that odd time between projects—when everything is literally at loose ends—I like to doodle in Photoshop and dream up new drafts. Some of them eventually get woven, and some go to Weavers' Limbo. You probably have a place like that. Maybe all the limbos are connected. I like to think of the unwoven drafts floating around there, chatting with each other, comparing notes. 

On the left side you see a few repeats of a 40-shaft design. This one could be woven with two weave structures. On the right I added color. This one could be for four structures.

If you have 40 shafts, you might be interested in the Photoshop file, which, if I've figured out the mechanics of Dropbox correctly, you can download here. The file can be opened in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements. There are no weaves entered yet, but the colors have been split out to their own layers. The usual requests: for your personal use only, not for items for sale, etc., etc.