A Pressing Matter

This afternoon I went up to the annex for a binge of pressing. The wet finishing mountain avalanched on Mizz B last time she came over so it was past time to start dealing with it. Besides which I haven't been feeling well so hemming seems about the right speed these days. :(

I'm still weaving as much as I can, but it's going very slowly. The specialist did say it was important to exercise plus I still need to weave as physiotherapy for my ankle so I've been weaving at half speed and only winding one bobbin at a time so that I have to take a little rest while I wind the next bobbin. I'm hoping to get the date for my medical test when I see him again on June 9 and find out where we go from there.

One of the things that many weavers don't understand is the function of a hard press or compression in terms of adding stability to their fabric. When I'm pressing I press side A then side B then side A again as my minimum press. This helps the threads to lock into each other and hold the structure just a little more firmly.

Not that I compress everything. Blankets or other textiles where one wants trapped air in the cloth for insulation for example may not get compressed. But certainly any cloth that will be used for garments does.

In the photo you can see my industrial steam press and just visible in the background is the boiler that runs it. There's a box behind the drying rack full of place mats that have had their finishing press after hemming. Tomorrow Mizz B can label and price them.

The scarves will have their fringes trimmed. I don't like the look of the frayed tips so those get cut off. The fringe then looks like it has been finished with beads - without the weight. :)

Yes I press the fringe too which leads to interesting discussions at times. At a show a couple of years ago a man was looking extremely closely at my fringes while his wife waited patiently for him. Obviously not customers!

When I went to talk to him he asked me how I made my fringes so I explained about fringe twisting. He professed amazement - he was an engineer - and commented that he had been trying to figure out the construction of the fringe - it looked twisted but it was flat!!!!

I laughed and fessed up that I pressed the you know what out of them. Then we both laughed and he and his wife walked away, mystery solved.

Currently reading Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

Mizz B, Triumphant

Mizz B wants to make bookmarks so I suggested she weave them in Summer and Winter.

It just so happened that the Woolhouse Tools 24 shaft loom was set up with a 16 shaft point progression Summer and Winter warp so tonight she came over to test out the concept.

We'd done a theory lesson Tuesday night. She had done some research herself by reading an article on Summer and Winter at http://weavezine.com

Tonight she wove various Summer and Winter treadlings to see how they actually worked. Then she wove the word "Books" into the cloth. You can just see the S and part of the K. By 9 pm she'd done the whole word.

This was her first time using two shuttles, first time weaving with more than 4 shafts, first time weaving a weave structure other than twill or plain weave.

This is the 5th warp that she's woven on. Triumphant. Yes. Oh yes.

Currently reading Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett

A Centenary - of sorts

one of these days I need to make a new apron...2/8 cotton warp, 22/2 cottolin weft for hand towels

Today this blog passed a milestone of sorts. There are now officially 100 'followers' - although I know there are people who read the blog regularly without signing up as a follower.

So, thank you.

When I started this blog in August 2008 I had just come through a very trying time and thought that I was now on the road to recovery. Starting the blog was a way of celebrating and looking forward to the future. Little did I know how many pot holes there would be on that road, but then - none of us truly knows what the future will bring......< /div>

When I decided to become a weaver, it was a career choice. I did not fully understand or appreciate that it would in time become a passion, an obsession....an addiction, in fact. That weaving would become my identity, my life.

One of the things I hoped to do in this blog was share some of that passion with other like-minded people. To share my triumphs (all too few) and my mistakes (all too many). If we learn by making mistakes I must be an encyclopedia by now! :D

It is heartening when people email or message me that they are learning by reading the blog. It was one of the things that I hoped would happen - that I could share some of my knowledge, my areas of finesse, with others so that they could avoid some of the pitfalls that lie in the road of knowledge.

I called my blog Weaving a Life because weaving has truly been my life. It's been 35 years now and while I may regret some of the things I've done during my weaving career I've not regretted becoming a weaver.

This morning while sleying the next warp on the AVL I was listening to an ABBA cd. One of their songs in particular resonates with me and so I'd like to paraphrase the chorus....

So I say...

Thank you for the weaving, the cloth I'm making.

Thanks for all the joy it's bringing.

Who can live without it?

I ask in all honesty,

What would I be?

Without a loom to weave on,

What would I be?

So I say,

Thank you for the weaving,

For giving it to me.

And thank you for coming along on this journey with me

Window Treatments

bedroom valance and panel


kitchen Roman shades

In an early blog post I mentioned that during LBW (Life Before Weaving) I worked for a custom drapery shop advising people about window treatments and helping them choose appropriate fabrics for their windows.

This was an amazing job for an unbeknownst (at the time) proto-weaver because I was surrounded every day with hundreds of fabric swatches and working with colour and design on a regular basis.

I learned a lot about how fabric functioned in terms of window coverings which really helped when I decided to turn my attention to making fabric myself instead of just selling someone else's designs. :)

It was my intention to weave the drape fabric for the living and dining room windows but I also knew how much fabric would be required (plenty of experience measuring yardage and crunching numbers) and how fine a thread I would need to use to keep the weight of the living room drapes down to a reasonable amount, so I started out by making window treatments for other rooms in the house.

In the end nearly all of the other windows in the house eventually wound up with handwoven fabrics at one time or another.

Right now the kitchen, guest room, master bedroom and the studio windows all have handwoven fabric window treatments.

These two were woven from 2/8 cotton. The Roman shade in the kitchen is double weave with 32 epi (16 per layer) and a very fine cotton slub for weft. I used one shuttle to make the weaving easier and to bind the two layers together at the selvedge. I had to weave the fabric exactly as wide as the shades needed to be and I succeeded pretty well. They could have been a smidge wider, but overall they are just about perfect. They were professionally sewn to make sure they were constructed properly.

The shades were woven in the mid 1980's and have been installed ever since. In the last few years I've noticed that they have developed more of a swag than they had originally but that's okay. I'm drooping a little more every year myself. :^)

The bedroom window got done shortly after the kitchen. I was diagnosed with multiple allergies in 1985 or so and one of the recommendations was to remove carpeting and drapes from the bedroom to reduce dust. Well, I didn't remove the carpet, but I did replace the curtains with a blind. I found that a very stark look and decided to weave a valance and panels to bracket the blind.

The valance was railroaded (the fabric was woven to width and turned sideways). The panels were woven on the same warp and gathered like the valance.

They are easy care - wash and wear, put them back onto the double casing rods - don't even require ironing. :D

The weave structure is a huck lace with counter-changed units for the valance and with stripes of plain weave and a huck unit for the panels. I repeated the white stripes in the warp in the weft to make a plaid for the valance but thought that would look too busy for the panels and I'm quite happy with the over all effect.

The 2/8 cotton has quite a lot of body (I used Canadian warp-twist yarn) so not necessarily the best choice for windows. It worked well in these two treatments as the Roman Shade can stand a little firmness and the valance and panels hold up well because the yarn holds its shape nicely.

For a window treatment for a larger window or one that needs more drape, or for pleated treatments, a much finer thread would be a better choice - e.g. 2/16 or 2/20 cotton.

Weave the fabric sturdy so that it will hold its shape. Nothing worse than drapes that continue to grow - and grow - and grow! Unless you want them drooping on the floor like a Greek goddess (which is also a window treatment in favour from time to time).

Currently re-reading Soul Music by Terry Pratchett (forgot I read it already but enjoying it all over again)

Finesse

painted warp

This morning I finished transcribing WeaveCast 50 with James Koehler, tapestry artist.

One of the things he talked about was developing finesse.

How does one achieve finesse?

One must work purposefully, analytically, constantly assessing what one is doing and the results being achieved. And then asking yourself if you are happy with those results.

If yes, nothing needs to be changed.

If no, then begins a process of trying different things to see if results can be improved.

What sort of improvement? It could be an improvement in quality. Figuring out how to do some part of the process that gives a better quality textile. Better design, better wearability, etc.

It could be an improvement in ergonomics. How can this process be changed so that it proves less stressful to the body?

It could be an improvement in efficiency. How can this process be changed so that it takes less time to do it?

All of these things can be considered developing finesse. How one gets to that place will depend on where one is starting.

For example, I have very good manual dexterity. I also have a very keen awareness of how my body works and what feels comfortable - or uncomfortable. It is very easy for me to listen to my body when it protests.

If something in the process feels awkward, think how it can be changed. Learn to listen to your body.

I have watched people tie a slip knot using many more hand motions than I employ. Now this may seem like a silly thing but if you are threading a 60 inch wide warp and tieing off groups of threads in, for example 8 end groups, that's a lot of slip knots. If you can change how you tie a slip knot so that it takes less than a second instead of two seconds, that's a considerable savings in time. Not to mention fatigue in your hands/wrists.

In terms of developing finesse, improving ergonomics and efficiency, it may seem like an emphasis on saving a second here and half a second there is pointless. But all those seconds and half seconds add up. All those savings in motion mean less wear and tear on your body.

Like James Koehler says, there are many ways to do any portion of the process. Learning lots of different ways means that you have lots of tools in your toolbox. You can then choose the appropriate tool for the job.

Hard At Work

Doug had a small glitch in his plans this morning when his finger got in the way of the hammer and we made a dash to emergency - after wiping up the blood. (blech)

Two hours later, the good news was that there was no damage to the bone, the cut wasn't bad enough to require stitches and he's back at work again. (Note yellow tape on finger holding finger cot on to protect the dressing) More Silver Linings?

The dining room is nearly done, the living room about 1/3 of the way.

I spent a couple hours at the press getting 3 dozen or so mats and table runners ready to be hemmed. Now I'm taking a break and will go try to finish weaving the last scarf on the Fanny loom. Tomorrow I think I'll dress the AVL with another towel warp. Got to use up some of that 2/8 cotton. :)

Currently reading Oolong Dead by Laura Childs

In Search of Silver Linings

low areas in front of fireplace and front entrance

Cloud - prep work taking much much longer than anticipated (doesn't it always?)

High spots were sanded down, low spots were leveled and primed. One bucket of leveling compound was 'bad' and didn't set properly meaning that area had to be re-done.

Silver lining - the planks of cork should go down tomorrow fairly quickly.

Cloud - am losing my student/studio elf at the end of June.

Silver lining - I had her when I most needed help laid up with a broken ankle.

Silver lining #2 - she's going to be a really good weaver if she keeps at it - it's been a joy to have her in the studio. And she's not moving too far away so hopefully we can stay in touch.

Cloud - had to cancel my trip to Complex Weavers/Convergence due to health issues.

Silver lining - finally got in to the specialist today and I'm in line for a test and medical procedure that I've been waiting for.

Silver lining #2 - I can keep weaving - as much as I am able - until the test is done.

So far the silver linings out number the clouds, so that's A Good Thing, right?

Currently reading Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman