Weaverly

Filter>Pixelate>Color Halftone…

A seriously useful Photoshop® filter for preparing files for weaving is Color Halftone, accessed via the menu as Filter>Pixelate>Color Halftone. Start with a photo, then apply the filter (after experimenting with the settings in the pop-up, as illustrated here).

      

Alter the resulting image by indexing it to a smaller number of colors (again, experimenting with the settings - I chose 4 colors), and then adjust the indexed colors to suit. The size of the dots can be controlled in the Color Halftone window. It's interesting to see how large you can make the dots and still see a recognizable image. Choosing different screen angles in this window also yields interesting (and often bizarre) results. Moiré, anyone?

       

Click on any of these images to enlarge. And finally - here is a detail:

Weaving Exhibition at The Blood Connection

If you are traveling the I-85 corridor between Charlotte and Atlanta, consider stopping off in Greenville, SC, to see an exhibition of my jacquard weaving at The Blood Connection, 515 Grove Road, Greenville SC. The show will be there until mid-October, and can be seen during regular business hours (Mon.-Thurs., 8-6:30, Fri. 7-3).  An artist's reception will be held Friday, August 22, at 5:30 p.m. 

This is a collection of work I have done over the past 3 or 4 years, and includes lampas, warp tapestry, double twills, and shaded satins. 

Transparency

I'm ready to start thinking about a new weaving project: something not based on a photograph or drawing, but designed from scratch in Photoshop. I like to work with a layered file and change the layer order, transparency settings, hue, saturation, and other relative settings, to find variations on a basic setup. Here is some of my doodling from today.

Cutting-Off Party

As I write this on Sunday morning, I have just cut the Mystery Project off the loom. What a relief. To celebrate, we're going out for a steak dinner shortly (although cutting-off parties traditionally call for champagne). Ruth has guessed the nature of the project, which doesn't surprise me. As librarian of Complex Weavers, Ruth has Special Powers. I won't be reporting on the project in Weaverly until the opening of the group show in which this piece will appear (October 4). So until then, gentle readers, be patient.

But as an aside, I will report that sewing the two sections together went - um - seamlessly. 

By George, She's Got It

We're in the home stretch now. Only 500 picks to go on the Mystery Project. 

16,777,216 Colors

As I continue to think about ways I can use the Macbeth color palette for my weaving files, I am finding all sorts of Web resources. Here is a list of the colors with their RGB values. My own subset of 14 of these colors is as follows:

Just today I came across Bruce Lindblom's interesting site; when you go there, click on info, then scroll down to An RGB Image Containing All Possible Colors, and you will have the option of downloading a file containing exactly one pixel of each of the 16,777,216 possible color values in an 8-bit file. Of what use might this be? Well, for instance, you might index the sample file with various color tables, or various numbers of colors, to test the effect. Or you might try various curves on it in the Photoshop curves adjustment. Offhand, I can think of hundreds of ways to spend the day with this file! But I digress. 

Testing remote posting

Introducing John Adams.

Early Morning Light

I'm so glad I took the time to look up from my work this morning. If I hadn't, I would have missed this view from my studio door:

Mystery Project, Part IV

A little more than halfway through the weaving, it was evident that the white warps (one fifth of the total) were getting very loose, and harsh measures were in order. I cut off the finished section and there will be a seam in a natural break of the design. I equalized the tension, retied the warp to the cloth apron, and resumed weaving, with a little extra for the seam allowance. I think it's going to be OK.

I'll have to rethink this structure for future projects. For short pieces, it will work fine, but for longer work the frequency of the ties on the back layer will have to be increased. 

Catch-All

Peg and Ruth asked about my spinning wheel; it's a Roberta. I got it many years ago when an automobile accident left me "treadling-challenged" and I've put a lot of miles on it. Its only fault is that it's useless during a power outage.

On Sunday we went for a ride (A short ride. Ever since gas prices went through the roof we've curtailed our penchant for what used to be spur-of-the-moment 300-milers). This one was to an old textile factory nearby, in the process of being demolished. Partly buried among the rubble were cones of yarn. How I longed to "liberate" them. 

Also among the rubble were these weeds.