backstrap weaving

These are some of the 20 or so keyfobs I made to give away with copies of my book Andean Pebble Weave at Convergence.

More color variations can be seen on my blog.

This is the third in a set of tool bags I am making. This latest red one has a traditional design of Chinchero, Peru. The Chinchero weavers usually weave this in four colors although I have seen two color examples too. I used three. I started with four and had to unweave as the combination just didn't work and so I replaced two of the four colors. That is the price to pay for not having made a sample!! I had used red, green and purple together before with nice results but it was the fourth color that ruined everything. I have yet to sew it up.

You can read more about the structure of this weave on my blog today.

My friend Lisa showed me an image of a Turkoman yurt band which I fell in love with. I started this project some time ago and have picked it up again this week. Lisa has a Kyrgyz yurt band which has been woven using this same technique. It looks very much like Andean pebble weave but isn't. It is a simple warp float technique where both the motif and background color are floated. It is not two faced but there is a nice shadowy version of the design on the back of the piece. I don't know what I will make from this. I am just enjoying the process for now. You can read more about this technique and learn it through tutorials on my blog.