Weaverly

New Vistas

I didn't think it was possible, but they have put the lake on lockdown. How can you lock down a lake? Goodbye swans. Goodbye ducks. Goodbye blue egret. 

I know it's the smart thing to do. And I still have a place to walk. It's just that I didn't have a chance to say goodbye to the turtles. Here they were two days ago. Hundreds and hundreds of them, sunning themselves on the artificial islands.

And the trees that were just starting to bud. I thought I would be able to observe their daily progress. Not to be. Not this year.

And so back to the studio. I've found a new enthusiasm: downloadable patterns. As long as the printer paper, ink, and scotch tape hold out, I'll be OK. 

Department of books: I just finished reading Lily King's "Writers & Lovers." Highly recommended.

Origami Bag

Some recent short woven pieces are becoming origami-style bags, or what are now termed "bento bags". Do a search, and you will find hundreds of examples and instructions galore on the net. These bags are really easy to sew, and quite useful around the studio (and at the grocery).

The requirements are simple: a piece of fabric three times as long as it is wide.

The asymmetric stripes in the warp take on interesting relationships after the folding.

In the book department, I just finished reading a pretty good police procedural, Peter Robinson's "Aftermath." Fair warning: lots of blood and gore, but the characters are well developed and the story cleverly plotted. Take this one to the beach. Summer will be here before you know it.

Getting Warped

This week marked the first session of my brocade class at OLLI. These weavers are not novices. I didn't have to spend a lot of time explaining warp, weft, shed, and all the other arcana of weaving. We just dove in. All hail the rigid heddle loom.

As you can see, we share this room with the chess classes.

Each warp is a different color. That wasn't planned, it just happened.

I think collectively we walked several miles.

A very congenial group of nine.

Meanwhile, back at home, the long warp on my 16-shaft loom has been finished, cut off, washed & ironed. There are three long pieces of cloth and a few little samples at the end. I really enjoyed all this sampling on a straight threading!

A gray day on my walk. I think the tower is leaning. Some people agree with me.

In the woods a lot of brown, but it makes the little bit of green all the more startling.

The purple cabbage relatives in the Furman Garden supply a welcome jolt of intense color to the winter landscape.

I just finished reading "First You Write a Sentence." by Joe Moran. I found it entertaining and highly useful. Thanks for the recommendation, Carla.

Selective Focus

This is definitely slow cloth -- 6 yards of handspun warp, plain weave, on a table loom. But it is very pleasant to weave, and most days I spend an hour or two on it. 

The loom (my new Louet Jane, with warp & cloth beams moved to the uprights on the floor stand) shows an interesting view of the path of the cloth. In this photo, you can see the warp beam on the bottom, and the cloth beam above it. I've focused on the cloth beam here. Everything else is out of focus.

And in the next photo, I've focused on the cloth at the fell. This will eventually become a poncho. Remember ponchos? I wove so many of them in the Sixties. Now they're back again. 

Those muted autumnal colors came back to me this morning on my walk. It was very misty. I saw flotillas of ducks, the black swans, the white swans, and a blue heron. 

In the department of books, here are a few I recently finished reading. All recommended for your pleasure. Olive, Again, by Elizabeth Strout (a sequel of sorts to Olive Kitteridge, which I also enjoyed); The Noise of Time, by Julian Barnes (fictionalized biography of Dmitri Shostakovich); and Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont, by Elizabeth Taylor.

 

Shades of Brown & Gray

Some recent observations. A walk in the woods.

A jacquard sighting in a waiting room.

A walk around the lake this past weekend.

Another walk around the lake.

A new warp.

And something to really celebrate: we have unpacked the very last carton. All books and records are shelved. We pause now for some liquid refreshment!

Multitasking

No words required here, except that I look forward eagerly to moving day.

Just finished reading Great Expectations. It did not meet my expectations, but I did enjoy the delightful humor & satire, character development, and wonderful depictions of the marshes & London locations. Disappointed in the treacley ending. And Miss Havisham was a real piece of work. I did wonder how her garments could have lasted so long.

Did watch the first hour or so of the debates, and am no nearer to a decision.

Morning & Evening

Because of car troubles, I haven't been going to the lake the past few days. My walks have been here on the property. But there's still plenty to see. Out quite early in order to beat the heat, I was rewarded with this gorgeous sight:

And then at the Swamp Rabbit Trail, I just happened to spot these old railroad ties under the trail bed. I knew it was a former railroad bed, but here's the proof:

Now let's fast forward to a brief evening walk, just before the mosquitos began attacking, and when I looked up, I saw this (you must look up once in a while):

And going back inside, on the elevator, I realized no day is complete without a weaving observation. Well, sort of. This padding was installed because someone moved out today. But to me it looks like a giant reverse twill. If I don't look too closely.

In the reading department, I just finished Russell Banks's Continental Drift. Oil burner repairman from New Hampshire meets Haitian migrant in a horrendous encounter in the Florida Keys. Wonderful book.

And I have just begun Dickens's Great Expectations, which somehow I'd never gotten around to reading before. I'm loving it. 

Three-Run Home Run

It was that kind of day. First there was a black swan who followed me part of the way around the lake this morning. 

Then this wonderful book arrived in my mailbox. It was actually stuck in the mailbox, and I had to exercise great restraint in prying it loose. No damage done. I have no idea how the mail person got it in there in the first place. 

I am sorry Erica de Ruiter is no longer with us. What genius! 

Many of these techniques will adapt easily to rigid heddle weaving. I can't wait to try some of them.

The third home run is that I finished weaving this scarf, cut it off, twisted the fringes, washed & dried it, and wore it to dinner this evening. Cotton & linen. Plain weave with a little bit of leno.

I probably could have made it longer, but at least it won't drag in my soup.

Pairs

To reflect the duality of my current life, here are two pairs. Salt & pepper first.

Next, the current progress on my Theo Moorman sampler. Rigid heddle, 24/7.

Now I'll share with you my current book recommendation. Read this book! Right away! Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer, by Steven Millhauser. Part fairy tale, part history of New York around the turn of the 20th century, and part a meditation on the American character. Totally irresistible.

With the other part of my mind I'm keeping tabs on the progress of the hurricane. Not likely to greatly impact us here in the upstate, but you never know. Stay safe, everyone.

 

Bag Clip

This Baltic style band is now long enough so that I can undo it from the cloth take-up roller and use a bag clip to secure it to the breast beam. I find this a more flexible solution to the tension issue.

The reverse side of the band is different from the face, but also attractive.

The following picture is from under the loom:

In this weaving limbo I seem to be inhabiting, I have had the opportunity to do a lot of reading. Here are some recent reads:

An Elegant Defense: The Extraordinary New Science of the Immune System, by Matt Richtel;  The Weight of Ink, by Rachel Kadish; and Somewhere Towards the End: A Memoir, by Diana Athill. 

All interesting in their own way.