Picking Away

 

Am making my way through the current warp.  Today I will cut off and re-tie and then it should take about 5 more days to finish the warp off.  So, it's time to start planning the next.

I have enough fine linen for about 6 warps and the current warp is #2, so I have some leeway to experiment and explore more of the fancy twills I enjoy so much.  This draft is a fairly plain one (so to speak) because I'm still dealing with uncomfortable pain levels that interfere with my sleep and therefore my brain is a leaky sponge.  No point in doing anything particularly difficult and invite catastrophic 'mistakes'.

This is based on a counter change kind of motif although changed somewhat in order to make it different from other iterations.

One of the things I enjoy doing is designing cloth with motifs that break out of the linear - undulations, to my mind, give a flow to the cloth.  And of course twills are more flexible than plain weave.

The challenge right now is that the linen is stiff and a lot thinner than the 2/16 warp, so I have been adding a bit of plain weave into the tie up which gives the cloth more stability.  So far I'm liking the results, so we'll see how this new one does.  

The colours will be the darker blue and the green for warp with the white linen weft.

On the writing front, I will be reviewing the 2nd article in the next few days.  I find giving myself some mental space before I try to do revisions gives me better perspective.  And another reason why I'm trying really hard to not run myself headlong into the deadline but get everything done in plenty of time.  Then the editor can decide if they are satisfied or if they want more changes, or more samples, or...whatever.

I also need to do something about a current headshot for the magazine.  I truly dislike photos of myself but the only ones I have are years old by this point and it's time I did a new one.  

In the meantime, I have one more towel to weave today, then cut off and re-tie.  And then if I have spoons left, I had a light bulb moment about how to illustrate what happens to the cloth when it gets compressed in the wet finishing.  Perhaps I will have the energy to begin setting that experiment up?

TBD.

Clean Up Time

 

some magazines in which I have articles

Writing several articles on various topics over the past 2.5 months means I've pulled a lot of resources out and now need to put them away again.  As part of my dive into my library, I had a stack of Handwoven Magazines that also needed putting away.  This morning I sorted through the pile and pulled out the ones that had articles I'd written in them and set the rest aside.  I may offer them for sale.  We have some new weavers who may want to beef up their libraries.  Or not.

I'm letting the current article 'rest' for a few days so that I can have some perspective on the text.  I've already read through it several times, plus had a friend alpha read and catch more grammar oopsies.

Yesterday I got the contract to write another article.  The due date is December, but I'm not going to wait very long before I start on that.  It's short (400 words) so I'm going to have to be really concise and clear in what I write.  Plus I've stuck my hand up to write a 4th.  

We continue to have a smoke pall over us.  It's 'better' this morning after some rain, but still not great.  I have zero plans or incentive to leave the house.  I have library books to be picked up but Doug will likely do that for me since he has to be out and about today.  

It's halfway through August and frankly I'm ok with autumn arriving whenever it does.  I rather suspect that this winter will be a repeat of last - zombie fires that sustain themselves over the winter and spring back into life when the warmer weather comes.  At least we are below 400 fires now, but still...

We are truly well into the 'find out' part of climate change.  Weaving may become a survival skill again?

Inching Along

 

Finished off the natural beige linen and started on the white for weft.  The colours are subtle - a pale grey and pale green about the same value.  It's an approach to creating textiles I like because it gives the cloth more depth, more 'interest', than a same yarn/colour warp.

Not that that is bad, of course not.  There are lots of times I will use a solid colour warp.  It depends.  (Bet you are shocked!)

The linen is finer than the 2/16 cotton.  Instead of increasing the number of warp ends, I chose to include some plain weave in the weave structure.  Doing this adds structural stability, and it keeps the cloth 'lighter' - more flexible.  Given the stiffness of the linen, this flexibility is A Good Thing (imho), especially for something like tea towels.

When I gift my towels to people, they sometimes protest that they are too 'nice' to use.  I hasten to assure them that they are not - and, that they will improve with use.  I now have several 'fans' who know and understand this.

The last time I gave towels to my massage therapist, I told him that if they have 'enough' of my towels they can re-gift them.  Without even opening the package he asked if they were more of my towels.  When I said yes, he said "Oh no, we love your towels!"

Yesterday I packaged up the parcel with the samples for the first article I did for WEFT.  I'll mail this week when I go to town.  I know I'm 'early' getting it done, but being a bear of little brain these days, I am working on getting stuff done well before deadline so that I'm not in a mad scramble trying to get it finished on time.

Besides, I am thoroughly enjoying the explorations and want to savor them, think deeply about them, and not rush to judgement about what I'm seeing and experiencing.  I also have very little energy, so I need to be aware of what I am capable of doing in a day and not disappoint myself and them and bailing at the last minute.

Once I've got my worktable cleared off, I will begin processing the samples for the next article.  They are all woven (unless I decide I need more) but there are quite a few of them and I need to make sure I've identified them all so that I don't lose track of what they were woven to illustrate.  

I may measure progress by the inch, not the yard, these days, but progress is still progress.

Experimenting

 

When I decided to retire from doing craft fairs in 2019 and then in-person teaching (because of Covid) some of my friends wondered what I would do instead.

I had no ready answer for them, other than that I thought I might like to take a deeper look at weaving.  Deeper than I had been able to do for a while.

I'm no stranger to sampling, and experimenting; I just wasn't sure what route I would take in that exploration.

A few detours arrived and I enjoyed the journey.  They allowed me to examine certain things in more depth, which I enjoyed very much.  I also wrote 2 books(!) because it seems like I hadn't said everything I wanted to say in the first two.

So much of my energy has been needed to just keep going lately that there hasn't been a lot of time nor energy for anything beyond the mundane.  But I *can* still weave, so there is that.

I've been on the naltrexone since November and it takes the edge off the pain - not completely, but enough I can (mostly) cope.  The more important thing is that I have my brain back, now that it isn't clouded by opioids, and I can think again without trying to peer through the drug haze.

A few months ago I found myself stating, quite firmly, that I wasn't going to 'pitch' articles to publications but only write what I wanted to write.  I'm old, I'm fairly stable financially (for reasons that are beyond my control, but for which I am grateful), and with covid NOT over, I won't be traveling or teaching in person any time soon.

So I mostly just sat with my thoughts and did the best I could to get through each day.

Time passed, and I waited to see if my muse was going to appear with a whip and insist I needed to write more - what that might be, I had no idea, but they had shown up previously so I was confident that if they wanted me to write, they would bring the seed of an idea that would spark my interest.

Well, my muse didn't show up, but 3 different publications contacted me in the space of 4 weeks, asking for articles.  They were very specific about what they wanted me to write about and every one of them was right in my 'zone' of wanting to write about those things.

Two of the articles were so specific I had to come up with experiments to make sure I could write about them.

One was a very short deadline, and I tackled that one first (it will appear soon - will let folk know where and when), one had a very open deadline but two of the topics were things I knew well and didn't need to weave any actual samples for, and the third was very specific in what they wanted.  And for that one I needed to weave samples and do some experiments.

So I shuffled my weaving schedule and piggy-backed the samples onto warps that I had planned to do 'down the road', and instead brought them forward to do immediately.  Bonus for having enough yarn on hand to weave the samples (and enough samples in my teaching boxes for the rest).

Both of those topics are, shall we say, broad enough to require some digging, but specific enough I needed to produce examples to illustrate the topic.  Both are wet finishing related, but aspects that I had never had time to really, thoroughly explore.

The first set of samples (topic 1) that I needed to weave are done, with one sample started for topic two.  I've decided on my approach to the experiment I will run for topic 1, counted up how many samples I will need to explore the options, and purchased a product that I haven't used, until now, but was recommended and which I will try, to see if it works as advertised.

In the meantime I am weaving off the rest of the warp I used for topic 1 samples, have pulled the yarn for topic 2 samples and will throw that at the loom as soon as the current warp comes off.  I have enough yarn for a 3rd warp if I find, in my actual experimenting, that I need more samples.

And then the rest of the samples should already be in my teaching bins, so I need to collect the bins and sort through them to see what I have.

I have written down the first experiment and just need to do the wet finishing and run the experiment.  For the second topic I finally figured out how I would go about doing it, worked out a way to document the different samples and be able to identify each one so I can make comparisons.

Because only after the wet finishing happens can I begin to examine the results, make comparisons and then possibly come to some meaningful conclusions.

In the meantime, I keep weaving, even at a slower pace than I would like.  I have mixed feelings about what is happening to my body, but since I can keep weaving, that is what I will do.  And when I can't weave anymore, maybe I can keep writing?

As for when the articles will appear?  There is usually a 6-12 month lead up time from when someone is asked to write an article and when it will appear.  Stay tuned!

A Little Progress

 

Having made some progress over the past couple of days, I decided I'd better get the next draft ready.  I'm not sure I'll actually do this one as it is very similar to the other one, so I'll think on it for a bit.

In the meantime, I've decided to do one more warp with 2/8 and the 'mystery' yarn, partly because it weaves up so quickly, but mostly because I can weave the rest of the samples for the articles I'm writing on it.  And then I can do the wet finishing, analyze the results and write the articles.

Besides, I'm enjoying how quickly 'fat' yarn weaves up!

It will also give me a little time to think through how many samples I will need, read some resources and then get cracking.  My goal is to have both articles written, proof-read (if my alpha reader has the time), finalized and mailed off by the end of August.  That will give them plenty of time to do their end - the editing, photographing, formatting, etc.  And then get the galley proof (as were) to me for a final read through.

Just like with weaving, the prep work in publishing is all iceberg - what you get to see is only the tiny tip of the effort involved.

I have been given permission to say what magazine these are for, but Impostor Syndrome popped up and quashed that suggestion - at least until after they approve what I submit!  So, one more reason to get them done 'early', because I don't want to say anything until I know for sure they like what I do...

The stacks of books are in my office, but I think I'm going to bring some of them out to my chair in the living room.  Maybe read them instead of playing Scrabble Go or doom scrolling on the iPad.

We have had several days of grey weather, and bouts of rain.  Everyone is trying really hard to not be upset at the rain, we so desperately need it.  Yesterday another small town in the northern part of the province was issued with an evacuation order.  So far we have not had much in the way of smoke, in no small part due to the rain.  I won't actually be too disappointed if we have a cool, wet summer, after the awfulness of last year.

Onwards!

Legacy

 

In this day of mis- and dis-information, starting up a new magazine is a vote for the future.  

Humans have been playing with string since the dawn of time.  The craft is vast, and broad, and deep.  To try to encapsulate the bones of the craft in a periodical is brave and bold, and honestly?  I wish I were 20 years younger so I could really dig in and participate more than I am able to do.

I have been around since the time of Interweave.  And by that, I mean the magazine.  I loved that magazine and was very sad when it went away.  I wish now I'd kept those magazines when I downsized my library.

In the Kickstarter video Jacey and Lisa say they want to collect as much information as possible and make WEFT a kind of 'encyclopedia' of weaving knowledge.

When they said that, I thought about the folk who have attempted this before - S. Zielinski, Elmer Wallace Hickman, Mary Black, Russell Groff (by publishing so many 'monographs'), Shuttlecraft (who also published monographs) and Heddlecraft (there are likely more, but those are floating around top of my mind.)

But things change.  Knowledge and understanding grows.  And I'm pretty sure that WEFT will find a place in the weaving world of value and add to the foundation of knowledge.  Small publications go out of print, or become difficult to find.  Or the information gets 'stale' because new innovations come along.

I well remember when I let my friends know I was buying an AVL with fly shuttle, dobby and auto cloth advance.  And how I would be told I could no longer call myself a 'hand' weaver.  Then when weaving software was developed and people who used it were 'cheating'.

But things change.  Acceptance grows, and look at us now...40 shaft computer assisted dobby looms, even small(ish) Jacquard mechanism looms, all part of the larger hand weaving community.

I think what excites me about WEFT is that they say they want to look deep into the rabbit warren of the craft.  Because if you don't know *what* you don't know, you don't know *that* you don't know it.

So, while not everyone will be excited about the deep dive that will happen in these pages, at least they will know that it exists.  And that is the first step to learning and understanding.

I, for one, could not be more excited.  

For my own particular deep dives, my books remain available at Blurb (Magic, Matrix, Intentional Weaver) and my ko-fi shop for my bio as a production weaver (and the lessons I learned, which is probably worth the price I'm asking for the pdf, all by itself!)

In the meantime, I have articles to write which requires some rabbit warren diving, some sample weaving, a lot of thinking and a bunch of wordsmithing.  I will have to be patient and wait until April 2025 to see what WEFT will contribute to the world of weaving knowledge.  

Carrots (not Sticks)

 

Yesterday I cut the shawl warp off the loom and started setting up for the next warp, on which I will be weaving samples to illustrate an article I'm writing.  Actually, I'm thinking I could weave samples for two different articles, so I'm thinking about how many samples I need and what needs to be shown.  

That doesn't mean I won't weave more later, but both articles have a deadline of Oct. 1, so I'd like to get started on them now.

Both articles are on topics very much in my 'wheelhouse' (as they say) since both have wet finishing as a factor.  I've just not done much experimenting in the particular aspects that are wanted, so it's a learning opportunity for me - one that I'm very much looking forward to exploring.

The thing is, when I was in high production I didn't have the time (or energy) to dig deeply into some aspects of weaving.  Now that I'm 'retired' (for certain values of) I have less urgent need to produce at volume so I can afford to take the time - and the yarn - to experiment.  I think I'm finally finding my 'retirement' niche!

In the meantime, the yarn from Brassard arrived this morning.  This yarn was ordered in specifically to be warp for the fine singles linen weft.  I have a plan for it but still need to design the actual weaving drafts.  But the concept is formulated in broad strokes - just need the fine detail.

Weaving with the natural linen was so lovely that I'm really looking forward to working with colours that are more attuned to my personal 'taste' - beige is not really my favourite colour!  But I'm pleased with the results of the cloth and am very much looking forward to getting to these colours.

We are nearing the summer solstice and soon enough the daylight hours will begin reducing as we slide towards winter.  With this box of yarn I will have plenty of weaving to do in the winter months.

Launch Day!

 

The Kickstarter campaign for WEFT launched this morning.

They need to reach their goal by mid-July, so if you want to see a magazine geared towards the more intermediate level weaver, here's your chance.

I'm told PLY is an excellent magazine for spinners; I'm hoping this will be an excellent magazine for weavers.

Handwoven is good - it has great projects with lovely photos, and provides information on how to weave the projects they highlight.  I'm hoping WEFT will bend a little more towards teaching beyond the basics.  

Partly that is a bit selfish on my part, because while I subscribe to Handwoven, it isn't geared towards me.  In fact I wrote for Handwoven on many occasions in the past.  My textiles were even used on the cover of two issues.  :)

But I also miss getting together with other weavers, talking about textiles in depth, expanding my horizons.  I could join a study group, probably should, but right now I don't want to add the 'burden' of deadlines to my life beyond what I already have.  And I really don't want the responsibility of hosting a study group.

Since my body started seriously falling apart a few years ago, it's become impossible for me to teach a class in person.  Fibre Week at Olds College has been cancelled, so I don't go there every year, either.  And I miss the community of weavers.  So, I'm hoping that WEFT will be a good alternative, perhaps help keep me thinking in fresh ways about how to take threads and turn them into cloth.

Even if you aren't interested in WEFT, let weavers you know, know about it.  Let's get this project up and running!

Quiet Days

 

two strands of yarn after weaving - the curving path through the cloth is recorded in the individual threads when they are removed from the cloth - they are no longer straight round rods

One of the things I've been thinking (and writing) about is the role of compression in the making of cloth.  The article has been sent and received and should appear sometime next month.  Will give everyone a heads up when it drops.  :)

I have also been thinking about other aspects of weaving that tend to get glossed over, or simply misunderstood.  As such I've been flipping through books looking for what others have said, trying to find a way to bring the information to more people.

The thing is, weaving is full of rabbit holes.  Weaving is not just *a* rabbit hole, it is an entire rabbit warren!  There are so many 'it depends' considerations.  So many things that can be tweaked that will ultimately affect the finished results.

It is really challenging when new weavers simply want to know what they should do when there are so many variables.

Even words take on different meanings, if the context is changed.

This is what I'm working on now - a definition of a word and how to explain the role the concept plays in creating cloth.  Even the Oxford Concise Dictionary listed 8 different definitions for the word - and that doesn't even begin to address the use of that word in weaving.

Wednesday I got the next spinal injections and was hoping that Thursday would be 'better'.  It wasn't.  So I gritted my teeth and stuck to my 'light duties'.  This morning *seems* to be 'better', but I'm going to stick to my '3 days light duties' and continue poking around, flipping through books, shoving thoughts around in the back - and front - of my brain.  Try to come up with all the ways the word is used and explain how and why the definition changes in context.

Which word?  You'll have to wait and see.  The article will be submitted to the editor as soon as I can wrap it up, but it may be months before it appears in print.  The lead time for articles to print is 6-12 months (sometimes more).

I have also sent a list of topics to another publication in hopes that they might like to publish more of my words.  I'm not holding my breath, but...nothing ventured, nothing gained, as they say.  :)

If my body is going to continue to deteriorate, but I can keep my brain functioning, then I can keep writing, keep teaching.  

In the meantime, I also need to clean up my ko-fi store and start getting ready for my annual Big Birthday Sale.  Stay tuned.

Weft!

 

There is a whole lot of work in launching a new publication and fingers and minds have been busy working on this.

They say they are focusing on the more intermediate level of weaving knowledge, which means this magazine should be right up my alley.  

I'm told that they will be launching a Kickstarter campaign next month with the first issue rolling out next spring.  It sounds like they have thought through what they can do and how they are going to do it, and Weft should make a great sister publication from the folks at Ply.

I'm never too old to learn 'new tricks', so I will be watching for the publication to launch next year.  So lovely to see the next generation of weavers sink their teeth into a new publication.  

Handwoven is lovely for inspiration, Heddlecraft digs deep into the craft, but imho there is room for this magazine, so I'll be subscribing as soon as the Kickstarter launches.  Will share the link once it goes live.