Weaverly

Huck Hack

This new warp has three yarns: natural 10/2 cotton, pale green 10/2 cotton, and 16/2 natural hemp. They were held together as I wound the warp, and picked randomly as I tied them on to the existing warp, which was in straight draw. The first piece I wove was a crepe.

I then tried some pseudo-huck drafts, which I devised to more or less fit into the straight threading on 16 shafts. Here's the first one.

Then I thought of trying a lace effect, but again something that would fit into the existing threading. Here's what I came up with.

And here it is on the loom, with a hemp weft.

 

Removing the color from the picture, you can see the structure a little better.

And here it is after cutting the fabric off the loom and washing, drying, and steaming it.

Time to take a break from the loom. A blue heron strides along the stream bed as it enters the lake. 

Getting Warped

This week marked the first session of my brocade class at OLLI. These weavers are not novices. I didn't have to spend a lot of time explaining warp, weft, shed, and all the other arcana of weaving. We just dove in. All hail the rigid heddle loom.

As you can see, we share this room with the chess classes.

Each warp is a different color. That wasn't planned, it just happened.

I think collectively we walked several miles.

A very congenial group of nine.

Meanwhile, back at home, the long warp on my 16-shaft loom has been finished, cut off, washed & ironed. There are three long pieces of cloth and a few little samples at the end. I really enjoyed all this sampling on a straight threading!

A gray day on my walk. I think the tower is leaning. Some people agree with me.

In the woods a lot of brown, but it makes the little bit of green all the more startling.

The purple cabbage relatives in the Furman Garden supply a welcome jolt of intense color to the winter landscape.

I just finished reading "First You Write a Sentence." by Joe Moran. I found it entertaining and highly useful. Thanks for the recommendation, Carla.

A Dilemma and Two Birds

The samples have been washed and ironed, and a dilemma arises. The samples are both from the same threading but the warp yarns are different. The one on the left is more pleasing to my eye and the one on the right feels better in my hand. Must think about this some more. Ground rules: I want to make this decision without buying more yarn. Hm-m-m. What Would Mary Atwater Do?

Heading out on my walk. Wear a jacket? Not? A peep of blue.

Took off the jacket half way. Sun came out. The blue heron is standing on the log usually covered with turtles. Is that a good sentence? You know that the heron is not covered with turtles. 

The black swan came out of the lake and waddled toward me. It makes a sound like a kitten! 

A surprise. I've been hanging some old weavings. I found this one, based on a photo of the Savage River in Alaska, in a storage box. It's dated 2005. I hung it on the wall over my bobbin winder. Surprise! It gets good light from a nearby window, and suddenly I saw it "in a new light." It has a depth I never noticed before. I enjoy seeing it first thing in the morning when I go into the studio.

I wove it on my TC-1. The structure is "warp tapestry." Warp tapestry is a term used in industry to describe a form of double weave jacquard with a many-colored warp. It is not weft-faced tapestry as handweavers use the term. I no longer have the TC-1. Sometimes I miss it.