These small tapestries are really fun to design and weave. They make ‘flowers in your brain’. I’ve designed this one in a slit weave and the only ‘rules’ are to make sure that the vertical slits are not too long, but if they are you can stitch them up after weaving.

This one is based on a 9 x 15 grid of 1cm squares. Each of the squares can be one colour or a combination of colours. Because the size of the tapestry is quite small, (10×15cms) I used a warp set of 11 epi (or 16 ends to 4 cms) with a 12/6 seine twine.
I used 4 strands of 2 ply Victorian Tapestry Wool in 4 colours. I usually tell students to use a deep dark (like navy, black, brown etc), a light bright (white or yellow)and the other colours as midtones. This simple colour formula works well for this type of weaving design.

For design ideas Navajo rugs are a great inspiration. Although any kilim design uses this slit weave technique.

I like to paint my designs on a grid using gouache paints that are mixed to match the yarn colours I’m going to use. This way the finished tapestry will be quite close in appearance to the intended design and works with the yarn you have on hand.

I’ve used this block weaving idea for students very successfully. Blocks and variations can be a very rich design source.
I’ve also used MS Word to make the grid. I usually give the students a word document (you can download here) with little 1cm squares and triangles already on it. The students then have to display the grid on screen. This dialog box is accessed by the Drawing toolbar, then select Display gridlines on screen and make sure the grid is 1cm x 1cm). The design squares can then be moved around and colours changed as you please.

The best print sources IMHO are Kilim and Woven Structures

This is something I never thought I’d have a go at drawing. Most of the door knobs in our house are ‘drop dead’ boring. My studio luckily has a beautiful door with an equally suitable door lever. I love the elegance of this door handle and I think I should put more effort into creating beauty in the everyday ordinary items we use continuously every day. Teri drew this exquisite door knob in Arizona.
Door knobs and levers represent entering or locking. They invite or forbid.

Music is so easy to love. Of course I don’t love my piano more than the humans in my life but it is something which gives me alot of pleasure and interesting challenges.

I learnt to play the piano as a child and went as far as the 5th grade but then left it behind for more social activities. When I picked up the piano again about 6 years ago, I was surprised just how much I still ‘knew’..I didn’t have to start from the beginning. It made me think about how important it is to generally expose children to many skills and arts. Everything makes an impression on them and has the potential to enrich their lives and their opportunities.

I’m now in a drumming group and enjoying the djembe, and grappling with the bodhran (Irish Drum). This is about rhythm rather than the melody of the piano and I’m encouraged to enjoy music making without all those sheets of notation.

This drawing of my piano was a test for me in perspective and I’m not really happy with it. I took it into photoshop and tried to bring out the keys more. Anyway I’m learning.

This is an Every Day Matters Challenge.

In between knitting I’ve been drawing the knitting. This is the handspun, hand-dyed yarn being promoted to a brioche scarf. Brioche stitch is really easy to do and it has the most amazing loft to it. Probably helped out by the light spin I did on the singles yarn.

Drawing yarn, I’ve found, is challenging but also very rewarding because I’m drawing something I want to know more about.
Nita at InkTracks has created an amazing pencil drawing of yarn awaiting transformation.

Working away with the EveryDayMatters group has inspired me to try more drawings. I did this from a photo – It was Christmas Day and we went down to Manning Point in NSW. It is a magical place and I wanted to capture some of that. I’m new to watercolours, so I’m also a bit ‘frightened’ of them…if that’s possible.

I haven’t approached my looms lately [it seems like the ironing is always taunting me] but I’m inspired by Sara Lamb’s site. She has lots of photos of beautiful textiles being woven. She specialises in woven bags.

This yarn is a 100% Bamboo Yarn from Christines Yarns. Originally I dyed this for the Clapotis as it was so difficult to find a good colourway yarn in Australia. Dyeing is actually very easy and I’d encourage any knitter or weaver to ‘have a go’. You’ll be thrilled with the results.

These instructions are for cellulose fibres such as cotton, bamboo, rayon, chenille etc. Dyeing can be done with cold water. Wool dyeing requires heat to fix the dye.

You will need:

Buckets
Plastic Measures (cup, teaspoon)
Stirrers
Plastic gloves
A sponge
Newspaper, a sheet of plastic to protect your working surface
Fibre Reactive Drimarene K dyes in powder form (I use a cool primary set of red, blue and yellow)

Additives

Salt (Sodium Chloride)
Soda Ash (sodium carbonate)

Note: Dyeing utensils cannot be used in the kitchen for food preparation. Use a face mask, protective clothing and gloves when working with dyes and dye powder. The dye will stain.

Step 1:
If your yarn is in a ball, wind it into a skein. I used a niddy-noddy here but around the back of a chair will also do. Tie several loose ties in a different coloured thread ( I use a woollen yarn) around the skeins.

Weigh the skeins. This is needed so that dye amounts and additives can be correctly added.

Wet down the skeins in a bucket of water.

Step 2:
Soak the skeins in the additives using the following chart or adjust proportions as needed:

Add Salt and Soda Ash to water and stir until dissolved. Place previously soaked yarn into water and leave to soak for 45 minutes, stirring frequently for the first 15 mins.

Step 3:
Prepare the dyes

Add one teaspoon of dye powder to a little hot water to disolve then add 100mls water. Here I have placed the dye solution into squirt bottles.
These types of bottles make it easier to control the application of dye although I have also just poured the dye solution onto the yarn.
This is the exciting part!

Step 4:

Protect your working surface with paper and a sheet of plastic.

Remove yarn from the additives and squeeze gently. Lay out on a sheet of ‘cling wrap’. (this is used to wrap up the yarn when dyeing is finished)

Squirt the dye across the yarn and blend the colours into each other with a sponge. I use a cheap kitchen sponge.(Make sure you have your gloves on!)
I also wash out the sponge as I blend the colours.

Step 5:
Wrap up the yarn in the ‘cling wrap’ securely and leave to cure for up to 48 hours.
After this leave for 15 minutes in hot soapy water then rinse until the water is clear.
Viola!

These are articles or book chapters I have written for download.



For your enjoyment, here are the full texts of the five published Curiousweaver journals 1994-1996, available for download. I published these to promote and share weaving in the Australasian region, so some articles are pertinent to Australia, particularly on dyeing. Additionally, some individual articles are at the end of this page for download. The PDF quality of the files has been reduced for faster download.
The work is copyrighted but you are free to use all for personal use. If you want to use any of the articles as photocopies in teaching etc, please let me know.

Curiousweaver Issue 1 November 1994 PDF 225k
This first issue features:

• Paper Woven Stationery
• Weft Kasuri Introduction
• A Japanese Vest
• Chinese Knotting

Curiousweaver Issue 2 May 1995 PDF 410k
This second issue features:

• Make your Own Weaving Tools
• Backstrap Loom Weaving
• Furred and Zebra Cords of the Andes
• A Bush Garden for Spinners and Weavers
• Pre-historic Thigh Spinning
• Double Weave – Pocket Weave
• Sequin Sash
• Lavender Sachets
• Creating Silk Paper

Curiousweaver Issue 3 November 1995 PDF 570k 20 pages.
This third issue features:

• Japanese Card Braiding
• Marudai Japanese Braiding
• Pyramid Christmas Tree Decorations
• Make your own Weaving Equipment
• Native Dye Plant Garden at the Top End
• Cramming and Spacing
• Bedouin Saha Weave
• Nepalese Tapestry Sash
• Chinese ‘Double Coin’ Knot

Curiousweaver Issue 4 May 1996 PDF 1044k 24 pages.
This fourth issue features:

• Dyeing for Weavers
• Warp Painting
• Shisha Mirrors
• Painting Woollen Warps
• Japanese Mompei Pants
• Woven Ribbons
• Design Games
• Tapestry – The Soul of Weaving

Curiousweaver Issue 5 November 1996 PDF 669k 24 pages.
This fifth issue features:

• Krokbragd on the Side (3 shaft weaving on the Inkle loom)
• Alpacas in Australia
• Carding and Blending
• Colour and Weave
• Kumihimo Japanese Braiding
• The edge in Tapestry
• Weavers Notebook
• To Cut or Not to Cut
• Looking at Other Weavers (in Australia)

Celtic Knot Inkle PDF 12k
This file contains a threading and pattern for a ’staggered’ set up on an inkle loom for a celtic knot pattern as explained by Sara Lamb on her blog and illustrated on my Celtic Knotwork for Textiles blog entry. Also see Tracy DeGarmos web site for a further description of knotwork. The pattern is easy to set up and a delight to weave.

Kilim Design Template in Word
This is a template containing design squares and triangles that can be used to design a kilim. See Making Flowers in Your Brain post for information on how to enable the grid on screen in Word. Generally a frame or board loom can be used to create these designs using tapestry weaving techniques.
The photograph illustrates a primary school student developing board weaving skills by weaving a plain weave bookmark.



Board Loom Weaving PDF 473k.
This is the complete Chapter 5 from The Australian Weaving Book by Karen Madigan. This is a very easy introduction to weaving projects using a technique which requires little equipment. Stiff board or cardboard is simply prepared and warped to produce functional, beautiful projects. Great for beginner projects.

Saori Weaving PDF 321k
Self Discovery through Free Weaving. This is an article written for Complex Weavers USA. It describes the concept and general techniques of Saori Weaving – a very accessible form of weaving and creativity for all.






T-Shirt Yarns
Complete published booklet on how to create yarns from stretch fabrics. This little introduction is based on Catherine Mick’s work in creating yarns from T-shirt stretch fabrics. These can be used in knitting, weaving, crochet or spinning. Karen Madigan. Published in 1988. PDF 1503k

The Raw Guide to Weaving PDF 976k.
Introductory instructions on weaving by backstrap in Indonesia with particular reference to Sumbanese weaving. This developed when I went on a textile tour to Bali. For more information see The Threads of Life.

Biripi Weavers
A blog for 2005 following a group women from Biripi country, (Manning region NSW) creating baskets and weaving.

I published the Curious Weaver Journal in 1995 and 1996. Below are some articles to download in PDF format:

Nepalese Tapestry Sashes
How to make an authentic Nepalese Sash. Karen Madigan. PDF 161k.

Dyeing for Weavers
A beginners guide to fibre reactives for cellulose fibres. Karen Madigan. PDF 338k.

Warp Painting
Easy Ideas for Rainbow Warps. Karen Madigan. PDF 70k (These two articles relate directly to each other)

Krokbragd on the Side
Modifying the inkle loom to produce this 3 shaft weave. Karen Madigan. PDF 168k.

Japanese Card Braiding
How to create beautiful braids with a braiding card. Ursula Wohnlich. PDF 167k

Mompei Pants
Easy Japanese Field pant pattern from narrow widith fabrics. Chris Jakku. PDF 189k.

Pyramid Christmas Tree Decorations
Easy Christmas Tree decorations using a yarn winding technique in mercerised cotton.
Karen Madigan. PDF 84k.

Woven Ribbons
Beginners Inkle Loom Weaving. Karen Madigan. PDF 375k.

I’m swapping over to WordPress for my blogging and extra web site articles…but it’s taking a while. Curiousweaver Blog is still running. Thanks for your patience! and I hope mine won’t run out.