It was a 60” square that Carol, the owner, folded diagonally and wore as a triangular shawl until it got retired to live as a wall piece. I had forgotten that I had to add those edges to make it come out square. And I love that Carol painted the wall just to match the weaving.
Then in the late 90’s, Carol commissioned a replacement 60″
square shawl, this time in 30/2 silk (sett 30 epi) from Treenway Silks.
I used the same horoscope draft, but this time I repeat
the horoscope 3 times and added Turned Weft Ikat bands to increase the width to
60″. This was woven in 5 panels and invisibly joined.
I am sure you will be able to see the join in this detail.
And then in 2011, Carol asked for yet another horoscope
shawl. This time she requested bamboo, plus she wanted her horoscope in a
neutral palette.
This was really fun AND challenging! I rounded up the most
neutral colors I had in Bambu 12 from Cotton Clouds and put them in
a pleasing sequence—with the most “flow”. I also added an “Almost Ikat”
striped border for each of the planets. I doubled the warp ends and sett at 24
epi.
It is hard to believe I used the same winding draft for
all 3 weavings!
I was so inspired that I must now weave my own
horoscope in neutral bamboo! And I suspect a neutral bamboo kit is on
the way. Stay tuned!
