Weaving A Gem Of A Life

Planning ahead

I usually plan ahead, mentally working on the next warp while I’m still at the loom on the last one. This planning and activity wasn’t really anything like that. I was looking 11 months out. But it wasn’t my weaving.

After I’d made a bunch of Christmas presents (oh yeah, you still need to see them; next time…if I remember) I was very much in the Christmas spirit. I’d recently been to an evening meeting of the Weavers’ Guild, one where we all were quilling, something I haven’t done for 40 years or so. I got inspired to make a bunch of cards for Christmas 2020. I’m showing them here, figuring by next year the intended recipients will have forgotten about them.

I started by quilling 240 little ‘light bulbs’ while I watched TV.

Then I ordered the card stock and envelopes I needed, and set them up on my kitchen table, gluing lengths of green cotton to the cards to represent wire.

Still working at the table, I glued on the lights, and decided I had to make little ‘plugs’ of black. Although the plugs look sort of like little cat heads, it was the best I could do. I made 20 cards; here’s a sampling of them.

Simultaneously to quilling those light bulbs in the evening, I was also working in the studio during the day, setting up triaxial ribbon weaving for a different kind of card. The totally traditional Christmas colors of pink and black 😉 uses 3/8″ ribbon, the rest is 1/4″ ribbon.

After it was all woven and pinned to the bulletin board, I taped the segments off with craft tape and took it to my sewing machine to stabilize all the places where I would cut.

In addition to ordering the cardstock and envelopes for the quilled cards, I also ordered window cards for the triaxial weaving. I have 6 of the pink and black and 3 each of the green/white/red and blue/white/red.

So next year I can send out 32 handmade cards. Wonder who will get these versus some store-bought ones.

I haven’t woven anything since mid-December, giving my thumb tendonitis a rest. I wondered why I wasn’t dyeing fibers like mad so I’d have plenty to do once I was back at weaving, but somehow I just wasn’t inspired to do so. Then the other day on Facebook I saw this posting. The dyeing was done by Blazing Shuttles, the work of Kathrin Weber, whose work I admire.

I loved the look of that warp and wanted to do my own version, adding substantially more purples. I wound 3 narrow bouts of 20/2 silk and went down to the basement. Here’s what I ended up with.

The purples are more pink than I’d had in mind, but I’m happy with the way it turned out. Now I have to decide on the weave structure, whether I’ll offset these bouts with some solids, and then what I’ll use for weft to keep the loveliness of the colors.

Now, because Kathrin called her colorway Honey Pie I’ve had this earworm for days. Here you go.

You’re welcome.

Same but different

There’s no reason why you’d remember a post of mine from February 2019. Instead of sending you back there, I’ll just re-post one of the photos from that post. I had just finished this open-front cardigan. Dyed the tencel, wove it, sewed it.

Well, I still have that piece. I’ve had it at shows and it always attracts attention, but never sold. And I’m sort of glad, because it didn’t make me proud. I liked the dye job a lot, and was pleased with the weaving, so what’s the problem?

It’s that rolled hem on the front edge. Because the drape shows you both sides of that edge, you see both the right and wrong sides of the hem. It’s been cringe-worthy to me for almost an entire year. I’d purchased some bias tape at Joann Fabrics, but I knew if I used it I wouldn’t be happy with that, either. It would be far too stiff.

Then last month I got some private instruction from a seamstress about how I could fix it. She advised that I buy some dupioni silk and make my own bias tape. I did. Wish I’d taken some process photos of that.

I can’t tell you how much time I spent making that tape! I got the bias measured, but for the life of me couldn’t manage to fold the fabric correctly to make continuous strip bias. Eventually I cut the strips and individually pieced them.

I had one yard of 45″-wide silk. I wanted to make double-fold tape, so knew I needed to make each strip 2″ wide. Without using any strips shorter than about two feet, I was totally amazed at the amount of tape I got. Want to guess? No? I’ll just tell you – 20 yards! That was a lot of piecing and pressing!

Then I basted it by hand all the way around the edge of the open-front cardigan. I’d estimated that it was 4-5 yards, so was surprised when it turned out to be roughly 7 yards. (Still, I have roughly 13 yards of silk bias tape left for another project.) After that, I stitched it on my machine and then removed the basting.

The bias taped edge is still a bit stiffer than the rolled hem, but I’m definitely happier with the piece than I was before. We’ll see if it sells this year.

Tangentially related, I did finally go to the doctor for the tendonitis in my thumb. “Yep,” she confirmed, “that’s what you’ve got.” What to do about it? She gave me a few options, none of which had guarantees of success. So I chose the least invasive option. Rest it, treat it well. I knew that both knitting and weaving could aggravate my thumb, and haven’t done either since finishing the Christmas weaving on December 18. (I’ll be able to show you soon.)

I didn’t think the rest had made much of an improvement and was disappointed. However after doing all that basting and then removing the basting, some of which had been machine stitched over, I realized that the rest had, in fact, been a good thing, because now my thumb reminded me of what it feels like when it aches.

So what does this mean going forward? I’m not sure. But I do know I’ll have to take it easy, easier than I’d thought. 🙁

Moving on…

I November I used similar colors as above – coral & turquoise – to dye some 20/2 silk for a few shawls. The colors are far less intense than the tencel, which is what I wanted. I threaded the loom for huck lace and used a salmon/coral 20/2 silk to weave the first piece. The silk is so light and airy, it’s easy to wear the piece in different ways.

I planned to make a mobius wrap for the second piece, so didn’t make fringe for it. For weft, I used a pale brown very fine silk. I’d thought it was 60/2, but it turned out to be much finer than that – I needed to use 3 strands to make a decent weight. Didn’t put it on my McMorran balance to get a weight for it.

Anyway, after it came off the loom I did make it into a mobi, but sort of hated it. The fabric is wide, and that made the point in the back WAY too long. So I took it apart and the fabric sat there for a while as I waited for it to speak to me and tell me what to make with it. It never did. So I just hemmed it for an unfringed shawl.

With the lighter weft, this piece is even more airy than the fringed shawl. Light as a feather.

After another good pressing, I’m planning to send this one to the Copper Shop Gallery on the Roycroft campus, along with a few other things, before the end of the month. They sold several of my pieces in December, and they’ll continue to have visitors throughout the season. I’m hoping Valentine’s Day will be a good time for me there.

Some new things

Here’s what I’ve accomplished since my last post:

I got a cold. Or maybe it’s a touch of the flu, lessened by the fact that I got a flu shot. In any case, I spent only one day feeling totally crappy, and since then several days feeling pretty good but staying away from people because I’m quite stuffy and my cough sounds really awful. I fear the cough will hang on for a time, despite the fact that I’m taking all of the following: raw garlic, elderberry, echinacea, herbal teas designed specifically for this, goldenseal, Airborne, vitamin C. I’m also using my neti pot twice a day and Vicks-ing up at night. I must say it’s been rather a joy to simply stay home. I’d forgotten how much more free my schedule is when I don’t go to the gym for an exercise class in the morning. I didn’t think cardio would be a good idea, likely causing coughing, and I don’t want to spread this nasty. I am going to try my soul line dance class this evening and see how it goes.

I read a book I really liked. 350 pages in 24 hours. One of the benefits of having a cold.

I did all my year-end paperwork. This means counting shelves and bins of raw materials as well as inventorying finished pieces. I also entered months of expenses into Quickbooks and prepared everything for my accountant.

I submitted an online application for a small, local show for my jewelry only. No idea if I’ll be accepted.

And I FINALLY took photos of the scarves I wove with the green tea/modal yarn from Finger Lakes Yarn. I showed you the dyed warp and 2 possible wefts here more than a month ago. I really like the 2 thin gold stripes down the middle of this warp, and the black edges.

First I used a 8/2 black tencel weft. It shows the weave structure well and really made those purples pop. But somehow it looks sort of like a bruise to me.

I wanted the weave structure to show up but didn’t want the second scarf to be that dark. I tried the dark teal I’d dyed for weft, but didn’t like the way it worked with the warp colors. So I went for the sort of periwinkle yarn I’d dyed in the green tea/modal yarn. The colors are all ‘prettier’ here, but you can barely see the weave structure.

So for the third scarf I chose a red-violet bamboo weft. This yarn is 5/2, so the scarf is a bit thicker than the others, and the pattern a bit elongated. The overall look is SO purple; I’m a purple lover, but maybe not as much as this. Too….magenta.

I had my rigid heddle loom warped up for demonstration at the Weavers’ Guild Holiday Sale and the Shop Hop at the Weaving and Fiber Arts Center. So I finished that off. I like the colors, but the yarn is a bit scratchy. And the fiber content is unknown, since I just pulled cones off the Center’s donated-yarn shelves. Not sure what I’ll do with the scarf itself. Likely donate it.

I also got some private instruction in some sewing techniques since I want to make more garments, and even improve at least one of my already ‘finished’ pieces. Looking forward to trying some of those things.

What was I thinking?

A few days before Christmas I got a hankering to do a jigsaw puzzle. Mind you, I haven’t done a jigsaw puzzle in probably 20 years. Why now? Who knows?

My daughter offered me one of hers, but the visuals didn’t really appeal to me. I went to Dan’s, the local craft store, and was amazed at their selection. I bet they have 200+ jigsaw puzzles, from those designed for little kids to complex and 3-D ones. I spent a long time looking at them.

I intended to get a 1,000-piece puzzle. But none of the images moved me. I pulled out a 1,500-piece puzzle and loved it. But I didn’t want a puzzle that big – 31.5″x23.5″. So I kept looking at the 1,000-piece designs. Nope, I had to get that big one. It’s a Ravensburger puzzle, One Dot at a Time.

I had no idea just how challenging this puzzle would prove to be! I was also surprised at the brain power it took – analyzing color, shape, and size. I hadn’t realized/remembered that jigsaw puzzles do more than just help pass the time.

This one took up about 3/4 of my kitchen table, and even if that weren’t the case, my OCD self just kept at it hour after hour. For five days straight. I finally finished it about 9PM on New Year’s Eve. Sorry for the quality of the image,

If you look closely you’ll see that there are 3 pieces missing. My sleeves often pushed pieces off the table, and I’m assuming the furry little creature I live with ate them without my noticing. (Oh, Jack – not good for the digestive tract!)

I took a photo of it, printed it out, ID’d the missing pieces, and offered the puzzle on my local BuyNothing group. It was snatched up quickly.

So five full days doing virtually nothing else. A good way to spend a Christmas vacation, I suppose. I doubt I’ll do another puzzle for several more years.

On doing and not-doing

It’s December. Mid-December. And I’ve been thinking. Thinking about my weaving/creating, about working, about life, about joy. About what I can do, what I’m willing to do, and what I want to do; what makes me happy.

Specifically, what I will weave and how much of it. If I were ‘on target’ with my weaving, I’d have made 30-36 finished pieces, not counting towels, since summer. I have 15. Half, at best. And it’s time for me to have either new finished or nearly-finished pieces for new professional photos to be taken for show applications, which will be due before I know it.

Is it possible for me to ‘make up’ all the ‘missing’ pieces? Theoretically, yes. Do I want to do that? Not really.

I’ve gone round and round on this, arguing, like always, both sides of this coin. I’ve long thought it was my Gemini nature to do that. In any case, I’ve decided – at least I’m pretty sure I’ve decided – that I’m only going to apply to one of my two favorite summer shows this year.

Yes, that will likely cut my weaving income in half. It will also cut my production need in half. I want to continue to weave, and to sell my weaving. But I don’t want to weave just because I have to for shows. I want to sew more with my handwovens. In fact I recently purchased an hour of individual instruction from a local woman whose work I admire. I want to continue to dye my yarns. I want to continue to use up my stash. But I don’t want the pressure. Plus, my body sometimes complains, and I’m listening to it more.

For example, I’ve had tendonitis in my thumb since at least August. It gets better and worse for reasons I can’t identify. I haven’t been to my primary care doc for this. Maybe it’s time, now that it’s been going on for five months? But I didn’t think he could give me any guidance I don’t already have. Like rest it. Stabilize it. Be kind to it.

So I’ll be considering where and how I can sell what I do make. I don’t have any answers at the moment, but for now, at least, I’m okay with that.

Weaving A Gem Of A Life

Categories

Archives

Planning ahead

Same but different

Some new things

What was I thinking?

On doing and not-doing

Weaving

What Else I'm Reading Now

Tags