In the Fullness of Time

 

Got the notice this morning that the Lace Weaves class with School of Sweet Georgia will launch July 6.  Looks like July 2023 is going to be...eventful?  

It's been just about 9 months since we drove down to Vancouver to tape the class (and the one on Sectional Beaming, due to be released in November 2023).  

SOS is very busy creating content for their members/students and it all takes time.  

I wove the above scarves (plus several others) for the class, but also for the last of the lecture series on Colour Considerations.  That one happens this September and then I think I'm done.

For me, as a new weaver, colour was very confusing.  I'm not a 'natural' when it comes to picking and choosing colour and since weaving it is different from, say, water colour or oil paints, it seemed like the colour 'rules' didn't work very well in textiles.  Until I realized that it was more pointillistic, not blending.  

Then I learned a few 'gimmicks' that helped to determine what colours might work together.  Michelle Whipplinger explained how 'value is more important than hue'.  Which I found confusing until I started working with the colours based more on their value than their hue.  And realized that 'light value advances, dark value recedes' really was a 'thing'.  And therefore a little yellow (or other very light hue) goes a long way.

The colours in the above photo are not 'true' - in fact the purple is a darker hue than it shows in the photo.  The hues are all pretty close when it comes to value, but the brighter, almost cyan blue, looks as though it is a lighter value, so it was kept to the smallest of the stripes and acts as a kind of frame.

I did four warps in total - one was monochromatic, (a grey scale from white through grey to black), one was with colours opposite each other on the colour wheel, one with adjacent colours (yellow through orange to red), and this one which is different hues, same value.

Since I was weaving samples for the lace class I wove two versions of each colour, one in all plain weave, one with a 'gamp' at one end of the scarf.

I particularly like this photo because shows so clearly how the threads will shift and migrate in the lace weave, how they take up differently, and why I will frequently include areas of plain weave in order to help maintain a 'good' beat.  When weaving lace, there is less resistance when the lace parts are being woven and there is a tendency to beat the weft in too tightly.  Having warp stripes of plain weave is a good visual reminder to maintain a 50:50 ratio (as best you can).  If you can't be perfect, be consistent.  :)

For this particular sample, I didn't do an all plain weave version, but changed the density and wove the two scarves in order to compare the results of the densities.  They were my first 'samples' for the class and lecture, and once I knew which density I preferred, I did the rest at that density, weaving one with the lace, one with all plain weave. 

My mother always said that after she 'retired' she was busier than ever.  I won't make that claim, but I will admit that I do seem to find myself filling up the days well enough, even with reduced energy and inclination.  The coming month is going to be a bit, um, fraught.

I'm trying to complete the warp currently in the loom, then beam the next warp before we leave.

We get home on July 1, hopefully my editor will have been able to upload the files for Stories, and I can get my 'test' copy, perhaps even before the launch date, the lace class launches July 6, marketing for Stories will be ramping up, then the actual book launch on July 9.  I expect to order in around 20 copies for gifts for people who have helped (alpha readers, friends who have been helpful and supportive) and maybe have a few to sell.  Mostly people will find it cheaper to purchase directly from blurb (which appears to have printing facilities they can use in Europe and Down Under, therefore no international shipping), but I *may* be convinced to order in a few to sign and sell directly via my ko-fi shop.

And of course, there will be that warp waiting for when I get home.  I designed a variation of the warp I planned on doing next, so I have two ready to go, two I'm lukewarm about and may trash.  

For today?  The smoke was 'bad' this morning, although improving as the day goes on, but there is little incentive for me to leave the house.  So it's hi-ho, hi-ho, it's off to the loom I go!