weaving – Page 10

Project Hiatus…

September 2, 2013 | Leave a Comment

Life, again. You never know when life is going to take over and make all your plans seem positively ridiculous…..as impermanent as a shadow in fading light.

So Bob and I have been at a standstill for the past few weeks. He’s behind on getting Pandora ready for its next season of long distance sailing, and I’m behind in using my precious land time to fulfill my own projects.

In honor of Labor Day we are having a quiet day at home (it’s raining so there is no pressure to be out at a picnic or parade this year). I am returning to my silk warp from the NEWS conference. I have prepared my folding table and loom with drop cloths to protect everything from dye, and I have been looking at my MX dye charts from decades ago… Unfortunately, today is not serving up the best light for choosing colors. Hence, I’m taking a break here to document this project!

What is left of my warp is not long enough for a scarf. I would have bet money on this being the case, so all along I’ve imagined this last piece being a narrow wall hanging. My design choices are limited by the threading I’ve already established which is an advancing twill. I can weave it in sharp advancing points or in undulating advancing hills. I want to try separating out an inch of warp at each side for an ikat-effect black and white block design to frame the main design in the center.

Now I will begin mixing colors. I am considering several reds, from a cool cherry red to burgundy to a plum type of red/purple and a deep dull orange in the pumpkin range. I also want black, and I’ve got the ‘new’ black….hoping it is deep and true as advertised!

And here is a gift from my not so friendly weaving cohort that greeted me on my morning walk. She also waited out the onslaught of life (in the form of a violent thunderstorm and heavy rains last night) before creating her glorious web sometime early this morning. I hope I will be as successful!

Putting Inspiration to Use

June 29, 2013 | Leave a Comment

Today I am working on the warping assignment for my upcoming class at NEWS (New England Weavers’ Seminar). The class is called “Freedom of Expression,” and it will be taught by Sarah Saulson from Syracuse, NY.

Here is the class description from the NEWS catalogue:
“In this dyeing and weaving workshop, we will have lots of spontaneous fun painting warps with fiber reactive dyes, after the loom is warped. This wonderful technique allows weavers to work with color and pattern in a loose, free, expressive way, creating large-scale abstract forms and opens the door to a variety of surface pattern techniques, including stamping and stenciling. We will paint enough warp to explore the possibilities of the technique, and for a scarf. We will learn how to mix our own colors working from primary colors/hues.”

The class materials include bringing an image to serve as the cartoon, or at least as the inspiration, for our warp painting. I am having trouble narrowing down my images to one or two.

I have been taking lots of photos of my garden recently, but I would NEVER think roses should be my design inspiration. All that pink and green would surely set my teeth on edge….far too cloyingly sweet for a handwoven fabric! Then I happened to see this fabric on Cally Booker’s blog. Just goes to show that I should never say ‘never.’

Here are some of the images that I may try to explore in dyeing a warp.

A Kasuri dyed panel that I’ve had for years

A large painted plate

Several wood block prints, including the nasturtiums I’ve been playing around with for a tapestry design

It might be quite nice to have bright blue and dull blue/green mixed with saturated oranges and golds. But what would I use for weft??

The purples, greens and golds in this image really appeal to me.

Clearly, I’m intrigued with the possibility of combining blues with a range of orange/golds.

My warp is a natural colored silk from my stash. It is has a beautiful sheen and a slight slub, and it is somewhat finer that 20/2 silk. I am hoping that 30 epi will be a good sett for it. If not, well….. I may have an unfortunate experience. There is not time to sample!….and I realize that is a BIG risk.

I was not able to get good lighting in my studio when I took this photo. The silk is not this golden.

I am taking a break at the half way point in making the warp. Now I can get back to it.

Time Warps

May 18, 2013 | Leave a Comment

“Time Warps: Textiles from Today’s Weavers.” What a catchy title for the biennial exhibition of works by the Connecticut Guild of Handweavers.

I’ve been looking forward to seeing this exhibition since I got the first announcement back in March. Nothing like cutting it close, since I am going on the last day it is on view! Whew!

This is from the Connecticut Historical Society’s event page on their website:

Time Warps: Textiles from Today’s Weavers

April 20, 2013 – May 17, 2013

This juried exhibit of handwoven goods displays the work of contemporary weavers who use both historical and modern techniques and designs. The Biennial Show organized by the Handweavers’ Guild of Connecticut includes articles of clothing (scarves, shawls, jackets), decorative pieces (wall hangings), and household items (table runners, rugs, towels, blankets). The work is produced by members of the Handweavers’ Guild of Connecticut, an organization of handweavers, spinners and fiber artists from all levels of experience who are dedicated to the education, preservation, and promotion of handweaving and spinning.

What they don’t mention is that Nancy Hoskins was one of the two jurors for this show. And what a wonderful surprise to see two of her pieces hanging in the show, both Byzantine portraits done in samitum.

There were two rooms of woven items, everything from tailored clothing, wall hangings, rugs, shawls, table linens, even a couple of wonderful soft sculptures. This is what greeted me when I entered the first room.

The rugs are particularly well displayed in these elevated cases on the floor. The items on the walls are displayed coming out of frames, which is a great idea, but would have been considerably better if the frames had been chosen to match the width of the items. Some of the shawls are ‘crumpled up’ in the frames, and I think that looks messy.

There are some wonderfully creative works on display. The two wonderful soft sculptures are Penelope sitting on a stool, holding her shuttles, with wild, jet black hair sticking straight out from her head and wrapped in yarn to make little pigtails. (I would love to show you, but I really can’t without permission!) The other wonderful soft sculpture is a felted owl standing on a perch. He is beyond description!

I was so inspired by the work in this exhibit! I’m not sure you can imagine what it felt like to walk through two rooms full of handwovens when I’ve been in such a very different living situation for almost 9 months. All that intense color and texture and fiber. It was a rush!

And tomorrow I will go to the last guild meeting of the year (my first and last this year). Bring it on!

Thoughts of Home

April 16, 2013 | Leave a Comment

It is truly springtime in southern New England now, and I’m feeling a bit homesick. I heard that the peepers are calling at night, and the forsythia and daffodils are in bloom!

Bob happened to get the New York Times on Sunday, and saw this editorial, “The Rural Life: A Box of Sheep,” by Verlyn Klinkenborg, which he sent to me. It put me in mind of springtime all across the continental US.

Klinkenborg wrote: I set the box on the kitchen table, opened it with a knife and folded back the newspaper inside. The scent of sheep rose like a genie from a bottle — a genie who used a lot of lanolin. This was the fleece from a Cheviot sheep, sheared only a few days earlier.

I can see that flock of sheep, moving out into the fields now, at least during the mild days, feeding on the lush new greens of spring. The ewes are lambing so there are frolicking little wooly creatures in those fields as well. I remember the little lambs that Susan and I held in our arms at Kinderhook Farm in New York state. In my new little part of the world on the Connecticut River, I have seen a nearby sheep farm and an alpaca farm. I can’t wait to visit!

I’ll be arriving home in time to visit the Connecticut Weavers’ Guild biennial exhibition in Hartford. There will be one more guild meeting for me to attend before the summer hiatus, and you cannot imagine how excited I am to reconnect with weavers! In July I’ll be going to the New England Weavers’ Seminar. My landlubber life is starting to call to me!

Meanwhile, life here is still quite fascinating. On our last day in Little Harbor we visited the smallest blue hole I’ve ever seen! The water around the hole was barely ankle deep, yet in the hole we could see yellow tangs, parrotfish, sargent majors, and some varieties we don’t yet know!

We spent some time with Bret and Kristin and saw the pieces coming out of their plaster shells.

On our last morning in Little Harbor we took a walk along a residential road. One property had quite an elaborate tropical garden.

The weather is decidedly different now, and we’re not sure if it’s because we are now in the Abacos or because it’s now April….or both! We’ve had some terrific squalls that brought lots of rain, the first we’ve had in almost four months. On our walk we found some orchids that we think are Epidendrums that are just now setting buds. I guess the wet season will be here soon….and then the hurricanes!

We have spent two days in Marsh Harbor, provisioning, doing laundry, and Bob found a barber!…his first haircut since December! He is thrilled, but I thought his longer hair was quite cute! While Marsh Harbor did not inspire us to take photographs, I am thrilled beyond words to now have onboard two avocados, several tomatoes, and a green pepper! Can you say guacamole?? We may now have enough lemons and limes to last ’til I leave! Even better than that are clean sheets and towels! And Marsh Harbor has a lovely spot to relax called Curly Tails!

Yesterday we wandered into Curly Tails for the second time in late afternoon and saw on TV the coverage of the Boston Marathon tragedy. Being in this simple place, where people have so little and yet, on the whole, are so thankful for their little piece of home, it seems impossible that there could be such malice in the world. I cannot fathom it.

Shortly we will head to Hopetown.

Busy Beautiful Days

January 14, 2013 | 4 Comments

We’ve been back on board Pandora for five days already, and it’s been a very busy cup of tea here. We thought we’d be crossing to the Bahamas on Wednesday this week, so there was a lot to accomplish!…. food provisions, engine maintenance, propellor cleaning, boat bottom cleaning…. various other small, but very important chores….not to mention getting ourselves further south so that the angle of crossing would be more favorable. And as weather often does, it has changed so that Wednesday is no longer our departure day. We are now cautiously aiming for Thursday… or Friday….

We left Ft. Pierce on Saturday morning and stopped in a lovely spot called Manatee Pocket that evening. Great name for the location where I did see my first manatee! No kidding, these creatures are unbelievably ungainly and touchingly sweet. I now fully understand why they are at the mercy of fast traveling power boats. They move very slowly and cannot possibly get out of the way of a speeding boat. When I saw my first manatee it had just started to descend back into the water, so its back looked like a giant black mooring ball!

There is so much beautiful bird life here … egrets, herons, osprey, kingfishers…. my favorite are the ibises. They are so delicate….almost ephemeral.

During our evening walk along the shore of Manatee Pocket (looking for the perfect restaurant), I found a weaving studio! Can you believe it??? Unfortunately for me, it was closed.

Who wouldn’t love spending time here??? That is a chenille warp on her loom.

Yesterday we motored 57 miles and went under 20 bascule bridges….surely a phenomenal logistical feat for any sailboat! We deserve a prize! I saw The Breakers from the waterway…. where I once spent a decadent long weekend with Bob about a million years ago! I thought I might want to jump ship and stow away in a luxurious resort suite….but oddly, I didn’t! At the moment I’m quite happy in my less than luxurious accomodations on Pandora!

The houses along the canals are getting more and more impressive. It’s more Mediterranean here than the Mediterranean with all the stucco and terracotta roof tiles….and porticos! The houses are huge, and are so close together. It would seem to me if you have a house with a full acre of square footage, you wouldn’t want to be looking right in the windows of your next door neighbors! To each his own…

On the knitting front, I cast on for a small Fair Isle purse at the airport in Connecticut. It’s Beth Brown-Reinsel’s design from Interweave Knits Fall 2004 issue. I’m making a number of changes to the pattern; the most significant change is that I could not stomach the idea of knitting this purse flat. I know Beth must have had good reasons for her design, but since I’m pretty stubborn about stranding in the round, that’s what I’m doing! I’ve got plans to make this a small tote bag, so I’ll be making a somewhat rigid insert for the bag when I return home next spring, along with a lining and leather handles instead of a drawstring.

I raided my J&S shetland and AS Scottish Campion stashes for these yarns (two large comforter-size storage bags stuffed full of yarn!), and I was quite surprised to find that I had absolutely no brown! So I solved that dilemma with a quick trip to Yarns Down Under the evening before my flight. Everyone needs a LYS who is willing to open shop for emergency travel knitting! My LYS is the best enabler!

We are leaving shortly for Middle River, Ft. Lauderdale.