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Archive for 2006

Dec 21

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Pacific Pattern is Exquisite


I just had to include this book in my Christmas wish list. Pacific Pattern
by Susanne Kuchler and Graeme Were is a beautiful book especially for weavers
and textiles artists.In true ‘pacific colour’ the authors review the history
of the Pacific, the techniques of fibre and fabric and it’s cultural relevance
to the people. Historic photos accompany beautiful contemporary photos of the
arts.Although tatooing and other body decorative arts are included, there is
much more on weaving, quilting and tapa. The bibliography is packed with futher
references – so I am so happy.

I always feel that the Pacific region is very quiet about it’s rich cultural
heritage and we (in Australia) are not exposed to it very much even though many
migrants come from the Pacific. Perhaps its just that I walk around ignoring
things until its ‘all about weaving’! Anyway, the book is very special.

Dec 21

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The busy season with weaving trapezes

I’ve been so busy, this time of year that my blogging activities have ground to a halt. Although I’m still weaving quite a bit, its multiples of the same thing on the looms.

However we have installed a trapeze for my next warp. I’m always looking at methods for improving warp tension and making the process more streamlined.

I’ve put it on my roof at the back of my loom and I’m not exactly sure how I’m going to use it! But my current warp was badly wound and has a severe problem at the centre warps which I have to keep cutting and replacing.

I leave you with a Net Greeting for the season. I created this many years ago for Trace Online Writing Community.
Trapze attached to roof
Detail of tapeze attachment

Dec 3

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Warping with a Rigid Heddle Reed

Here is a photo montage of my warping process using a rigid heddle reed.
The photos aren’t great but hopefully you will enjoy the idea. It was difficult
to get the action of it all by myself. This is not an unusual method but
it is quite an efficient method of warping.

Photo 1: Four cones of yarn awaiting the warp up.
Photo 2: Each cone is threaded through an ‘eye’ made with
a piece of string.
Photo 3: Each cone of yarn is threaded through the rigid heddle reed as
for plain weave.
Photo 4: This is how it looks within a messy studio!
Photo 5: The reed is then used to make a cross whenever needed on the
warping board or mill.
Photo 6: A cross being made.
 

Nov 21

A Weaving Voyeur

silk wrapSaying ‘goodbye’ to my handwovens isn’t easy. This photo is of a magnificent wrap (being very immodest here) I sold recently. The drape is wonderful. 20/2 silk set at 24 epi with a 16shaft twill pattern with borders different to the main weave.

I’m planning to make several more (although they are never the same) for myself and my girls. They make the perfect attire for travelling. I’m weaving on both my looms at the moment and I plan to have a little tutorial on how I warp up with multiple ends using a rigid heddle reed soon.

Meanwhile, to quench your thirst Cathy has some wonderful photos of a warping mill and getting the warp to the loom. I can’t see enough of these type of photos. I am a weaving voyeur. I have become so used to working alone and in my own ways that I’m so surprised when other weavers do things differently. Recently at the Online Weavers Dyers & Spinners Association I discovered that many weavers leave their lease sticks in their warp as they weave – who would have thought! This makes it easier to re-thread to new patterns. I also learnt that most weavers don’t warp up with a rigid heddle reed for speed so I thought I’d do a photo montage for my next entry.

For more photos of weavers, weaving and looms, I really enjoyed the Healing Family Foundation in Thailand’s site. As I work in an Equity (Disabilities) Teaching unit I was so enthused to read about this project. Using Saori weaving, the Japan Foundation has established an extraordinary project in Changmai. How do we live a meaningful life – to weave, of course! Or in other words to "engage in creative activities that will give meaning to [their] lives"

Otherwise where else have I been…well lazing around at Coffs Harbour. Here’s me at Crescent Head NSW on a perfect day. The colours on the sky and the ocean are so uplifting, no wonder surfboard riders talk about the meditative and cosmic experiences they have in the water.

Nov 11

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A Welter of WARPS

Click
on this to see more

 
As you can see this is total indulgence. A welter of warps or rather one warp from many angles. Some people think I’ve got nothing to do but look at my warps, take photos and upload them onto the internet. But it keeps me from thinking about pointless things that I can’t do anything about….like politics! or why HR departments exist.

Nov 8

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Cross Dyeing for Efficiency

Warp on the loomMy 8 shaft floor loom is on the move again. This time with a ribbed weave. Five scarves of warp painted 2/20 mercerised cotton with a 2/60 silk weft.

I seem to be unwinding alot of skeins lately ready for the warping process. But I’ve developed some smart ideas! When I use an immersion dye method on any skeins they are so ‘tangly’ to unwind. So I am now weaving with the yarn undyed then cross dyeing after I have finished the weaving. To maintain the clarity of the warp painting the undyed yarn must be one type of fibre and the painted yarn another type.Silk can be dyed with a fibre reactive for protein fibres which won’t affect the cotton warp.

There’s alot of room for experimentation with cross dyeing, and I think it can be more productive for a small weaving studio operation as winding and unwinding skeins takes up so much time.

St Pauls chapel NYAlso, The Thread Project site has posted up a photo of the 49 cloths in St Pauls Chapel for the 9/11 memorial. They look spectacular hanging from the balconies. This rewarding project is also documented by webcast on the St Pauls site. Click on Thread Project to see an overview of the project by Terry Helwig.

 

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