Remembrance Day

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe;
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep; though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Lt. Col John McCrae MD 1872-1918
Canadian Army

"When you don't know....

what you don't know, you don't know that you don't know it....." (Judith MacKenzie)




So today I dragged my sneezing, sniffling, aching body all over town looking for books on colour theory, all to little avail.

I finally found this one at the local library, but it is so very basic it's of little use for my purpose.

So I did what I had to do and went to Amazon and bought two books, spending $35 gambling that they will have sufficient colour theory/terms/vocabulary in order for me to do the research I need for my proposed ebook.

Which will be, yes, about using colour in weaving.

Many new weavers have a hard time choosing effective colours, partly because colour behaves in strange ways in a woven structure. If you don't have an intuitive sense of how to choose colours, it's a bit of a crap shoot at times.

But if there are so few resources for weavers who are insecure about colour use, how are they going to learn? Extrapolate that to any aspect of weaving - fibre characteristics, yarn characteristics (no, they are not the same), how density affects the fabric, and why certain weave structures behave in certain ways.

If you don't know you should know this, how are you going to learn?

I'm quite confident that weaving will not die. It's programmed into our genes. People who could construct textiles to protect them from the elements survived better than those who didn't or couldn't.

But at what level will the craft survive? Even if a weaver is only interested in dressing the loom and throwing the shuttle s/he should at least be aware of fibre characteristics and how choosing the appropriate yarn will enhance their efforts. They should understand why density affects their cloth and what they need to do about it and so on.

In my not so humble opinion, of course.

My post yesterday was in the way of being a devil's advocate. I hoped to stir up some discussion and get people thinking about the resources currently available, and which resources were lacking.

With my current health issues and no resolution in sight, yet, I've been thinking more and more about writing. I am hopeful that Syne Mitchell's skills as editor and publisher (and writer, of course) will translate into a successful boutique publishing effort which will help fill the void I see in the current weaving climate. That is to bring awareness to new weavers that while weaving can be done on a kit or recipe level, it can be so much more, too. While I understand that delving into the technology of weaving is not for everyone, I am convinced that every weaver should at least have a basic understanding that there is more and where to find the information when they want to find out about it.

While in Albuquerque I presented a one day workshop called A Good Yarn. At the end of the day one of the weavers in the group asked "Why don't weavers know about these things?"

Why, indeed.

Musings

Mt. Finishing - good thing Mizz B got 7 more shawls fringe twisted as I sold all except one this weekend....

It was an interesting weekend.

Saturday Mizz B came to mind my booth so that I could attend the 70th bd of a dear friend. While there I was chatting with some of the other weavers in the crowd and it came out that I was the 'baby' of the group. Not something you really think about when you're 60. :)

(You hear that Syne? 60 is young in the weaving world!)

On Sunday I had a chat with one of the other exhibitors. Actually I'd had much the same chat with a couple others during the weekend. The one where we all confessed to feeling very tired after a 20 or 30 year stint of designing, making product and schlepping it across the country to sell it. Because it isn't good enough to just make it when you're dependent upon sales of your hand made items - you're not done until the customer has paid you for it and taken it to a new loving home.

At any rate, the chat on Sunday morphed into an analysis of the change in the nature of craft fairs - how there were fewer and fewer designer/makers around - potters, glass artists, woodworkers, weavers. We wondered where the next generation would come from because it seems like the majority of 20 somethings have no interest in throwing a thousand mugs, or weaving a hundred placemats (or scarves etc). They want a product now and they don't want to have to spend years honing their skills to get it.

Or at least, that's how it seems. Especially when we looked around the show and counted up the number of food booths, the number of personal care product booths, the jewellry (strung beads) and other things that aren't counted in amongst the 'traditional' hand crafts.

(Mizz B is most definitely the exception and I treasure having her in my life.)

The feeling that people don't want to spend time learning the craft comes partly from the proliferation of new weavers who have no interest in sampling (they can't 'afford' to sample) and want instant success with proven 'recipes'.

Part of that sense comes from my experiences on the internet chat groups and other feedback I've personally had.

For example. After reading multiple posts from people who either don't have a local guild or, due to family/work commitments can't make it to meetings, I offered to start a study group list. The deal was that people could join the list (run through my website) for free, but if they wanted to participate in the sample challenge/exchange, I requested that those people pay a fee to help cover my expenses.

One person emailed to tear a strip off of me. Who, she fumed, did I think I was asking to be paid for something freely available at local guilds?????? (I'm paraphrasing here because I no longer have that email, but that was the gist. And she went on at great length to let me know I was not amongst her favourite people.)

There were many things I could have said in reply, but I chose to ignore her email and carry on with the plan.

So I know that there are some people who do want to learn. Who do want to understand. Who are willing to put the effort into honing their skills. But will there be enough of them to keep the craft alive and healthy? If the only designing (making up of recipes/kits) is being done by a tiny minority of weavers, will general knowledge - as thinly scattered as it currently is - eventually fade away?

Weaving has been going on by human beings for in excess of 30,000 years according to new archeological finds. Will it last much longer?

Just finished Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins and started The Madness Of Lord Byron by Stephanie Barron

Studio Fair Day 2 Dawning

This is a view similar to the one I took yesterday but a little closer - and better colour because I brought my camera. The phone camera washes the colour out too much.

I wasn't happy with the placement of the mirror (which I 'hid' with some wool scarves) but it was about the best place for it in terms of allowing people to actually see themselves in it and for lighting. In Vancouver (One of a Kind) we'll just have a 5 x 10 booth so the mirror will go at one end of the booth rather than in the centre because we just won't have sufficient room for it there.

The good news is that the crowds were much thicker today and people seemed to be spending a little bit of money. But this area has been hit hard by the sagging economy and they are being very careful where they spend.

After thinking about the hang tag issue for a couple of days, and also because I know the paper I'm using has gone up considerably in price *AND* because the format of my cards is now going to be much too expensive, I've decided to look into some light photogrey paper and just have one ink colour instead of black and silver. While I really liked the look of the silver outlined butterfly, it's just gotten too difficult/costly to continue with.

So my next order of business cards/hang tags I'll talk with the printer about options for paper. He's already told me that he's deep sixing the offset press which they used for my cards, so it's time to update. I think if I can get a light enough value of grey - almost a silver - that should work nicely.

But that's a job for next year.

Set up proceeds

About two hours into set up.
Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network

Rules of Engagement

from this....



to this - in about 40 minutes.....


Just beamed another of my 'scary' painted warps. These warps are made up of one strand of soy protein and one Tencel wound at the same time and painted. The soy protein shrinks significantly more than the Tencel and the warps get very beat up and tangled. They are about 10 yards or so long, 9 inches in the reed.

While I was beaming it I thought about the "you can't's" associated with weaving. One of the first ones I heard was "You can't use a brush on your warp."

Since I'd been successfully using a brush on my warps for about 2 years at that point I was a bit perplexed. Why can't I? It was working just fine for me.

So I thought about the yarns that were being used in the loom room, and realized that the fine singles linen and the softly spun woolens they were using would not react well to being brushed. I had already figured out using a brush on the brushed mohair used as an accent yarn for a couple warps wasn't a good idea because I realized very quickly that brushing just made the mohair more unruly. I also learned very quickly to not use a brush on a textured yarn that would allow the brush tines to catch and pull at those yarns.

But to not use a brush at all? I knew from experience that I could. And using a brush on these painted warps is essential if I'm to get them on the loom in any kind of efficient manner at all.

Yes, I could just finger comb them - but it would take hours, not minutes.

Other admonitions came to light as I continued to weave and meet weavers from different cultures/regional areas.

"You can't weave on an all black warp." Well, I did that for years, about 200 yards a month weaving fabric for a fashion designer. The secret there is to have sufficient light so that you can see what you are doing so I had lots of supplemental light in order to thread, sley and tie on. After that I found that I didn't need much more than the usual lamp I have on for every warp.

"You can't use textured yarns in the warp." Well, that depends on the yarn. If it has been spun so that the rubbing of the reed doesn't affect it, it's just fine. The only thing to watch for is that the lumpy parts go through the eye of the heddle. Even then, being careful when advancing the warp will allow the yarn to pass through.

"You can't use a singles as warp." Once again I'd been successfully using singles wool as warp, and certainly used singles linen for warp. If it passes the snap test, it should be okay as warp. Except for the linen - if you live in a very arid climate, using a singles linen might be a bit dicey. When I'm using linen for warp here, I always run a humidfier near the loom. If you wet the yarn, wet it for the whole length of the warp. A dry linen can tend to beat in differently than a moister one. I found that out by starting to weave a singles linen warp/weft on a rainy day, then tried to finish it on a dry day - the cloth beat in differently when the humidity changed dramatically.

"You can't get good selvedges without a floating selvedge." I never use a floating selvedge. I choose to not use weave structures where such a selvedge would be necessary. There are so many different weave structures that can be woven without a floating selvedge I'd rather choose one of those.

"You can't get a good selvedge without a temple." I use a temple when the weave structure calls for it. Using a floating selvedge and/or a temple slows down my weaving rhythm. If I don't need to use them I don't. (see above) However, if a temple is necessary, I will use one in order to get the results I require for that particular cloth.

One "you can't" that seems to be pretty much gone is "You can't use a fly-shuttle/auto-cloth advance/dobby/computer and call your weaving 'hand' woven". I don't think I need to comment on this. I'm just grateful that people are getting over this one.

"You can't weave an unbalanced (1:3) weave structure on a counter-balanced loom." If the loom has 'horses', you can weave any weave structure you want. If the loom has rollers, the shed isn't as large if you are pulling 1 shaft down while 3 go up, or vice-versa. But if you are willing to deal with the smaller shed, you can weave these on a roller counter-balanced loom, too.

I'm sure there are other "you can't's" that just don't spring to mind but those are the ones that I thought about today.

My list of absolute rules in weaving are four:

1. Never use a knot where a bow will do.

2. If you can't be perfect, be consistent.

3. A thread under tension is a thread under control.

4. It isn't finished until it's wet finished.

All else depends.

'Tis The Season

One view of the booth at UNBC's Artisans of the North last weekend....



I have mixed feelings about displaying my textiles. UNBC is a smaller show, mid-range quality rather than higher end pricing and as such the booth rental fee is very reasonable. In return you don't get booth draping, though, so you can see right through my display to the space behind.

Plus I'm not sure I'm happy with my bright white hang tags. They don't look quite so bad in real life. Somehow the flash seems to bounce hard off of them and they stand out more in photos than when looking at the booth in person.

OTOH, my stuff is for sale and people need to be able to find my price and care instructions easily so hiding that information seems counter productive.

I've gone through the banking stuff and am ready to head to town to pick up books at the library, do my deposit and check the mail box. I think Doug forgot to do that so it will likely be crammed full of stuff to be tossed into the recycle container at the door. I'm glad the post office got smart and provided the box a few years ago. If people could see how much of their expensive advertising didn't even make it out the door they might think twice about sending out bulk advertising. OTOH (there seem to be a lot of hands around here today) if you don't get the word out somehow, how will people know you exist and find you if they want your products?

The past couple of years I've spent money on paid advertising in various venues. Unfortunately I can't track any sales from any of it so I've discontinued such ads - at least until I decide what direction to go with my business. Seems a waste of money that I can't actually afford right now.

Thursday we set up for Studio Fair - the higher end fair in town. Mizz B will be in town and will do booth relief for me Fri/Sat (I hope). It will be good to see her and what she brings to sell in the guild booth.

My cold is better so I'm hoping the stress of the week won't delay complete recovery so that I can clear the decks next week, figure out what I'm doing for One of a Kind Vancouver and the other things on the back burner.

Currently Reading Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins