Weaverly

Transformations

Just got back from a week in the woods.

There was a lot of hanging out among the trees.

And some walking on lovely trails in Pisgah National Forest ...

...where you find the most amazing things.

Nearby Brevard has some great restaurants, including The Square Root, where I had this memorable key lime pie.

Now for the best part. In another restaurant, Love Eat Thai, the sign on the ladies' rest room door was made of an old bamboo loom reed! True fact. I am speechless.

Back home after a lovely vacation, I went directly to my own loom and reed (metal, not bamboo) and spent an entire day throwing a shuttle. I wanted to duplicate the linen scrunchy scarf of the previous post, only larger. The warp is odds & ends of 30/2 linen, with spaced denting, and the weft is leftover bits of 16/1 linen. All yarns from Lofty Fiber. 

Here's a closeup on the loom.

And here's the piece just cut off but not washed...

...and a closeup, still not washed

And here she is after a brief machine washing and a short stint in the dryer. Still slightly damp and hanging in the bathroom to finish drying. 

It's wonderfully crinkled. 

After it's totally dry I'll try to get a decent glamor shot, maybe even with a live model.

Meanwhile, I'm enjoying the satisfying feeling of having finished a "what if."

Department of Books:

Just finished reading Long Bright River by Liz Moore.

Warping Drama

The past two days were spent in NC at the Biltmore House & Gardens. If a few daffodils and tulips are good, a few hundred thousand are better. 

In the conservatory, a sublime designer at work.

Then back home to tie on a new warp.

Beamed.

Don't you just love a new warp?

Ready to weave.

Now out to dinner at Il Ristorante. This is what eighty-five looks like. 

Seasonal Colors

On this lovely spring day, it seemed like a good idea to take a ride in the country. It was partly cloudy, but the drenching rains of yesterday were over. We went to a local nature preserve and just soaked in the browns, grays, and golds. 

Just by coincidence, I found myself spinning the same colors this evening. Odd how that happens.

On a totally different topic, here's a funny sign I saw a few days ago at my favorite local produce market. It was posted just beneath a display of gorgeous green and purple grapes. Not buffet!

Department of books: I just finished reading The Night Guest by Fiona McFarlane. This is the same author who wrote The Sun Walks Down, which I also enjoyed. 

Jin and More

I've been away, and now I'm back. I was lucky to see my beloved Fie Top again after way too long. The sky is so vast, the vistas so long. I feel restored.

Back home, my luck still holds. My neighbor tends this beautiful garden in the back yard. She does all the work, and I get to sit on my back porch and enjoy the view. Win win.

In the studio, I have finished a jin scarf. It's a curious blend of slub cotton, black & white nub rayon (warp), and pink tencel (weft). 

It was drafted on a networked threading, based on a gently sloping line, and then a liftplan constructed in Photoshop Elements ®. 

Department of Books: I have finished reading Jane Stern's Ambulance Girl.

Blue

It's not the New Mexico sky but I'll take it. Happy Spring. Who says blue is a sad color?

The blue heron grows bolder every day. I turn a corner and there she is.  I am allowed to get up close. 

Indoors, there is this. On the other side of the world, but right here in my living room. Formula 1.

And by pure coincidence, this is my current spin. Corriedale (75%) and lotus fiber (25%) from Hilltop Cloud. I will eventually ply it and use it in a warp.

Pink

This morning in Simpsonville. I have no words. 

But it does segue into a new warp story. Shades of red, burgundy, orange, brown, and pink.

Warp chain ready for my 8-shaft loom.

Tied down and ready to go.

The weave structure is the Park Weave, beautifully explained by Marcy Petrini her article Determining Tabby Order in the current issue of Shuttle, Spindle & Dyepot. The interpretation is my own, along with the handspun wool yarn used as pattern weft. Warp is a combination of cotton and Tencel, tabby weft is fine brown cotton.

Department of Books:

Just finished reading Julie Otsuka's The Swimmers. 

Assorted Treasures

I believe a Bunched Arrowhead has been sighted. Very excited to have seen this.

Also on this morning's walk at the Preserve a fine display of tree fungi. Stripes anyone?

This past Wednesday I had the good fortune to accompany friends for a stroll at the garden of Jane and Boris Bauer. These gardeners have in 40+ years started and nurtured the most marvelous display of magnolias, over one hundred varieties, as well as other regional plants.

 

The array of colors and subtle differences in tone & shade among all these plants was inspiring to me. I am very grateful to have seen this wonderful garden.

Also inspiring, although totally unexpected, was an array of "expired" camellias under a bush. You never know when a new color scheme will jump out at you.

Back in the studio I stitched a label onto a recently completed blanket. It's just in time for the 21st birthday of a super terrific person.

In the Department of Books: finished reading Hugo Hamilton's The Speckled People. Recommended!

Wednesday Notes

Hello friends. Since we were last together, I've had company:

And I've been to the mountains. It was early spring there.

The old post office is still there, and still in use as a post office. 

I saw some interesting examples of complementary colors on my walks...

And when I got back home I finished another halvdräll towel. This one is hemmed and laundered. Cotton & cottolin. No shrinkage events here.


Up close and personal.

Recently read: Max Perkins: Editor of Genius by A. Scott Berg, and Leaving the Atocha Station by Ben Lerner.

 

Complex Weavers Seminars 2022

Registration is now open for Complex Weavers Seminars 2022 in Knoxville, TN, July 10-13. I will be teaching a seminar via Zoom: Amalgamation Celebration. Go here for more information and to register. 

Amalgamation is wild and crazy! Join the party.

Multitasking Lite

There was actually a sneak peek at my most recent warp in the last post -- it was a coiled-up warp chain. Said warp has now made it onto the dobby loom. A view yesterday from behind the heddles:

...and here it is in front, ready for action.

And as of this afternoon, some progress is being made. Amalgamation on 16 shafts. I'm sampling various colorways, and so far this is one I like:

Did I tell you about Friday's hike at Raven Cliff Falls? It was a winner. We didn't get close enough to the falls for a fancy picture, but trust me, it was a beautiful hike and a gorgeous day in the woods.

At this time of the year I feel especially lucky to be living in South Carolina. 

Back in the studio, taking a break from weaving, I spent some time on the computer, messing about with non-parallel interleaved threadings. This one needs work, as it has several overly long floats, but I think it has promise. 16 shafts.

Now for the Department of Books. Recently finished reading Fates and Furies, by Lauren Groff; All the Frequent Troubles of Our Days, by Rebecca Donner; and The Narrow Road to the Deep North, by Richard Flanagan.