Yum

Scarf 9 (beginning of warp #3) showing some of the colours in the warp - again much nicer in person

'padding' the cloth beam

Finished the second warp this morning and got the next one on the loom this afternoon.  Since the yarn is rayon, and rayon can be fairly slippery, I'm lashing on rather than tying.  With fairly large knots at the beginning of the warp, I 'pad' the knots by inserting a couple of sticks, one on either side of the lumps.  If you look closely at the bottom picture you can just see the slight bumps from some of the knots.  I've found that this amount of bump doesn't adversely impact the cloth and after wet finishing there are no problems.  (I don't normally add sticks or paper or anything to the cloth beam - just the two sticks to pad the knots when I lash on.)

A few years ago I had Teresa Ruch* paint warps for me.  As I mentioned in yesterday's blog post, I try to produce textiles that are in some way unique and working with a boutique dyer means that I can have colours that are not found elsewhere in the marketplace.

But I ran out of her warps a while ago and with the huge increase in shipping and hassle of getting stuff back and forth across the border I thought I'd look for someone on this side of the border.  I found Kim McKenna almost literally at my back door.

After a winter that took too long to leave and a spring that has taken too long to arrive, weaving nothing but 'beige' for several weeks, I was long overdue for a blast of colour.  So it was with great anticipation that I opened the box Kim sent and discovered just what the doctor ordered.

A few people have commented to me about 'taking it easy'.  I can't.  I have far too much to do and too little time to do it.  I am also, at this point in time, as healthy as I'm going to be.  I'll be turning 63 in a few weeks and quite frankly with all the health issues I've had for the past 5+ years, I am all too aware that our time on this earthly plane is limited.

None of us know when our clock will be punched, our time will run out.  If there are things needing to be done, projects to be finished, goals to be achieved...well, the time is now.  If not now, when?  If not you, who?

And so I am adding more stuff to my plate.  It's just different stuff now.  I've learned to say 'no' to things I really don't want to do and 'yes' to the things that sound interesting.  Even though they will take a lot of preparation and I'm not exactly sure I will be any good at them.

But if I don't try, how will I ever know?

Stay tuned for news as things come together and I can reveal what's been happening behind the scenes.  :)

*Teresa will have a booth at ANWG in Bellingham, WA this June.  On this side of the border, Doug will have some of Teresa's hand dyed yarns for sale at the Olds Fibre Week in Olds, AB.

Subtleties

scarf #5 - the first on the second painted warp

My camera doesn't seem capable of capturing the subtleties of colour in the cloth.  This glimpse may give you an idea of some of the shades of colour....

Hand weavers in North America are not just competing against each other when they try to sell their textiles, they are also - in a way - competing against the textile industry.

With employees in developing countries making pennies per hour and the mills close to cheap material supplies it is next to impossible to compete with industry in terms of price.  So what can hand weavers do?

We must rely on our creativity to produce things that industry either can't or won't do.  We must appeal to the segment of the population with the disposable income willing to spend more on something unique in the marketplace.

It took me a long time to come to grips with working with boutique dyers.  It was when I realized that I was using commercially dyed variegated yarns that the penny dropped.  If I was buying variegated yarns from commercial suppliers, why on earth couldn't I use yarns dyed by hand?

Since making that decision I have worked with 3 different dyers.  Each has had their own approach to colour and I have learned so much from each of them about how colour works together.  I am so grateful that each of them has been willing to dye yarns/warps for me, work with me to produce a palette of yarns that I can use to make pretty scarves, etc.

Industry can (or does) not at this time do painted warps.  By using warps specially hand painted, I have cloth that is totally and completely unique from what is commonly available in the shops.  So far people seem to feel that my scarves are worth the premium I charge for them.  I am hoping the 'fashion' for scarves lasts for a while longer!!!

The best way to appreciate these scarves is in person because obviously a photo simply cannot do them justice.  The scarves are intended to be ready for the fall sales - here in Prince George, Seattle Weaver's guild sale, Circle Craft in Vancouver, Art Market in Calgary.  Or via purchase from me directly, taking a chance on the reality instead of the pale imitation in a photo....

SABLE

Stash Acquired Beyond Life Expectancy...

scarf #2 just begun - #1 is visible below 

scarf #3 -  photos do not do the colours justice

Sometimes having SABLE is a good thing.  The first of the painted warps is a bit pastel and I wasn't sure I had the 'right' weft for it.  But a good rummage in my stash turned up several good candidates.

Scarf #1 was woven with a fairly bright almost (but not quite) bubble gum pink.  Scarf #2 used a medium violet (just visible in the shuttle).  Scarf #3 is begun and lurking at the back of the shelf was the perfect darker pink, just the right shade to go with the warp at this point.

I do have bright white but there is just enough white in the warp that I didn't want to go that route.  Areas of white on white would dominate the scarf in a way that I would not find pleasing.  So, to find the darker pink plus a deeper brownish pink means that I have just exactly the right colours to go with the first two warps.  The second warp is similar to this one but has some interesting brownish/violet areas and I think the brownish pink will be perfect for weft.

I ought to be doing some more writing but I got so excited about the painted warps that I just jumped onto the loom and ploughed onwards.

Doug is pressing the samples for A Good Yarn: LandH.  The cloth got a bit scrunched in my suitcase so a tidying press will make the cloth easier to cut and staple.

The weather has not improved - it is chilly and overcast.  For a long weekend where people traditionally open their summer cabins, it is fairly depressing.  Here's hoping we get some nice weather soon.  Winter stayed far too long and spring is taking much too long to arrive....

Trip Recap

large cauldron - not sure what they used it for - scouring?  dyeing?  at Masson Mill

Jacquard loom at Masson Mill

Paradise Mill - had lots of spare loom parts stored - here are a stack of beaters with fly shuttle boxes attached

Docent at Quarry Mill explaining how a hand loom works

One of the 'jobs' awaiting me when I got home was to write a travelogue for Fibre Focus (the provincial weaving magazine for Ontario).  It was good to go through my photos and write up the journey so soon after I got home as it doesn't take long for daily life to take over and memories to fade.

I don't know what the huge cauldron was for at Masson Mills, possibly dyeing.  There was nothing explaining what it was for - it just sat in the courtyard, very imposing!

There were lots of Jacquard looms to be seen, some of them still in running order.  We also saw quite a few shaft looms with dobby mechanisms and of course fly shuttles.  The loom minder at the Quarry Mill said that one operator would mind 4 looms at a time.

Unfortunately the spinning mule at Quarry Mill had broken down the morning we arrived so we didn't get to see it in operation.  But the man who operated it said that they hoped to have it up and running in a few days as they had 'spare' parts in storage.  The mule is not original to the mill but of the same vintage.  Quarry Mill is extensive and presents the textile industry very well, generally.

Paradise Mill and the Silk museum was interesting, too.  We managed to arrive in time for the guided tour so we got to see some of the equipment being operated.  The museum was well laid out and gave a good history of silk weaving in the area.

I'm still jet lagged - no real surprise there!  But I am managing to get a few things done.  What I really need to do, quite urgently, is to review the two conferences coming up rather quickly and get my travel arrangements sorted out.

Hopefully Doug will get the samples for A Good Yarn: LandH done in the next couple of days so that I can get them cut apart so he can then start stapling them.  Once I've got the sample pages done I can do the lay out and start generating the text.

Juggling.  It's all about the juggling.

Diving In

Out of focus shot of the box of warps!

First painted warp rough sleyed with potential wefts...

Home again, home again, jiggity jig!

I collapsed into bed almost as soon as I came in the door so exhausted was I from the long flight and lack of food.  With my food allergies, I decided not to eat anything they were serving on the plane and made do with some dry rye crackers, a serving of protein powder I'd prepared ahead of time (and just added water to) and some fruit I bought in the airport.

Yesterday I did ease into the studio weaving one session of place mats, clearing off the table (Doug had dealt with most things but some were left for my return) and started on my inbox.

The trip was great and I don't know if I'll ever be able to make such a journey again.  Fibre Focus asked me to write up a 'travelogue' so I'll be jotting my thoughts down today and once the article has been published may add it to my web site.  Or here.

The box of warps was waiting for me so the incentive is high to get the mats off the loom today so I can throw the first of the warps onto the loom.  Two were still damp when the dyer packaged them up so I'm starting with them.  They are more on the pastel end of the value spectrum so I had to kind of dig for suitable wefts.  I think the three in the photo will work just fine and will give me some pale scarves which I've not really had previously, having stuck to the darker shades.

There is just a month until the Olds Fibre Week and ANWG conferences.  Doug will be doing Olds by himself while I'm in Bellingham.  Really hoping I can attend Fibre Week next year, I've heard so much about it.  :)  We need to pack up all the yarns, making sure everything is priced, ready for him to sell...

While I was away I had my usual stack of reading material.  I read one of Kelley Armstrong's books (title forgotten but it was a mystery, not one of her urban fantasy series), Ian Rankin's latest with both Rebus and Malcolm Fox (from the Complaints).  Turned out I'd already read the Robin Hobb I bought so I wound up buying some books in England.  Kjell Engstrom, Iain Banks (Stonemouth) and still reading Karen Maitland's The Falcons of Fire and Ice.

I'd seen recommendations for Iain Banks but this was the first title I'd read.  I will go looking for more.  Maitland is a good writer but the topic of the Spanish Inquisition I find - disturbing.  That she does too is what is keeping me reading.  The Inquisition is apparently the back drop to an 'adventure' the heroine is to have.

I have let my request list at the library dwindle because I was going to be away so much in the early part of this year.  I will be spending some time searching out the titles of some of my fav authors who have had new titles come out (or will shortly) and build up my reading list again.  I was tempted to buy Lindsey Davis' new title in England but it was only in hardback - expensive and heavy to pack.  So I will wait until the library gets that one in.

Spring is slowly coming here.  Apparently we had some 'hot' weather earlier but it is cool now again.

All in all, good to be home, good to have done the trip, good to have the memories.

Home

Almost.  I am back in Canada, at any rate. And the first of the dyed warps are already in the studio waiting for me and I have a long list of writing stuff to be done.  And I have a jet lagged brain more similar to mush than anything else

But I'm home.  Almost.

Stockholm

Skyline. The weather today was perfect for travelling. Sunny, mostly blue skies, not too hot. Homeward bound in the morning. Just have to figure out the Stockholm public transit system. Thank goodness for a native speaker!
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