Weaverly

Have You Noticed That the Days Are Getting Longer?

It's about time! 

Enjoy your holidays, everyone. May your lives be filled with good friends, family, books, and plenty of yarn and chocolate.

Liquify

Photoshop's "Liquify" filter is a very entertaining time waster, but I think I've finally found a use for it. This afternoon I was trying to generate a repeat pattern in Repper with the objective of weaving a book cover, and I was finding all my results boring. Maybe the weather was at fault—gray and rainy. Nevertheless, here's the pattern:

I took it way down in scale, then enlarged it again. I needed every design element to be at least two pixels wide and high, because I knew I would be using double weave. Then I applied the Liquify filter, and it became much more dynamic.

The weave structures were applied in Photoshop. A color & weave simulation in Photoshop looked like this:

Finally, I wove the design on the TC-1 (jacquard).

After getting the matte acrylic medium treatment, this fabric will be ready for book covers. Meanwhile, who could resist trying out some twisted cords for the wrapping? Not I.

Cord Maker Love

Short Days, Slanting Light

In a few more days we will celebrate the Shortest Day. These weeks surrounding the winter solstice are depressing to some because of the shortage of sunlight, but I find that whatever sun there is, is really beautiful. The sun is low in the sky and the light comes at a sharper angle. It is more golden. It casts longer shadows. 

On a late afternoon walk this week, I caught a few instances of that golden winter light. I was just in time. A few minutes later, my street was cast in blue shadow.

And this fellow is saying goodbye to the afternoon sun before he goes indoors for his eggnog.

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And now some good suggestions for a word describing someone who loves to make books: from Steve, "biblio-macher;" from Kerstin, "bookmaker;" and from Neki, "bibliofaberphile." Thank you all. And one that came to me in the middle of the night: "livriste." And another: "bookist."

Making Cords

All the pieces have now come together for making cords in my studio. Some good friends supplied parts, woodworking, advice, coaching, and just cheered me on. Here's my Bradshaw Cord Maker at work:

…and another view:

And here are some finished cords in place as wrappers on books:

…and a closeup:

Not a replacement for kumihimo, but a whole 'nuther animal. A different aesthetic. And so much faster!

Now I have more time for weaving.

Yes, it was designed in Repper. Double plain weave.

It's a simulation of a 40-shaft dobby weave; weaving it on the TC-1 gives me the opportunity to plug in a separate weave for the selvedges. This selvedge is an 8-end satin.

The reverse side is intriguing, especially the reverse of the selvedge. 

Click on any of these to enlarge.

Bibliophilia

A bibliophile is a person who loves books or collects books. Strictly speaking, I don't think the term applies to persons who love to make books, of which I am one. But there must be a word for such as me. If you know what it is, please let me know.

Meanwhile, I continue to do what I love. The lampas I coated with matte medium (on the back) has been cut to size. Here's the start of sewing a signature.

And now two books completely sewn:

A front:

Two backs:

These both need some kind of wrapper band, but I haven't decided what kind. I might make twisted cords of the remaining gray handspun. We'll see. Meanwhile, I had to punch holes for the kumihimo bands in one of last week's books, and I worried about raveling, even though the backs were well coated with matte medium. So I painted a blob of PVA around each hole, and when that dries, the cords can go in. The holes are hard to see in the weave, but the green arrows point the way:

The Siren Loom

Finally back to the loom. This sample was abandoned a couple of months ago, half finished. I was able to complete it this afternoon. It's a double weave, designed in Repper, one layer multishaft crepe and the other layer 2/2 twill. After it makes the rounds as a crepe sample, it will become a book cover (but on the reverse side!).

A closer look, click to enlarge:

Then I wove two repeats of another Repper design, this time in double plain weave.

Found!

Found! More paper in my stash. This is from an old batch of cover stock I used for printing party invitations for a long ago party. It looks kind of like parchment (or what I imagine parchment looks like).

I spent a pleasant morning tearing it down into signatures and now have enough for four more books.

I took another retired wall hanging from storage:

There are two pattern wefts in this lampas, both of them handspun singles:

I think it will make gorgeous books. I coated the back with acrylic matte medium, and now I'll wait for it to dry:

Meanwhile, I completed a couple more kumihimo bands and installed them on finished books. I like the way the yarns echo the ones in the weaving. Click to enlarge.

Finally the loom calls, and if I can tear myself away from the books for a few hours, I'll be doing some weaving. Maybe.

 

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.

Waiting

I've reached a stopping point. My paper supply is exhausted; I'll have to reorder paper for text blocks before I proceed with more binding. And the cord twisting operation is waiting for parts. Three of these four books are therefore on hold until they get their wrapper cords. They won't mind. 

So I've cleaned off my work table (I haven't seen the top of this table in its entirety in over six months!), put away stray bits and pieces, thrown away a lot of junk, and now I'm waiting for my muse again. Sometimes she arrives while I'm reading. Currently reading: Scenes from Clerical Life, by George Eliot.