On Grace, Off Gary

It seemed like "The Many Shades of Hope" had been on Gary forever (actually only a month) , but today it jumped off the loom and chased me across the apartment.

I was experimenting with various random cashmere wefts.

I will toss it in the washer and dryer tomorrow and then take some sexy pictures of it.


"The Many Shades of Hope", as a lark, climbed onto Grace. You can see a little bit of the warp "Peace" peaking through. I'll tell you more about the peace scarf soon.


Now I have to go back and continue my search for a missing document. I know this has happened to you, a piece of paper goes missing. Grrr

Surprise!

CLEARING THE PALATE
I'll bet you thought I didn't have it in me (grin). A fellow, who brought me 30 cashmere sweaters over the past year, requested a herringbone scarf. I had to talk him into making the warp a slightly different shade than the weft. I used Bambu 7 sett at 18 epi and just doubled the cashmere rather than tripled as it was a heavier weight cashmere. I used a straight draw and am dancing the twill with a direct tie-up on 4 harnesses.

Quiet Celebration

I received one of Syne Mitchell's temari balls! I was so excited because each morning I chant my mantra "No New Crafts- No New Crafts" I thought I would never have one if I didn't make it myself. I did break down and make the object above, however. A friend of mine taught me to make them some 40 years ago. What I like about them is that there is no take, glue, knots or any sort of fastenings. Very cunning.

In keeping with the holiday spirit, I made a "wreath" of recycled cashmere balls.

Actually, it is the weft for the horoscope weaving I have on the loom.


I'm about 2/3 done. It is really fun to change wefts every 12 picks or so. I can't wait to see it off the loom. I have made an extra yard to use for the woven sample in the kits.

More Carpe Diem

Like Connie Rose, I get to do a lot of my best work over the holidays.


I've been enjoying color blending in a free unplanned way. I am using colors selected by the client which makes it rather challenging, risky, and exciting.

Again, Happy Holidays to all. May this be a thoughtful time. I plan to reflect on the successes of the past year, my areas of flagrant procrastination, ideas for the upcoming year, and my highest wishes for self and world.

With laughter and forgiveness.......

HAVE A BALL

I had to put this second picture of my mom posing with a basket of un-knitted cashmere sweaters. I've been sending this out as a virtual holiday card with the caption (naturally, HAVE A BALL). It really says it all.

I was going to name this post CARPE DIEM to go with the picture below. Yesterday I began warping Gary with those Woven Words. The humorous part is that I have been procrastinating weaving this piece for months.


The colors were selected by the person I am weaving for. The ikat separates the words "carpe and diem" and I have mirror imaged the words with the letter "C" in the center.

Below is a horoscope warp chain. I just love this picture, so it is more of just eye candy.


Warp is Bambu 7.

Grace is Smokin'

I wish you could feel this weaving. The cashmere weft combined with the bamboo is just heavenly. I washed it in the machine and dried it in the dryer. It was 111" before laundering and I think it was 98" at the end. I forgot to write down the measurements (again). I realize 98" is rather long for a shawl, but I couldn't bring myself to cut it. I told the client I would make it shorter if they wanted, but I wanted to give them a chance to see it in all its glory.

I packed it up and overnight FedEx'd it to its new owner with hours to spare.


I thought these were a particularly nice details.


And then those warp chains from the weekend just jumped right onto Grace before I could decide what I wanted to weave next.


This is Bambu 7 and will be cut up as woven samples in my kits.

Gearing Up

When I first arrive in Baltimore to visit my mother, she was feeling rather ill. We thought she was having heart failure. The next morning we took her to the emergency room. The doctors discovered she was anemic due to a tiny leak in her small intestines, gave her some blood and sent her home. New blood seemed to do the trick because she un-knitted cashmere like crazy. I just love this picture.

Back in Seattle, I had this horoscope weaving waiting. I thought Christmas was the delivery date, but much to my surprise it is December 13th. So I am weaving.


The warp is Bambu 12 doubled and sett at 20 epi. The weft is some of the new cashmere (black) tripled. I am a little over the halfway mark. My plan is to have it in the mail on Wednesday.


And here is a warp chain I made over the weekend. It is Bambu 7, a horoscope . When people order kits from me, I like to include a woven swatch. (well, it is really a little bigger than a swatch). I finally used up the last of my own horoscope and need to weave another. I am tired of weaving my own and tried to figure out whose horoscope to use. So I wondered what Barak Obama's horoscope would look like....

Over the years I have asked that question many times. The results have been Bette Midler, Lilly Tomlin, Mae West, Mary Meigs Atwater, Shirley McLaine, Marilyn Monroe, Beethoven, Einstein, Jung, Gandhi, Imogen Cunningham, Georgia O’keeffe, The Dalai Lama. and others I can’t recall at this time.


Back to the loom......

Two Steps Back

Before I wove Jill's weaving, I wove this pink one for Dara. I can't believe I didn't post anything about this scarf nor did I take any other pictures (setting up the loom or having Dara model the finished piece). I am getting lax in my old age.

Now here are a couple of shots of Jill's weaving on the loom, but I don't know why I didn't snap a picture of a further back picture that showed the whole loom.


The only reason seeing the entire loom is important is because I have moved the loom to a new position, and I can't find any pictures of it in the old position. I am slowly getting the studio ready for the return of Grace.

I am up to my eyeballs in meetings, so I am off to bed to rest up for the cluster of meetings tomorrow.

STAY TUNED FOR THE ONE STEP FORWARD....

So What Have I Woven Lately

Here is the happy owner, Jill, modeling her new scarf. I thought I had posted a picture of this weaving on the loom, but it turns out that I merely thought about posting a picture of this weaving on the loom.


This the same weaving right after I cut if off the loom. Tomorrow I will post a picture of it on the loom. (Bamboo warp, cashmere weft). I haven't figured out how to add pictures once I have already uploaded some.

Did you ever seen that really strange movie called Memento ? It is filmed all out of sequence, like this post (but that is the only similarity). I will get back into the swing of things eventually, but I liked this scarf so much I had to show you before it went to its owner.

Invention is the Mother of Necessity

Last December, I wove this commissioned shawl of bamboo and recycled cashmere. Dara, pictured above, insisted I make the shawl extra long 93"---so I did.

Dara came back to me some time later and told me the shawl was too long and would I mind cutting it. I said NO I would not cut it, but asked her to give back to me and I would figure out something. I remembered in the back of my mind having seen a picture of something called a Mobi-Q and discovered a kit for one at Cotton Clouds.
This unique Mobi-Q design (by Margo Carr of California) is a hybrid of a Q-shawl and a Mobius strip. Unlike most shawls, the Mobi-Q needs little attention to keep on the body!



I can't tell you how surprised I was to discover the shawl as woven was exactly the right length and width.


I am so thrilled with this "garment" (so much more than a shawl) I can't wait to make one for myself.

Sometimes one has to go backwards to go forward.

As I just commented on Meg's blog the answer to the question "For Whom Do I Weave".

I try to find that place within myself that interweaves with that place within the recipient of the cloth. For me, the cloth is the external expression of an internal process.

A Dream Come True!

I wish I had words to express just how pleased I am with results of The Big Commission.

Some dreams take longer to realize than others. Some dreams evolve and change.

Now the very hardest part: to ship it off to the owners and hope they are a pleased as I am.

I wish you could feel the softness of the cashmere.

Joining the Big Commission

Remember the Big Commission? I just went back to find the date I began this project--February 2, 2007. Some things take longer to complete than other things.

The only parameters I received from the client was to weave a blanket 90"x100" with a bamboo warp and recycled cashmere sweater weft. I knew I was going to weave panels and join them together, but the size of the panels, the weaving technique, and the colors were all left to me. I had recently seen a textile show of the Sarawak weavers of Borneo and became enchanted by the concept of having the design come to me in a dream rather than plan out a design on paper. So that is what I did. On the side bar of this blog under LABELS is the topic Big Commission with 12 entries. (if you want to track my progress).

Then I ran into a couple of snags which stopped me cold. When I had completed 5 panels, the design seemed finished although I had only 74" in width. When I washed the panels, they became 88" long. So I waited for a dream to tell me how to proceed. That was back in March.

In March my world went into high gear with putting the condo up for sale and moving. I still continued to wait for the next chapter of the dream. As August draws near, I realized I just need to join all the panels together and finish off the top and bottom and call it finished at 74"x88"

I am not great at tailoring, but I am a fabulous joiner. It takes me between 3 and 4 hours to join 2 panels together. It is a great way to catch up on movies or recorded books. I know it is not generally a summer time project, but it is raining and in the 60's here today.

The book shown below is a fabulous book (out of print), but I was lucky enough to find a copy. I used to check it out of the Seattle Weavers Guild library, and I was the only one to ever check it out.

And what about the folks that have commissioned a larger blanket than they are getting? I have spoken to them at length, and I believe they will be thrilled with a blanket this size. It weighs almost 5 lbs as it is. I know they live in Montana, but a 7 lb blanket is just too heavy to deal with. I will be weaving them each a bamboo cashmere scarf, so they will get their extra inches in another format.

My plan is to ship the blanket on August 4th to get there in time for their 5th wedding anniversary. I will ask for pictures, but you never know.

Reverse Decorating

Packing offers the opportunity to decorate in reverse.
Take away the things that do not relate to the current life.
Here is the scarf collection I've woven since I begin the process of moving.
(Actually there are 3 more I didn't photograph)
These are all Woven Words, bamboo warp and recycled cashmere weft.

Another aspect of reverse decorating is the pack away what you want to keep and create arrangements from the things you want to sell. Any beaded bag collectors out there?

Staging yarn for packing can be decorative as well.


By tomorrow I might discover just how much I have left to do before moving day.

Virtual Packing

As I continue to weave, I am sorting and packing in my mind. Hopefully this will translate into a seamless move.

I have gotten carried away with my close-up lense. When I use the cashmere for the weft, I triple the strands. Whereas I love this picture, I do not love the single dark strand.

So I switched to 3 lighter strands. I kept a little bit of the dark in there. I may or may not take it out once I have finished the weaving.


I hope to complete this scarf today, so it's time to get back to the loom. Plus the sun has actually just come out. Most people around the Northwest will be glad, but chilly rainy weather encourages indoor activity--the very thing in which I am engaged.

Back to work!

Taking Stock and Loose Ends

As I was thinking about packing, I started to wonder about what all of the cashmere would look like in a big pile on the floor. The big red ball in the lower left is a little bigger than a baseball. I have already used the cashmere to weave 11 pieces. My mother sure like to keep her hands busy (grin). I have 16 more sweaters ready and waiting for my next visit.

Oops, I accidentally erased the picture show the next Woven Words off the loom. I will show you more on this, but I kind of liked this picture. Here we see 3 different setts: left 18 epi (unwashed), top right 20 epi (washed), lower right 24 epi (washed)

It is too late for me to wash and dry the 18 epi piece, but I can't wait to do that tomorrow. I will wash and dry it exactly like I did the other two.

Who Knew?

Forgive and Forget in 2 colorways
Only the one on the left has been washed in the picture above. When I washed the pink one, WOW! I am sold.
I tried to take some pictures that would show just how fantastically soft and more supple the 20 epi. cloth is. It feels just like the most wonderful cashmere. Imagine hoping for cold weather.

Peg and Ames both encouraged me to try out 18 epi. I have this piece on the loom all ready to go at 24 epi, but I rethreaded through the 12 dent reed in a 2,1,2,1, pattern with even more wonderful result. Thanks, you guys! I still don't think I have quite a 50/50 though. I also used the same 3 colors of cashmere tripled for the weft. You can really see the double strands of bamboo.

So What Have You Be Up To

Which weft to use ? Blue? Lavender? Pink?I couldn't decide, so I used all three. I'm just about ready to cut this off the loom. (Here I am using the close-up feature on my new camera)

Someone ordered 16 greeting cards, so I fished out my supplies and made them this evening. These are from collages I made several years ago.

Big Commission Takes a Holiday

It seems like a million years ago I started collecting cashmere sweaters to un-knit and use the yarn as weft to make a blanket. After I had collected 4 or 5 sweaters and took them apart, I put the skeins of yarn in my cedar chest and continued on my weaving journey. A couple years ago I was telling a friend about this great idea to make a blanket out of recycled cashmere, and she agreed and commissioned me to weave a blanket 90" x 100" that had the unknitted cashmere as the weft. These were the only parameters.

Slowly I began testing various warps to combine with the cashmere and finally settled on Bambu 12 doubled and sett at 24 epi. I ikat dyed a bunch of the bamboo and wove a 20" panel to see.

I wish I had time right now to re-cap or at least to give you the link to my older posts that chronicle the project panel by panel, but the airport shuttle will be here in less than 6 hours and I haven't finished packing and still have a couple more feet to weave before I can cut the piece off the loom (and I really want to take it with me).

I will attempt to fix the links whenever I get near a computer in the next couple of weeks. But the picture above shows some progress. I joined two of the panels together. I love the way it looks so much I decided to wear it as a shawl on my trip. It looks and feels quite divine. I am taking the other 3 completed panels with me and will join them all together in my spare time.

The delivery date of the completed blanket is August, and I have 4 more panels to weave. It is time to get busy.

I am sure you have noticed the narrow horizontal panel is longer than the ikat panel. Well, I fixed that right after I saw the picture (grin)

In Lieu of Packing...

Early Tuesday morning (12:17 AM) I finally cut this weaving off the loom.
Early Wednesday morning (8:30 AM), I walk out the door for 10 days in the Bay Area.

I apologize for not having more pictures of the process or more explanation. All I can say is I played around with many cashmere colors and had a great time. I tossed this piece in the washing machine (gentle cycle cold water) and then in the dryer on low. (Yes, I said I put cashmere into the dryer!) Someone once told me to pop a tennis ball (or 3) into the dryer along with the piece. I happened to have one tennis ball, so I put it in. I don't know if the tennis ball made any difference, but the shawl came out softer and more wonderful than any of the other bamboo/cashmere weavings I have laundered.

Here is the happy recipient! It came out exactly as she had hoped.

I wish you all could feel the bamboo/cashmere combination. It is heavenly. I will answer any questions you post, but it is getting close to midnight. I really haven't begun to pack and am starting to run out of steam.

I am planning to check my blog along the way.

Happy Whatever Holiday You Celebrate!