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Archive for June, 2008

Jun 24

6 Comments

In the Process: Web & DyeBooks

I’m in the process of changing my web furniture around so you may ‘trip’ over some things at the moment! Hopefully it will all look better soon.

There has been a great dye workshop at the Online Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers which has inspired me to revisit my dyebooks. I use fibre reactive dyes with both cellulose and protein fibres and I went through a period of trying to control my dye colours. The compilation of this dye book actually taught me about each of the dye colours I use and how much will produce the various depths of shading. Each little skein of 2/20 mercerized cotton weighed one gram. By applying different amounts of dye solution I was able to record the results. For the pale colours I had to use a syringe to measure accurately enough.

After doing all of this dyeing I now find I have a better ‘feel’ for the dye colours rather than getting down to exactness.

Jun 18

2 Comments

Breast Cancer Foundation Exhibition and Sale for Canberra

As part of an exhibition and sale of scarves, wraps and contemporary neck pieces, donations are being accepted with proceeds going to the Australian National Breast Cancer Foundation. The exhibition and sale will be held in Canberra in August. I have donated this scarf which was woven from a warp painted by Syne Mitchell (Weavecast & WeaveZine)

If anyone would like to donate you will find more information at the Neck Decorations site.

Jun 11

9 Comments

Raddling again


The raddle is such a valuable weaving tool.

It helps to organise the warp so it can be wound on evenly. This colourful warp slid through pretty well and I find that narrow warps are much easier to beam by myself than wider ones.

I’d really like to have another person help me each time I warp but that just doesn’t happen. Firstly who has that much patience except the weaver herself. I have to order the other around because I’m in charge of the warp and who takes kindly to that. Secondly another human just isn’t always around when you need them. In the loneliness of warping I dream of helpers. I keep thinking of ingenious new ideas to streamline the operation for next time. Adding a piece of wood here and there or tieing this or that into another position. But somehow each warp seems to have different challenges and it seems like a new adventure every time.

Bonnie takes raddling a step further and uses it as a design tool.

Serendipitously, Cally has also written about raddling recently – it must be the time of year. She has actually trained her husband as a warping helper. What an inspiration.

Jun 6

3 Comments

Old Bar King Tides

The quiet, idyllic scene this morning on Old Bar beach disguises the power of the ocean against anything humans can build. Although this isn’t a fibre post, I live in Old Bar on the east coast of Australia and gain much of my inspiration from the natural and people environment here. This is one of those extraordinary moments of the natural which we see occasionally.
These few beachfront properties have been in jeopardy for some years, bit by bit the ocean claiming more of the land. But last night very big king tides arrived to finish off the job.
You can see here that the tide has now undermined this house and the stucture is starting to crack.This ironic thing about the situation this morning is a contrast to what the scene may have been like in Sydney where this situation has arisen before. There were no cranes or inspectors or anyone. Just a quiet beautiful beach with the ocean roaring to another voracious full tide.
Even the local real estate agent wasn’t perturbed or perhaps had that bravado of descriptive license that they have. No – not a ‘renovators dream’ but quite plainly stating the Absolute Beachfront value of the cliff face waiting to be swallowed up.

Jun 4

11 Comments

Loving that Dyeing

It was good to get into dyeing again in the weekend. I’m preparing a course for the online guild in November on ‘Easy Ikat and Warp Painting”. 

I’ve learnt a few tricks with warp painting over the years to make the dye process more streamlined. I used to paint the warp painstakingly along its length bit by bit but then I started painting multiple lengths of the warp at the same time. You can see in the two unpainted warp photos how I arrange the warp as I paint.

The first photo is the way I most commonly use if the whole warp is going to be the same colourway. This gets the job done quickly and efficiently but retains the ability to introduce a nice blending of different colours or shades that repeat regularly along the whole length of warp.

If I want to have multiple colourways on the same warp I use the second method. This is a really exciting application for warp painting – multiple colour bases on the one threaded warp.

I’ve included a photo of the warp when it is blended with dye by a sponge and how I begin to wrap it in plastic ready to be set aside to ‘cook’ for 24 hours. This method of dyeing on cellulose fibres such as cotton and rayon requires no heating which is why I’m so attracted to it. If I use silk with these dyes I have to apply heat/steam to set the dye.

For the workshop I’m combining these warps with a very simple ikat segment. Whilst doing some web research I re-discovered the exceptional Indonesian Textile collection site from the National Gallery in Canberra. What a resource for textile passionists everywhere.
Luscious warp painting
My method for painting a single colourway
My method for painting several colourways
Beginning
Ripening
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