Weaverly

Music to Love, and the Start of a Search

Yesterday we drove to Hendersonville, North Carolina for a concert by one of our favorite groups, Pan Harmonia. This production at the First Congregational Church was billed as "Baroque Vibes," a cute play on words, as the instrumentation included flute, harpsichord, bassoon, vibes, and percussion. Some, but not all, of the selections were indeed of the Baroque era, but we were also treated to some contemporary work, and a lovely bagpipe finale with the entire ensemble joining in! Here's harpsichordist Barbara Weiss tuning up before the concert.

After coming back down the mountain, a quick bowl of subgum wonton soup and the following auspicious message:

At this point I don't know what that item might be, but it's a good start for an adventure.

Hints of Peach, Lemon, and...Blueberry

A number of people have written to assure me that practiced wine tasters can indeed detect the various fruit notes in wine. I am humbled. Folks, I can detect a lampas from a mile off, but I'll leave the wines to the experts.

Now the dishtowels. I don't know why I am endlessly pursuing these crepes. My colors are getting more and more restrained and it is the textures that reign. Maybe I'm flying in smaller and smaller circles. There is a compulsion to try another, and another... Yesterday's batch has come out of the washer & dryer, and I hemmed them in the evening. Early this morning I photographed them on the deck to take advantage of the sidelight. Oddly, the best photo came from my iPhone:

Some individual portraits. First the lemon (a good lemon, not a bad lemon):

And the peach, featuring the granite selvedge:

And the blueberry, with granite selvedge and hems:

A Whisper of Blueberry

Lunch at the Mekong is a favorite. With my papaya salad, I usually drink hot tea. But I do love reading their wine list. How do the wine promoters ever come up with these descriptions?  Can people really taste these notes? I wait to be convinced. Click to enlarge.

I'll add my latest dishtowel. Stripes of alternating 16-shaft crepes with a granite selvedge. A whisper of blueberry. 

As a bonus, here's the draft. I think it has good legs.

A Miscellany

Collected over the last few days…

First, the morning light, at least when I'm up in time to see it:

Next, some selvedge porn:

And now (it's that time of year again) my grandmother's chopping bowl and knife, as I make charoset. Because of logistical difficulties, we're having our seder Wednesday instead of Friday. BTW, I use honey, not brown sugar: 

There is daily progress on Dogwood. Slow but steady:

Got Bread?

One of These Is Not Like the Others

Here are a couple of color-and-weave simulations of doubleweave drafts, created with Repper inspiration and finished up in Photoshop. The first is for jacquard:

…and the next one is for a 40-shaft dobby loom, although I'll probably weave it on the TC-1 as a dobby simulation, since the TC-1 is already warped for double weave.

Spotted yesterday at Fresh Market. Everyone's an artist.

Beans, and More Crepe Samples

After soaking these beans all night I drained them in a colander, and they cried out for a photograph with the sheen of the water still on them.

 

At the time of this writing (Sunday), they are in a big pot, cooking slowly for chili. But in my mind they are like this (click to enlarge):

And lest you think I spend all my day playing with Repper, I assure you that is not the case. I have just returned to some long overdue work on my crepe sampling. The following two 40-shaft crepes are the result. I find that the crepes are most successful in monochrome. The play of light on the the yarns is the source of the drama. As with all woven samples, the true effect will not be seen until they are wet finished, but for the time being, enjoy these with me. For each one, I show first the draft and then the woven sample.

Three Haiku

Dawn

Early morning sun

Peeps through holes in carport wall;

Quickly disappears.

 

For Mary

Talking to my feet:

I can't reach you any more.

Mary can. Blue nails.

 

Holiday Dinner

Where's my biggest pot?

Buckwheat, bowties, onion, egg.

Kasha varnishkas.

 

Stripes

Now a serious attack on the mountain of handspun. I've warped the Wolf Pup with black 10/2 Tencel at 12 epi. I'm doing weft-predominant random stripes of handspun in 2/2 twill. Every time I change color, I change the twill direction. When I first started weaving, skatey-eight years ago, I admired the striped weaving of a mentor. She did these very same 2/2 twill stripes in the most gorgeous colors. I vowed that one day I would do the same. That day has come. These will be pillows.

Let's back up a bit. Before starting the day's weaving, we went out to the liquor store for fortifications (we were out of Scotch). Parked outside the store was a snappy red convertible, but what really got my attention was this adorable sock monkey hanging from the rearview mirror. I've known some really cute sock monkeys over the years, but this little guy must be the cutest ever. When we left the store, car and monkey were gone. I hope they're having a nice day, wherever they are. Top down, sun shining. Hurricane? What hurricane?

Flutes and More

Today we drove to Asheville for lunch with friends Kate and Chris. Kate is the driving force behind the fabulous Pan Harmonia chamber music group, and Chris is the artist behind the Abell Flute Company (a well-matched pair). We were given a tour of Chris's studio. Here he is telling us about the grenadilla wood (also known as mpingo) he uses for his flutes and whistles.

Grenadilla is extremely dense—so much so that it doesn't float in water. Chris ages his supply of grenadilla for as much as ten years before it is ready for flute making. 

He also makes wonderful whistles. His flutes and whistles have silver fittings. 

He has made his own guitar (just for fun).

Chris's workshop is located in the Grovewood Studios, also home to other artists and and the North Carolina Homespun Museum. Here's an installation of Lyman Whittaker's wind sculptures near the front door.

And something I found absolutely hilarious: this sign outside the Grovewood Cafe: