A Virtual Blogger from Way Back

Several years ago, I volunteered to weave samples for the Seattle Weavers Guild Bulletin (360 samples, 3”x3”ea.). I decided I would use my faux ikat technique—to use commercially space-dyed yarn and create the look of warp ikat. Not to go off on a technical rant, I decided to design a cloth in such a manner that each 3” square would be different and each would be a unique miniature abstract painting. Then as I was weaving, I realized just how beautiful the cloth was as a whole. I started to feel bad about the fact that I would have to cut it into little squares, but as I was weaving I started to think about those Tibetan Sand Painters. They spend a week creating this beautiful sand painting and then they just scatter it to the wind. I saw that what I was doing in cloth was the very same thing. I would be scattering my weaving to the wind. I got so excited. How to make the very best squares

I did something and all of my pictures disappeared for this post. Sorry about that. I think I tried to add too many pictures at once. Now the "Add Image" icon is not obeying me. Sigh.

The pictures below do show some of the faux ikat samples. I was going to show you pictures of creating the whole cloth. Remind me to show you sometime.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Postcard Redux

It turns out what I thought was an edit was really a second post, and now it is so late I can't figure out how to delete the first one or this one. But now I have two different possible postcard pictures.
EXPLORING NOT SO PLAIN WEAVE
---ASCH 2007---

I have been so busy getting my dog and pony show ready to take out onto the road I haven't had time to post. I will be doing what is tantamount to a 5-day (6 hour per day) of performance involving a total of 35 students. I really love it, the actual teaching part! But the prep work is quite something.

Today I shipped out the last of 3 boxes of yarn and supplies. Tomorrow I start making notebooks, a bibliography, and handouts. Then I move on to samples and slides. I had wanted to print up a new color postcard, but I haven’t been able to get to it. I leave on the 19^th. I’ve been feeling somewhat overwhelmed. Maybe now that the yarn has been shipped, I can gain perspective. The picture above is one I had been considering for the maybe postcard.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Postcard

EXPLORING NOT SO PLAIN WEAVE ---ASCH 2007

I have been so busy getting my dog and pony show ready to take out onto the road I haven't taken the time to post. I will be doing what is tantamount to a 5-day (6 hour per day) of performance involving a total of 35 students. Today I shipped out the last of 3 boxes of yarn and supplies. Tomorrow I start making notebooks, a bibliography, and handouts. I had wanted to print up a color postcard, but I haven’t been able to get to it. I leave in just 10 days. I’ve been feeling rather overwhelmed. Maybe it was Mercury retrograde, but that’s over thankfully. Maybe now that the yarn has been shipped, I can gain perspective. This is what I had been thinking of for the postcard.

Posting this blog entry has inspired me. Now the idea of creating a postcard doesn't seem so daunting.

Easy Ikat Sample

The pile of ikat 3/2 cotton I dyed for my upcoming workshop kept yelling "Try me, try me!", so I decided to weave up a little scarf/sample. I was curious to see how the beige with black would look. Since I don't write many notes, I couldn't remember exactly how many epi I used in previous samples. I decided to try out my 16 dent reed and wind a 16 epi warp. I used 10/2 cotton for the weft.

No, This is the Very Best Part!

The Walking Stage: Other weavers have remarked that photographing weaving is almost as much fun as weaving itself. If I take the time, I can get a piece of cloth to do almost anything and hold its pose indefinitely. Although I have entitled this picture "The Walking Stage", I believe it looks more like "The Dancing Stage".

With a mixture of happiness and sadness, I popped it in the mail today. I believe many weavers have a blend of emotions when they let go of their weaving--especially one that looks and feels as wonderful as they'd hoped.

One of the good things about Color Horoscope Weaving is that I know exactly how long it took me to create this weaving, and I know I could reproduce it in that same amount of time.

I almost forgot to mention (actually I did forget to mention it until someone asked) the yarn is bambu #12 from Silk City. The ends are doubled and wound at 24 epi. If anything, it feels better than it looks. I washed it in the washing machine along with my colored clothes (cold water) and half dried it in the dryer at a low setting. I finished drying it by pressing with a dry iron. I like the sheen I get from the pressing, very silky looking. I know the bamboo yarn will stand up to rougher treatment, but I still tend to baby it a little.

The Best Part of Dyeing Yarn

The yarn is still wrapped, but you can see the wrapping sequence clearly now that the black stands out.
I don't know how my settings got changed. Now the pictures are off to the side. Oh well. See how exciting the yarn looks all unwrapped.
I couldn't resist taking an arty shot of the yarn while it was drying. I have several more, but this particular one struck my fancy this evening.

I don't have time to write a long essay this evening. I have to confess I didn't get all of the warps mailed off today. I am teaching a 3-day workshop (plus two 1-day workshops) at the Association of Southwest Handweavers Conference, March 20-25th. Actually this yarn is for the Easy Ikat class. Since it is only a 1-day workshop, the emphasis is on creating spontaneous designs after the yarn is dyed. I think the picture above gives an idea of what I am going for--design with what you have rather than think the design first and then try to dye the pattern second.

The 3-day workshop is called Exploring Not So Plain Weave. Each of the 12 students will be sent a unique warp ready to go on their loom which they warp at home before the workshop and arrive ready to weave. Each student will get to weave a sample on each of the 12 looms. It sounds pretty great in theory. I will let you know how it actually works out. I have heard from other teachers it can be quite a harrowing experience, but I just have to give it a try. Tomorrow morning all the warps will be on their way, and I can start making the sample notebooks.

The Messy Step

Here they are in the dye pot (actually a plastic paint bucket). For years I avoided this step. It is actually rather simple. As I sit here typing with dye stained fingers, I can understand why I avoided dyeing. You will notice I am even wearing gloves! I guess I need better gloves.
Rinse, rinse, rinse. It really helps to have a double sink and an extra set of capable hands. You can't see them in the picture, but Sherry and Kay acted as my trusty dye-ciples (I'm sorry I couldn't resist)
Finally the rinse water is clear. Now comes the fun part, untying. It actually takes as long to unwrap the skeins as it does to wrap them.