Sep 16
Yes! Bring on the complex threading. I can now bravely attack any threading – no matter how crazy with my new found threading technique. This technique is so friendly and uses the loom to present each shaft in the sequence for each thread. I have a computer loom with 24 shafts and I just turned the threading into the treadling in a new file and ‘wove’ the threading. Read more
I live in a small town called Old Bar beach so I was over the moon seeing some artwork decorating the humble toilet block at the beach. The architechure in our town is very basic and always lacks vitality and design….but now look what can be done!It is a beautiful ocean imagery in a flowing design by well known local artist Kate MacGowan who is also painting it.
Special funding is always needed for these types of projects and this was sought through the Country Arts Support Program (CASP). The vehicle for artistic endeavour is the yearly Old Bar Beach Festival with the support of the Old Bar Chamber of Commerce.
It’s great that the Old Bar Beach Festival organisers have tried to include all in their efforts and this contribution to our small town makes me feel very included and hopeful about the future of Old Bar. I know it’s such a small thing – but it means alot. It says something about the spirit of the Old Bar community.
It’s also pertinent that it is on a public toilet building. In many countries public facilities such as these are not readily available. Australia provides these sorts of facilities nearly everywhere where all can use them and the community pays for their upkeep and cleaning.
I guess you can tell by this detailed rave about our toilet block that Old Bar really is quiet and small!
Aug 20
Struggling with a dilemma….well probably one that others have solved first. But when you are thinking of how to solve problems yourself it feels like you’re the first. Like an adventure without leaving the house.My problem is all that white yarn in my stashed supplies. It’s so difficult to get the range of colours that seem so available in other countries. This is why I dye most of my yarn and I’m always trying to avoid ‘double skeining’. That is winding a skein up, dyeing it, then winding a package or cone ready to wind into a warp. Notice the word ‘wind’ occuring too much in the sentence.Mostly I use a combination of fibres to get around this and do the final dye with the woven piece. But what about the type of echo weave here. One thread of each colour works best on this weave. The other advantange is that I will be able to add ‘abrash‘ to each dyed yarn as I paint it.The problem: how can I dye these and use my AVL warping wheel to wind the warp onto the loom?
Firstly the warp calcs:I decided on 672 ends in total. This means 42 ends per section (my sections are 2cms) I will require 16 sections in total to equal the required 672 ends. (16 x 42 = 672 ) Of those 42 ends there are 3 different colour which equates to 14 ends per colour. The colours above are purple (14 ends per section to be dyed) Black (14 ends to be wound but I already have black), and pinkish (14 ends per section to be dyed). This means creating 16 separate warps with 42 ends for each colour. HOWEVER, I have to separate these clearly so that, after dyeing, I will place the 3 x 16 end warps (one purple, one black, one pinkish) all together back onto the warping wheel to be wound onto the sectional warp beam. |
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| Here is how I layed each of the warps. I was using 2/20 tencel and laid each section through the reed as 2/2/3/2/2/3 | Up close, see each section is taped off securely and the next section wound on top. 16 sections all shown here. |
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Cutting the warp off the warping wheel. |
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Securing both ends ready for dyeing.
Do you think my plan will work?I hope it does…it will be worth it if 1) I don’t have to wind so many times 2) I can get colours I want without having to search the world. 3) I can create ‘abrash’ in echo weave. |
At last…I’ve finished the Pics to Picks project. I completed two scarves and dyed each a differerent shade of purple/violet. Very different from the loom look here.
The bamboo is lovely, providing a ‘grab’ in the fabric which suits a wrapping scarf.
Jiowanna Dau Miles teaching us the essentials of tapa cloth making. I was fortunate to buy the cloth below which was made by Jiowanna. I like to buy from the maker ... it means more to me.
The Talking Tapa workshop on Bark cloth from the Pacific was fantastic. Held at the Manning Art Gallery, this free demonstration and hands on workshop allowed us to explore a little known art and textile technique in Australia. Read more
Aug 1
Although I’ve been busy doing non-textile things 
I’m still in there gearing up for new design and teaching ideas in weave.
A game using random weave ideas to build textile innovation by Ann Sutton (Ideas in Weaving – Sutton and Sheehan) has always inspired me (just as anything Ann Sutton has done) and I recently converted my homemade cardboard make dos with some lovely new cards from moo. As I had 100 unique card opportunites with moo printers, I added some extra ideas and modified some of Anns to incorporate some new yarns and new techniques.
For example, new to the mix is some emotions…passion, jealousy, confusion and seasons… winter. What ideas do these words conjure up in relation to weave textiles?
The idea is to choose several cards from the pack and ‘unite’ the ideas into a cloth. If any of the choices are incompatable you grab another card. Of course some things can be very challenging when presented as a design option like; ‘Use shades and varieties of white only’. Yikes- very difficult to me – I need the colour – but just maybe that’s the sort of challenge I need to bring on the WEAVE JUICES.
Cost of loom - $1640.00. Lay-by installment plans available on request. Australian buyers only.
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Exploring handweaving in all its dimensions and techniques means learning about people from all over our world, being inspired by the ingenuity of humans for creating solutions and becoming passionate about design, texture and yarn.
