Textures

 

It's been quite a few years since I've woven this design and I had (sort of) forgotten the tendency of the cloth to develop quite a lot of 'texture' during wet finishing.

I know people tend to say that 'tracking' only happens in plain weave, but the phenomenon of tracking will happen to other weave structures - it just looks different to what happens in plain weave.

I wet finished this load of towels the other day and finished pressing them yesterday.  When I had taken them out of the dryer, I was immediately reminded about the twill blocks tendency to 'fold up' - when I'm working with small sized 'blocks' of twills that change from warp emphasis to weft emphasis.  Especially when using two completely different yarns, warp and weft.  

This morning I did the finishing press on another twill block design, also a small size of twill blocks, and it also tried to develop some texture, similar - sort of - to waffle weave.

Not all, and not woven in all fibres.  But if you do something similar and you wind up with a very 'crumpled' cloth while still damp from wet finishing, don't panic.  Keep the cloth damp until you can give them a good *hard* press.  The above photo is before hemming and will receive a 'finishing' press once they are.  But even so, if you look close you should be able to see the difference between the blocks.  Plus you might just be able to see the 'faux' plain weave design woven into the cloth.

AI and Me

 

Lately it seems more and more of 'life' on line comes with a helping of 'artificial intelligence' - which has less knowledge and more 'thieving' to it.

Again, I'm seeing a wash of authors speaking up, saying that their books have been stolen by LLM companies to 'train' their 'AI'.  

When someone who is *not* a writer tells me (or another author) that they are going to just use AI to write books and make a mint, it is really difficult to say nothing.  

Even my Google email now offers to help me 'summarize' my emails, or gives me writing prompts.

Excuse me, I can write my own thoughts, thankyouverymuch.

Likewise I'm seeing more 'new' weavers popping up, asking for help.  I remind myself that they just don't know - how wide, deep and thick the craft is - and how many centuries humans have been weaving to generate a many lifetimes' worth of knowledge.

Since I am now 'elderly' and crabby with it, I try to scroll on by, unless the question is specific enough I feel I can give a meaningful answer.

But since I've been doing this thing that I do for most of my life, I also feel like I have already said everything that I could (or should?) say.

I'm asking myself again if I should give up, give over, and ignore the pleas for help.  And then I get an email from a publication saying 'please write'.  

And I remind myself that for all that I've published 4 books, written so many articles I'm not even sure how many there have been, and this blog since Aug. 2008, none of those things have given me the audience I might get by appearing in a large audience magazine.

I have been procrastinating about finishing the article that is *almost* done, and I have begun working on the 'next' article.  And now I have a list of topics the magazine is hoping someone will write about.  Do I pull out my 'usual' culprits?  Or do I go further afield from my 'usual' and maybe talk about something else for a change?

Whatever I decide I should let them know I'm interested...

Today's job task:  press 21 towels; begin threading new warp; create chart of samples for nearly-done article and proof read.  And yet, once again I'm dragging my feet getting to the studio...

Brain Cramp

 

This is what I spent several hours the past couple of days doing - mucking about with twill 'lines'.

Then this morning I woke up (I use the term loosely because I hardly slept all night) I panicked and thought I had designed it for 36 epi and I wanted to only use 32.  Because reasons.

The density at which a weaver sets the warp has to take into consideration a number of variables.  There is a reason that density is generally given as a 'range' (e.g. twill 30-36 epi for 2/16 cotton).  While I sat and drank my coffee I decided I had better double check what I designed this warp for - 2/16 cotton at 32 epi.  This is a pretty 'standard' density for 2/16 cotton and I will go up higher depending on the weave structure.

This past year (nearly) I've been using 2/16 cotton and the fine singles linen from Lithuania.  The linen is quite a bit thinner than the 2/16 cotton and will be woven in some kind of 'fancy' twill.  However, the next warp is also meant to be tea towels. It seemed to me that 32 epi  for 2/16 cotton warp/weft with a 2:2 twill was reasonable, so that's what I'm going with.

I cut the other warp off yesterday, but was pretty achy after chiropractor.  I worked on some 'prep' work and in between the 'up/down' periods of insomnia overnight, I went down to the studio and inspected/repaired the cotton/linen towels.  They can now be tossed into the washer/dryer.  The spool rack is all kitted out with the tubes I'll be using to beam the warp.  I might begin beaming when I get home from a therapy session.  Although by then I might actually be tired enough that I will be able to sleep.  

As for the pain meds, I continue to ride the Mad Mouse.  I have no idea what my body is doing right now, but letting me sleep is not one of the things it is willing to do on a regular basis.  

However, I've just reviewed the draft.  There is an 'issue' at the selvedge because it divides unevenly to frame the body of the towel.  However, it will be very difficult to tell at any kind of distance that the selvedges are not identical.  I *could* force it, but it leads to some awkwardness in the threading and honestly?  I donwanna.  I just want something fairly simple but effective at illustrating the topic for the article.

I used to sweat bullets trying to get my warps 'exactly' 'perfect'.  Over the years I began to realize that something I was sweating bullets over were just not that big a deal.  

And why the weaver really has to wait until after wet finishing before making up their minds!  Even though I am used to the transformation - even with fibres that don't full - the last set of samples for the article I'm finishing writing proved once again that you really can't judge your results while the web is still in the loom.   

Seems like the lesson I need to keep learning.  

I see newer weavers worried because they don't have reeds to fit the density they wish to weave.  They want to know what size reeds they should have.  Personally, for most of my weaving, I have used 8, 9, 10, 12, and 15.  I use a 'compound' sleying if I don't have one that exactly divides into the number I need.  You can use more than one end per dent and can even cram more into each dent if you want/need a higher density.  Most of the time the reed marks will come out, but not always when weaving with linen (the special fibre that needs special handling!)  If I have used a 'standard' division of the threads, each with 4 for example, if the reed marks don't come out in the wet finishing, they will be consistent.  

And we all know that if we can't be perfect that we work to be consistent.  

As for what kind of reed?  If you live in a humid climate, stainless steel is 'best' to avoid rust starting.  My reeds are around 40+ years old, most of them.  Over the years I've accumulated other sizes, which I find useful in rough sleying when I beam a warp wound on a warping board.  They are expensive, but they should last a weaver for their entire lifetime if cared for properly.  

Yes, you can weave without a studio full of equipment.  Figure out what appeals to you, why you want to weave.  Then focus on that type of weaving and buying looms/equipment that best suits that type of cloth.  Weaving is full of things that behave a certain way, until something changes and then oopsie.  It is part of why I keep weaving, keep digging, keep weaving samples and experimenting.  This month is 50 years since I made the decision to quit working for someone else and become my own 'boss'.  I have gone through changes, some minor, some massive.  Some I've initiated myself, others have delivered an offer I couldn't refuse.

But always, I am always learning.  And that is why I keep weaving.

Faux Spring?

 

This photo is from a few years ago and shows rather more ground than it does currently - but much later in the season.

Is what we have 'faux' spring?  Dunno.  The forecaster is saying much higher temps are coming, so this could be it - the last 'gasp' of winter?  And how the yard will look in a few days?  Time will tell.

I've been struggling with managing the new pain meds.  The new medication is behaving differently and while things change, I have no idea if it is going to be a good medication for me.  That is yet to be determined.

What is happening is that I've not been sleeping well, and I drag myself through the day knowing that I'm running on short rations for sleep.  And the less sleep I get, the more my brain hiccoughs and swallows whole words, or spits out doubles.  

However, I have managed to make some progress on the article, and will be sending to my alpha reader in a few days (she says, hopefully).  

In the meantime, I've plugged away on the loom and just this afternoon cut the warp off and started cutting/serging the towels.  Tomorrow I will inspect/repair and get them into the washing machine.  I have appointments every day (mostly) this week, so I don't know if I will feel up to actually beaming the next warp soon.  OTOH, I could work on the wet finishing and finish off the article?  Start the next?

I have a short list of warps I want to do and since I'm this close to done the last article, I'm going to work on the next article sample/project.  This afternoon I finished tweaking the draft I've been working on for the last couple of days.  I will likely design several drafts, but only weave one of them.  Readers will need to understand how to 'read' their cloth and the best way to do that is walk people through designing a draft of their own.  

My story, sticking to it.

One of the things that teaching weaving has taught me is that different people process information in different ways.  The more information I can provide so that people can process the way that makes most sense to them, the better they will learn.  If they want to.

But someone has to continue to explore the craft and understand how it works.  Not everyone is comfortable designing their own patterns, and there has to be enough people left who *do* understand how to do that so that people get good information.

And the more people who understand the craft, the more people there will be to keep the craft alive.

Steeping

 

Yesterday I wrote another chunk of text for the current article I'm working on.  I was already beyond the word limit, but I had some other niggling thoughts I felt I should include.  And that's what editors are for - weeding out the 'extra' words.  :)

So, I thought about those 'extra' words while I was weaving, and just now came up and added those 'bullet points' at the end of the article.

I feel awkward because at the end of the experiment, I had little 'hard' data to share, but a whole lot more 'sample, sample, sample'!

But that's the thing about weaving.  

Variables.  Lots and lots of variables.  From the effect the climate and or health of the crop affects the fibre, through how it is processed, then spun, long before the weaver gets their hands on the yarn.  And just because you have woven with the yarn previously, doesn't mean it will be identical.

When I was first writing Magic in the Water, I determined that it was actually cheaper to buy the linen directly from Sweden.  So I gulped - hard - and ordered the yarn and then waited while it wended its way to Canada.

I was going to weave those samples on the Leclerc loom, and when I started winding the warps, the yarn was...well let's say that there were rather a sobering number of knots in the yarn.  Upon examination, the knots were all in the singles.  Since there was almost literally a knot every yard, I knew I could not afford to dump the yarn in the garbage, so I wound the first warp with breath bated.

And the yarn once plyed was fine.  I could still sort of see the tiny knots in the singles, but I also knew that by the time I'd wet finished it, those knots would likely be invisible.  

The following year I visited the dye house in Sweden and my friend and the manager were talking, mostly in Swedish (well, they were *in* Sweden!)  Once in a while they would include me in the conversation and one of those times was the comment by the mill manager that the crop that year had been incredibly good.  

"Oh, not like last year's then?"  He was startled, but looked a bit sheepish and said that the previous crop had been terrible.  

"I know.  The shipment I received was full of knots in the singles, but they behaved ok in the loom.  I was worried until I got that first warp woven and it was ok."

Then we talked about the health of the crops and sometimes you couldn't just compost it but you had to do the best you can to make it work, because our ancestors certainly could not have afforded to throw an entire years production away.

So I am going to let what I wrote steep for a few days, see if anything else occurs to me, and if it sits ok, the file will be handed off to my alpha reader.

Although writing is getting 'easier', when I'm tired or stressed whole words will either not make it from my brain to my finger tips - or words will hiccough and double up.  Sigh.

However the next article in the queue is going to be fun.  Too tired to start working on that today, but maybe tomorrow.

Foundations of Knowledge

 

Winter has snuck back and is currently depositing more snow on the ground.  It's one of those 'spring break up' storms - windy, wet snow, nasty to be out in.

A good day to stay in and try to carry on dealing with some of the rubble in my office.

I have been feeling quite...overwhelmed...of late.  Trying to find something that helps with the pain and winding up with different pain as an adverse effect was beginning to feel pointless.  As if I were meant to carry on for the rest of my days in discomfort and running short on sleep rations.  

It has made every day life more difficult and reinforces the urge to just stay home.  Not connect with anyone unless I am feeling like I have the energy - which has been sadly lacking of late.

However we are now in March, and I am tentatively talking about 'spring break up' as if we aren't still liable to have some more snow storms.  But hopefully no more extreme cold.  

I have been re-thinking my approach to the current WEFT article and have cleared enough clutter out of the way that I can - if I have the mental wherewithal - beginning documenting the samples.  Something that I have listed as a priority for...days...and which I have not yet touched.  

At this point I'm not sure if what I have done is 'enough', or the direction they wanted to go with the topic.  I need to do the analysis and documentation, and then I can more clearly see the results and articulate the conclusions.  Which I readily admit, are currently swirling around in the back of my brain.

I'm just over 6 months since the brain injury, and while things slowly get 'better', I still feel hindered by it, and therefore reluctant to try to write.  However, without the data, there isn't anything to write about, so the next step is going to be critical.  

On a such a dreary day, maybe I will feel inspired to settle and begin?

The first issue of WEFT will be coming out next month.  I have articles in the first 3 issues, and working on the 4th.  And for the 5th I've agreed to do an article that I think will be fun to do.  Time to offer the 'carrot' of the next article to help coax me across the finish line on the current one?

If anyone is interested in my books, they are printed in the US so there are no tariffs involved for USians.  At this point I have no clue about Canadians getting copies.  However Sweet Georgia Yarns recently ordered 20 copies of The Intentional Weaver.  I signed book plates to go into those.  If you want to order one (or more) of my books they are available here... or from the Sweet Georgia website

Rock and a Hard Place (politics)

 

Woke to the 'news' of the latest tantrum - how *dare* Canada retaliate to their punishment?  I suppose we were supposed to curl up in defeat in the face of their displeasure?

So not only are the 'paused' tariffs reinstated (one assumes) amidst the accusations of Canada not *allowed* to put export taxes on certain products, trump has upped the ante and added yet more.  Please note that when a country enacts a 'tariff', that fee is paid by the citizens of said country enacting the tariff.

Their complaint this morning that Canada is an habitual abuser of things like tariffs, we are in fact the *worst*.  As they jack up the tariffs even more.  Plus the brag that all automotive building will be done only in the US going forward.

So, I'm leaving my ko-fi shop active, but advising USians to not buy from me.  Don't give him anymore of your hard earned money than you need to.

While he sits on his golden throne in his 'new' clothes, he will continue to try to destroy our economy (therefore, 'country') *and yours*.  

Because he doesn't care about anyone else.  Ultimately the lists will be drawn up and eventually pretty much everyone will be on one or another.  

Yes, the sanctions Canada is applying will hurt us, but hopefully we can put a damper on his isolationist/expansionist plans and keep our country free of the alt right.

How does that song go - keep kicking at the dark until it bleeds daylight?