It Takes a Village

 

Twist by Michelle Boyd

I am privileged to know many people in the weaving community, but also?   The spinning community.  Because we are all one community - a blend of people who study the nature of fibres and making yarn, and people who use those yarns in various ways.

So when I hit a problem with my samples, I started asking folk for their take on the issues.  

Yesterday I was able to connect with Michelle Boyd and throw my conundrum at her and see if my thoughts were anywhere close to what I was seeing in my cloth, and if the explanation I had worked out (so far) was anywhere close to reality and what was actually happening in the cloth.  Because I was seeing some things I was having a hard time explaining.

We talked for a long time, not just about my actual problem but connected over other things.  And while it was tiring (for both of us, because reasons), I for one felt like I had learned more about yarn and the dynamic of working with it in a loom.

I was able to target another option I had planned, but hadn't actually woven yet, so once the sample I was working on was done I re-jigged the tie up and started what will be, I hope, the last sample in this series.

Do I have concrete conclusions?  No.  I have observations.  I will wet finish half of each 'sample' to retain a loom state sample, then toss the rest into the washing machine (along with a small batch of tea towels). and then press them and spend a couple of hours one day looking closely (VERY closely) at the comparison between the loom state/wet finished, then the various samples I wound up weaving.

In the meantime I have scheduled a palate cleanser by putting on lots of warp (in case I needed more samples that I had estimated) - enough to do a small run of tea towels.  And then I'll do the second set of samples for the article and - building on what I've learned doing this first set of samples - hopefully expand my knowledge further with a different yarn.

So far every article I have taken on for WEFT has expanded my knowledge.  I'm hoping to keep learning as I keep weaving.  

The time so short, the craft so long to learn...

Step Back to Proceed

 

I haven't begun reading Michelle's book in earnest yet because I have two others that seemed to me to need to be read now.  Both are 'history', as in recent history, and it seemed a good idea I refresh my memory about some of the things that happened in the 1980's and forward.  People who don't know history, and all that.

However, I am looking forward to digging deep into Michelle's book - soon!

Especially as I continue to dig into the nature of my materials - yarn.  I have had the pleasure to have the opportunity to talk to Michelle on a couple of occasions, and the wealth of knowledge is in depth. I'm really glad she was able to write it down in order to share it with others.

In a society that seems smitten by fantasy, it is such a breath of fresh air to know that someone has this knowledge, and has been willing to share it with others.

With that example before me, I went back to the loom yesterday and resleyed the sample warp and re-wove my samples.  As expected, the web turned out much 'better' than what I had done the day before and in spite of the extra time and energy to re-do what I'd done, I feel better about taking the time to do it again.

I started weaving in 1975.  There weren't a whole lot of weaving books available that dug deep into the knowledge.  Since then there have been more added.  My textbooks were Mary Black's New Key to Weaving, Davison's green book, and Shirley Held's book Weaving.  Those books worked well for me as a beginning weaver, but I welcomed new books as they arrived - Allen Fannin's Handloom Weaving Technology, for one.  Other books looked at certain techniques and explained how they worked.

Over time I built up a rather extensive library.  I have winnowed that down over the years, and right now much of my 'library' consists of publications that I have produced.  Not all of them are still available, but of course some of them are.

When Stories From the Matrix was put together, my editor chose to comb through magazines and include a list of many of the articles I wrote over the years.  

I hadn't really kept track of what I had written, just, you know, felt I could contribute something, so wrote it, and had a magazine choose to publish it (or not).  

Ultimately what I hoped, by writing articles and books, was to share some of the knowledge I have.  Plus, of course, this blog.  My major books are still available either on blurb or my ko-fi store.  There are two books in ko-fi - my 'memoir' and the book Weave a V I published on weaving a V shaped shawl using double weave written by Kerstin Fröberg.

Today I will continue weaving the article samples.  I don't have to leave the house this week, so I'm not going to.  Unless something crops up.  But I'm quite fascinated what is happening in these samples.  And, quite frankly, I may choose to re-do the one I'm working on today, if it doesn't meet my expectations.  

Digging Deeper

 

An assortment of yarns

Yesterday I managed to weave the first in the series of samples for the next WEFT article.

During weaving I thought the results were...acceptable.

When I was pulling the web off the beam, I realized they were not.  But they showed the results of what I was doing, and so I thought I would just ignore the 'flaws', because the 'value' was in the analysis of the samples.  Right?

I went to bed thinking about how would I would approach the next sample.  And woke up this morning deciding that the first thing I needed to do was re-jig the first sample and do another one.  I have more yarn - with nothing better to do with the small cone - and it seems to me that not only should I show my results, I should show what I think needs to happen to get better results.

I have no idea if everything I am doing will wind up in the article, but otoh, this is also a journey of my learning.  Right now I have disappointing results, and an idea of what to do to get better results, but that idea is just that - an idea.  It will take me some time to re-sley the warp and then weave the samples over again.  But mostly I will have had the experience of trying something and finding out what happens when I try again.

We have another grey day and I have no appointments this week, so it looks like the weaving and analysis for this first set of samples will take all week.  And then whatever is left of the warp will be woven for towels.  A little palette cleanser, so to speak.  

And then I'll do the second set of samples and write up my observations/conclusions.  I'm so glad I have managed to get back enough of my words/writing to even consider writing articles.  Hopefully things will continue to get better over the next 18 months or so.  And my alpha reader won't tire of sifting out my errors.  :)

Assumptions

 

A selection of cotton yarns

Assumptions.  We all have them.  They are based on what we have been told is 'fact', or on our (possibly limited) experience.

One of the things I am 'testing' for the next article is an assumption.  Given I've done quite a lot of weaving, I knew there were things to be tested that were going to knock an assumption out of the water, but what I am discovering is that *even though I knew the assumption was incorrect, I didn't quite realize how badly wrong it was*.

Even though I had made adjustments to factor in the assumption, it turns out I didn't make enough allowance, and I am going to have to drag my microscope out and look more closely at the threads I will be using.  

This is all very exciting and I am delighted to be faced with this challenge.  Even better, to be able to share it with others.  

While some weavers are also spinners, not all of them know very much about the creation of their 'raw' materials.

I've shared many times over that I got sucked into the weaving room through the orifice of a spinning wheel, so I know the 'basics'.  But I have not done all the deep dives that I should do if I want to truly understand my materials.

I took a spinning workshop with a rather well known spinning teacher.  As we walked into the workshop room she did a double take when she saw me and said that when she found out I was registered for the class she was very intimidated.   I laughed and said I haven't spun in years.  I'm here to become a better weaver.  And advised her that I would sit at the back of the room and for her to ignore me.

I learned quite a few things during that class.  Like knowing how to spin long draw when the majority of the others in the class could not.  I gained a greater understanding of the affect of fibre preparation on the spun yarn, which helped me understand yarn behaviour.  

Now I have Michelle Boyd's book Twist.  I have not had the time or brain power to actually read it - yet.  I have a couple other books I need to deal with first.  But I think I am going to enjoy her deep dive into the dynamics of twist and other things, and why they matter to weavers.

We don't always know when we are working based on an assumption that isn't accurate - especially when the grist of the yarn changes, or the fibre preparation.  I suspect the next while is going to be very 'interesting' indeed.

Ready To Thread

 

Yesterday I beamed the next warp and today I will start threading.  My back isn't happy with beaming, or threading, so I'm not sure if I can finish threading today.  I should be able to make a good start on it though.  The warp is 2/20 mercerized cotton at 40 epi at 20" in the reed, so 800 threads.

I will use this warp to explore a particular quality of cloth, then write up my findings for WEFT.

Already I have made a 'discovery', which I probably knew at a subconscious level, but have had to think about consciously, and factor it into what I am going to explore.

The warp will be simple to thread as it is only a straight progression over 16 shafts.  It is the easiest warp I have threaded in a good long while, and, since I'm in the 'getting to used to it' stage of another new drug, I'm glad to have something I can't mess up (easily!) to work on.

The Post-It Notes are on the castle to help me keep track of two things - the one on the left is for how many 'units' I've woven (I usually cut off at 7 for towels, then re-tie), and the one on the right is the number of the pick I finish weaving when I stop for a break.  I am very steadfastly sticking to a 45 minute weaving, then stop, schedule.  

The previous drug, which I stopped taking Monday night, caused all sorts of muscle and joint pains, including in the joints of my right thumb, which is causing issues with my doing handwork like hemming.  My massage therapist wanted me to stop doing everything, but allowed I could continue if I didn't 'over' do things.  

Getting 'old' isn't for sissies.

Anyway, enough whining, more weaving...

I have put on 'extra' so that once I'm done the samples I can still weave some towels, and then after having a wee break, I will beam the 2nd warp and do the same - beam for samples, but do extra for more towels.

I had to order a lot of yarn in to do the samples for this article, so I have plenty of yarn for samples - and towels.  I have suggested another topic for the issue after this one (Winter 2025) so I will be doing more towels for the magazine and me.  

With my physical health so uncertain, I'm trying to stay active but do it intelligently and stay within the boundaries of my physical abilities.

We are living in 'interesting' times.  I had thought I had lived through 'interesting' times before, but the current events seem to have ramped the 'interesting' up more than ever.

If you make things, keep making them.  Keep adding positive energy to the world.  Be kind, if you can.  There are far too many people who are gleefully being NOT kind in this world.

Tips

 

Temples - 3 sizes

There are many assumptions that people make and there is one I see repeatedly.

"You use a temple to prevent draw in." 

Yes, the temple prevents the warp from drawing in.  But only during weaving and only if it is being used appropriately.

The cloth will still lose dimensions (shrink) during wet finishing.  It will even draw in once it is removed from the loom, particularly if left to 'relax' for a few days.

If a weaver assumes that there will be no dimensional loss after wet finishing, they will be in for a surprise.

If a weaver doesn't use the temple appropriately, it might even cause problems.  Like the teeth of the temple scratching the breast beam.  If that happens, I can pretty much guarantee the temple isn't being utilized 'properly'.  

For best results the temple should not be further away from the fell by more than about an inch (2.5 cm).

When using a temple I count how many picks I weave and when I've done an inch worth, I put the shuttle down and move the temple back up to about 1/4" away from the fell (depending on the thickness of the weft).

There are times when using a temple is essential and when it is, I use one.  Yes, even on narrower warps, although usually I mostly use one on wider warps, made of finer thread.  If it is necessary, I use it, even if it means I have to weave more slowly.

Sometimes, to get the quality of cloth I want, I *must* go more slowly.

Another tip that might come in handy is when using lots of colours in a warp, perhaps a plaid/tartan when one (or more) colour(s) has just two picks here and there.

I leave the main colour shuttle aside, then enter the two pick colour leaving a 'tail' at the selvedge.  Weave the first pick, then weave the second pick and then insert the tail back into the second shed in order to overlap the end of the second pick and trim the tail flush with the selvedge.

Happy weaving!

Uncertainty

 

It is a new era and an uncertain one.

Stay true to yourself.  Do not obey in advance.  Help others who need it.  Light someone else's candle.

All pithy comments that don't solve what is currently wrong with our world, but the best thing we can do right now is to remain steadfast.

Don't let the buggers grind you down.

If you think your hobbies or creative endeavors are 'useless' let me assure you that they are not.  Bringing creative energy into this world is necessary.  

So, yes, I will continue to make tea towels and samples and whatever.  It does feel very selfish, but it is also necessary for my mental and physical health.

Stay strong and steadfast and speak out when you can.

Press Pause

 

Today I am heading back to the loom.  I took 3 days 'off' from weaving and did some 'light duty' tasks in the studio.  I'm hoping that helps the jabs I got on Friday work 'better'.  Tomorrow I will be talking to my doctor and requesting the next pain med on the list.  I had been avoiding trying all these different drugs because of the adverse effects, but everything was causing them, so then began the search for something that would help without causing further 'harm'.  It isn't fun, but I cannot keep on doing nothing and having my life being continually constrained due to pain - if not from my injuries, but by the very medications meant to deal with the pain and causing more.

But it seems that weaving isn't causing problems, and when I weave I manage to generate endorphins which help to reduce pain, so I will be getting back to the loom today.  

I'm quite pleased with the current warp.  I wasn't sure that 40 epi for the fine singles would work, but that and a 1:3:3:1 twill is working well.  The cloth feels 'substantial' but still has good drape, and they will become more flexible with use.

And this week I will get back to crunching the numbers for the article samples because the current warp will come off the loom this week.

I am holding off adding more inventory to ko-fi until we see what happens with tariffs.  So far the new president is still threatening to charge US citizens 25% tariffs on items being purchased from Canadian suppliers.  (No, Canadians will not be paying the tariff, that is coming directly out of USian pockets.)

(Politics)

We are living through 'interesting' times.

I suggest that people continue to do their creative work as it is one way to add positive energy to the world.  But we will be needing to pay attention.  And, if necessary, speak out.

I have found some solid left leaning voices, and rather than watch the MSM which seem to be bowing to the right, I will be paying attention to independent voices.

Since I am old and immune compromised, I won't be out on the streets marching, but I *will* be paying attention.  

I have seldom been what anyone would call an 'activist' but I think it is old people like me with little to lose that who will need to speak up.

As one parable says, I will speak up, not because I expect to change anyone's mind, but to remember who *I* am and not let 'them' change me.

As the alt right grows in power, everyone will have to decide how best to continue.  My plan (such as it is) will be to keep weaving, keep writing (for as long as anyone is interested), and speak out when I feel my voice has something to contribute.

Please do not read things into what I say.  My words are carefully chosen.  Just because I'm not a fan of the current US administration (sic) doesn't mean I hate people who live in the US.  

Perfect?

 

2/16 cotton warp, singles linen weft

I might call these tea towels 'perfect' except I know the rocky road I travelled to get them to the wet finished state.  And not all the 'imperfections' were fixed.  If you leave them on purpose they aren't mistakes?

I've been weaving with this linen as weft for several months, now.  I've used it at various densities, in various weave structures.  And this latest iteration feels...right...to my hands.

Most of the 'mistakes' are fairly minor, as in hardly anyone will know they are there.  But *I* do.  But I have reconciled myself to being 'not perfect', and learning how to accept the, well, acceptable.  

The next warps will be the experiments, and once again, I will FAFO, taking notes, observing what happens, and if I'm happy with the results.  Or not.  

I have never made any secret of the fact that I'm not 'perfect' and that frequently things go awry.  But every time they do, the experience gets filed away so that I can remember what I did and if I ever want to do it again.  Or not.

The end of 2024 and beginning of 2025 have been as challenging as ever, but one thing I am doing more of, is reading.

And what I am reading has been a mixed bag - some pure entertainment, yes, but some of it educational.  Some of the educational stuff has been...difficult...reading as I try to get a grip on what we are currently going through.  Even though I have lived through huge changes in our society, it's always a good idea to remind oneself how we got here.  And to listen to different voices.

The voices I choose are more liberal, shall we say?  I've read enough of the lies the alt right have been flooding social media with.  Now I need to listen to voices that are more akin to my own values and standards. 

I bought a memoir by Bruce Cockburn a number of years ago, but then covid hit and I found it difficult to read much of anything and it languished on my hearth with the 3 dozen or so other books I had collected, thinking once I retired I would have plenty of time to read.  Instead we got plunged into the scramble to try and stop the pandemic, and mourning people who didn't make it through.  And worrying about how I was going to manage  once the pandemic was declared it was over (even it was far from over), given my compromised immune system.

But now we have far greater things to worry about, and I needed to start looking for, not answers, but perhaps other points of view, some guidance.

When I found myself without a library book (no due date), I rummaged through my own books, and my hand was drawn to Bruce Cockburn's.  

I've followed his career - superficially - over the years.  I enjoyed his music/lyrics and have several of his CDs in my collection, and play one or other of them from time to time.  But his book includes the lyrics of his songs, and I've been reading them, in part because I want to understand his viewpoint better.

The past few days I've dug some of his CDs out and have been listening, now that I am learning the back story to some of them.

If you are interested, take a look on You Tube.  Like most musicians there are quite a few of his songs on there.  I shared one on Facebook the other day "If I had a Rocket Launcher".  When it first came out I related to it.  Even though I'm a proponent of peace, try NOT to wish ill on anyone, there are times.  And I sense that same frustration in him.  I think after that came out in the 1980s I paid more attention to him.

I was reminded of another song this morning and will share the link to that one here.  It's called "The Trouble with Normal (is that it only gets worse).  And it pretty much sums up what I feel we are going through right now.  Our 'normal' standards are being shredded.  And in the end, will get worse if we don't pay attention to what our politicians are *really* saying.  

In the past few weeks I have become aware of a Canadian politician who is speaking out, loudly, about what is happening in politics.  He is also a musician.  And now I feel like I need to find some of his music, too.  What I have done is get a library book written by him called Dangerous Memory.  I will read that next as he *also* talks about how we got where we are now, but Charlie Angus has also served in parliament and I am interested in his perspective too.

As citizens, we all need to be paying attention.  And voting.

Battered

 

Two days ago I began crunching the numbers for the next article as the yarn was all in hand.  I had a rough idea of what I wanted to do, but I needed to do some serious thinking about how I would get there in the most efficient way.  I want to use all one warp for each of the two warp yarns, but it was going to require at least 4 resleyings, so I wanted to make sure I knew what I was going to do, when, before I set it all up.

Unfortunately my brain is still not fully functional.  I had been expecting to take an hour or so and have it all in hand, but after spending an hour with calculator, samples, ruler (to do ruler wraps), and lots of scrap paper to write down my conclusions, I realized that I was far from done.  

And I was, frankly, exhausted.  When I came upstairs I could barely talk and I was cross-eyed with fatigue.

All the thinking I had already done about the project no longer made sense and I realized I'd extrapolated the wrong way round.  

Yesterday I went back to my work table and shuffled through the paperwork, spotted some errors, re-crunched the numbers again, thought about what I expected would be going to happen with these experiments, and re-checked the numbers, changing one sample.  Again.  For the 4 or 5th time.

Which made me feel like recovery was still a long way away - which it is, given the 24 month recovery everyone has been telling me.  

However, by the time I finished re-checking my numbers when I shut the studio down for the night, I *think* I have a workable plan.  Since this experiment is something I've never done before, I am leaving myself open to changing things again once I get started.

But that's the thing with working things out.  You try and see what happens.  And you add to your foundation of knowledge.  Gradually, layer by layer, you learn.  And then in the future when you run into something you have not done before, you rummage around in that foundation and see what makes sense, what 'fits', and you extrapolate.  And then you put your conclusions to the test and see if you've correctly figured things out.

So I'm expecting to weave and wet finish the first set of samples, and then I'll know if they show something worth writing up or if I have to re-calculate and weave more.  

Expecting to need more warp for just the samples I've currently got planned, I will plan to weave more.  And, if I don't, I will use the balance of the warp to weave some more towels.  

I will look the numbers over again today, and if they seem to make sense I will begin working out the length of warp I will beam (the width/# of ends is already determined), and when the current warp comes off the loom next week, the experimental warp will go on.  

And I'll do the number crunch for the 2nd warp for the article.  

Will I stop assuming that my brain is back to fully functioning?  Probably not...

Expertise

 

available here

This morning I read a comment that weaving was just a matter of trial and error.

Well, yes.  But there are literally dozens of highly skilled *and knowledgeable* people who can narrow down the choices that new weavers make.  Some of us have written books, answered questions on weaving groups, taught classes/workshops, done You Tube videos.

While there are many different things that can be done, any good teacher will point a new student to a way that works for specific circumstances.  Plus there are constants in the craft - a thread under tension is a thread under control; if you can't be perfect be consistent; never use a knot where a bow will do, etc.

Weaving is a complex craft, in no small part due to the huge variety of job specific looms - all based on (largely) what kind of loom is needed to weave the textile in question.

Looms can be quite specific in their potential - everything from a frame loom to a shaft loom, to a velvet loom.

But to declare that the craft is just 'trial and error' kind of erases our ancestors who did the majority of the 'trial and error' for much of our craft.

Yes, I do trial and error myself - the yarn for the next article is all here now, and I will spend several days mulling over what I will do.  But all that 'trial and error'?  Is based on the deep and broad foundation of knowledge that I have collected over the decades.  

I am considered a 'master' of my craft and I got that way by reading multiple weaving books, taking workshops from as many instructors I could, then weaving literally hundreds of samples.

In the 'age of information' we are drowning with information.  Unfortunately we are also drowning in *mis*information.

So, yes, trial and error - but collect as much of the constants as you can.  Build a solid foundation of knowledge to build upon.  And respect our ancestors who have brought us to the here and now.

Rolling Over

Stats:   All time3004468

This morning the count for page views rolled over 3 million.

Did I aspire to have this kind of readership on that fateful day I opened Blogspot and began in 2008?  

No.  I didn't.  At the time there was quite a large blogging community, and I saw plenty of others who had 'membership' counts much higher than what I did.  However, I was writing out of a desire to continue teaching, and at the time writing was the easiest thing I could do.  And, quite frankly, Blogspot was a free site so it wasn't costing me anything.

I felt...vulnerable...

My younger brother had died in February and we were dealing with my grieving mother, while grieving ourselves, and I was his executrix, which meant I leaned heavily on Doug as we each dealt with some health issues of our own.  The year 2008 was...difficult.

But I could remove myself from reality for an hour and think, and write, about weaving.

That so many of you have come along for the ride has been a pleasant surprise.  And I have felt less lonely knowing that there are some people who enjoy what I write and some let me know that my thoughts, which come randomly at times, purposeful at others, are enjoyable.  And maybe even helpful.

This morning the rest of the yarn for the next article arrived.  I spent some time yesterday examining the yarn already here, some of which isn't that familiar to me.  So I will be learning as I experiment.  Because that is what I will be doing - experimenting, in order to learn more about the craft I love.

Since 2008 I have experienced more health issues than I ever expected to do.  There have been highs and lows, and some of the lows have been very low indeed.  But I'm still here.

Since I am still here, I will carry on.  When my brother died, I experienced 'survivor guilt'.  Why him, not me?  I was older.  He was beloved in this community (standing room only at his funeral) and most of my life has been directed outside of this community.  In the end I realized that I hadn't died, so I'd better get living.  

The brain bleed Aug. 31 nearly put me down for the count.  I wasn't sure I could weave again, never mind teach - or write.  The surgeon was quite matter of fact that my speech may never recover fully, but I find - 4.5 months later, able to write.  It still isn't great, I still have sink holes in my brain, I still find myself typing duplicate words, or missing some altogether.  And my spelling?  Um, not great.

But I can form sentences, and I can edit to my heart's content, unlike speech.  

Still here, still standing - although with a cane when I leave the house.  Guess I will carry on.

So It Begins!

 

weft yarn for next article

This week the yarn I ordered for the next article will arrive.  The 'extra' weft I need arrived today, so I can begin analyzing it and start thinking about the details of how I will set up the experiment and document the yarns.

(Yes, I have to order yarn in to do this!  OTOH, the warp yarns can be used later in my own weaving, so I'm not too bothered about needing to do that.)

I'm making good progress on the current warp.  Yesterday I hit about halfway, and the only appointment I have this week is my back jab on Friday.  And then I need to 'rest' while it begins to take effect so I have some 'light duties' that I can work on.  Like the spinning, which I haven't been able to make myself get serious about.  :(   I also have a couple (3?) books I'm trying to read - not the most helpful approach when I'm still handicapped by the brain bleed Aug. 31.  I should set one book aside and pick it up later, focus on the other two, but...

I also offered to do another article for WEFT, and while the editor is overwhelmed with getting issue #2 ready, she seems intrigued with what I offered to do, so we'll see.

As for the bleed recovery, I'm 4.5 months out and doing 'better', slowly but surely.  I am hoping to be recovered enough to start driving again in the spring.  The driving conditions have been, frankly, horrible with temps too high, and rain in January making the roads black ice danger strips.  But the swelling in my face is going down, so that is an indication that the swelling in my brain is, too.  All good things, but teeth grindingly 'slow' when you have little patience.

But the fact that WEFT seems to like what I'm submitting keeps me going.  Teaching has been such a large part of my weaving life that I had worried if I could keep on.  I'm still having difficulty with speech, especially when I get tired, but I can pace myself as to when I write - and then, of course, I can edit multiple times to make sure I'm saying what I meant to say.  Not to mention a great alpha reader to help pinpoint when I mis-speak or mis-grammar.

I have offered to bring the first issue of WEFT to the guild along with my woven samples when the magazine arrives next spring.  If anyone is interested.  So, we'll see if that gets organized or not.

Looking to the Past

 

draft showing one repeat in the threading, two in the treadling and the hem area

This is a draft from Ars Textrina, one of the drafts from one of the old German weaving pattern books, translated by Pat Hilts.

The draft was originally developed for 12 shafts, but I have 16, so I extended the draft to use all of them.  Because I can.  

The interesting thing to me is that while the 'star' in the middle is symmetrical, the rest of the draft is not.  In the end it turned into something that I found quite interesting.  And why I can spend a long time (at times) at the desktop mucking about with drafts.  Push this line here, shove that line there, whatta we got?

In some ways, I liken playing with twill lines a lot like 'drawing' with an Etch-a-sketch.  If you keep the lines linked up and on the diagonal you can come up with some interesting things,.  And then you can play with the tie up, too, and see what happens.

When software for weaving first appeared, there were whole lot of weavers who declared 'that isn't weaving!'

Um, yes, it is.  In my own experience, I didn't spend any less time generating a draft, I actually spent at least the same amount of time, but I was able to generate many drafts, not just 2 or 3.  In the end, I feel that using weaving software made me a better designer.  I would go through larger numbers of designs until I was happy, not just 'satisfied'.  In the end I learned a lot more about how threads interlace and I could begin with the knowledge already in my head to try to execute what I wanted to do.  And then quickly edit the draft to get it closer and closer to what I wanted.

Now when I sit down at the computer I usually have an idea what I want to have happen.  At times I do start with a draft presented by another weaver/designer, but tend to edit them.  On the warp just cut off the loom, there was an error in the draft in the book, which I spotted immediately and fixed.

Weaving software is not 'artificial intelligence'.  It is a tool, just like a lot of other things I use.  It is a good idea if a new weaver learns how to do a drawdown by hand, just so that they understand the connection between how the loom works, and how a draft works.  But weaving software?  Yes, it is a weaving tool.

Finding My Voice

Magic in the Water, 2002

For the longest time, I worried if I actually knew something about the craft of weaving.  I hesitated to speak up, unsure if what I knew was only applicable to what I was doing, or if what I was observing and learning held some bigger 'truth'.

It was the same old thing - did I really actually know anything?  At all?

I struggled to write my final monograph for the Guild of Canadian Weavers.  After all, what I knew was essentially I had learned by weaving (and in some cases 'ruining') lots of cloth.  I had managed to find a couple of people teaching the topic of wet finishing, and one person who was willing to answer questions.

But it was finding an industrial book on wet finishing that finally made me realize that the whole subject was too broad and deep to grasp the entirety of it - just bits and pieces.

Finally I asked a couple people who knew a lot about wet finishing to read what I'd written, and when one of those people actually *learned* something from *me*, and thanked me for it, I finally began to accept that I did know something worth sharing.  The second person asked me to co-author a book on the subject with them, but they didn't think before and after samples were necessary - and I did.  So I thanked them and went my own way.

Finding my voice was not an easy journey.  And I still have doubts about what I know, in part because of the narrow 'slice' of the craft I've dug down into.  OTOH, isn't that true of every practitioner?

So yes, I feel I know stuff.  Ultimately, each person who reads what I have to say will need to judge whether or not what I know is applicable to them, their approach to the craft.  They also need to judge if their equipment is the 'same' as what I use, if they want to make functional (as in beyond beauty or a political comment) textiles, what yarns they use, their budget, etc.

As someone said, the time so short, the craft so long to learn.

I am entering my 50th year as a weaver.  And I still learn.  And I look forward to the journey.  Hope to see you along the way.  

My books are here

 

Memories

 

This morning Facebook showed me a 'memory' - the arrival of the actual hard copy books for the pre-orders of The Intentional Weaver,

Six years.  My how time flies!

But the memories are not just of the arrival of the completed books, but go back, at least 4 years beyond that because I actually started writing it that long ago.

A technical book doesn't always go quickly, especially when you are fitting Life in as well.  I needed the money to produce it, weave the samples, hire an editor, then pay for the printing - all before money from the actual books started coming in.

There were many times when I shut the file and walked away, wondering why on earth I was writing (another) book on weaving.  Weren't there enough already?

But my students had asked where to find the information I was giving them, and I could not point to a single volume where they could find that information.   And so, I would go back and open the file after the latest deadline crunches were over and poke away at it.

Ultimately I wrote the book I wish I had when I was learning how to weave.  Although it really isn't a 'simple' how to weave book, but hopefully, how to weave 'better'.

Did I succeed?  Dunno.  But copies still sell, albeit slowly.

Will I write another book?  I won't say 'never' this time, just 'it isn't likely'.  Instead I am focusing on writing articles.  They take less time (sort of), but also are less intense, in the way a book winds up being.

Not that I'm not bringing everything I can to the articles.  I am trying to stretch beyond what I know, see if I can wring more understanding out of the topic.  And even bringing more to my own weaving.  

Seems I'm not 'done' with learning about weaving - yet.  

Prezzies!

 

Twill tea towel woven by Sheila Carey

Now that the mail is flowing again, we have been receiving some.  This morning this arrived.  Who better to appreciate a hand woven textile than another weaver?!

It is already living in the tea towel drawer in the kitchen - spouse knew exactly where it belonged.

More appointments today.  This week was 'catch up' week after the holiday where several of my 'regular' self care appointments got shuffled.  I'm actually finding that clumping them together is working.  Only one week has my weaving schedule trampled in the furor of getting up 'early', getting to town, waiting in waiting rooms, etc.  I may start cramming more of my appointments into the same week instead of spreading them out.

On a brighter note (literally!) the sun came out today.  It meant sunglasses were required, and filling the windscreen fluids because contrarily, the sun didn't come out on a cold day but a warm one and the roads were wet, wet, wet.  It was dirty, messy and felt more like March than January.  

OTOH, it was warm enough that I stood and waited outside for my chauffeur to pick me up from the second appointment of the day, caught a few rays, maybe generated a bit of Vit. D.  

We got home early enough there was still time to get to the loom so I went down and did one session.  I think I will do a second yet this afternoon, then maybe have a nap.  I don't know if it is still my brain needing megawatts of energy to pour into healing, or the new pain meds (advertised to cause fatigue, as most of them do) that makes me so tired.  But I didn't get to the loom at all yesterday and I feel I really need to generate some endorphins today.  

I'm trying something a little different with the current warp, based on some of the explorations for the next article I did for WEFT.  That's the thing with experimenting - it leads to further exploration.  :)

What can I say?  (YaY!)

Snowflakes and Snowballs

 

Well, it IS winter, might as well do woven winter themes?

This is a draft based on one of the old German weaving manuscripts (Ars Textrina article by Pat Hilts).  I extended the draft to 16 shafts, and wove it in 2/16 cotton in pale green and grey in the warp, and the fine singles linen as weft.  My ipad washed it out - it's actually much prettier than it looks in the photo.

I'm overall pleased with it, although it does tend to wrinkle a bit.  However, it should make good tea towels, or perhaps table runners as they are somewhat large.  The motif was large and hard to size for the purpose of a tea towel.  One less motif and they would have been (perhaps!) a bit small, but they turned out larger than I expected.  I should have accounted for the less drawn in/take up due to the majority of plain weave.  In the end, I probably could have reduced the length by one motif and been fine.

Oh well.  You makes your best decisions and takes your chances...

Winter 2024/5 continues grey, dreary and too warm.  Again today it tried to rain.  The roads are a mess, everything is dirty and dull.  My massage therapist recommended a SAD light, which I have, but I suspect my foul mood is more to do with current politics than the weather.

I'm also suspecting the new pain meds are not sitting well in my body, but I'll keep going and see what happens after the dose doubling on Friday, and the back jab next week.  The fatigue is already more than I'm comfortable with and I worry the fatigue will only get worse.  

But last week I got to the loom every day until the warp (above) came off the loom, I dressed the next one, and have already begun weaving - and discovered an error in the tie up, so that first towel is a 'second'.  Oh well.  A case of not being able to see it until I did, and then I couldn't unsee it - as usual...

I was told yesterday that Michelle Boyd's book is on it's way, and I'm looking forward to hopefully understand my materials better.  I know a bit since I started spinning before I fell into the weaving studio, but I'm no expert and I feel that now is the time to try and understand the dynamics of what happens to fibres when they get turned into yarn.  Something about 'old dogs and new tricks'?    I doubt very much that I will spin my threads to weave, but I also knit, so...

Anyway, *my* books are still available.  Since they are printed in the US I doubt that they will be hit with the tariffs the new administration is promising to flog Canadians with.  There is a very small window of opportunity to buy tea towels before the tariffs come into effect.  I have some listed on my ko-fi shop.

Next in Line

 

This is just part of the draft for the new warp.  I started with the snowflake I used in the warp before the last one, and played around with it to create a 'centre field' that was the same weave structure but woven 'roses' instead of 'star'.  You can see the beginning of the first 'rose' in the lower left hand corner.

I'm not sure it's the worth the time and energy it took to get it sorted but I'm going to go ahead and weave it anyway - because curiosity killed the cat (satisfaction brought it back).

Besides, I've got about 3 weeks to 'kill' while I wait for the new yarn for the article I'm working on 'next', so...

I've just sent the current article under construction to my alpha reader, and she spent her Sunday afternoon helping squash 'bugs' in the spelling/grammar.  I think I'm too tired to read it now so I'll wait until tomorrow when I'm 'fresh'.  

Doug gone to visit a friend in hospital (wearing a mask although hardly anyone else is).  I think I'm going to go lay down.  Even if I don't sleep, a toes up time sounds like a good idea.

As well as weaving the sample for the draft above tomorrow. I have 17 towels to be pressed.  I think I will have plenty to keep me busy Monday.  :)

Wonderful Winter

 frosty window

Or the winter of our discontent?

I am getting mightily discontented with Google.  Now it will not let me use a different browser when I write blog posts and upload photos using that other browser.  I'm not talking about photos I've 'borrowed' from another website, but upload photos *from my own computer*, most of which I've taken myself or by other textile artists.  Boo, hiss.

I am trying to use Google less, so I downloaded a different browser and while it has been mostly fine, there are times when I forget and then I have to open Google, upload the photo, then remember to go back to the 'new' browser.  

A petty annoyance, I will grant, but still.  Too many companies out there wanting to scrape every little detail or control every move of individuals like me.  And spread disinformation.  And scrape content for LLM.

I will promise you this much - I will *never* use LLM in what I write.  I don't know when Google will start 'scraping' personal blogs on Blogspot, but if they do, I guess I'm outta here.

Yesterday I finished the last warp, cut it off, stripped the loom and set up for the next.  I am actually pleasantly pleased with the pale grey and beige combination.  I suppose it doesn't really 'suit' the design (another snowflake twill) unless I think ahead to spring thaw.  But I'm hoping to get this warp off the loom by the end of January - if I can.  I have another jab in my back on the 17th, and I've found that following doctor's orders (by taking a few days 'off') actually works, so I will perhaps work on the spinning.

I find myself somewhat at a loss for inclination to spin, but that may change with the arrival of Michelle Boyd's now book, Twist.  That might be just the ticket to get me going again?  We will see.  Whatever, I'm expecting to learn more about yarn construction, and that is always A Good Thing.

There are so many instances right now where a little patience, a little compassion, a little understanding that we are all going through 'interesting' times, and So Many people have Covid issues (or other invisible disabilities) they are dealing with.  Right now I am still using a cane, and will likely continue for so long as the sidewalks are covered in snow and ice.  I can't risk another fall.  :(  

I've been taking a new medication since Jan. 1, and I'm not sure it's going to give me pain relief without causing other kinds of pain.  But it is early days, so I'll keep taking it.  Beaming a new warp is 'hard' on my body (these days), so I'll make a decision before the end of the month.  Who knows, maybe all I need is a renewal of the back jab.  

Life is truly One Day At A Time now - and I suppose to the end of my life.  I can still weave, so as long as I can do that, and write(?), I will keep heading to the loom and exploring what happens when you marry thread and weave structure.  With that, I'm heading back to the loom to finish beaming the new warp and start threading...

I Won!

 

Two sections one turn 'short'

Playing 'yarn chicken' is something that most fibre folk run into from time to time.  It is when you see the end of the yarn coming and you aren't entirely sure you have enough left for the project in hand.

Well, I had a couple sections 'short' (and one too long - what can I say, I still have sink holes in my brain and lost track of my thoughts) but I just managed to finish the 15th towel before the warp got too short to weave nicely.

I cut off the web and stopped for lunch, then set up the next warp and began beaming.  Almost immediately I ran into 'brain' problems, but hopefully I'm not too far out.  I don't care about one or two turns one way or the other since my warps are sort of long (not as long as I used to put into the loom, but still 'long' for most weavers).  

The next warp is an idea that sparked while doing the the most recent article, which is probably too late to include when I ship the box, but I'm curious.  If it doesn't work well, I have a Plan B.    

And that's the thing, isn't it?  To keep thinking?  To ask yourselves the 'what happens when I...' questions?  To keep learning?

I had been a wee bit trepidatious about the two hues I chose to pair - a pale grey and beige - but the beam is looking good.  The weft will be that fine linen single, and I think the cloth should look good.  With this weave structure, there are fewer interlacements so what I'm doing is beaming the warp at 24" on the beam, and then instead of 36 epi, I'll sley it at 40.  If the whole idea is a bust, I can re-sley to 36 and change the weave structure again.  But that is Plan C.  The difference in width will be down to 21.5" from 24", and I'm pretty sure the Megado will have no difficulty with this because the shed is gigantic.  As usual, I will cut off about every 1/3rd of the length of the warp and re-tie, which ought to resolve any tension issues - if there are any.

We have no plans over the weekend, and my goal is to get this warp beamed, threaded, sleyed and be weaving by next week.  Fingers crossed!

Winter

 

inspired by snow covered tree branches

We are having 'real' winter today.  The temperature dropped to -23C last night and today we are having a brilliant sun-shiny day.  The light is so bright that sunglasses are necessary as the light bounces off of every snow covered surface.

I am not so brilliant today.  Yesterday I started a new pain medication and as usual, the transition from the old to the new came with a few hitches.  

But now that I've connected the dots and recognize when the medication is causing problems - in addition to my actual physical conditions requiring pain control - I called a halt on the last 'new' med after just one month.  

In the meantime, I continue to weave, in part for my mental well being, but also because I tend to weave 'aerobically' (although no where near what I used to do) that I generate endorphins.

We also began the new in the midst of helping our neighbour, currently in hospital but doing 'better' today.  He has no family left and we have had a mutual 'distant' but respectful relationship since he moved into the house next door about 15 or so years ago.  And we were who he called when he needed medical assistance, and we are happy to watch his house and check in on him.  And help him when he gets home.

Because goodness knows, we can all use a little support and care when we need it.  Doug will do the majority of the 'caring' because I'm still not driving, and won't be until spring.  So Doug will have to juggle the two of us in his calendar.

The political situation continues to be...startling...insofar that the far right is moving swiftly to curtail the rights of those of us in the 'out' group, and there are shenanigans all over the place.  People like me - and our neightbour - 'old', retired, needing medical care, are in a precarious position, as well as others in society.  

I just hope that Canadians pay attention and make sure that we continue to be a society that cares about those in need.  

In the meantime I will stay home, try to get to the loom every day, stay creative and *con*structive, not *de*structive.  Because the planet can use all the positive energy that each one of us can contribute.  I may finish the current warp today and the weekend will be spent dressing the loom with the next warp.  All the yarn for the next article will be shipped next week, and once I have it in my hands I will begin working out what exactly I will be doing, then weaving the samples.  This article is going to require lots of samples again.  And I'm so intrigued with the topic, about which I have thoughts and conclusions that I need to put to the test, that I'm quite looking forward to go exploring.  

If I had to think about a 'theme' for 2025, it would, I suppose, be something like 'exploring boundaries' or something like that.  It will be a time to explore new things, put to the test some of my assumptions and see if my conclusions are accurate or half-baked.

With the world seemingly set to reject science and scientific thought processes, it feels right that I do my bit to keep people thinking and to encourage others to explore and learn.

Onwards.   We have a new year.  And, I suspect, an 'interesting' one.