Weaverly

More Green

Yesterday morning on my walk the greens leaned toward warmer shades of yellows and browns. 

Here's the view from my breakfast table this morning. What a racket! And the sound of the rain lashing the windows is wonderful. 

By coincidence, there is still this on the 8-shaft loom, naturals & white in the warp and green weft. I'm exploring further variations in this amalgamated draft. It is endlessly fascinating. In fact, I was having so much fun that I totally missed yoga class.

Now something totally different. I'm trying to figure out a way to weave inkle bands without using a backstrap or an inkle loom. Rigid heddle loom to the rescue. 

Instead of winding the warp on the warp beam, I'm weighting it with the same weight I use when warping my big looms. So far it's working. 

It's live tension. I don't have to release any tension in order to advance the woven band on the cloth beam. What do you think? Have you ever done it this way?

Green

Playing with some variations of tieup on current threading. Eight shafts, cotton & tercel. Amalgamation. 

And now here's some fun for a 16-shaft loom. Amalgamation of a networked threading. The amalgamation base is a 16-end satin with a counter of 7. I haven't given it a name yet.

Little Bitty Circles

Short and sweet. Some little circles I spotted this morning in the mulch.

And for some reason they remind me of this fabric you've seen before on my loom. But now the fabric has been wet finished and looks much more relaxed. Amalgamation, tencel, red & yellow warp, pale blue and dark blue weft.


Another one of this morning's mushrooms.

A new amalgamated draft, hot off the computer, dark warp and light weft. There are all kinds of secondary patterns showing up here, which I find very exciting. Eight shafts.

Department of Books:

Just finished reading Half a Life by Jill Ciment.

Mornings

Morning light is always welcome here. I like to pause and admire the clarity and gentleness before I make the coffee.

In the studio, the morning light is also kind to whatever is on the loom. Today it is a continuation of the design I call "Grandprix". This is an 8-shaft draft with lots of hills and valleys and changes of direction and network drafting. And amalgamation;. 

I think the black & white color scheme adds some clarity.

In the Department of Books: I have just finished reading The Difference Engine by Gibson & Sterling. 

What? July Already?

The web I showed you in previous post is inching slowing forward. The warp is so slippery that the shuttles frequently dive to the floor, and that does impede progress. It also taxes my patience.

But as long as I remember to get out early for a walk, I find this particular vista very calming. 

This one, too.

I have a daily practice of designing one 8-shaft amalgamated draft. Here's today's effort. It get pretty exciting when color is added, but for now here is the B&W version. Maxfloat 5. Click on it to enlarge.

Staycation Day

The Night-blooming Cereus hasn't bloomed yet. Or maybe it has, but we've been going to bed too early to catch the event. It is, however, enjoying its summer on the porch and putting out many new leaves. Thank you, Sam, for this gift.

In the studio, it's sewing week. The 6 yards of narrow fabric is morphing into a pullover. This involves joining the strips together in various ways, partly by machine and partly by hand. 

Which of these is not like the other?

The edges of handwoven cloth received special treatment to keep them from unraveling.

I occasionally look up from my worktable and see this totally unplanned color scheme on a nearby shelf. Who did that???!

There's some weaving happening, too. The draft from my last post is finally on the loom. Always expect the unexpected. After 2 1/2 inches, a broken warp.

In the Department of Books, I just finished reading Freedom by Jonathan Franzen. 

Happy Fourth, everyone. It's time to defend our democracy.

 

Amalgamation Another Way

The original pattern line was networked with a point twill initial (6 wide x 4 high) instead of a straight 1/3 twill initial. 

It will be further manipulated. But you can find this wif file, as is, on handweaving.net, as 80629. Stay tuned.

Point of View

Getting closer to the ground sometimes works when you're looking for a new point of view or a fresh start.

Of course there's always the problem of getting back up. I try to make sure there's  no one else around to witness my acrobatics.

Back at the computer, I occasionally experiment with adding or removing color.

I like them both, and the jury is still out. What do you think?

And with weaving drafts, the change from BW drafts, which show structure only...

...to color, the changes are so unexpected that you wonder if it's the same draft. That's the kind of excitement that keeps me going. 

In the Department of Books: I have just finished reading Tamarisk Row by Gerald Murnane.

The Power of Color

First of all, Queen Anne's Lace. I was able to walk this morning before the heat set in. There will be construction in this area soon, with big earth movers and other noise makers, but for the time being it is a refuge.

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In my continuing studies of amalgamation in TempoWeave, I am struck by the difference color can make to a draft. I do love the structure view (B/W only) but...

...I am simply blown away by what happens when color is added to the mix. I have woven a few of these, and it is not easy to pick the best yarn colors. What shows up on the screen is not necessarily what happens in RYS (Real Yarn Situations). As always, sampling is best.

Have a good weekend!

Learning Curve

I am practicing amalgamation in TempoWeave. Learning a new program is like learning a new language, but doing one draft a day is helpful. This one is for 8 shafts.

 

I love viewing the cloth this way. 

My 4-shaft project (seen in the background) sits idle. I did take time out to bake a loaf. I am practicing scoring.