Archive for October, 2007

Just how much can you play around with drawn or painted images and transfer them into a woven, loom controlled textile other than tapestry weaving?

To do this successfully you need to know about weaving structure – its possiblities and limitations. This in itself almost drove me mad, in those ‘incubation’ to insight days of frustration.

I wanted to use double weave and Photoshop to create the patterning, but I really had to study up on the double weave structure. Battling though all my pattern structure books I wondered how all those authors write so calmly and authoritively on these confusing subjects. I appreciate the authority of their knowledge but they really need to include a few screams now and then. Perhaps this blog entry will now appear to you as a ‘self evident’ calm and easy progression from idea to fuition. Sorry that wasn’t it at all! And I’m still only at the sampling stage.

In Photoshop, I set up a preset pattern to fill the peg plan design. (See Peg Plan Art). The pattern is 4 x 4 squares, one for the dark on top look and one for the light on top look. I then filled my painterly design with these patterns and voila!

The magic of designing lies in the 4 x 4 squares red marked squares. If you only have eight shafts just mix and match these in the tie up and you can make all sorts of squared patterns.

The weave on the loom went nicely. The dark threads were 50/2 bamboo and the light ones 30/1 wool crepe. It was a good mix with the wool shrinking up when washed.

I now have images of sheep in bamboo groves. Does bamboo and wool really go together?

As a recipient of a Nice Matters Award from Bonnie, I’m now honoured to pick seven blogs that inspire good feelings and inspiration. Of course there are so many to choose from and Bonnie and Leigh have covered many that I would have chosen, but here I go…

Number 1:
Thread and Yarn Handling Days
This is an amazingly creative and inspirational blog. The author, Am-tm uses knitting and crochet and other yarn techniques to create textiles that, I think, reflect a unique Japanese inventiveness and innovation. The site makes me feel excited about textile and clothing construction possiblities. Am-tm also maps her processes of inspiration which is particularly insightful.

Number 2:
t’katch – The Language of Weaving
This a new site I’ve been reading by Scottish weaver, Cally Booker and I’ve really enjoyed. She studied Handwoven Textile Design Bradford College UK and she includes photos of weaving and drafts combined with writings about life. Writing of why she started blogging "My plan is simply to keep a journal of my weaving, to ponder on the reasons why I weave, and to reflect on how weaving is connected with the other loves of my life, especially language and liturgy." Although my other loves of life are different this certainly struck a chord with me.

Number 3:
My Little Kitchen
This is a most delightful blog. Cathy, who also weaves, bakes biscuits (or cookies!) from Maida Heatter’s books and asks her friends to comment, rate and, of course, eat her cooking! I just think the whole idea of baking for others and sharing it so wonderful. Cathy provides wonderful artistic photos of the biscuits which make me want to appraoch cooking in a more mindful and committed way. I’ve since baked all sorts of food with a new enlightened mind approach to it all.

Number 4:
Narablog
Japanese textile photos are the basis of this blog, so it is a visual feast more than a written one. There are alot of close up views of the textiles and if you are interested in Shibori you MUST go to the August 07 archive to see the video clips on shibori weaving and tying – they are exceptional.

Number 5:
Curious Expeditions: Travelling and Exhuming the Extraordinary Past
I first came across this site referencing this extraordinary entry on a Compendium of Beautiful Libraries. The photos are amazing about amazing things!

Number 6:
BibliOdessey
Another site along similar lines to number 5 containing obscure visual material and eclectic bookart. Very inspirational and has a great search facility.You’ll need a few hours to saturate yourself with this site.

Number 7:
Unravelling
Meg Nakagawa is a weaver from New Zealand with a lot going on. She documents her exhibitions and weaving progress extensively. Meg also duplicates the site in Japanese.

What I’ve left out! After writing up these links I’ve realised that I have a leaning towards Japan somehow, have exhaused my limited supply of adjectives to describe great sites and haven’t included an Australian site, an origami or basketry site or a tech or political one. My favourites in my browser are very, very long. I’m interested in so many things that writing up only seven links is really impossible…hope you enjoy these anyway.

I’ve never warped my loom with a warp made by another person before…and it was an enlightening experience.

This is one of the hand-painted warps that I ‘won’ by Syne Mitchell of WeaveCast. So I haven’t met or even talked to Syne in person and only know her via her podcasts and emails Only through Internet technology and a shared passion for weave have our paths crossed.

Every weaver knows the many times every warp thread is handled in it’s transformation to textile. Disregarding handling at manufacture through many hands, the warping process, the dyeing process and the washing out was handled by Syne. Then I found the raddle and threading crosses marked by Syne to warp my loom, across the world from her, in a shared tradition of understanding the process. I wound the warp then threaded the heddles, handling each thread once again ready to start the weaving.

Never have I been so aware of the direct association of many human hands to make my textiles. And from here someone will wear and handle the textile until it deteriorates.

The human hands aren’t the limit to this process. Colours were chosen and mixed, structure was chosen, lives were lived, worries were negotiated. All of this goes into our woven textiles and I was so pleased that I had the opportunity to share a warp in this way.