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The Complex Weavers Southeast Gathering has now met its minimum enrollment, so it's a go, but there is still room for more weavers! Check it out, and join us in Yadkinville, NC, June 17-18, 2017.
Meanwhile, in preparation for the event, I'm starting another warp, this time for double twill on 16 shafts, two blocks. Loving this construction!
It came to me in a dream: while the black & white warp is still alive, why not weave those black & white double plain samples you've been mulling over? Yes, double plain weave.
The calligraphy brush in Photoshop seems to have made squiggles that look like two-legged llamas. So be it.
Two of them turn out to be doubles, so there are eight tones in all. Hm-m-m.
After I spun and plied a bobbinful of blue merino with little specks of yellow silk noil, the end of the bobbin looked like this:
I am enjoying my Akerworks bobbins, especially when they allow me to get a sideways peek at the colors inside. In a monochromatic yarn, the view is predictable, but when spinning a gradient-dyed roving, things get really exciting:
The blue yarn has been skeined & washed, and is hanging to dry even as we speak.
It is no surprise that after a few days of shirtsleeve weather, the daffodils in the front yard are coming up. No doubt they will be hit by several freezes before they bloom, but in past years they have survived this unfriendly weather with no visible harm.
I was so saddened to hear of the death of Randall Darwall. He was one of my heroes. Great person, great artist, great teacher.
Registration opens January 15!
The first ever regional Complex Weavers gathering will be held at The Yadkinville County Fiber Room in Yadkinville, North Carolina on June 17-18, 2017. Su Butler will be giving a lecture on Color Interaction for Fiber Artists on Saturday afternoon, Leslie Killeen's Sunday morning talk will be Cultivate a Creative Habit, and I will be presenting a Saturday morning lecture entitled Explorations in Double Twill. This gathering is timed to piggy-back with Su Butler's workshop at the Fiber Room. We're hoping this will be only the first of many regional Complex Weavers gatherings, giving members who are unable to attend the larger biennial meetings an opportunity to enjoy CW programs. I hope to see some of you there.
Above: double twill color sample.
If you're still with me on the double twill blocks, here's the current variation. I've been thinking about this a lot. If you simply flip the weave structures horizontally in the liftplan, the twill will slant the opposite way. However, the light/dark warp order will also be switched. So in order to keep that order the same, you must do two things: first flip the weave horizontally, then wrap the weave one thread to right or left (we're talking one pixel in Photoshop). Then all will be well.
Here's the current table runner in double twill, now with twill lines going in both directions.
And up close, so you can see the twill lines (click to enlarge):
Changing directions again...if you're depressed about the news these days, this bumper sticker won't help, but it kind of fits in with my current philosophy of taking the long view. Think Big History.
I am reading The Galton Case, by Ross Macdonald. I had never read any Macdonald before, a curious omission, as I love mysteries and RM was writing since the 1940's; indeed, The Galton Case came out while I was a college sophomore. It's a Lew Archer novel. Archer is the quintessential detective, modeled on the famous detectives of Dashiell Hammet and RaymondChandler, but with a more polished and psychological aspect. Indeed, Eudora Welty, in a 1971 review, said of RM's style, "The style that works so well to produce fluidity and grace also suggests a mind much given to contemplation and reflection on our world." The Macdonald language is spare and elegant, and features some of the wonderful similes later parodied by the likes of Garrison Keillor with his Guy Noir radio skits.
Here's an example from The Galton Case:
The lawn was the color of the ink they use to print the serial numbers on banknotes.
How delightful. This tells us that not only is the lawn green, but we are about to hear a story in which great financial wealth is a theme.
OK, Alice, get over it. Maybe it's time for a green warp. Meanwhile, I have a mystery to finish.
All those lovely horizontals and verticals, a virtual plaid, seen yesterday from my kitchen window, are now gone. At least the icicles are gone. The snow is still around in dirty patches, but all the roads are clear, and I'm not taking my life in my hands traversing my driveway. Normal life resumes.
In the studio...I've finished with the current batch of double twill samples, and there is plenty of warp left. I thought it would be fun to weave a couple of placemats using some of the 36 weaves in various combinations of large and small blocks. This is an 8-shaft loom, but because the light-dark warp sequences are shifted mid-section, I'm able to get the appearance of extra blocks even though the weave structures stay the same across the entire web.
Here it is up close:
Back to work. I have something interesting to tell you about the color green, but that will have to wait until tomorrow.
Forgive this transplanted South Carolinian for going bananas over a snowfall. Where I grew up in New Jersey this was no big deal, but here it is an event worth celebrating. The first view out my kitchen window as I made the morning coffee:
I managed to locate my boots, which hadn't been worn in five years or so, and went out the side door.
Juggling sunglasses, gloves, and camera. Finally managed these:
Ampersand House looks good in any season, but it's absolutely magical in the snow.
For the rest of the day, multiple cups of hot tea are in order, and I have a nice new batch of wool/silk blend to spin. I hope you are keeping safe & warm, wherever you are.
The first of the new color samples for double twill are finished. There were some major changes of direction midway through the sample set; I surgically removed the unsatisfactory sections and stitched the rest together. You can hardly tell. It's getting ready to snow here, but I wanted one quick photo by daylight. This pile of leaves out back was just the ticket. To jog your memory: the weft rotation is red, yellow, blue, & repeat, all the way through.
My inner eye really called out for a more muted palette and for the next set I selected a deep peach, brassy gold, and dark teal as my three weft colors. The sample set is still not finished, but here is a picture of it in progress. The light is warm indoor variety. Nevertheless, you can still tell the difference. I am liking this better.
As I write these words the sleet is beginning. They say we'll get six inches of snow.
On my walk this morning I saw an apocalyptic sky; it stopped me in my tracks.
In a few minutes between appointments I hemmed a few more towels. Here are the best of the bunch—the others aren't as photogenic, although they may win prizes for absorbency.
On the sampling loom, I ran out of steam after the first few samples. Instead of 6" samples, I went to 3" samples, then down to 1". I'll get almost as much information, but with less of the boredom factor.
I really want to be outside. This is a severe case of the winter blahs.