Weaverly

The Stuff of Life

A friend asked me to bring some homemade bread to the party. I got out my favorite rye bread recipe, heated up the pizza stone, and here is the result. It has a good thump.

A few days ago, my new tapestry bobbins arrived from Australia. They are the work of Dave Brown at WoodenTreen. So beautiful! They're made from a variety of Australian woods, and will find happy employment at my tapestry loom.

While I am procrastinating about going out for my walk (it's very cold here, but probably not as cold as where you are...), I was doodling with this photo of a slice of cauliflower. 

If it looks like a wolf to you, that's not my fault.

Happy New Year, all. Stay safe. And especially, Happy Weaving!

Reading Material

Happy to report that I am this issue's cover girl. My article on double twill is the culmination of many years' work with this structure. I began researching double twill as a jacquard weave way back when Bhakti & I were writing The Woven Pixel (see sidebar). My fist major piece resulting from the study was this ice skater in 2006. She still hangs in my studio.

Last year I completed the following commission in double twill, six panels wide (a hexatych?), total 81".

I wrote an article on my research to date on double twill for jacquard for issue 113 of the Complex Weavers Journal (Feb. 2017). After that I changed course and focused on double twill for dobby looms, culminating in a workshop and another article for Complex Weavers Journal, issue 115, pictured at the top of this post. I still love the structure and I hope others will be stimulated to try it.

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Other reading material: I just finished reading the most extraordinary novel, Restless by William Boyd. It's a spy novel but so much more. Very topical, too. Read it! And I'm just in the midst of Improvement by Joan Silber. Another winner. Trust me.

Happy Holidays, all. 

Cheer up, the days are getting longer.

 

Which One of These Its Not Like the Others

I haven't been to the mall in two years, but yesterday we had to get a watchband repaired. So off we went, and were treated to Santas and other seasonal mall entertainments. I was so glad to get home!

I spent a few minutes on my tapestry exercises before lunch. Working from the wrong side is an adventure and a leap of faith. You never know what you're going to get until the piece is cut off.

You may be interested to know that I'm not the only one in the family working with fiber. Karl amazes us with his beautiful hand-tied flies. Here is his latest opus. It's jointed in the middle and wiggles alluringly.

 

Snow Day and Other Matters

Yes, it's snowing in South Carolina. Missed my walk to day. Too slippery. 

But that means it's a good weaving day. I'm working on the lampas piece derived from scans of ginkgo leaves. It's jacquard with handspun Herdwick wool and yellow lyocel for pattern wefts.

Just for comparison, here's a tapestry sampler I finished the other day, with a few oak leaves. Totally different feel. At 8 epi, the detail is quite coarse. But it's a very hands-on experience to weave. Right brain vs left brain. I love both. Tilt your head sideways for this one.

In the Department of Useful Information, my local sports consultant (who has been watching the Olympic channel) tells me that curling stones were originally borrowed from the weights used to tension handlooms. In Scotland. Who knew?

More Leaves

The leaves continue to fall by the millions, and every day I gather more of them as I walk in my neighborhood & downtown. This past weekend I picked up some Gingko leaves near the Reedy River, and scanned them.

I'll try weaving them on the jacquard loom first, and then perhaps try them as a small tapestry. 

First things first. This morning I did a small sample for aspect ratio determination. The gray yarn is handspun Herdwick wool and the gold is lyocell. 

 

Photo Booth

This week I've been doing the unglamorous work of photographing my weaving of the past year. I have a small corner of my studio set up with lights and backdrops, and I get out the tripod and go to work. 

Here's one of the 16 or so pieces. It's a double plain weave, black & white warps and red and white wefts.

Roughly 14" wide. A closer view. Click to enlarge.