Loving that weaving

I’m undergoing a change in my studio and although it’s not fully formed yet, I am enjoying it. Struggling with covid control and the dramatic cost of living expenses that people are going through is not conducive to a weaving business, thus the change for me. But I see weaving and the arts a bit like chocolate…surely most of us can enjoy even just a little.

I started with a little commission for a gift from my sister which was a delight to weave. The brief was brief – Pink! Saori weaving really puts the relaxation back into the human. I’ve woven alot over the last few weeks but have travelled on some other art byways as well.

I also purchased another loom- a Louet eight shaft which I love. It is a delight and is fast becoming my second best friend after my husband. I’m taking it through the ropes and getting really well versed in its dimensions and particular ways. It reminded me again of the vast difference between looms and their capabilities and shortfalls which you work with. No tool is perfect but you can really make it work for you. Multishaft looms require more configuration than the Saori looms and I sometimes think that new Saori weavers don’t realise how easy they are to use!

Next on the Louet or DaveTwo which I have named it, is a waffle type pattern on a handpainted warp. I’m putting lots of warps on and weaving them off. Handpainting warps and wefts are one of my favourite techniques as it helps me enjoy weaving more, seeing colours change and interact. So dyeing is grabbing hold of me again. The only real laborious aspect is unwinding all of these fine cotton skeins but it’s all part of it.

Tying for Kasuri/Ikat effects is occupying some of my studio time too as I am putting on another warp to experiment on new cloth patterns. Mostly this will be done on the Saori loom which is the best for this type of work.

In keeping with Sakiori or rag woven ideas I came across this nice video of a Sakiori weaver in Osaka who incidentally uses a Saori loom for his work. He uses some four shaft weaves but the jacket he has on is plain weave.