Weaving For Purpose

 

After I published Magic in the Water I added a few more publications to my repertoire, also with actual handwoven samples.  The above example was from A Vadmal Adventure, where my aim was mostly to experience a hammer mill and fulling wool using that tool.

Someone asked on a group today if people weave with a purpose in mind, or just weave.

Well, it depends on how you define 'purpose' because sometimes?  My only purpose is to weave samples to find out what I can learn by doing so.  And sometimes I weave 'samples' so that others can learn.  

Sometimes I weave samples to experiment with a new-to-me yarn.  I want to find out the characteristics of the yarn so I know what to expect when I wind a warp, then weave it.  And wet finish it.  Only once I've done that can I begin to effectively design with the yarn.

Sometimes I weave samples to experiment with different yarn combinations, or colour interactions.  And sometimes I take something 'known' and try to bend it in different directions, just to see what happens when something changes.

Ultimately I wove a *lot* of cloth based on my experiments and the knowledge I gained from doing that 'sampling'.  In many ways I was fine-tuning my cloth, trying to get closer to the kind of cloth I wanted to make.  I would change things and try again.  Sometimes I made a lot of stuff that could have been improved because it still wasn't 'perfect'.  But it was 'good', and that was good enough.  And I had bills to pay and a roof to keep over myself and my studio.

I think some people see something interesting about the craft, then get confused because they don't realize how much information is contained in a cloth.  And how much it can change in the wet finishing.  Mostly it gets 'better', but there can be unpleasant surprises, too - like fugitive dye in one or other of the yarns.  And, if you don't wet finish it, you won't know about that until it's late.  Sometimes you can 'save' the cloth, but not always.

So, do I weave to 'purpose'?  Well, yes, but it isn't always the purpose that someone else can see.  Usually those are the samples that are simply not seen by anyone else, but are reflections on a personal journey - of learning.  

And because I just *like* to weave, those kinds of warps are just as satisfying as other kinds.  Until I've learned as much as I need to know about that particular yarn and cloth.  And then sometimes the rest of the warp gets tossed into the recycle bin.  Because it has done its job and I've learned what I needed to know so it is time to move on.

And sometimes I will think about an experiment and wish I'd taken it further.  Sometimes I do!  Even though it may take a while before I get there.  

Remember that quote, attributed most frequently to Chaucer, but is actually much older than that:

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

That's weaving, in a nutshell...

Deep Dive

 

One of the things that fascinates me is the materials that are available to weave with.  I fell into a little 'extra' money and had a gift card to Amazon, and found their listings for electronic microscopes.  Then I had some fun burrowing down the rabbit hole, looking at threads up close and personal.

The above threads are a case in point.  They both have the same 'count', but that doesn't make them 'identical'!

The accepted wisdom is that if a, for example, cotton yarn has the same 'count' as another yarn, they are interchangeable.  They will behave the same, and create exactly the same quality of cloth.

About that...

I'm still dealing with the brain injury and other ailments, so I have not felt able to read Michelle Boyd's book Twist - but I do pick it up and page through it.  But the other thing that arrived is the first issue of WEFT.  A magazine article is more manageable for me right now.  I can focus for several pages and read an article, now and then, where an entire book still feels like too much to cope with.

But I really want to read Michelle's book - thoroughly! - because if we do not understand the materials we are working with, we can't properly manage them.

I saw a request from a new weaver who just bought some really lovely yarn and wanted to know how to set up her loom to show it off.

The yarn was pretty - lots of colour changes - and if used as warp it would make an interesting scarf (the intended finished item).

But what did I notice about that yarn?  It was not 'smooth'.  It was described as a blend of two yarns, but all I could focus on was the texture.  One of the yarns appeared to be creating a lot of loose 'ends', which in a knitted sweater (likely its intended use), would be interesting, but would be verging on a nightmare if used as warp in the loom.

Those loose fibres would tend to start popping out of the structure of the yarn, then it would begin to snag on neighbouring yarns creating snarls and 'knots' which could affect the shed.  

I'm pretty sure it was quite expensive so I very much doubt the person would be willing to 'waste' some of it making a sample.

New to the craft folk are anxious to make something 'successful'.  Some of them don't see the value of 'sampling'.  They consider weaving a sample a 'waste of time/money'.  

But there is a treasure trove of choices, especially if you look at knitting/crocheting yarn.  And yes, you *can* weave with them - *if you understand their nature*.  And how do you find that out?  You weave with it.

Now sometimes a 'scarf' can be a 'sample'.  Or a 'place mat'.  Mug rug.  A sample doesn't have to just be a sample!  

But learning something is never (in my opinion) a 'waste of time/money'.  It is how we learn.  

I wish I'd bought the next microscope 'up' in terms of magnification.  While this one is good, sometimes I'd like to see individual fibres.  But this one wasn't terribly expensive, and it allows me to 'see' the yarns much 'closer'.

So don't be afraid to explore.  To find out.  To *learn*.  

To the new weavers, I hope you find as much satisfaction in weaving as I do from the craft.

The craft so long, the life too short to learn.

Report From the Fell

 

tea towel with cut line woven in for easy cutting/serging

What goes into the creative act?

Things.  Lots and lots of...things.  Lots and lots of thinking.  

Many times the thoughts are barely conscious, hardly noticeable.  Many times I come away from the loom realizing that I'd been thinking about the 'next' warp the whole time, paying only surface attention to the actual, physical act of weaving.

Writing these articles for WEFT has created a great deal of grey cell crunching.  This warp was meant to be the beginning of the weaving for the next article.  Instead I had to make some changes on the 'fly' as things were not turning out the way I wanted them to do.

Somehow I made a threading error - but it only shows when I use weft of a high contrast to the warp.  I'm not a big fan of throwing yet more time down the drain when a simple 'cheat' will make it possible for others to use these tea towels, most of them never spotting the 'mistake'.  These will get designated 'seconds', not sold.  I have a rather large coterie of health care professionals and I like to give them a thank you in the form of a tea towel now and again.  :)

In order to get a colour that was saturated in the more-or-less correct colour, I decided to use one of the huge cones of 16/2 cotton for the weft.  Having just woven a bunch of samples looking at things like density, I had a pretty clear idea of what would happen when I substituted the open end spun yarn for the ring spun - and I was not disappointed when my speculation turned out correct.

Most of the weaving today was me, turning the idea of the differences between the two yarns, ostensibly 'identical' but knowing they were not, showing me that what I expected was what I was getting.

Now that I've sorted that warp out and it appears to be weaving nicely, it is time to turn back to the writing.  I've been worrying away at the article that is *nearly* finished.  Given my judgement is not great right now, it seems even more important that I have someone help make my way through the language.  Someone needs to make sure that I am saying what I *think* I am saying, rather than depend on my brain which still has sinkholes into which words will sink out of sight.

After a few days of 'spring' we now have snow - again.  Spring break up strikes again.  Oh well.  It was a nice day to stay in and get to the loom.  

FAFO

 

stacks of samples to be documented and analyzed

In high school, I had a love/hate relationship with Chemistry.  I enjoyed *doing* the experiments, hated writing them up.

And now, here I am - a lifetime (pretty much) of doing the experiments, and in some cases, writing them up.

Turns out it was just a *different* science that I enjoyed exploring!

The piles of samples don't look like much, but they represent days of work.  What is in the bin are the loom state samples and the two piles represent the two different yarns I was exploring.  I'm not going to tell you about them because you will be able to read all about it when (if) the article gets accepted for WEFT.

Today is a 'light' duty day as I have massage at 12:30 and ran out of time to weave this morning.  (Truth be told, I just didn't have the spoons.)

When I get home I'm all set up to start going through the samples.   First I will match the loom state and wet finished samples, then the comparison between the two will be done for each iteration.  This is when I will measure the samples and record the epi/ppi and identify the different yarns used for weft.

Once I have all the stats recorded, I will begin to compare the samples and draw some conclusions - if I can - and perhaps suggest some things that could be done 'next', if anyone wants to take this initial step further.

I don't know that I have enough information to make firm conclusions, but the whole exercise has been quite fascinating.  Some things behaved the way I expected; others, not so much.

The big thing when doing this kind of exploration is to keep one's mind open and not to force forgone conclusions on the results.

I have a couple of my own warps in the queue before I tackle the next WEFT FAFO.  As usual I need to think about it for a while, consider how to most efficiently approach the FA part of the experiment, then take the information and design some 'examples' to show what I mean.  It would be nice to be able to apply what I do to my own weaving (all about the efficiency) so it may take me a while to finish designing the experiments/projects so that I can weave some 'samples' to share in the article.

One thing about advancing age (and health issues that make things difficult) I don't want to waste time!  My time/energy banks are vastly diminished these days.  Not that I ever seemed to have 'extra', I always worked to the limit of my time/energy.  Now I cannot assume that I will have stores of either to draw on so I have to be even smarter about how I do things.

I suppose this is what they mean when they say 'with age comes wisdom'?  Perhaps, it is just exhaustion...

A Little 'Simple'

 

The current warp was designed to do the samples I needed for the current article, but I never do just short warps if I can make longer ones and have them do double duty.  So it was with this one.

The 'easiest' way to do the samples I was designing was to do a straight draw, most especially to accommodate doing towels on whatever warp was left once I'd finished weaving the samples.

Of course, once I declared I was 'done' I thought of another approach to trying to figure out what was going on, but the article only has a 1200 word count and I'm going to have a hard time keeping to that - I anticipate heavy editing.  :D

So, instead, I will toss out some ideas for people who may want to take what I've done and go further with it.

In the meantime, did I rethread to weave the left over warp with one of my more usual 'fancy' twills?  Nope.  Sometimes it's just good to go with 'simple'.

The warp is natural white 2/16 cotton threaded in a straight draw at a density appropriate to do a twill so I decided to do a very simple block progression that will create a 'wave' or undulation as the motif.

Yesterday I wove the first towel, found and fixed a sleying error, edited the treadling so that it comes closer to the dimension I want, and started thinking about the next warp.

I have about 700 grams or so of the singles linen, which will do one but not two warps.  In an effort to use up that stash I rummaged through Ars Textrina and decided to return to a 'fancy' twill I've used before but messed around with the tie up.  I'll let it 'sit' for a bit and see if I'm ok with it or if I mess around with it more.

Once I've done the current warp I'll beam the next one and increase the density to 36 instead of the current 32, and weave as much of the linen up.  The warp after that?  Don't know.  Yet.  I will have to set up something to weave off the linen, then get back to using up the fine 20/2 cotton I got from a friend's stash when she died.  I have a few options that I can turn to if the density is off, or I can manipulate the tie up, increasing or decreasing the interlacements.

Plus, they will 'just' be tea towels.  They don't have to be 'perfect', just functional.

In the meantime I've floated another idea to WEFT.  But I already have samples woven for that one so it will be 'just' writing.  Beyond that, I'm not sure.  The list of subjects has been sent in, but I feel like I need a bit of a break.  The saga of the search for pain meds that actually help instead of hurting continues.  I started a new pill on Thursday and right now I'm not sure if I'm having pain because of the med, or because I'm not taking enough of it yet, since I'm only on the introductory dose.

Sigh.

Anyway, if you want a wee peek at what is stewing here 'tis...

To Be Determined if it makes it to the loom in this format or?

Stick Shuttles

 

Yes, I still have - and use - stick shuttles.  Yes, they are slower than boat shuttles.  Sometimes it is faster to your goal to work more slowly.  And when the tool is the 'right' tool, then I use it.

A lot of people don't realize that if you wind your shuttle as above (a figure 8 on just one side of the shuttle) you can use your shuttle as a beater.   Very handy on a rigid heddle loom.  Also, by winding the yarn this way, the majority of the yarn sits on the 'top' of the shuttle making the shuttle easier to slide through the shed.   The yarn package builds up in a 'wedge' shape that fits the shed more closely, and reduces the abrasion of the weft yarn on the warp threads.  If you are working with 'tender' warp yarns, this can be a significant benefit.   

When I was weaving 40 yards of 'sashes' for the local Ukrainian dance troupe, the stick shuttle eventually turned out to be the 'best' tool to use, and by going slower by pick, I arrived with the (nearly) perfect sashes with a lot less hair pulling than trying to use a boat shuttle on such a narrow warp faced warp.

The samples that I have been weaving for the next WEFT article also benefited from the use of a stick shuttle.  However, I don't know that anything more will be said about why I used a stick shuttle than a passing note that I did, so I thought I would go into more depth here.

The samples were being woven with bundled weft threads.  The number of threads in the bundle was changed to show how bundled yarns at different numbers in the bundle changed the nature of the cloth.  

In some of the samples I used up to 7 fine threads in the bundle; some had as few as 3.

Part of the approach to do these samples was to use *bundled* threads, not *plyed* ones, so the object was to create a bundle and then reduce the number of twists that were applied to the bundles.  Winding a stick shuttle meant I had the ease of quickly changing the number of threads in the bundle, and applying very little twist.  I used my spool rack to mount the tubes on, which meant that by carefully - and consistently - pulling the yarns off the tubes and placing them on the shuttle as shown above, the yarns did not tend to pull off inconsistently causing loops and went on with few twists along the length.

I just pulled the last sample off the loom, and now I need to re-sley the warp so I can weave the rest off to make tea towels.

The samples need to be cut/serged, tagged so that they can be identified easily (especially after wet finishing) and frankly, the yarn 'tags' I'm using take me longer than the cutting and serging.  But these samples are not just for my benefit (curiosity killed the cat; satisfaction brought it back) but I need to write up what I did and describe the results.  And I will be making further suggestions for anyone who wants to take what I did further.  Because I could weave another whole set of samples, but I have a word count, and besides, might as well leave something for others to do?  :D  

I can't be having ALL the fun!  

I forget which issue these are intended to be in - if what I've done pass muster.  

The other day I mentioned to a local weaver I had all these samples and I'm mulling over the possibility of having a show and tell for anyone interested to attend and show the magazine and the actual samples for people to get the Full Meal Deal.  I don't feel like I'm doing enough to encourage local weavers and - if they all agree to wear a mask to protect me against the various viruses floating around these days - I would feel safe enough to attend an in person 'study group'.

Plus, maybe by April I'll not be stuttering/stammering etc., so much.  Most people say they can't tell how hard I'm working to speak, but it's exhausting to try and find the words I want to use.

Which means I am probably done with doing 'remote' presentations.  But small groups at my local guild?  I think I can manage that by spring.  We'll see.

Endings, Beginnings

 

Given it looks like one more day (two at the most) will finish the current warp, it is time to get serious about the next warp.

As usual, I'm making this sample warp do double duty so I want to utilize the threading in the way I need it to weave the samples for the article, but then to use what ever warp is left to do towels.

Originally I thought I would need 24 treadles, but as I watched the design take shape on the screen, it was clear I only needed 20.  The hems will be woven with one of the collection of treadles that weave just one set of four shafts as 3:1, and the rest as 1:3, meaning I lift the lowest number of shafts for most of the weaving.

I have been paging through Michelle Boyd's book Twist in an effort to try and figure out the results I have been getting and still feel like I'm wading through the bog.  It's not a craft I know well - told her the other day that I know just enough about spinning to be dangerous! - and with my brain on medical leave, trying to wrap what I have left functioning around the topic is tough sledding, as they say.

But I have solid results to show with proof that you can't just assume something will logically happen - these are threads, after all!  And of course it all depends on how they have been spun, how much latent energy they still have, the ratio of the twists in single and ply and how they will 'marry' in a yarn.

I had dragged my wheel out a few weeks ago, and promptly had an adverse reaction to one of the new pain pills I was 'testing' and had to drop the exercise finally because the muscle pain settled in my hands, most particularly my thumbs.  I couldn't spin so I finally put it away.  I was SO close to getting one bin emptied, but I couldn't face the last bobbin, in case I blew out the tendon in my right thumb - which my massage therapist warned me would take months to recover from.  Time I can't afford.  Isn't it Bonnie Raitt who sings about time becoming more precious the less of it you have?

Best approach was to reluctantly put the spinning away until I find a pain med that doesn't cause muscle pain while trying to provide relief from the nerve pain.  Sigh.  Spechul Snowflake.  Pharmacist told me yesterday that "most people can take one of the nerve blockers with no adverse effects".  Heh.

We are also dealing with an extended period of 'cold' weather, which doesn't do damaged bodies any favours!  OTOH, we have accumulated a decent snow pack and it isn't going away any time soon.  Not, at least, while the cold continues.  Given there is little need for me to  leave the house, I have been staying home, mostly.  I needed something on Friday, so after massage we went shopping to try and find the item.  It took a while, and then some time digging through the website looking for what we needed, but Doug found the item and went out today to buy it locally.

We have carefully considered what we buy, and where it originates, stocked up on some things in case the tariffs go on again next month.  Last year was an 'expensive' year as we replaced our furnace and had a heat pump installed (with natural gas back up because heat pumps don't work when it goes below around -20C) and then a hybrid vehicle.  We figure these will be the last we will ever need to invest in given our relative ages, so we might as well go a little bit more expensive and reduce our carbon footprint.

So, I'm looking forward to getting this warp off the loom and seeing if I can puzzle out the next one and solve some 'mysteries'.  If I don't actually 'solve' the mystery, I will have had some time on working it out as best I can...

Winter of our Discontent

 

my father, a reminder of when moving snow was done in machines with open cabs and not much in the way of heaters

We have been having a run of 'true' winter weather.  It is currently -21 C and the heat pump needs the assistance of the natural gas backup.  So far it is working well and we haven't needed the electric space heaters.

I have been enjoying the fact that I have minimum physical maintenance appointments and I've  managed to group two of them the same week which has been giving me the week in between with no need to leave the house.  I have been enjoying that.

But I'm still trying to find pain medication that works for the nerve pain and doesn't cause muscle/joint pain.  The massage therapist mentioned that the pain in the base of my thumb is particularly a problem and to do nothing that aggravates it.  So I've been cutting back on my handwork.

Last night I put the spinning away.  The pinch/release of spinning really aggravates my thumb, and he warned me that if the tendon 'blows' it will takes months to recover.  Something I do NOT want to have happen.

I've been waiting for the pharmacist to call me back with some 'new' alternatives to try, but I've heard nothing and I'm running out of pills.  So I need to phone and order another batch of pills - or find out how she's doing on the search for the 'magic' pills.

My goal is to keep weaving for so long as I can.  If nothing else, samples for articles.  But it would be nice if I could weave other things, too.  Yesterday I cut off the first 6 towels and today I will tie on and continue weaving the current warp.  I'm quite enjoying doing these towels, and I think they will make great towels.

Yesterday, I listed a recent run of table runners  to my ko-fi shop - with fingers firmly crossed that the borders won't slam shut.  

In the meantime, I am enjoying the blue skies (not so much the cold temps) but right now it is actually 'normal' so I'm not complaining too much.  I've been making it to the loom twice a day except for the two days every two weeks I have appointments.  And I'm mulling over the results of the first experimental warp, thinking how to approach the second warp for the article.  I have a few more days so I can keep mulling for a while, but I'm going to have to make up my mind soon.  

It's been very interesting to see what happens from thread to cloth.  Hopefully I can make some kind of sense of it.  

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.  :)

Sampling

 

Today I saw someone asking how they know what epi they should use.  Using the same density and changing the weave structure could totally make the textile look different than what was intended!

Since no one had been 'that' person (that I saw), I decided I would be.

Not that I like being 'that' person, but sometimes...well, when you don't know what you don't know, you don't know that you don't know it...

It is a group that I have belonged to for a while, but I rarely post on groups these days.  However, the person seemed to genuinely want to know how to approach designing their textiles.

Since I don't pay much attention to negative responses to my pithy sayings, figured I might as well bring the 'sample' issue up.

Thing is, I am in the process of sampling right now, looking at the best density for a weave structure I want to show publicly.  I had a pretty good idea of where I needed to start sampling, but also knew that one of the two options might need to go more open yet.

So, I did my 4 samples, cut them off and wet finished them.  I got good information from that 'investment' - one of the options is fine at 32, the other, not so much.  I am still not entirely satisfied that what I want to do is actually do-able and I have come up with another Plan (I think I'm on D or E now) that I will try on the next warp, which will be at 30.

The above photo is a set of samples I wove for one of my long ago (self) publications - A Good Yarn.  The photo shows how I prepared the loom state samples so that I could cut them apart and not have them fall apart.  The rest of the cloth got wet finished, including a good hard press, and then they were simply cut apart and stapled to card stock.

(No, I don't have any more of these sets of samples.  Best bet is to look out for them at weavers estate sales.)

While it is possible to read and research the various aspects of weaving (I did my best to articulate them in my books), change one thing and everything can change.  Put a little extra (a yard?) at the beginning of the warp.  Weave a few variations - change your weave structure, your yarn, your weft colour.  Cut off and wet finish.  See what happens, then decide if any of your options are giving you the results you desire.  You may find that none of them do, and so you can sample some other options.  Or you may find you have several that you like and so you can go ahead and weave.

Learning is never a waste of time or yarn.  :)

Reflections on Failure

 

So, if yesterday's 'experiment' was such a failure that I am looking to re-do it, why did I share it?

Because that's what life and learning is.  Failing, re-thinking, re-doing, until you get the results you desire.

After the failure yesterday I found a home for the 'bad' plasticine I'd purchased, and checked at a local toy story for the 'real' stuff.  They carry it and I'll go get some and re-do the experiment.

What the 'failure' did was show me that what I was thinking was possible - I just needed different materials in order to make it work the way I wanted it to.

And this is why most experienced weavers tell new weavers to sample.  I can tell people what I do, but then it is down to the person doing it to do what they do - and what they do might be different in some way.  Their loom may be different (have a lighter or heavier beater), they may have different shuttle handling capabilities, the yarn they are using might be a different quality, etc.

The only way to know what your results will be is to...weave it.  Try it.  Find out.

Pretty much like life.  And probably why so many 'fairy' tales have some sort of reference to textiles - Hansel and Gretel (in one version, they have a ball of yarn to mark their route through the forest), Sleeping Beauty (pricking her finger on the spindle), the Swan Princes (where the princes must collect, spin and weave nettle shirts for her ensorcelled brothers to turn them back into human form) Rumplestiltskin (spinning linen into gold) etc.

There are so many lessons 'true' for weaving that are also 'true' for life.

Learning from your 'mistakes' - or poor choices - is just one of them.  But a very valuable lesson when all is said and done.  And sometimes you just don't know that you have made a poor choice until you weave (or do) the thing.

So, no, I wasn't discouraged, or even particularly displeased that the experiment didn't work.  I found out that it *could*, if I had the proper materials.  

I'm busy tomorrow and have a visiting weaver coming on Friday so it will likely be Saturday before I can do the next iteration of the experiment.  And that's ok.  It is just to satisfy my wanting to be able to show what I mean, not just talk about it.  If I can't make it work, it will be back to words.  But not everyone learns just by words alone.  So I hope this will work.  At least I will have tried.

Evolution of an Article

 

Welp, here it is, more or less.

I wove the samples, wet finished them, tagged them for easy identification, analyzed them, wrote up my notes and conclusions, including my resource materials.  I sent the text file to a friend who I trust to run an analytical eye over what I've written and make sure I'm making sense, then applied their corrections, finding yet more things I needed to hone.  Today I went through the samples one by one (each group of them) and wrote up my observations and analysis.  Since I referenced beyond the remit of the contract (because I wanted to follow the thread further), I added some other samples from my teaching kit(s) as examples of where the road might lead others.

Now I'll let the text sit for a few days so that I can come back to it with fresh eyes (and brain) and if I don't find anything else to include or change, I'll send the text file to the editor and see what her feedback is.  If she wants more, there is plenty of time to do more.  If she's satisfied, I'll box up that heap of cloth and send it to the photographer.

All in all, I have spent the better part of two months either thinking about, or weaving samples for this article.  Fortunately I was able to double dip, so to speak, and some of the samples for article one were done on the same warps as some of the samples for this article.

I've agreed to write another article but for that one I need to get a volunteer to help.  Since the weather has been so...unco-operative...I haven't felt much like starting on that one.  Yet.  

Plus the smoke pall has continued for almost a week and there is no end in sight.  My allergies are kicking the snot out of me (literally) and increased inflammation from allergy responses are also taking a toll on the rest of my body.  Hopefully things will begin to calm down soon, but it's only halfway through August, and the latest reports are warning that fire 'season' is now expected to last well into the autumn.  As in October.  :(

Climate change is real and it's time to stop mitigating the effects and stop changing the climate?

Just saying...

Goldilocks Zone

 

A magazine article isn't a book, but some topics almost cry out for longer explanations and deeper dives.  

Weaving isn't hard, but it's complex.  How do I approach writing an article that is actually very 'layered' and nuanced, within a strict word count?  How many tunnels in a particular rabbit warren do I go down, and how much detail do I include?

Do I whet someone's appetite for more so that they go exploring or do I lay it all out?  

When is too much information too much to absorb?

These are questions I have been wrestling with as I try to tease out the end of this particular thread and follow it - as logically as I can - for the current article.  It's one reason I wrote Magic in the Water - what I wanted, needed, to say could not be contained within an 'article'.  It needed a deeper dive in order to cover the topic.  

For now, I think I've covered what I wanted to cover while leaving room for others to poke around and discover more on their own.  Will it be enough?

Guess I'll find out?

Stalled

First two books available here

 

I've woven the samples I felt needed to be woven, and am beginning to dive into my bins of teaching samples to add to what I wove recently.  But I've hit a roadblock.

There is a shittonne of information in those samples.  How do I distill it out for others?  So much of weaving is in the *experience* of taking the threads and turning them into cloth, and all the steps along the way.  The conclusions are 'in the hand' - better felt than described.

How can I convey the knowledge I gained in the doing for someone else to benefit from?

Normally (ha) I don't have much trouble setting down in words what I want to say, but I've really hit a road block on this article.  Until I figure out how to express the knowledge gained in the doing I suspect I'm going to continue to wallow.

My effort to do this has not been helped by continuing pain which robs me of the ability to think beyond very simple things.  I can weave, I'm fine with that.  But can I think?  Unfortunately, not really.

However, I finally decided to run an experiment and see if I could tweak my pain meds.  I can say there has been a slight improvement, but the experiment continues and this coming week will tell me if I have got the right end of the stick (so to speak) and if I can get my brain working better.

As for the weaving, it's pretty much all of the same.  The process of weaving is just that - a process that needs to happen in order to obtain cloth at the end of it.  It all looks pretty much the same, day in, day out.

I'm fine with that, but it makes for pretty boring writing/reading!

Today I will cut the first 7 towels off the loom, re-tie and get ready to do the next section.  I'm hoping to have this warp off the loom in about 10 days.  Last night I decided on the colour combination for the next warp, and have an idea for the draft.  It will be a re-working of a draft I did last year, adjusted for the different weave structure.  Until I put it all into Fiberworks, I won't know if it will actually work, or not.  

Today's goal is to sit down and start listing the woven samples and choose the samples from my stash.  Once I've got them all organized, then I should be able to begin writing.  Thankfully my alpha reader seems willing to continue with that 'job'.  I just don't trust my own brain right now.

Organization

 

repeat photo as I explain my identification process

Yesterday I mentioned I was having to track a large number of samples, and because some needed to be wet finished, it took a while to figure out how to do that.  Someone asked what process I was using.

I'm not supposed to talk about the content of the article, but decided I could share how I am tracking the samples as that is outside of the article content.

Most of the samples are either plain weave or twill.  Most are done with the 'same' warp yarns, but different weft yarns.  Some are done at different densities.  And I knew that a lot of the samples would only show subtle changes after wet finishing so I had to come up with a way to easily and accurately identify each sample.

I grouped the samples according to their shared features and chose a colour to indicate that group.  Then I used different numbers of 'tags' of yarn in that colour for the variations.

For example, the samples woven at 18 epi in plain weave with two different yarns were all marked with colour A.  The loom state for the first variation was marked with one tag; the wet finished for that variation had two tags; the loom state for the alternate weft was given 3 tags, and the wet finished 4 tags.  A similar set of samples woven with the same yarns at 20 epi were given a different colour.

Mostly I can tell the difference between 18 and 20 epi, but I'm sending these away to be photographed, and the person processing the samples to be photographed needs to be able to accurately identify them, too.  I will include a 'legend' for them to consult to make sure of what it is they are photographing.  I don't know what all they will use for the article, so I'm sending everything I wove for them to choose from.

I wove one more variation for the article on the tag end of the last warp yesterday, then wet finished that and the other two I'd overlooked when I did the rest.  When I'm working with So Many samples, I'm not surprised that at some point I got 'confused' and put the samples into the wrong pile.  The good news is that the samples to be wet finished were put into the loom state pile, which meant all I had to do was double (triple!) check and then ensure the samples to be wet finished got tossed into the load of towels I was doing as well.  Much worse if I'd wet finished the loom state samples!!!

Today I will finish beaming the blue warp, then start pressing the stuff I wet finished yesterday.  If I have enough spoons left after that I might start threading.  It's a fairly 'simple' threading so I'm hoping I can get it done quickly.

Once I have the last samples pressed, I will begin analyzing them, and begin to draw conclusions - if I can.  The thing with weaving is that sometimes the 'obvious' conclusions are...less than complete.  I have the magazine articles I'd been looking for thanks to my guild library and the guild library of a friend who scanned the pages and sent them to me.  :)  Yes, of course they will be listed as resources.

This article is the second one for issue 1.  I am honoured to be included in the inaugural issue.  I've also stuck my hand up for issue 2 and 3.  TBD if they are interested.  

For anyone interested in articles I've written previously, the back of Stories from the Matrix has a list of everything my editor could find.  The reason she had to go digging was because I stopped keeping my resume up-to-date back in the 1990s.  It was becoming...overwhelming, trying to list everything I'd written and I was writing Magic in the Water with zero time to do that kind of record keeping.  Once I'd stopped keeping it up-to-date, it was too much work to go back and add in all of the things and keep it current.

In 2008 I started writing this blog, and if you use the labels, you can search for posts I've written on those topics.  Those posts are all available for free.  Articles for Handwoven can be acquired from their back catalogue (digital copies only, now, I think).  Other magazines I've written for have ceased publication and don't likely have archives.

In September my high school reunion is coming up.  I won't be going (still immune compromised, avoiding large groups in buildings with no filtration, or groups who won't be masking, all while covid continues - no it's not gone, people are just trying to ignore it - that's not going very well, so I'm staying home.)  Anyway, I've been thinking about the high school experience and my Office Practice teacher giving me a C with the comment that I needed to learn to organize my desk better and not be so messy.

Well, that lesson never really 'took'.  I still have a messy desk.  But I still also get a lot of stuff done.  Pretty sure she's right - a neater desk would likely be easier to deal with than stacks of books and paper on every surface.  But I'm too old to bother about that now.  So, I guess I will keep on, keeping on...

Labour of Love

 

Today is a 'light duty' day.  I had massage and usually feel like I've been run over afterwards.  Instead of trying to finish off the current warp, when I got home I started processing the samples.

Since I'm doing a lot of comparing - this yarn with that, this weave structure in this yarn to that weave structure in that other yarn - I need to pay close attention to which sample is which.  A little bit of a challenge when half of them need to be wet finished.  

So I came up with a way to identify the samples so I knew what each was.  It helped that I was reserving a loom state sample, although it doubled my weaving and 'accounting'.

That stack of samples is 7 inches tall.  But that's not all of them.  I 'missed' wet finishing two of them, so they still need to be done.  Plus after I wet finished these ones, I wondered 'what if...'

So I'll be doing another sample on the end of the current warp to do more of the 'find out' part of the process.

I am lucky because they are only just getting started and didn't have a 'style sheet' organized, so instead they said just do what you can, they will make it work.  In the future, I'll have to be more aware of their colour theme for the issue I'm writing for (if I am asked to do more...TBD).  For the purposes of this article, I already had warps ready to go that I could adapt and weave the samples on the planned warps.  Love when I can make a warp fulfill multiple purposes.  :)

I hope everyone is staying safe this summer (or winter if you are 'down under').  After weeks of fires ravaging the province we have been having rain and today a landslide completely blocked (dammed) a river and people are getting concerned about what happens when that dam gives way.

Climate change IS real, and we really, truly, need to do something about it getting worse.  Because I don't care what the yellow dog in the burning room says, this is NOT fine...