Weaverly

Getting My Ducks (and Books and Other Stuff) in a Row

You may have wondered what has taken my so long. Well, I have been getting my ducks in a row.

In addition to trying to enjoy the beautiful fall weather, I have enrolled is a few Zoom classes to sharpen some skills.

One of them is a book making class taught by the always wonderful Ali Manning of Vintage Page Designs. 

My class project took advantage of some crinkled brown wrapping paper rescued from a yarn shipment. I painted the paper with watercolors and tried to iron out the crinkles as best I could.

This was a perfect opportunity to review my coptic spine moves, something I've neglected in recent months. The signature wrappers were also rescued from the scrap pile. I didn't buy a single new thing for this book! Extra points.

I also cut off the Daldråll pieces from my 4-shaft loom and spread them out on the porch floor for some quick snapshots. This is the version with Black Welsh Mountain handspun as the pattern weft.

And here is my variation with some unknown handspun, probably Romney, as pattern weft.

I much prefer the black version.

Back on the porch, my Christmas Cactus (mother plant and daughter just beside her) are enjoying their summer outdoors (thank you, Ruth!). It will be a shame to have to bring them indoors in a month or two.

In the Department of Books, just finished reading Seven For a Secret by Mary Webb. I was quite surprised to learn that there are at least six other authors who have written books with this same title, and probably many others. This one is--to put it politely--a little dated, but I did enjoy it.

Complexity

The online catalog for Complexity, the exhibition sponsored by Complex Weavers, is now available here. It is full of amazing fiber art and is a beautifully produced catalog. Check it out. Full disclosure: one of my pieces is included.

I am busy putting the finishing touches on my virtual seminar for Complex Weavers Seminars 2022. Consequently not much real world weaving is taking place here these days. But I'll leave you with a picture of a sunset, a tree, and my newest warp, waiting for an empty loom. These are not in any particular order nor are they necessarily connected. But they might be! You never know what goes on in the middle of the night in the weaving studio, while you are sleeping.

Color Me Crazy

Since we last spoke, I wove two more samples on the amalgamated warp. This time I went for weft in what I thought were really unharmonious colors—at least unharmonious on this particular warp. First green and gold: 

It turned out to be well balanced, and I quite like it.

Next was purple and gold, and I expected an especially jarring result. Kinda like football team colors. Much to my surprise, this is the best one of the lot. Of course the jury is not in for real until these are washed & dried.

Now that the end of the warp is near, I'm collecting the usual crop of warping paper. 

This next picture courtesy of Bruce, who had a front row seat at my presentation "My Weaving Life So Far" last Thursday at The Woodlands. The talk got good reviews, and my friends and neighbors asked some good questions at the Q&A afterwards. Now I'm officially credentialed as "that weaving lady."

Local Color

Yesterday was Dye Day at Pat's studio. Here are Patti, Pat, and Ruth about to begin work. Pat is reviewing some basics. Just in case.

A few hours later, the colorful result. Skeins, skeins, and more skeins, and a few warps. We all went home happy. Thanks, Pat, for sharing your studio and your knowledge with us.

Back in the home studio, a couple of finished scarves from one cotton crackle warp, both with the same treadling. On the left, a rayon weft. On the right, handspun cotton. The character and drape are totally different.

I enjoyed this warp so much that I tied on another to the end of it, this one purple rayon and pale green cotton. Same treadling, too. The weft this time is light gray silk.

Bruce and I had planned to go riding out in the country today, to see what we could see, and we were not lucky with the weather. Constant rain. We went anyway. Here is a picture of the iconic Union County (SC) Courthouse, as seen through the front windshield of the car from the parking lot across the street. 

Department of Books:

Recently finished Portrait of a Lady by Henry James, Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy, and All Things Cease to Appear by Elizabeth Brundage.

Afternoon at Connemara

Yesterday afternoon we took advantage of the gorgeous weather and drove up to Connemara, the home of Carl Sandburg in Flat Rock, North Carolina.

We circled the lower lake.

I took a detour and walked up to the house to enjoy the view. I was rewarded by this magnificent magnolia just coming into blossom.

Back at the lakeside trail, I spied this I spied this blue thing nestled in a bed of moss. What on earth? A lost jewel? Turns out it was a glass button someone had left in that perfect setting. When I got up closer, I saw that it reflected the trees and sky in perfect miniature. Click to enlarge. 

Home at teatime. Warning: Monstera report follows. The new leaves are now fully unfurled, and are a much lighter green than the older leaves. I don't know if they will stay that way, but the contrast is pleasing. I love this plant.

 

In the studio, bookmaking is top dog this week. I have just completed an online class with the inimitable Ali Manning. What a wonderful teacher! I've done coptic bindings before, but not in this twin-needle fashion. Very helpful. Her cover structure is particularly interesting - just laminated paper, no boards to cut. 

On Lockdown

My activities while we're on lockdown are the same as usual, only more so. That translates to increased weaving time. Lucky, lucky, lucky.

You may recall that the fabric being woven here will eventually become a bias-cut pullover. I will be using this pattern by Sarah. I've used her patterns before, and find her to be a very dependable guide to sewing garments from narrow handwoven fabrics.

But first I had to make a muslin, to check the fit. I had no muslin on hand and a trip to the fabric store is a no-no right now. I did, however, have an old bedsheet. It's an incredible cotton/linen jacquard, too good to get rid of after its useful life was done. Over the last couple of days I made my dummy garment out of this, and it fits perfectly. In fact, it's so nice that I will be wearing the muslin, even after the handwoven version is done.

I've also been finishing up the teaching warp on my rigid heddle loom. I may want to put another warp on this loom soon, and have to be ready for action when the mood strikes.

Then there is always the daily walk. As you can see, I am maintaining social distancing.

So are they.

Be careful out there, y'all. Be mindful, be kind, and be grateful for the work of your hands.

Done and Done

An end of warp situation. This warp was tied onto four times. It's time to bring it to an end. The following two views are behind the heddles.

After cutting off the red warp, there was fabric for 2 bento bags and six smallish table napkins (I guess they're called luncheon napkins, although what luncheon means any more is up for grabs). I took the napkins immediately to the sewing machine and did up the hems.

Then I washed them and ironed them. I am now ready for my next luncheon.

The bento samplers are a little more interesting, a hodgepodge of weave structures and scraps of yarn from partially emptied bobbins. The were such fun to weave. Here they are after washing & ironing. The sewing will come later.

At OLLI we had our final rigid heddle class. So sorry to see it end! What a congenial group of weavers. At times we were the noisiest group in the building, and at other times you could have heard a pin drop, so focused were we on our work. Weaving does that to you.

Back home in the Weaverly studio, I am preparing for a sewing project. I've thrown away all my old paper tracings, because I'm not the same shape as I used to be (gravity is at fault), so I've starting making new ones. There's not a lot of worktable space, but in a pinch the floor will do.

In the department of fowl, around the lake this morning there was this:

And out in the larger world, Brian Stauffer has really nailed it on the cover of this week's New Yorker:    

Sign of Spring

When you see a kite stuck in a tree where no kite was before, you know Spring is not far behind.

The amazing weavers in the rigid heddle class continue to push the envelope and are very comfortable with their string heddles. Click to enlarge.

In my own studio, I'm giving my fingers a rest and doing some more investigations of amalgamated drafts on the computer. Click to enlarge here too.

The last one reminds me of a game of snakes & ladders.

OLLI Class Weaving Brocade

Here are a few snapshots of my wonderful students in our OLLI class on weaving brocades.

We are following the techniques described by Erica DeRuiter in her book "Tejido Huave and Beyond", except that we are using rigid heddle looms. The students quickly branched out into designing their own motifs.

We have geometric designs...

...and creatures great and small.

It's a multiple weft technique. A pick of tabby is followed by a pick of pattern, in the same shed. The pattern is picked down in an open shed.

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.