Welcome to March! It looks like March is roaring in like alion in most parts of the US, hopefully that will mean he we go out as a lamb bringing April showers and May flowers in his wake. Everyone is being so productive. I have been enjoying seeing everyone's projects and seeing how much we can help each other with questions and problems, as well as boistering each other wiht  all the compliments. I have not been weaving much lately, but that will change next week with a 5 day workshop. Keep up the good work everyone - weave on!

Tina

Comments

Sun, 03/16/2014 - 22:31

endorph

exciting - looking forward to seeing what you make

Mon, 03/17/2014 - 00:00

tommye scanlin

I'm happy to have seen the exhibit "Continuing Conversations" and have taken part in the panel discussion. I think it all went OK tonight. I'll be back to the college gallery tomorrow morning to talk with students, along with some of the other artists who have work in the exhibit there. It's quite heartening to see the young faculty members from universities and colleges in the Southeast U.S. who are teaching fibers--and who have such a strong appreciation of making by hand (even when some are using digital technology of TC-1 looms, among other things). Tommye
Mon, 03/17/2014 - 12:58

tien (not verified)

Ooh, gorgeous! What kind of loom did you use for it? It looks like either pickup or a drawloom to me. I LOVE Celtic knotwork!

Mon, 03/17/2014 - 13:03

tien (not verified)

I have been traveling in Colorado, jurying Fiber Celebration 2014 and also teaching a two-day workshop on design process and elements of a good design.

I got to meet the wonderful folks who put out Handwoven!

Photo of tien at interweave press

and I spent four hours judging the Fiber Celebration 2014 show. Here's a pic of the juror part of the exhibit (they ask the juror to show a few examples of their work), featuring my Kodachrome Jacket and Autumn Splendor:

Juror exhibit for Fiber Celebration

And, I taught a workshop on the design process and elements of a good design (no pix, sorry!).

I fly back home today and will start weaving the color study as soon as I return!

Mon, 03/17/2014 - 14:43

Artistry

Can't wait to see the color study Tien ! About 7 days more and Georgia will be done, TG. The tradition is to invite your friends over for champagne and cut the tapestry off. I think this one may warrant that, that it took 3 months to do, and oh well, we all have pieces like this hidden in our closet, lol, better get a lot of champagne :) Dawn - a beautiful piece of weaving!
Mon, 03/17/2014 - 14:52

endorph

I am looking forward to seeing Georgia finished and kudos to you for sticking it out.

Beautiful projects everyone! Weave on

Mon, 03/17/2014 - 15:01

Dawn McCarthy

Damask - 6 ground, 21 pattern

Tue, 03/18/2014 - 03:12

Queezle

Four towels woven....  but I had to spend the weekend skinning out a big wall, and the adjacent ceiling, so a 24-foot steel beam can be put into place.  We are removing a large load-bearing wall as the first step of our remodel.  It was supposed to have happened last summer, but we are very slow.  Finally a contractor has been hired and we are almost done getting the job site prepared.  Hope to get back to the loom in a couple days (but that might be optimistic).

I'm so impressed by all the scholarly weaving business that goes on here.  So interesting and educational and - most of all - inspiring.  Thank you for reliably being the high point of my day.

Tue, 03/18/2014 - 15:51

theresasc

this morning, about 200 out of 660.  Working 2nd shift has the advantage of threading with daylight.  Does threading texsolv ever get any better, because let me tell you, I am NOT feeling the love.

Thu, 03/20/2014 - 22:20

tien (not verified)

...and, the color study is on the loom!color study, threaded, sleyed, and tied on

I got back from Colorado on Monday and was too tired to do anything, but the last few days I've spent laboring hard at the loom. Tuesday and Wednesday I spent threading; this morning I finished threading, sleyed, and tied on. At lunchtime I ran home and wove the header. Now I'm ready to start weaving!

Thu, 03/20/2014 - 23:08

endorph

beautiful Tien - looking forward to seeing this warp progress

Fri, 03/21/2014 - 11:35

MMs-and-OOs-Ha…

How exciting! I noticed from the photo that you don't have this threaded on all 40. Not sure how that would help with a color study anyway. I am half threaded on my 60", totally cleaned off odds and ends on my spool rack. I actually like threading my loom even with higher epi. I guess I know that if it gets that boring I can rig a cardboard platform for my Ipad and hang it above the harnesses, Netfiix !
Fri, 03/21/2014 - 17:06

tien (not verified)

I actually am threaded on all 40, but eight shafts are devoted to selvages and eight to the narrow white stripes between colors, so you don't see much of it. Twenty-four are allocated to the color stripes, eight shafts apiece, so I can use eight-shaft satins to control how much of each color appears on each side.

Here is the little bit of weaving I did this morning:

first few inches of weaving

And here is a close-up:

closeup of first few inches

Here I'm just starting to get into the color striping. The white spots on the warp indicate the start of the color-striped section, which will be monochrome in black/white/gray. I'm very pleased with how well the white spots line up - they're all within about 3" of each other, which is not at all bad considering it's a 13-yard warp!

Despite having only woven the solid black part of the warp yet, I've already learned some interesting things about color. Here's an excerpt from my blog post about this small sample:

The two bands of orange intrigue me – the one in the lower section is somewhat subdued, and blends nicely, while the second one really jumps out like a sore thumb. This is partly because there is more orange in the top band, and stronger blues in the top band (which naturally makes the complementary color – orange – jump out more). But it’s also because the second band of orange is woven in a different pattern (4/4 satin as opposed to 1/7 satin) than the pale blue and turquoise. Farther away (as in the first photo), all you see is color and the difference really isn’t that emphatic. Close up, the difference in pattern makes the orange really jump at you.

Lesson: at a distance, all you see is the overall (blended) color; close up, pattern can make a huge difference.

Can't wait to start the multicolor portions!

Fri, 03/21/2014 - 17:29

endorph

Color really intrigues me and I need to delve more deeply into color theory. I am sure I will learn some things from this project of yours, but I really need to experiment more on my own -

Fri, 03/21/2014 - 21:42

ReedGuy

Looks great Tien. Your a hard worker, on top of all the jet lag. That is a wonderful loom. :)

I fitted the beam and roller onto the loom today. I still need to attach the brake drum spring(s) and put some finish on.Then apply some gaffer's tape to the groove and around the flanges. Thanks for the great ideas behind this project everyone. I sure appreciate it. :)

Should I drill a hole on the ends of the beam stick for the lease string?

Fri, 03/21/2014 - 22:04

Weavejoyforall

Remember I am just starting on my Rh loom so all the stuff you do leaves me in awe...not just your woodworking but your weaving too.   

Tien... I doubt I will ever or could ever get to do the kind of work you do ...right now one rigid heddle is keeping me busy... So you know just what I mean.... LOL    Lovely work and amazing that you work with 40 shafts ...WOW.

Sat, 03/22/2014 - 03:03

Artistry

Tien, looks terrific, nice analysis which I enjoyed reading. ReedGuy, are you talking about the stick that goes in the groove in the beam? I can't remember what it's called but mine has a hole on each end. You put the stick through the warp loops then take twine( or something heavy)put through one hole and run it on top and underneath the loops tying the ends through opposite hole. Your work on the beam with flanges looks beautiful!
Sat, 03/22/2014 - 07:26

Erica J

Oh goodness I've been away from the thread "so long", where do I start?! I love everything you all have shared since I last checked in, but Dawn's damask obviously says to me "get to your drawloom!" :)

Congratulations on your first project Jo Raymond!

Queezle, I'll have to ask Oliver about peeps in the English shops. I must admit I get very out of touch during the school year. I drag myself out the door at the last possible moment, go to work, head out asap to get back home to see Oliver and TJ. Oliver does all the shopping, I know Cadbury Creme Eggs have also been out since Valentine's Day, because they keep falling off the shelves into Oliver's shopping basket! :)

Sat, 03/22/2014 - 16:35

pammersw

I love the chocolate creme Cadbury eggs the best. Those are usually all sold out within days of their appearance.  The caramel ones are next best. They usually take 2 or 3 weeks to disappear.  By now all they have are the white and yellow creme ones, which taste too sweet to me after discovering the others! So my Cadbury egg days ended a couple of weeks ago this year. ;)

Sat, 03/22/2014 - 16:54

ReedGuy

I have found them to be too pricy for a candy that has a small portion of chocolate with a cheap cream filling. :) Sugar isn't even expensive, 2.5 lbs for $2 on the sales. ;)

Sun, 03/23/2014 - 10:21

Artistry

TENDINITIS ! Bummer:( left wrist. So icing and got a brace. Going to see if I can weave anyways because I have about a 10 day deadline for Georgia 's chair now. But if I feel any twitches I'll take the day off and watch my Archie Brennan & Susan Martin Maffei ( famous Contemporary tapestry artists ) instructional video. Haven't seen it yet.
Sun, 03/23/2014 - 10:50

Erica J

Wishing you a swift recovery Cathie. 

I got back to my damask samples today. I was reminded when it comes to the drawloom and tension, less is more. I must hasve been a tapestry weVer in a former life, as I tend toward bounce a quarter off it tension even though I do know better. Ah well I always remember in the end.

I will be back in a mo on the computer to post as pciture of today's sample. The fitst pRt is a cross stitch pattern by Nancy Spies from a 7th Century manuscript. The second is my first attemtp at friend's heraldry.

Sun, 03/23/2014 - 12:31

ReedGuy

That's unfortunate about the wrist. Too much snow shovelling of late. ;) Well, rest up and watch your video. Hopefully you still have one good hand to grasp the coffee cup. :)

I've been mending my right wing for awhile, pulled a muscle in the shoulder. Don't go lifting on 400 lb snow blowers. ;)

 

Sun, 03/23/2014 - 13:24

Artistry

Oh us young pups think we can do anything ! Thanks for the well wishes. I actually was able to weave this a.m. For 1 1/2 hrs. With the brace on. Some minor adaptations so I don't turn my wrist too much, it's slow going, but I've got an awesome book on tape :) Snow tomorrow! Mend that shoulder, brutal winter for you guys.
Sun, 03/23/2014 - 13:41

ReedGuy

I finished up the supplemental beam by setting up the brake yesterday. On Monday, I'm disassembling the new beam and blocks and putting on the finish. I post upgrades to my loom build page in the other group.

I drilled them holes in the beam stick to. :)

Sun, 03/23/2014 - 14:20

sally orgren

My Klee fabric is due by March 31st. 6 yards, 30 epi. Yikes.

I am back from my trip — 10 days, 9 dogs, and it was MOST excellent!

One of our guilds had a "Feburary Freebie" on making Dorset buttons. I can't stop. It's addictive! (I think I will make jewelry out of them.)

 

Sun, 03/23/2014 - 18:51

theresasc

cool buttons, great color study, beautiful new beam, and the damask is always amazi g!  This is a very fibery group, I have always been so intrigued by the seemingly unlimited variety of things that is created on such similar equipment.  Today has been productive for me, I have wet-finished some point twill towels (they are tossing around in the dryer as I type this), changed the tie-ups from chains to texsolv on my 6-shaft Kessenich then beamed on and started threading some towels that will coordinate with the placemats that are on the CM.  I still have not finished threading those, have about 200 texsov heddles to fight with to finish those up.  I really like texsov for tie-ups, but just cannot get used to texsolv heddles.  

Sun, 03/23/2014 - 21:06

Artistry

Wonderful Erica! Love those buttons, Sally !
Mon, 03/24/2014 - 03:54

tien (not verified)

Cathie, I hope you heal up fast! And take it easy - tendinitis is no joke, and can easily turn into something more serious. Don't push it!

Sally, those buttons are awesome. I need to learn how to make them! I bet I could make some totally fab ones for my next garment.

I have been busily weaving on the color study. There are sixteen sections and I have finished two and a half of them - which is not bad, considering how slowly they weave up! I'm designing on the fly, so am reworking the liftplan every 1/4 to 1/2 inch (whenever I change the stripes). It's fun, and I'm learning a lot, but it's also quite time-consuming.

Here are photos of the shuttles lined up and ready to go for the orange and purple sections:

five shades of purple weftfour shades of orange weft

Here's the first design I attempted in monochrome - shades of orange:

First version of monochrome design

And here's the revised (and much better) version:

second version of monochrome design

Gory details (including the technical bits) in today's blog post.

I've got a few days left to crank on this, so plowing full speed ahead!

Mon, 03/24/2014 - 10:58

Artistry

Nice Tien, I see yellow in the top one and more of a orange ( red undertone) in the second. In the top one, It's strange where the yellow crosses the brown it almost looks green. Really interesting. Thanks for your well wishes, I'm taking it slow. Lots of ice. I was laid up for 8 months , 2 years ago with tendinitis and torn cartilage ( yes tapestry!) I really learned my lesson not to overdo.so, thanks for the caution.
Mon, 03/24/2014 - 12:10

endorph

thank you so much for taking the time to share your color study with us. Fascinating!

Cathie - take care and heal fast

Mon, 03/24/2014 - 13:22

MMs-and-OOs-Ha…

How are you handling your shuttle rotation? Shuttles on the woven cloth?, not much room there, on the bench? I will have to ask Lillian what she does. That might be the best argument for a multi-shuttle fly box, a place to put them all while you weave. Beautiful work, worth all of the experimentation to show you with real yarn what the colors will do. You can approximate it with the computer but it is never the same. Are you going to wet finish any of this? The shading might look very different.
Mon, 03/24/2014 - 15:41

Artistry

so late in posting this but realize I didn't, the name is "Roll" look at it for a while.

"ROLL"

Mon, 03/24/2014 - 16:48

pammersw

Reminds me of a roll of fancy toilet paper! 3 of them, rather.  :)  Good name.

Mon, 03/24/2014 - 19:17

endorph

I had them start moving on me! Very cool effect - the illusion of 3D is very nice - especially on the sides

Mon, 03/24/2014 - 20:21

Artistry

Thanks , it was the third in the color studies I did. Sort of miss the Tapestry Diary, but haven't figured out a way to do it and not spend a lot of time on it. If only TP came in Violet, right? As far as the color studies I'll always be doing those :) Tien's are so exciting!
Tue, 03/25/2014 - 01:18

Artistry

Pammersw, There are two Macombers for sale here in Cincinnati for $650.00, they are Pick up only but if you feel like a road trip you'd have a place to stay overnight with us:) The details: Macomber 40 , 6 shaft, from 1953. 10, 12, 15, dent reeds. Macomber 32, 8 shaft, from 1983, no reed but includes a sectional back beam . " price reflects some wear and tear ( mostly aesthetics ) but work just fine." I do know the woman who is selling these, I'm not trying to help her sell them, but know you've been looking for a used loom or perhaps build. I have served on the Board of our guild with Alice and she is an ethical person. If you're interested let me know and I'll send you her contact info off list. Cathie
Tue, 03/25/2014 - 03:39

pammersw

Thank you for thinking of me, Cathie! Until I am working again,  I'm not sure I can commit to buying something like that. Those are my price range, though! Hmmmm....! Let me think about it! They are very tempting! 

Tue, 03/25/2014 - 09:00

ReedGuy

Your 'roll with it' weave in very interesting. Clever dithering effect. :)

Shellaced some wood pieces yesterday. Need to wait a couple of days for a mild spell to treat the other woods. Will open up some windows. Using turpentine to thin the linseed oil, smelly stuff. Don't need no turpentine buzz. ;)

Got lots of weaving to keep me interested, still on that 32 yard webbing. Still time before the big move. Lots of snow to melt, more coming. Seems like a lot of us are moving. Mine's a temperory one, but could be for a few years. I'll be building a new place then on the old farm. I changed plans, instead of building immediately, except for a new shop next summer to secure my personal things. Where I'm moving has a lot more weaving space.

Have a good day everyone and stay busy. :)

Tue, 03/25/2014 - 11:27

Artistry

Pammersw, No Worries! You will find a loom or build one, I have faith it will happen :) ReedGuy, my eyes went bonkers weaving that, but wanted to try for a 3D effect of cylinders . Your eventual house on the farm sounds cool. In between I'm all for having more space to weave:) My wrist is starting to settle down, all that ice and brace. Going to continue to baby it and limit my hrs. Of weaving. Georgia's Chair is almost done TG!
Tue, 03/25/2014 - 17:38

Erica J

I did it! The last row actually looks like my friend's heraldry!!!

 

Tue, 03/25/2014 - 20:40

Erica J

Ok embarassingly this is my very first Halloweave project finally completely finished!

The fabric has been wet finished for some time. I finally did the sewing this evening!

Wed, 03/26/2014 - 14:40

Queezle

Cathie - that is amazing.  And I love the UFOs!

I finally got most of my dishtowels woven, took some off so I could get them finished.  Cannot say I love my pattern, but oh well - that too is a learning experience. 

This week (or next), a 24-foot steel beam will go into my kitchen, and the wall separating the kitchen from the living room will be gone.  This will give us a mountain view from one side, and a view of the valley, city lights, and the great salt lake, from the other side.  Might have to put my loom on wheels so my view can match my mood.

Wed, 03/26/2014 - 15:33

Artistry

Erica, Will you make something for your friend out of the heraldry pattern? It still counts finishing a project even though it takes a year :) Thanks Queezle, it sounds like your view will be spectacular! I decided to sit in on the Drafting study group this afternoon and let my wrist rest some more. It's really doing better though. Tomorrow , back to Georgia, I wonder if she's missed me:)
Wed, 03/26/2014 - 17:40

Erica J

Yes I'll be making a purse based on a few extant examples from France dated to the 13th Century. I plan to use finger loop braiding for the drawstring and handle. I hope to have the braid done Friday and the cloth done this weekend! 

The Drafting Study Group sounds like a great way to rest your wrist! What did you learn?

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