A brilliant sun after days of rain. More puddles! Join me in the through-the-looking-glass world down there.
I'm Alice Schlein, a weaver in South Carolina. A few times a week I write about my weaving, Network Drafting, Amalgamation, bread baking, my morning walks, and whatever else strikes my fancy. Thanks for stopping by! Comments are welcome.
Books
- The Woven Pixel: Designing for Jacquard and Dobby Looms Using Photoshop®
Co-authored by Alice Schlein and Bhakti Ziek. 362 pages, many illustrations. Now available for free download on handweaving.net. The accompanying CD with 1400 pattern presets is not included with the free download, but may be purchased separately. Email me at aschlein[at]att[dot]net for more information. - The Liftplan Connection: Designing for Dobby Looms With Photoshop® and Photoshop Elements®
By Alice Schlein. Build your own weave library. Design liftplans for your dobby loom. 157 pages, spiral bound, many illustrations. Now available as print-on-demand from www.lulu.com. - Network Drafting: An Introduction
By Alice Schlein. Break away from the block. Curves for your dobby loom. Originally published in 1994, now available as print-on-demand from www.lulu.com.
Monographs
- Amalgamation: Double Your Dobby
24-pages of text, diagrams, and color photographs, in pdf format for download. Create drafts for 8 or more shafts in half-drop or brick arrangements which would normally require twice the number of shafts. Related to network drafting, this is a technique for intermediate or advanced weavers with dobby looms or multi-shaft table looms. Includes guidelines for amalgamation with three current weaving applications. View on a computer, or print out one copy for your own use. USD$21. via PayPal. Email aschlein[at]att[dot]net and indicate your preferred email address for PayPal. - Lampas for Shaft Looms
Class notes from Complex Weavers Seminars 2016, newly revised and formatted, in pdf form for download. A review of methods for designing your own lampas fabrics for treadle looms, table looms, and dobbies, eight shafts and above. Over 90 color photos of actual fabrics with drafts. Includes info on pickup lampas and a lampas bibliography. View on a computer, or print out one copy for your own use. USD$21. via PayPal. Email aschlein[at]att[dot]net for ordering info. - A Crepe Is Not Just a Pancake
52 pages of text, b&w and color diagrams, and drafts for multishaft tradle & dobby looms. Many color photos of actual cloth. Methods for drafting your own crepe weaves. Annotated bibliography. Pdf available for immediate download. $21. USD. Payment by PayPal. Email me at aschlein[at]att[dot]net for payment instructions. - Echo Weave
Based on the 1996 article in Weaver's, Issue 32. With brand new diagrams and high resolution scans of original fabrics. Pdf available for immediate download. $7. USD. Payment by PayPal. Email me at aschlein[at]att[dot]net for payment instructions.
Categories
- Amalgamation
- Animation
- Architecture
- Art
- Blended Drafts
- Books
- Brocade
- Classes
- Crackle Weave
- Deflected Double Weave
- Design
- Dobby
- Double Twill
- Double Weave
- Film
- Food and Drink
- Gel Printing
- Halvdräll
- Interleaved Threadings
- Jacquard
- Jin
- Knitting
- Lampas
- Landscaping
- Linen
- Lucet
- Movies
- Music
- Network Drafting
- Overshot
- Photography
- Pixels
- Printmaking
- Rigid Heddle
- Sewing
- Spinning
- Sports
- Tablet Weaving
- Tapestry
- Television
- Torah Mantles
- Travel
- Weaving
Recent Posts
Links
Other Stuff
- Errata for Amalgamation Monograph 6.30.20
Click here to download errata file. - Errata for Amalgamation Monograph 6.29.20
Click here to download errata file. - Errata for Crepe Monograph
Click here to download errata file. - Alice's Basic Bread Recipe
- Errata for The Liftplan Connection
Click this link to download corrections to The Liftplan Connection.
« October 2013 | Main | December 2013 »
November 2013 posts
November 18, 2013
November 17, 2013
A Particular Tree
What is it about this particular tree that grabs me like no other? Every year at this time I am drawn to it again and again, until it is completely bare. Maybe it's the way it nestles close to the owner's house, or shelters the front door in a certain way. Or maybe it's the way the colors grade in a certain sequence. I have no idea.
November 16, 2013
A Couple More Granites
These are from a slowly growing collection of 8 shaft granite samples. As always with these highly textured weaves, they will change radically with washing.
November 15, 2013
No Drawing Allowed
Went to Columbia today to see the Annie Leibovitz exhibition. Well worth seeing if you're within driving distance. In the Leibovitz gallery, no photography allowed. Such a familiar requirement that it's almost not worth mentioning. But I saw another prohibition today: no drawing allowed. Imagine! But I did draw in the other galleries, so it was OK.
And then at lunch I saw this gorgeous jacquard upholstery in the restaurant. All's well.
November 13, 2013
Wrapped Up
Six more books completed. That will be all for a while from the "repurposing" box.
November 12, 2013
A Few More Books
While in a book frenzy, I rescued a few works-in-progress. These are wall hangings being deconstructed to begin another life. Some people call this repurposing; what an ungainly word!
The fabrics are lampas interlacements, and the pattern wefts are mostly handspun wools and wool/silk blends. I coated the backs with acrylic medium, my usual route. After a day or two of drying, I then glued on leather reinforcement strips for the inner spines. What you see here is the "wrong" sides of the book covers.
November 10, 2013
Finding an Angle
Early morning light (or late afternoon light, if that's your specialty) reveals things you won't see at midday. Shadows. If you're lucky, the shadows will be clear and crisp, as they were yesterday morning and again today. Saw this in a neighbor's driveway. The shadows are more interesting than the objects themselves.
Sometimes the light is filtered through the trees at such an angle that it illuminates only selected objects. It's a sort of spotlight. This little playground I saw on the same walk is an example. It looks like a tiny castle suddenly visible in the woods. five minutes later the light had moved on.
And on the street in front of my house, someone has painted an asterisk. The shadow is my own. It could be a portent, but of what?
Perhaps I should tell you—we have tickets to see Die Frau Ohne Schatten later this month. That will either make things clearer—or not.
November 09, 2013
The Straight Path
In my never-ending quest for ways to take advantage of a straight threading, I devised a group of granite weaves for 10-end blocks, and then used them in pairs for a block design on 40 shafts. Instant blocks, no rethreading. It's mind-boggling how many ways you can combine satin weaves to form new granites. No floats longer than 4 in this group, and they look really sturdy. They'll look even more textured after a good wash.
November 08, 2013
What I Did During the World Series
Finished spinning up a pound of fiber, a personal record. Finishing something, I mean.
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Barb has a beautiful new website, and her photos of some of our book collaborations are really stunning, not that I want to brag on us too much. You might want to take a look here.
November 07, 2013
Not My Door, Thank You
And some more jacquard waiting room upholstery.