Linda's Fiber Weblog

Canadian Weavers Guid

2011-05-08T13:41:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, May 4th the president of the Canadian Weavers Guild presented 2 of its volunteers with service awards. The event was hosted at the Alberta Craft Council and I was one of the lucky recipients. Monique Dumas was the other lucky recipient. Monique was given a special award prior to this one to honour the work that she performed as a translator of the newsletter. What a task this must have been as both newsletters needed to maintain the same layout and appear exactly the same.

Monique was given a liftetime honorary membership for all of her contributions to the guild, including Quebec provincial representative for several years. I received the award for being the Alberta representative from 2007 to 2011.

Baby Bonnet

2010-09-26T12:48:00.001-07:00

I love old weaving books and magazines and have a complete collection of Mary Sandin's Loom Music. A few years ago my kids gave me some CD's from Handweaving.net as a Christmas present. I have gone through these and marked all the things I would like to try. The baby bonnet pattern came from "Practical Weaving Suggestions".

The fabric for the baby bonnet was woven at the end of the pillowcase warp. Often I weave off the last little bit of warp and have no idea what it will become. I not only have a stash of yarn, I also have a stash of small bits of woven fabric. Sometimes when trying to decide something about a future weaving, the answer will lie in these little bits and pieces. Sometimes the bits and pieces become something.

When my youngest daughter announced grandchild number 10 would be a girl, I decided to get my act together and create the bonnet. The original bonnet was done in wool but when I wove the sample in cotton, it immediately cried girly girl baby bonnet.

In the original bonnet, ribbons were sewn to use as ties, but I worry about anything like that being around a babies neck. Once I crocheted around the edges with a shell stitch, I decided I would crochet a piece to match that could be pulled around a button. This would make it easy to change the size and not have anything hanging that could be a potential choking hazard.

I have enough fabric to create another bonnet but this time I will trim it in white. After all my future grand daughter has to wear an original design!

Woven Shibori

2010-08-04T09:49:00.000-07:00

One of the shawls, I created in the spring gave me a chance to play with woven shibori. For a few years now I have wanted to try this technique and was really pleased with the results. The warp was a fine worsted wool and the weft was a fine alpaca.

The loom was threaded in a 4 shaft Monks Belt pattern and woven with 4 rows of plain weave inbetween each of the pattern picks. I used a spool of quilting thread that I had on hand from a quilt I made 30 years ago. It gathered up really nicely and was the correct weight so as not to disort the plain weave. Better yet I just placed the spool on the bobbin and wove away with out having to wind a single pirn or bobbin for the pattern thread. I could not believe how easy it was to weave up the shawl.

The shawl was for a silent auction for the Weekend to End Women's Cancers and so I decided to dye the shawl pink. Once dyed and the threads were removed, the shawl had a textured appearance from the pleating. I really liked this effect. If you did not want this you could steam press the fabric to make it lie flat.

At the moment, I am threading the loom for a shibori shawl but this time using tencel.

Double Happiness Wedding Shawl

2010-07-27T18:22:00.000-07:00

Whew I made it. I was to leave my house at 5:45 to pick dh up from work and head to Vancouver. I finished the shawl at 4:30. We drove until 11:30 and then stopped for dinner and a nights rest. Next morning we headed back on the road arriving in Vancouver at 3:30 in the afternoon.

Fine gold mylar was randomly added to the warp which was Orlec in a Champagne colour (the perfect match to the dress). The border and double happiness symbol was woven using the Theo Moorman technique. Since I wanted the double happiness symbol to stand out, I added an embroidery stitch around the outline in a double thread - the thread for the pattern area was also doubled. The shawl had a beautiful drape and came in handy with the cool wind.

Through the Reed

2010-04-11T15:46:00.000-07:00

The warp is through the reed and ready to be moved to the loom. Unfortunately the gold mylar does not show up very well in the picture. Normally I would warp using the sectional and warp back to front, but with such a short warp, I decided to use the warping board and warp front to back. It will also let me check that the tie down threads are in the correct order and threading the reed at the kitchen table where I have very good light will ensure there are no missed dents.

Now off to thread the heddles.

Warp for the Shawl

2010-04-09T16:32:00.001-07:00

I have decided to do the shawl in the Theo Moorman technique. This technique uses a tie down thread to hold the pick up design in place. Above is a picture of half of the warp chained and ready to be moved to the loom.

The warp consists of 2 Orlec threads and a fine polyester tie down thread that is just a shade darker than the Orlec. Since I wanted this shawl to honour the wedding occasion, I have introduced fine gold mylar randomly. The thread will go through the same heddle as the tie down thread.

The double happiness symbol will be inlaid in the gold mylar or a gold embroidery thread that I have. Now on to threading the reed. The Orlec will be sett at 20 epi and the tie down at 10 epi.

Another Wedding

2010-04-07T11:22:00.000-07:00

My youngest daughter is getting married in early July. When they first announced their engagement, I told her I would like to make something handwoven for the wedding. Previously her older sister got married and I sewed the dress and trimmed it with bands in a celtic pattern. The previous wedding was a combination of Irish and Ukranian traditions. This time it will be a combination of Irish and Chinese traditions.

In the late fall she found the wedding dress she wanted and ordered it. She has finally received the dress after being altered. We had decided that a handwoven shawl would work well. Originally she looked through various magazines and samples, deciding it should be something really simple. Lucky I waited to see the dress as what she described as a very pale pink, it actually more of a very pale beige. We went through my stash of yarns and the one that matched the best is a Champagne Orlec. We will also use a gold mylar yarn that I have on hand, as her accessories will be gold.

Reading Tien's blog, I realized that incorporating the double happiness symbol would be a chance to wish the couple good luck. When I searched this symbol online there were variations and since I wanted it to follow proper customs, I checked with Tien to see if a more squared version would still be proper. My daughter prefers this more squared version and so this is the one I will use. If you have not seen Tien's wedding ensemble, check out her blog - it is absolutely fabulous.

Now to decide whether I want to use a loom controlled weave, painted version, Theo Moorman technique, Erica DeReuter's twill pick up or a satin with pick up. Choices, choices - oh how lucky we are to be able to create the cloth we want and have people like Tien in our community who are so willing to share.

Comments

2010-02-27T08:10:00.000-08:00

Due to some people leaving comments that have links to inappropriate sites, I have now set the comments so that I can review them before they appear on my blog. Like most bloggers I appreciate comments relating to the post and hope this does not deter anyone who really has something of interest to communicate.

Fair Trade

2010-01-03T08:44:00.000-08:00

When we first decided to start running a fibre business we decided we would concentrate on natural fibres and try to be as aware as possible about the environmental concerns when selecting products. Recently we discovered Tammachat Natural Textiles. These 2 women travel to rural Thailand and Laos selecting textiles to be sold in Canada.

All of the textiles they acquire are purchased in a fair trade agreement - the artisans set the price and the goods are paid for in advance. The hope is to promote an exchange of learning, community developement, and environmental sustainability.

We have purchased silk squares to be used in crafts. The silkworms are raised without chemicals in the artisans' homes. The fibre is then handreeled into yarn and then dyed with organic materials. These yarns are then woven into cloth.

We are hoping to provide a market in Western Canada to sell these squares and to be part of assisting in the growth of the small community textile trade. Let us hope we can make a difference and promote something we truly believe in.

Scarves

2009-12-27T09:09:00.001-08:00

This year my daughter brought her little girl to our guild sale. At a little more than 2 I did not think she would be very interested but there she was curly red hair and all - just so excited by the array of scarves. She constantly picked out scarves that were either pink or purple. I promised to make her a scarf for Christmas.

I decided if I used both pinks and purlples in the warp, I could do one with a pink weft and one with a purple weft. Her mom is expecting a new baby in May and so I decided Baby Alive would be a good Christmas present. Ok now the doll will get a matching scarf as well.

Scarves are so easy to weave. I quickly made up the warp and warped it on the loom. For the first scarf, I used the pink nubbly yarn as weft. The second scarf used a multi coloured soy silk yarn - the colours ranged from pinks to purples. For the doll's scarf I used the pink hairy weft.

In my excitement to wrap the gifts I forgot to take pictures but I am hoping someone got a picture of her modelling it around. When I showed her different ways to wrap and tie it she immediately undid it and tried to repeat it. That I will do it myself gene certainly can pass through generations.

How Wonderful to Have New Weavers in the Making

2009-10-10T12:46:00.000-07:00

The summer has been a busy one. It began by teaching a beginner weaving course in Olds, Alberta. They were a fantastic group, worked hard on their samples and headed off with very nice projects. It is always interesting to see how varied the interests are and how different the projects and even the samples end up.

Towards the end of the summer we headed off to Vancouver Island and bought, hopefully, our future retirement home. Right across from the ocean, one section of the house can be used for a studio and business and the other part will be for our personal use. It has certainly been a busy and exciting time.

The fall is always busy in my day job and I ended up teaching the beginner weaving course at our local guild as the scheduled instructor could not. With all this and the fall guild sale coming I will not have time to put very much in the sale if anything. Our guild will also host the 2010 provincial conference here and I am working on instructor contracts. Certainly hope I get time to weave for that one!

Unknown tools

2009-10-10T12:33:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine bought a loom and gave me a few things that came with it. I cannot figure out what they are or how they are used. I am thinking that they may have been rug hooking tools but could very well be wrong.

Tool 1 is made in Denmark and when the handle is turned the needle moves forward and backward or I guess could be up and down depending on how you are holding it.

Tool 2 has 3 patents marked on it Great Britain March 20 192?, United States Nov 2, 19??, Canada Nov 30, 192?. A piece of metal on the bottom moves back and forth pushing the needle part forwards and backwards. On top there is a tensioning device. Below are pictures of the needle extended and pulled back.

Does anyone know what these are?

Painted Warp Bookmarks

2009-05-02T07:28:00.000-07:00

I just completed some painted warp bookmarks as samples! As you weave the colours just magically change and you never do get any 2 that are the same. I bore really easily and I learnt a long time ago, if I want to weave a series of something all the same I put on enough warp so that I can switch from series to series. For example, if I need 6 placemats, I will weave one in one colour combination and then the next one in a different colour combination. I repeat this series until all 6 mats of each colour combination are completed. The nice thing about using a painted warp is that this is not necessary, even using the same weave structure will produce different bookmarks.

I wanted the warp to be fairly strong and one that beginners could easily handle so I decided on 8/2 cotton. The selvedges for the bookmarks are either navy or black, depending upon the colour way. I like the look of a border along the edge and if you use a dark weft your edges look better and the colours in the painted warp are enhanced.

Although one of my favourite weaves is a 1/3 twill, so that each side of the bookmark is totally different, I also sampled using plain weave, basket weave, and 2/2 twill. For the basket weave sample I used a double weft.

Conferences and Studio Clean Up

2009-04-27T09:09:00.000-07:00

Well I guess spring makes us think about all the summer activities to come and of course clean up. This year DH will be working for both of our vendor events. The first one is the end of May in Olds for our provincial guild - Handweavers, Spinners & Dyers of Alberta. We have acquired new stock and that means packaging and pricing to get ready. Getting to spend time with all those wonderful fiber people always makes it worth it.

In June I will be teaching a beginning weaving course and looking after our vendor table after hours at Fibre Week (again in Olds). There seems to be a renewed interest in weaving both at the local level and the provincial level. Great because we have not seen this in a long time. Our local guild moved to a different location and that maybe part of it. The beginner course is a prerequisite for the new Master Weaver Program. All of this is so exciting!

I have reworked my beginner information so that it is more educationally focused rather than a course for fun. Now I just have to decide what some good projects are for beginning weavers - taking into account that the table looms are only so wide. I will still have the students make samples in the beginning and then do a separate project. The classes run all week so this should not be too ambitious.

I have also stop procrastinating and put some of my Loom Music issues up for sale on our website under Used Equipment. Last year I was able to purchase the entire set bound on Ebay. Prior to buying the entire collection, I had accumulated a few single copies. Even I do not need 2 copies of the same information. Although there are all those beginner weaving books I keep - just for my classes of course - ha. I just hate to give them up.

When I was up in Fort McMurray, I often borrowed books from the Canadian Guild and I thoroughly love to look through historic weaving literature. There is always something new to learn or rethink. Mary Sandin who was one of the weavers involved in the Loom Music project, also started up our local guild. I have browsed through the books and need to take the time to create an index and then read them thoroughly.

Well for now I am off to weave!

More on Fibre Arts in South America

2009-04-27T07:27:00.001-07:00

When we arrived in Punta Arenas, the port entry had a building set up selling crafts. You can imagine our delight to find a woman setting up her rigid heddle loom. They weave mostly the shawl type items you see in the picture and scarves. Later that day when we were returning to the ship the woman above had already been weaving and was taking a break. Another woman sitting next to her was taking her turn.

The second to last port was Puerto Montt. However at this point in the cruise I was quarantined to my quarters due to a virus I picked up. All the women I talked to onboard said this was the best place for a handicraft market. When DH went ashore I asked that he take as many pictures as he could. The following picture is a picture of handspun yarn they were selling.

The cruise ended in Valparaiso, Chile. What a beautiful seaside town! We ended up waiting a long time for our transfer that never showed up. Fortunately another guide was there to meet his transfer and they were not there, so went on a tour of the town for a day with him.

At the end of the day we travelled to our hotel in Santiago. Immediately I started looking for some craft markets and so the last day we went to what I thought was a craft store. Imagine my surprise when I saw it was an entire little village in an area within Santiago.

The village itself was absolutely beautiful with lots of greenery. With temperatures of 38 celuis, I certainly appreciated the shade of the trees as we walked around. Each vendor had their own tiny shop and there were a few stands where you could buy food. We bought the camera strap in one of the shops. DH bought a small leather stool to use for spinning - it took awhile to decide on the pattern of the leather tooling. I also bought some jewellry and gifts. Oh what a trip - now if I could only get to Peru and Guatamala.

Pieces Purchased on our South American Cruise

2009-04-05T09:15:00.000-07:00

The bracelet on the left was purchased at a craft market in Montivideo, Uruguay. The multi coloured cotton was used as the wrapping around the bracelet and a flat straw like fibre was used to make the patterns.

The camera strap was purchased in a small craft village in Santiago, Chili. Here they also had wonderful large blankets and carpets. The camera strap is warp faced and we just love the colours. There were many other patterns to choose from and it was really hard to decide which ones to purchase.

DH also managed to get some raw Merino fleece (about 10 ounces) from the Falklands. Apparently there is more weaving done outside of Santiago but I did not learn about this until I had returned. Maybe next time :-).

Wow Llama By the Box

2009-01-25T14:39:00.000-08:00

DH and I arrived back home from our South American cruise mid Thursday afternoon to cold weather and a snowy driveway. Considering I had not slept since Tuesday night and Alberta time was 4 hours behind Chilean time, I knew it would be a quick dinner and an early night.

We had picked up the mail from the post office and noticed there was a final notice on a parcel. It would be returned if we did not pick it up that afternoon. Thank goodness DH went over to pick it up. Turns out my daughter had managed to find a llama fleece for us. The locals told her they consider this to be better than alpaca and it it certainly soft and oh so clean. I guess we know what DH will be doing for the next little while.

Trip to South America

2008-12-22T16:45:00.000-08:00

My daughter and her boyfriend have been travelling through South America since September. They are touring mostly by bike and so have had a chance to see and experience many exciting events. Her poncho makes me drool and I can hardly wait to see and feel it. Fortunately they have sent us lots of photos and I cannot believe how many exciting textiles are lying in the background. The alpacas have so much character, you can almost put a tag to the look on their faces.

DH and I have booked a trip to South America and we will get to see Uruguay, Argentina and Chile. It should be exciting but these areas are not known for their textiles like Peru and Bolivia. In Buenos Aires apparently there are some yarn stores that are interesting and I am hoping to get there. Also some of the parts of Chile that we visit does have wool being produced.

New Project

2008-11-30T09:43:00.000-08:00

Once again I have been following along with a workshop online through the UKWSDOnline · UK Online Guild of W, S and D. I just wish I had more time to take part in these workshops - they are always so much fun. Usually I pick one per year to devote time to and this year it was Ikat and Warp Painting.

The projects are going to be bookmarks and a scarf. The workshop leader suggested 20/2 cotton and I had some undyed 20/2 tencel so I decided to subsitute that. I put on enough warp (9 yards) to be able to get 2 scarves and several bookmarks from the warp. Once the warp was decided, the next step was to choose colours. Here the suggestion was to use black and since I just have to be different decided to dye the colours used for the selvedge and to be mixed with the white band a dark blue.

Each warp section was created on the warping board with an individual cross. Then the warp in the ikat section was prepared using a really neat knot. Initially mastering the knot took a few minutes but it certainly worked well. Raffia and strips of plastic bags were used for wrapping the resist areas. The plastic strips were harder to work with as when you pulled them tight sometimes they would break. However, these areas stayed much whiter than the areas where I used raffia.

The ikat warps and the edge threads were then dyed using an immersion technique and the reamaining sections were painted. I used yellow and green for the mid section and a bright pink and purple for the outer sections. The yellow and green areas worked out really well but the pink and purple ended up with some strands not being covered well enough. Once on the loom I will decide if I need to add more dye.

However when I took a course on painted warp I cannot remember if the instructor said to never use dye on the loom or if it was paint. If anyone knows which one is dangerous to your health please let me know. Although I do not think I would be doing enough to make it dangerous.

The design of the warp will follow the suggested layout - dark edges, followed by one end dark and one end light, a painted warp section, one ikat section, the other painted warp section, an ikat section and it will reverse after the ikat section.

The bookmarks are woven warp faced and then the scarf will be resleyed and woven in a twill pattern. I still have not decided what pattern I will use yet and plan on working on that today.

Bead Leno

2008-11-23T06:55:00.000-08:00

Recently I needed to create a sample for a group in Complex Weavers - the Gauze Study Group. I wanted to use bead leno once again but this time wanted to produce a narrow scarf with a bit of glitz.

The warp I chose was 2/8 tencel - black for the selvedge and a painted warp for the main body. The weft was a fine black wool warp with a gold thread plied around it. Four shafts were used to create a basket weave border and the other four shafts created the lacey section.

When I first tried bead leno, I used to cut straws into sections and use them for beads but I found if you were not carefull some of the straws would catch on the yarn. Since I usually weave with fine yarns this could cause the potential for breaking threads - although fortunately I never did have this happen.

Now I use little metal hoops for jewellry. In an old Loom Music I was reading about using beads that a fatter in the middle and will try to find some ans see how these work. The advantage would be that they cannot easily slip through the reed. If you remember to change sheds while the beater is forward then the rings do not slide through the reed.

The threads for this draft are threaded in a straight draw - 1 to 4. The threads on 1 and 4 are placed in the bead. This causes the threads to twist as you are weaving. Because 1 and 4 and 2 and 3 work together you do not get a plain weave but a basket weave.

I have also done bead leno using 2 blocks (8 shafts). In block A the threads from 1 and 4 are put through the bead and in block B the threads from 5 and 8 are put through the bead. Since I wanted the scarf to have an elongated look and be really lacey, I decided to only use one block.

The resulting scarf was really light weight and had a wonderful feel to it.

Organizing Your Work

2008-11-10T10:07:00.000-08:00

Organization is important to me, I hate not being able to find anything. Being visual helps me to remember what I have seen, but where it has gone to can be another matter. Recently I ran across a computer program that helps me to organize my life and I have used it to organize our January cruise, my work at the college and now my weaving items.

The program is called OneNote. Everything is saved in one book and the book is divided into major sections. The sections are then further divided by pages. You can record all important information on one page. Pictures can be inserted, drawings can be created, files can be inserted, Outlook information, even audio and videos. If information has been brought in from the web, the link is copied below.

I have just started one to organize my ideas - before I would keep a binder filled with ideas from magazines, drafts I create, etc. In OneNote, I can record my original inspiration, design ideas, and weave structure ideas. At the bottom of the draft, I include a link to the file in WeavePoint. So far, I have created sections for scarves, tapestry, and jackets.

I have also started another one to organize the projects, I am working on or have completed. Everything is at my finger tips. Once I get it all organized, I will print out copies and save a copy to a CD so that if something ever goes wrong with my computer, I will have back up. But this has certainly saved me time, when I just cannot remember what I called the saved file.

The photo below shows one of my pages from my "Ideas" book.

What Fiber are You?

2008-10-19T10:34:00.000-07:00

Mohair – A smooth, polished surface.
“Mohair is warmer than wool, with larger, flatter scales that contribute to an overall silky-smooth appearance. The fiber absorbs dye readily and, thanks to that smooth surface, reflects is back brilliantly.” The Knitter’s Book of Yarn
Mohair’s are positive and confident. You always strive to make a good first impression because you are a proud person, and you care a good deal about what people think of you. You are careful with your words and are always tactful. You enjoy having a broad base of support and respect from those whom you come in contact. You attract this with your warm, sunny, and inquisitive personality.

To take the quiz and find out what you are CLICK HERE. Hope you have as much fun as I did. Thanks to Potter Craft News!

Update to Blog Entry for June

2008-10-18T10:05:00.000-07:00

Please note I have updated the blog entry for June and hope this answers your questions Donna. I did not want to finish this until I was sure this photo would be used in conjunction with the HWSDA 2009 Conference.

Whew Summer Is Over

2008-09-28T08:16:00.000-07:00

Well that was a busy summer. I got to spend a week in Vermont and a one night stay on either side of that in Montreal. It was certainly nice to go back to Montreal and have time to spend enjoying the great food. There was a yarn store I was anxious to see but we forgot our travel day back was St. Jean Baptiste day and so of course everything was closed

Two days after returning we headed to Olds for Fibre Week. It is always such a great experience - so laid back and full of fibre enthusiats. This was the first time they offered a beginner weaving class since the 80's and they ended up with 2 classes. Tuesday night we closed down our booth, headed home and it was back to work Wednesday morning for me.

The summer disappeared teaching classes and developing curriculum for a revised course in one of our programs. The good news is that I will have vacation time after the Christmas break - I have done most of my teaching hours for this year. We are taking a cruise to South America and I hear Buenos Aires has some great yarn shops!

My beginner weaving class is full and many of the students have looms already. This seems to be common in the past few years. Before students would come and take the lessons but not have a loom at home. The nice point is that they usually have some idea of where they would like the classes to go for them - although some do end up seeing that there is even more than they were aware of. I give the students an outline showing what we hope to do in each sesssion and most of them are on session 2 - off to a good start.

My new AVL is warped with tea towels for the local sale in November. I have to do a sample for my complex weaver's group (deadline is October 1st) - the warp is made and I need to get that on today and woven. I have a stash of unfinished articles. Alas my other 2 looms are empty but hopefully I can get around to them over the next few weekends. Of course my 4 day weekend is after our sale.

Using Photos for Design Inspiration - HWSDA

2008-06-26T08:02:00.000-07:00

At the HWSDA Conference in May of 2008, I gave a workshop called "Digital Design and Weave Structure". As I have stated in my previous blogs, I participated in a one month online workshop with the UKWSD group. I was so fascinated with what I was learning from the other members and the experimentation that I was encouraged to continue on with the group.

In June I received a picture that the HWSDA was considering using as inspiration for next year's conference. There is a very simple way to pull the colours out of the photo to assist weavers, dyers, or spinners in the design process. It is my hope that this will help to motivate our members to participate in next year's juried show.

Pictures Available on the Internet

The easiest way to get colours pulled from the picture, if the picture is available on the internet is to use the web site http://www.degraeve.com/ - the Color Palette Generator.

You will need to have the picture saved on the internet somewhere and then you begin by entering the url for the picture (right click on the picture and select properties and you can copy the URL from the dialogue box that opens). The picture needs to be saved in a picture format.

Paste the URL in the box on the above website. The next step is to click on the button "Color-Palett-ify!". A message to wait will appear and the you will be given 2 sets of colours one dull and one vibrant. You can now use these colours to inspire your design.

Pictures Saved on Your Computer

You will need to have a program or application that will enable you to edit and enhance photos. I use PhotoFiltre - a free ware application for personal or educational use. It is an easy to use software and is available at http://www.photofiltre.com/

I will give the instructions for PhotoFiltre, although they will be similar in different applications. In PhotoFiltre, you would use File, Open and then browse on your computer to locate the picture. Then select Filter from the menu bar and from the drop down select Stylize, Mosiac. Depending upon how detailed your picture is you will now determine the cell size you would like to use. The larger the cell size the fewer colours you will be able to choose. Your photo should now look similar to the picture on the right.

To the right of the working area, you will have a set of tools. The tool you will be working with will be the pipette tool. Click to activate the tool and then move to one of the squares where you would like to pull the color from the picture. When you click on the square a series of numbers representing the amount or red, green, and blue will appear below the tools.

Continue the process of picking the colours and either copy and paste or write down the numbers representing the colour breakdown. You can now use these numbers to accurately recreate the colours in your drawdown program.

Computer Design and a Finished Fabric

2008-06-09T08:29:00.000-07:00

In May I taught a workshop on using the computer to design woven fabric. If you have been following my blog this fascination came out of a workshop I took with the UKWSD Online.

Learning how to take thread you already have in your stash and get to see the way it looks before doing all the weaving has been something I have tried to do for years. Back in the 80's, I designed and sold a computer drafting program for the Commodore 64 and the Amiga. While this program could show the resulting draft and analyze a pattern to show how to weave it, the result was a drawdown and not the woven fabric.

The program I use today is WeavePoint and it has a view that displays a closer rendition of the fabric. Getting the program to replicate more complicated yarns was not possible. In the workshop we used scanning and also taking photos as a way to display the yarn on screen. The above yarn was a bit of a challenge because of the fuzzy nature of the yarn. When I had the picture of the yarn on screen, I tried making the background transparent, but that was next to impossible. In the end, I was satisfied with taking the colours into a draw program and then using them in WeavePoint.

Once I applied the colours to the draft in WeavePoint, I then copied the fabric and moved it into my drawing of a cape. This is just the beginning of working on this and I still need to do some work to get the fabric clearer but it does give me a closer vision of the final product. The fabric is just off the loom and has not been finished.

I used a lace threading and treadling that produces a good hand for a soft textile. Years ago, I created a similar fabric and produce a cocoon from the fabric. The lighting on the photo is not the greatest, but if you click on the picture you can clearly see the weave structure.

Once I wet finish and complete an article with the above fabric sample, I will post it to my blog.

End Feed Shuttles

2008-06-09T07:52:00.001-07:00

The picture on the left shows the 4 types of end feed shuttles I own. From left to right the manufacturers of the shuttles are: 1. AVL, 2. Leclerc, 3. Bluster Bay, and 4. Schacht.

The first end feed shuttle I acquired on e-bay. It is a really old Leclerc and I found that by using this shuttle my edges improved instantly. I also liked the fact that you can wind on a lot more yarn than you can on the small bobbins. Years before I had a flying shuttle on my Colonial and so I just needed to review the process for winding pirns. The only drawback that this shuttle has is that there is no tensioning device.

The next end feed shuttle I acquired is the Schacht. I love the weight of the shuttle and find the shape of the ends great for when I use floating selvedges. The shape enables me to flick the first floating selvedge up and then I push the last one down with my catching hand. Before this I hated floating selvedges but I have found that this has worked well and I get to stay in rhythm while weaving.

Last Christmas I received the Bluster Bay as a gift. It is truly a beautifully crafted tool. At the top of the shuttle there are several hooks that enables lots of tensioning options.

My most recent acquisition was the shuttle I received with my new AVL. I have not used this one enough to accurately find out the pros and cons.

Each shuttle works well in different circumstances. The Bluster Bay and AVL are heavier and will work better on wider fabrics while the Schacht will always be the best for me to use when I need to use floating selvedges.

All end feed shuttles hold more yarn and save time winding bobbins. They also produced better selvedges because the yarn does not continue to spin off as the shuttle is thrown.

AVL Features and Helpful Extras

2008-06-06T07:23:00.000-07:00

The front beam on most AVL feature a sandpaper type finish called the sticky beam. This enables the warp yarns to be placed on the beam and tying knots at the front is not necessary. The resulting uniform tension has impressed me from day one. The weaver simply places the warp yarns around the beam and begins to weave.

My new loom has an auto advance. You can set the picks per inch for 10 to 120. It was really easy to set up and just took a few adjustments until I got the picks per inch I wanted. Using this feature I can now weave and not loose my rhythm by having to stop and move the warp forward.

Another feature that is new to me is the pressure roller. You can cut off the warp at any time without loosing tension and it helps to keep the warp ends down when you are first starting the weaving. The one thing that I have learnt is that you have to be careful of pinning guide lengths along the side of the material as it gets wound in with the cloth and you have to wait for it to come off the other end. I usually use adding machine tape to create all my items the same size and run the tape up the side. At the end of the first one I move the tape to the beginning of the second item and weave along following border marks, etc. With this system I have to remember not to let it wind in.

The last feature I want to mention here is the take up beam. This for me is the greatest feature on a loom. As you weave your fabric is wound onto a beam at the back of the loom. No more build up at your knees. The amount you can put on the take up beam is determined by the length of the cord running to the beam - I have put more than 60 yards of woven goods and not come near to the end - I believe it is supposed to take about 100 yards.

Needless to say I am really happy with my new loom and have some 120/2 silk I want to do a painted warp with and try my first 24 shaft pattern (once I have finished my list for the Christmas sale).

Answer to Comments and Beaters

2008-06-04T07:05:00.001-07:00

We had a great time at "Transforming Textiles", the HWSDA (Handweavers, Spinners, and Dyers of Alberta conference). I do hope my participants in my workshop had as much fun as I did. What a creative group.

Sorry it has taken so long to answer Nancy's questions. First she asked where I get my indigo. Whenever we can we head for the coast. Usually I can squeeze in a little shopping and I go to Maiwa in Vancouver. My son and his partner have also sent us gifts of natural dyes from there. They do mail order but the shop is such a wonderful place.

Nancy's next question was about the flying shuttle and I must confess I do not like weaving really wide fabrics. I have done so on occassion but do not enjoy it as much as more narrow pieces. Thus my choice of a 32 inch 24 shaft AVL. My pleasure in weaving really comes from obtaining a rhythm and throwing the shuttle back and forth. I still have a flying shuttle on my 48 inch AVL (just in case) but have sold the one that was on my 45 inch Colonial. For me I get really good selvedges with end feed shuttles.

However AVL suggests you offset the warp slightly to use the flying shuttle and not center it in the reed like we normally would. Since I have never tried this I cannot say if it works but hope this helps. "If you will be using a flyshuttle and are planning a narrow warp, you need to offset the warp 4" to the right instead of centering it."

My older AVL has an underslung beater and my Colonial has both overhead and underslung and can be changed. Since I have owned several looms over the years and have usually bought most of them previously loved, it gave me a chance to try out lots of different types. Each has there own good and bad points and it really just depends on what you like. Usually I use the overhead beater style with the Colonial because I really like the smoothness of the action. Like a counterbalance loom it is easier on the body. So my choice of beater for my new AVL was the overhead style.

The AVL overhead beater has a pin that will lock it in place so that it does not move when you are threading. The system itself with tilting and push arms make it a breeze to operate and I am really glad I choose this style of beater. It move effortlessly.

My new loom is overdue for a warp. At Christmas break, I usually make a list of things to make for our local weavers Christmas sale and next on the list are some tea towels. Off to warp!

Choosing Heddles and Threading the Loom

2008-03-23T08:41:00.001-07:00

My loom is up and running beautifully! Once the warp is beamed sectionally, I place the threads in a raddle and then hang lease sticks at the back of the heddles. Beacuse the AVL tension box creates a cross it ensures all my ends are in the correct position. Prior to using this tension box, I simply hung the various sections over one lease stick and selected the various ends from each section. The reason that I hang my lease sticks is so that the ends are at the correct height for me to thread the heddles. My looms have a variety of heddles and each has their advantages and disadvantages.

My old Clement loom is a work horse loom and has flat steel heddles. These heddles are the heaviest of all the heddles and do not bend easily. Since the eyes are fairly large and flat, they are easy to thread. This makes it great for heavier weight cotton warps.

My Colonial has wire heddles. These are slightly lighter that the flat steel heddles and still easy to thread. It takes a fair deal of bending to break these but I have seen it done - especially on looms that fold and that are being moved around alot - the heddles can get caught and bent or broken.

When it came to the AVL looms, I decided to go for Texsolv heddles. These heddles are the lightest and this was an important consideration for me as moved to looms with more shafts. At first I found them a bit ackward to work with, as the heddles are flexible and you need to hold the heddle eye to draw the thread through. But like anything else, with a little practice, you adjust to the new process.

I thread my heddles using Allan Fannin's method of placing one warp end inbetween your fingers and then drawing them through one by one according to your pattern. Usually I move the heddles to the right along the shaft and organize the pattern, then place my left hand with the threads placed in my fingers to the left of the arranged heddles and draw them through. I have found this method to be really quick. With the Texsolv heddles, I tilt my left hand so that I have my palm up, making it easier to grab the threads in order and hold the heddle firm.

Once the heddles are threaded, I use the same method of holding the threads in my left hand between my fingers and draw the threads through the reed. A few years ago, I invested in an Auto Reed Hook, and again once you get the technique it really works well. The main concept is it to make sure you push the hook in and out of the dents properly. After awhile, you get used to listening for the click. My first post has a video of the auto reed hook in action - the video was taken away from the loom on a desk and so I could not move my hand into the correct position of palms up but you can get the idea.

Now back to the loom and my next blog entry will discuss overslung and underslung beaters.

Warping Equipment and Methods

2008-03-16T08:38:00.000-07:00

Everyone approaches weaving differently. When I wove as a small child I did not worry about edges, warp tension, etc. I just created placemats for my tea set or scarves for my dolls. However when I became interested in weaving again in my twenties it was a different story - I realized that the technical side of weaving was as important as the design - thank goodness for good instructors as this was in the 70's. At first I worked on maintaining a consistent beat and getting good edges. Of course sooner or later you realize that without a well warped loom you cannot produce the cloth you would like to.

I tried many different warping methods. Warping boards and small table mills work well when you are working with warps less than 10 yards. As I slowly started putting longer and longer warps on my loom, I realized I needed to find a better system. One of my all time favourite books on weaving technology is Allan Fannin's "Handloom Weaving Technology". Over the years I have continued to reread this book anytime I am trying to make a decision about using new technology. It was at this point that I decided to start converting my looms to sectional beams. Both AVL's, the Clement and the Colonial all have sectional beams.

Both the Colonial and Clement are limited in terms of the number of yards I can put on because of the cloth build up on the front beam. The choice is to either cut it off at some point or to only put on the amount of yards that the front beam can hold without interferring with treadling. The AVL's have a take up beam and so the woven cloth is moved to a beam on the back of the loom. For me this was one of the most important considerations when buying a new loom.

A sectional warping system requires the same number of bobbins or cones as the number of ends per inch. When I weave with cotton I purchase the same number of tubes as my number of ends per inch. For example if my sett is 20 ends per inch I use 20 tubes of cotton. Often this is what determines my warp length. When I wind off bobbins, I need to calcualte the length of the warp times the number of times the bobbin will be used across the width of the warp. For example, if the loom is warped at 25 inches wide, each bobbin will be used 25 times. Once the tubes or bobbins are placed in my rack the ends are placed in a tension box and each section is wound on to the beam.

The 16 shaft AVL has a track system so that the tension box can be moved along the width of the loom aligning up with the section being wound. When I was deciding on where to put the new loom in the studio, this was something I took into consideration. If the two looms were back to back I could use the track for both looms. The AVL tension box also has a method for creating a cross in the section and I find this another really neat feature that I do not think is found on any other tension box. My 16 shaft AVL also has a counter on it so that I can keep track of the number of yarns wound on to the beam and then the number of yards woven off.

At present I am putting a 4 yard warp on the 16 shaft but it is only because DH is weaving tea towels on the Colonial and I am in a time crunch to get something woven for next May. Usually I put 50 to 80 yards on the AVL. The new 24 shaft loom has some new features and so I have also put on a short scarf warp to acquaint myself with the new features. It is now pegged and ready to go.

AVL 24 shaft loom

2008-03-09T10:46:00.000-07:00

At last a bright light to a cold snowy day - the arrival of my new loom. The boxes were neatly stacked on a plastic sheet in the garage to make the job of getting the heavy parts to the basement a little easier.

Each box is carefully labelled to make the assembly easier. Inside each of the boxes related pieces are then again numbered. DH carefully unboxed the items and moved them down to the basement keeping all parts from the same box together. When a got home from work we had a quick dinner and started the assembly. AVL provides both a printed copy of the manual and a CD version - I mainly used the printed version as I like to have the instructions in front of me.

This new loom is similar to my 1980's AVL but since some changes have been made we made a point of not assuming anything and at least taking a peak at the instructions before proceeding. The older loom is a full frame and the new smaller loom is an A frame. When I was trying to decide what type of loom to buy several reasons brought me back to AVL and this particular model type. One of the reasons is that I prefer looms with a solid square back construction. I tend to vary my weaving and although I do not tend to weave rugs or rep weave often I like to know that the loom can handle whatever I decide to weave.

The newer AVL has more shafts but is still a manual dobby. Even though I design using a computer and WeavePoint, I wanted to control the weaving without electronics involved. Maybe this is because I teach computers all day and this would not provide variety in my life. I am anxious to try out some of the new features that I have chosen and I will discuss them in future blogs. The first warp I chose to try is a simple 4 harness huck lace scarf with a multi fibre warp.

More on WeavePoint and PhotoFiltre

2008-01-03T10:42:00.000-08:00

Well here I am a year later and still fascinated by the Computer Design Study Group. The more I work with this the more I learn and think of new ways to use it. A few days ago, I decided to try designing series of items. I began by creating a transparent draft as described in my post previously. Unfortunately you cannot save the transparent draft in the proper format for uploading so it appears to right as a purple and black square. In PhotoFiltre saved as the correct format you will see a checkerboard design on the transparent threads. If you click on the photo you will see it in black and white.
Then I merged this with a colourful background and decided to try and create a tiled version as well. It is not as accurate as I was just playing and should have paid more attention when cutting the blocks to make sure it was in the proper proportion but I think you can get the idea.
The last step was to see what the tiled draft would look like in 3 different colorways. The first picture on the left shows the original draft as a scarf, the second is done using the nightshade filter, and the third one is done using the sunset filter. Click on the photos below to get a better look.

I think when I get my new 24 shaft AVL I will do something similar and create a set of scarves - the narrow width is good to get you going on a new loom. Oh it just cannot come fast enough.

I am now playing with various ways to use these tools to create a designer notebook as well as create series of designs. My jacket folder is so full of ideas! I am beginning to think this is moving me away from household items and back into clothing - here comes the 80's again - well at least it is not the 60's with all the great lumpy, bumpy yarns!

What to Do With the Last Bit of Warp

2007-12-31T13:22:00.001-08:00

Potholders seem to sell well at our guild sale and so each year I try to do a few. They are easy to weave and also work well as gifts to give someone in the Christmas season. It is also a good item to use when trying out new weave structures or for beginning weavers.

Last year I did 50 yards of placemats and of course I did not want to waste the last bit of warp but there definitely was not enough left to create another set of mats. Sometimes it is nice to get that little bonus from the end of the warp.

I usually crochet a little loop so that the potholders can hang. When I sew the sides together I reinforce the loop to make sure it will not pull out. Serging the ends and using the machine to reinforce the seams makes it a quick project and sturdy enough to stand the wear and tear of an everyday item.

The year before I did some overshot ones in Christmas colours and next year I think I will try a Summer and Winter pattern.

Ribbon Yarn and Metallic Scarf

2007-12-08T11:37:00.001-08:00

Well our guild sale went well despite our worries of moving to a new location! For those who are not aware the building we were in has been designated unsafe and we have been forced to survive out of member's homes and where we can find space for classes etc. Thank goodness for the Alberta Craft Council who have offered to store our library and thus make it accessible to our members until we find a new home.

At the college that I teach at we have an Art Committee. Since our spring sale of student art work was so successful, we decided to try a Christmas one to help raise funds for the college Shine campaign. My donation was going to be the silk hand painted scarf I wove last fall. However since I put the scarf in our guild sale and it sold I found myself in the position of having nothing artsy enough to contribute. Not to panic as I did have one weekend in between.

A quick check of my stash revealed a really neat ribbon type yarn and a metallic thread that could be incorporated into a holiday type scarf. I wanted the ribbon to stand out so I used a surface interest draft and decided the rest of the warp should be a black bamboo to enhance the colours in the ribbon. The weft was one pick of metallic thread followed by one pick of cotton. I would have loved to have used either bamboo or silk for the weft but I did not have any in my stash.

At our guild sale, I managed to buy some handspun cream yarn plied with gold metallic yarn and I plan on using this same draft to create something for next year's HWSDA conference.

Looking forward to the Christmas season and some time to spend at my looms,
Linda

Weaving pillowcases

2007-10-13T14:05:00.000-07:00

Ever since seeing some pillowcases in Handwoven magazine several years ago I have wanted to design a set. I decided to use 10/2 mercerized cotton for the warp as I had quite a bit in white and that is what was used in a sample I really liked. I should get 3 sets of pillowcases.

The pattern is a summer and winter adaptation that was published in Warp and Weft (May 1958). In their sample they used 10/2 mercerized cotton for the warp and a silk and textured yarn for their weft and the suggested use was table linens. The treadling was as drawn in. When I did my sample at the beginning of the warp, I decided I liked the look of reversing my pattern when I reached the end instead of using the as drawn in treadling. To speed up the weaving I used just one weft.

For the first set, I chose a 1 ply organic cotton I purchased off eBay last winter. The 1 ply organic cotton had to be wound on to the pirns carefully as it had a tendency to ply itself when there was any slack at all. Of course any pull and the yarn would break. I love my end feed shuttles as you can get so much more yarn on the pirn and it comes off so nicely. To maintain the tension I set the coned yarn under my tension box and wound at a consistent speed. The p icture on the left is the organic fabric on the loom. The weft is actually a light beige colour.

I am currently now weaving the second sett and this time I chose white bamboo for the weft. The fabric has a lacey block and a textured block. It was hard to get a really good picture as I could see shadows of myself in the picture and I will take another picture once the fabric is off the loom and the pillowcases are sewn.

New Loom

2007-10-06T07:46:00.000-07:00

Well the summer came and went all too soon and then there was the beginning of school year panic to overcome. Now that it is done hopefully I can get back to keeping my blog more up to date. In June our local guild was evicted from our home - although we can temporarily return once the building repairs are done we are hoping to find a permanent home. We have stored any equipment and tools we can live without, set up classes in a variety of spots, and moved study groups to guild member homes. We have a new location for our annual sale and our library will be housed at the Alberta Craft Council.

A little more than a year ago I decided I wanted to upgrade my Colonial to a dobby and found out this is no longer available. The next step was to look at computerized looms and since I am a structure person the thought of more shafts hooked me in. However, since I spend most of my day teaching computers and dealing with people, it is nice to come home and spend some time at my loom manually throwing the shuttle. I really enjoy my manual dobby AVL and decided whatever loom I choose it should be able to be converted from a manual dobby to a computerized loom should I ever desire to go that way. The manual dobby does restrict you to the number of bars you have to peg the pattern and if you should want to change the pattern you need to repeg. The computer is a problem for me not only because of my day job but also from the view of dependency on electricity.

Some of the weavers in my yahoo group suggested a list of pros and cons - something I regularly do - however because I realize how big a purchase this is for me I really needed to rehash and rehash my thoughts. Finally I decided the sticky beam and the take up beam of the AVL were things I really liked, going more than 24 would require a computer, and weaving width should be between 28 to 36 inches - even fitting this into the space that is left is tight and I do not tend to weave wide and if I did I have a 45 and 48 inch loom. My original thought was to sell the Colonial but have not had any offers and selling looms is always hard to do - like letting your children leave home.

I continually searched the Internet and scoured ads looking for new or used looms that fit my criteria and a few weeks ago I spotted a used 24 shaft Technical Dobby Loom on AVL's site. Again I went into analyize mode and decided this was it - it even has a sectional beam. Shipping date is December 13th and now I am like a little kid who cannot wait!

Anyway back to the real world - at present I am weaving pillowcases on my 16S AVL and will post pictures and info over the next few days.

Indigo Dyeing

2007-08-25T10:49:00.001-07:00

I finally took the pictures of my indigo dyeing. The skein on the left is a one ply silk that was originally it's natural colour. The skein on the right is tencel and it was originally a beige colour. The tencel, as you can see, is slightly darker.

I plan on using the silk as a weft in a scarf and not sure what I will do with the tencel as it is a very small skein. Any ideas?

Using the Painted Simulation in Planning Projects

2007-08-07T07:19:00.000-07:00

It seems that it takes me forever to get started on projects. First I usually decide on the article, then the weave structure, followed by the yarn and sett. At this point I normally use my computer drawdown program WeavePoint to play with colours, balance borders, etc.

A short warp for me is usually 9 yards and more commonly I put on 20 to 50 yards - might as well make good use of the planning time. All of my looms are equipped with sectionally warping. When I plan painted warps I try to think in 1 inch strips even if it means it spans more than the inch.

The really great thing about the computer simulation for the painted warps will be that I will have a record to go back to look at. Normally I try to create a visual using watercolours or do a quick sketch of the pattern and then write down the colours. Needless to say I am excited to try this out but have a few projects planned and need to get to them first. Yesterday I did get the Oilers flag turned into tab curtains for my grandson. Now I need to create duck curtains for the new grand baby due any time now. and of course there was not enough fabric, so I will need to be creative.

Transfer of Weaving Drafts to Simulated Painted Warp

2007-08-05T11:45:00.001-07:00

If you have been following my blog, you will know that last year our Online Group did a workshop dealing with Computer Designs. Many of us decided we wanted to continue on with this topic. While catching up on my reading, I found an article in the Complex Weavers Journal entitled "Painting on the Computer - Simulation of Warp Painting by Marg Coe. Marg used Fiberworks PCW and Corel Photo-Paint.

I decided to see if I could do something similar using WeavePoint and PhotoFiltre and these are my first attempts.

Creating the Simulation Base Warp

Open a new document in PhotoFiltre – size should be the desired size with a white background – I simulated a scarf and choose 800 pixels by 2400 pixels.
Use the rectangle shape tool to create a rectangle and fill the rectangle with the Colour, Gradient tool. Select any two colours of your choice and either choose top to bottom or bottom to top. As I went across my painting design I flipped the direction of the grading to provide variety. Each rectangle would represent a section of warp.

Adding Special Effects to the Warp

To darken the warp, I added Night Effect (must admit it is one of my favourites). To redden you can use Sunset. You may also choose to add both – one on top of the other. The order will make a difference, so play around. If you do not like it, click Undo.
I then choose to add watercolour 2 and then watercolour 1.

Adding the Weaving Pattern

Create or open a weaving draft where the warp is white and the weft is the desired colour.
Edit – Copy Image – you will get a message that the image has been copied to the clipboard and that the image is ready to be used in other programs.
Edit Paste as New Image.
Magnify the design so that you can see one of the white warps and click on the Magic Wand Tool – ensure you then click on one of the white warps in the design.
Image – Transparent Colour – set the tolerance to 100. Click OK.
Select an area of the design (make sure it is balanced). In this step you will also be removing the threading, treadling, and tieup.
Make your warp design the active window and click on Edit, Paste to paste in the drawdown. I then dragged my design to fit the scarf like image.

The picture on the left shows a design super imposed
before adding night effect.

The picture on the right has had the night effect added after the draft was superimposed.

Shibori Scarf Using Lac

2007-08-03T11:03:00.001-07:00

While cleaning up my supplies in my workroom, I found an undyed silk scarf. This provided an opportunity to use one of the natural dyestuffs my son and his partner had sent us for Christmas. Decisions, decisons - which one to try. I decided to try lac - similar to cochineal.

I tightly wrapped the silk scarf around a small shibori pole (originally a piece of plastic pipe) I have, using dental floss to gather the fabric. When wrapping the fabric, I started with one of the ends and wrapped around and around, pushing the fabric up every inch or so.

The information I have stated that unmordanted yarns and fabrics would be purple. Since this is my favourite colour I went with unmordanted fabric. I soaked the scarf and added it to the dyepot wet. The resulting colour is more of a burgundy and although not purple, I am pleased with the results. I have also dyed a skein of cotton that is presently drying and of course some indigo. I am also working on a warp to be woven and then shibori dyed using the inspiration from the Online Guild Computer Workshop.

Card

2007-07-25T10:27:00.000-07:00

Several years ago I bought these card inserts. My original idea was to try to weave a structure that looked similar to stain glass and add some beads in to add some sparkle.

About a month ago I was sorting my samples to organize them. Usually I play with the last few inches of warp. One of the samples was a white warp with the metallic weft you see here. The metallic yarn was flat against the white and I realized the weft would work better with a dark warp. Since I had a few inches left over from the Kaleidscope award ribbons, off I went to the loom. Then I remembered I had these cards! Oh what would we do without our stashes. Yes I know my samples are still not organized.

Unfortunately I could not capture the sparkle from the metallic thread. I am quite pleased that even though it took 20 years, the result has been worth it. Now off to thread my clement loom for a warp faced weave!

Trying To Finish Up Projects Before I Start New Ones!

2007-07-23T13:48:00.000-07:00

Well I am madly tying to complete some projects I have in various stages. I have sewn several pairs of mitts. Some have a crocheted edge and these 3 sets I have completed (see the picture). I am now working on those pairs that will have a knitted cuff and will post pictures when I have them completed.

I had not done these in years and a serger certainly makes it alot easier. My excess warp from the ANWG ribbons have been turned into cards and 2 small bags. The weft is a metallic so I am not sure if I will be able to get a good photo but I will try.

Wild Fibres Kaleidoscope Ribbons

2007-07-23T13:35:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of the award ribbons given at the Juried show.

I could not get a good photo of the little labels that were placed inside. To make the labels I first made some silk fusion from some natural silk. These were used as a backing to give the label some body. I then printed the conference logo on the printable cotton (you put these through your computer printer). To finish the labels I used machine embroidery around the edges with a thread that changes from white to a colour when put in light. Hence the reason they were hide inside the tubes - sort of a little something special.

The fabric was wrapped around the tubes and glued. I also added some beads to reflect the light.

Wild Fibres Conference and Olds Fibre Week

2007-07-17T15:30:00.000-07:00

Well it has been a while since I have posted! The spring was spent preparing our goods for our vendors booth at Wild Fibres and then a spot opened up for a vendor booth at Fibre Week. It is always nice to visit with old friends and make some new ones. Fibre people are the best.

I have just finished reorganizing after the sales and have been updating our website. During the school year I find it too hectic to get much done - the good side to having most of the summer off. Hoping to get some dyeing or yarn painting done and lots more projects - oh and what about the quilt I have been working on for 2 years. My daughter's wedding last year gave me an excuse.

Add to that our local guild has been evicted and since I am the President it has resulted in lots of emails and phone calls. We found a place for our sale but still need to find a home for our meetings, classes, and study groups to meet.

I have a few ribbons left over from conference that were not given out and will try to get some photos and put them up on the blog as promised. I also have some drafts I would like to post over the next while so please do check in to see what I have been up to. Currently I am finishing off some hats and mitts. I had not done these in years and are lot easier now that I have a serger. Will post pics of the hats and mitts once I finish them.

Celtic Bands for a Wedding Dress

2007-04-14T08:15:00.000-07:00

In July 2006, my daughter got married to the love of her life - Mikey. They wanted their wedding to reflect both backgrounds - Irish and Ukrainian. I got to sew the outfits for the flower girl, bridesmaids, maid of honour and of course, the bride. Weaving the fabric was not realistic, as I work full time. So instead I settled for weaving the bands for the arm seam and the belt.

After looking at Heather's assortment of pictures she liked, I decided the warp would be cream and the weft would be a metallic gold. When I checked my stash all my cream yarns were not the right shade - too yellow, too blue, too beige. At the HWSDA's conference last year (Jane Stafford's booth) I spotted a cone of soy - the correct shade and the perfect weight. For the weft I used a gold DMC embroidery thread. For the belt, I simply divided the plies in half. For the armband, I used 4 fine strands and re-sleyed the reed closer.

WILD FIBRES - ANWG RIBBONS WEAVING IS DONE!

2007-03-17T11:28:00.000-07:00

These ribbons were so much fun to do!

The conference theme is wild in terms of fibre use, thinking a little differently and not in the use of untamed fibres. Keeping this in mind and the name of the juried show - Kaleidscope, I tried to incorporate these ideas when designing the ribbons.

The ribbons were woven in the Wild Fibres conference colours. First prize ribbons will be yellow - the colour closest to gold, pink for second prize - closest to red and green for third prize.

I was also permitted to add black or white and decided black warp would make more of a statement. The yellow and pink ribbons used Orlec for weft and the green ribbons used 8/2 cotton.

Three special ribbons are needed and so I used different combinations of colours to make these significantly different from the regular award ribbons. People's choice will use all 3 colours.

As stated in the orignal post the draft was chosen because the wild rose represents Alberta and since the conference will be held here this year I liked the idea of using a pattern to represent the province. This pattern reminded me of our rose (see the front side of the pink ribbon).

I liked the idea that one of the peggings produced a bud like appearance (see the green ribbon photo) while the other pegging looks more like the flower. As I was weaving, I discovered that I like both sides of the fabric equally and so this added even more diversity to the ribbons. I decided to use both the fronts and the backs in the ribbon designs. The photo with more pink on the right shows the front side and the photo similar to the yellow photo shows the back side.

Since Kaleidoscopes change, I changed the treadling order to produce as many similar but different versions as I could. The ribbons are 3d and will not be flat I have also added beads to reflect light and am currently working on putting the surprise inside the ribbon - need to work on this one as my original idea is beyond my patience level. Once the conference is over I will try to remember to post some pictures of the finished item!

More On Designing Stripes Using the Computer

2007-03-03T08:35:00.000-08:00

The Online Study Group was given some photographs to work with. This time we were to start with one photo and work it all the way through to a project. The photo that I liked was called ripples.

We began doing a colour and texture study. Then we worked on proportion and stripes. The first few exercises were done by hand without the aid of the computer.

Once I reached the stripe design stage I turned to my photo application for help. Of course, my love for blue and purple colours came into play and so I filtered the picture using night effect.

I used the mosaic filter to pick up the colours and create stripes in a new image.

I then added texture to make it look more like fabric.

I then used the ripple filter to spread the stripes out in the fabric design. This muted the colours a bit and some of the other filters available enable you to keep the more brilliant colours.

ANWG RIBBON UPDATE

2007-02-05T14:03:00.000-08:00

Well the 1st prize ribbons are woven!

When designing the ribbons, one of the stipulations was that they be in the conference colours - yellow, pink, green and then I could use either black or white. Since black intensifies colours, I decided to use 8/2 black cotton for the warp. Black is always a challenge to thread but I was sure the results would be worth it!

In the initial draft, I noticed that there were several areas of large skips, so I modified this so that the skips were not 7 or 8 ends long. I also pegged the dobby head so that I had 3 sections to play with - 1. plain weave - to be used at the beginning and end, 2. what I refer to as the rose section, and 3 what I refer to as the bud section. This would enable me to quickly change the treadling for the ribbons. My thought process here was that kaleidscopes change slightly.

For the weft, I decided 1st is usually gold, so yellow would be our 1st prize. With the warp being dull, I choose orlec for the weft. Some of the ribbons are woven with the weft single, some doubled and some one pick - a single thread, followed by a double pick. When I unwrapped the beginning to tie the ribbons on to my take up beam, I was pleasantly surprised that the backs are just as attractive as the front. Now I will really have lots of variety!

Think I will do the People's Choice next!

Design Ideas for Stripes or Rep Weave

2007-01-28T09:41:00.000-08:00

Designing on the computer is great way to get your creative juices flowing. Different graphic programs enable you to do different things to the images. My focus is to produce colourways for dyeing yarns or for the woven cloth when I am using graphic programs.

The photo on the right would lend itself well to assisting with stripe design. One of the cool tools that some of these programs have is the ability to choose colour schemes and quickly change the feel of the fabric from cool to warm.

Another design idea would be to use this as a colorway in rep weave. When the warp is placed close together on the loom the weft yarn can be barely visible or not visible at all. Although the warping time for a rep project can take awhile, the weaving is really quick.

I am posting a few other design ideas I have had on file for about a year. These design ideas were created in a card design program, but I could envision the edited version of these photos being tapestries. Not that I usually do tapestries but I will have to do one for the Canadian Weavers Guild tests, so I have started collected some ideas to choose from.

The first photo is of a shed behind my house. I took the photo before they started building and always found the shed and snow a pretty scene.

The second picture is of a Christmas Cactus plant we have that seems to bloom most of the year. I really love the pinks in the flowers.

The third picture is off Vancouver Island - my favourite place to spend holidays. Seems I can never get enough of it. Somehow the tapestry look of the island is not as clear as it is when viewing it in the program viewer. Well I had better get to threading the reed for the ribbons.

RIBBONS FOR WILD FIBRES - ANWG CONFERENCE

2007-01-27T09:05:00.000-08:00

The warp is beamed on my AVL for the Wild Fibres, ANWG Juried Show - Kaleidoscope award ribbons. I wanted to follow the conference theme but challenge myself to do something a bit different. While I will not reveal all in my blog, I will discuss how I approached the designing.

My starting point was the definition for the word "Kaleidoscope" - meaning from the Greek 'kalos' meaning beautiful, 'eidos' meaning form and 'skopes' meaning to look.

With the conference being held in Alberta, of course, our wild rose came to mind and I wanted to find a draft that reminded me of a rose pattern. My search was on for a draft that would fit my criteria and of course I found it on one of the CD"S I had purchased online at Handweaving.net. For anyone not familiar with this site it is a great source and you can download the patterns for free. The one I chose was from The Fanciest Twills of All, Draft #34840, Threading Ralph Griswold #166 (photo on the right).

This draft reminded me of a rose and at the same time resembled a pattern that could be seen in a kaleidoscope. Certainly met my idea of beautiful!

The next part of the definition is "form" so I have decided the ribbons will not be flat 2D ribbons but 3D. I will decide the final shape once the ribbons are woven.

The final part of the definition is "to look" and I have decided to hid a special item inside the form of the ribbon. So here is hoping we get lots of exciting entries. Weave on!

More on Computer Design Ideas for Jackets

2007-01-21T11:30:00.000-08:00

I have so many of these photos to put up, I decided to break this into 2 posts. Will make up for the time I spent playing with the design program and not posting.

Although my original design concepts were to be translated by dyeing yarns - both warp and weft or to use weave structure, I have deviated. Most of these make me think of embroidery or tie dye fabric!

Translating Inspiration Into Design Ideas

2007-01-21T09:29:00.000-08:00

I am really fortunate that my husband loves to take photos. Manipulating these photos with design programs gives rise to new ideas. As you can see the design idea may look totally different once the photo has been manipulated. The photo on the left shows the original photo (on the right) after it has been manipulated to a more cloth like design.

At the moment I am playing with a program called PhotoFiltre. I really like the colours obtained by using the Filter, Colour, Night Effect. If the colours are strong I use artistic or visual effects to soften the colours. Then I usually deform twirl and then deform ripple a couple of times. Sometimes there are areas I really like and I will copy these areas and paste to a new image and use these pieces to create my final idea.

To create the indigo ikat jacket idea, I followed the above steps until I liked the look of the fabric and then cut and pasted various pieces to create the jacket.

The last image is a picture where a berry colour has been added in. Inspiration for yet another jacket!

Working with Photo Editing Programs for Design Ideas

2007-01-08T18:22:00.000-08:00

I usually try to post on the weekends but the past weekend I was working on an online workshop I am taking. Sunday I spent most of the day playing with ideas and oh that was really lots of fun. Somehow I seemed to gravitate more to painted warps than anything else. I am posting one of my favourites. The first is the original photo of some dyed rolags taken at an HWSDA Conference a few years ago. The second would work well for a tapestry - who knows maybe some day I will do one. The third sample could be used for a painted warp. I had to significantly downsize the photos so that I could upload them - apparently this will be in our next lesson - hopefully they do not look too blurred.

Creating craft websites

2006-12-31T11:10:00.000-08:00

My daughter was visiting over the holidays and I had discovered my website had some broken links. What started as fixing the links lead to creating a brand new website. Why is it things always go that way - no such thing as a simple fix.

At the college I have taught FrontPage to my students for many years. Our main intent is to teach the students enough about webpages that they can edit webpages easily. Since I believe in students being encouraged to be creative I have always encouraged them to go a step beyond. I really liked the fact that you did not need to know much about HTML code. So my first website was developed in FrontPage from scratch and I did not use any templates. I was pleased with the website, however, my provider was a small company and updating was always difficult.

Last year I changed providers and when I went to update the website discovered that my new MS Office Suite did not include FrontPage. Ugh! It did however have Publisher. So last Christmas holidays I became familiar with Publisher and created a new site. Somehow in the transfer some of the links did not work.

My daughter offered to help fix the links - she likes HTML more than I do. Once we started looking at the code my daughter suggested just copying the web into a program like Dreamweaver. Of course no surprise this did not work. So off I went again this time learning Dreamweaver and have spent two days developing a new site. I have published the site and one page has a few alignment problems and a typo. However, it is the product page and that will need to be updated in the New Year as I hear prices will be changing.

Well the good news is that I now know all 3 programs and have a new website to boot. Tonight my youngest daughter (Alli) and I will bring in the New Year, my oldest daugther (Melanie) has gone back to California, and Alli and I will spend New Year's Day with Melanie's twin Heather.

Here is hoping anyone reading this will have a Happy New Year!

Using the Auto Denter

2006-12-25T17:44:00.000-08:00

I have received requests to send a video out to weavers to show them how to use the autodenter. This is my first video and since I do not know much about editing it seems to pause every now and then but hopefully you will see that it can speed up the process of threading the reed.

View the video here.

More on Painted Dyed Yarns

2006-12-17T13:37:00.000-08:00

The silk scarf (on the left) was the result of a workshop I took in Gibson's Landing, British Columbia. Several years ago I had played with painted warps and have always wanted to find the time to do some more. Two summers ago Doug wanted to take his Level 1 Spinning and I decided to take the dyeing course that was being offered. Our instructor Kris Abshire encouraged us to move out of our comfort zone. I am usually someone who plans and loves structure, so this scarf was a depart from my usual ways. The colours were randomly painted on the warp and the scarf is woven in a 1/3 twill so that each side has a totally different look. The random painting was a struggle as I kept finding myself trying to create some sort of guidelines to follow.

When I came to the Dye Your Own day I had a plan and am quite pleased with the results. I wanted the weft yarn to be a turquoise and a rose colour that blends into a shade of purple where they meet. This yarn will be used in a surface interest weave (picture on the lower right).

My plan for the warp yarn (upper right corner) is to have bands of a solid colour between the painted bands. It is painted in shades of green with touches of yellows and pinks. Painting yarns encourage me to work freely and to enjoy the unexpected! (even though I have reverted back to having some sort of plan)

Knit for Charity - Can we change that to weave?

2006-12-03T07:49:00.000-08:00

My daughter sent me a poster advertising a Knit for Charity campaign. All the proceeds go to a woman's shelter and they were looking for knitted items such as hats, mitts, scarves, etc. While I knit only for survival (cuffs or trims for handwovens), I do have a few handwoven scarves left over from our guild sale and so I have contacted the lady organizing the event.

A few scarves is such a small contribution that most of us are capable of and hopefully it will help someone out this Christmas. I do hope the drive is a success and bless the people who take the time out of their busy lives to organize these events.

Painting on Yarn

2006-12-02T09:24:00.000-08:00

Our guild, had a "Dye Your Own" day. We could bring in projects or ideas and 2 talented members, Kathy and Carole, shared their knowledge. It was a great time!

Since the 70's I have kept a binder of ideas and things I like. They can be a style of clothing, colours, or piece of fabric - anything I see as inspiration. Last year the online guild I belong to created mood boards and although I did not have time to take part in the workshop, I reorganized my binder creating mood pages. Then came the Friday when I realized I did not have an idea for the Dye Your Own day. Binder to the rescue.

I showed Carole and Kathy my idea - one for a painted weft and another for a painted warp. In my younger years I worked in the dye lab of Ciba-Geigy and never really did get into all the measuring. I love colour and prefer to let my eyes tell me what I like. Two summers ago a did a very bright warp in a workshop and so this time I wanted to try a pale warp. The warp and weft were not for the same project but two different ideas. When I first did the painting I was afraid the colours were too bright, but Carole and Kathy assured me they would lighten and they did.

The weft is a pale pink and turquoise that I plan on using in a surface interest weave and the warp will be used in bands with bands of a plain colour in between. Unfortunately the yarns were not dried in time for our last guild meeting but hopefully I will remember to show them off in February.

New Weavers

2006-11-26T07:38:00.000-08:00

Our local weaving guild offers beginner weaving courses. We have 2 instructors and we each take turns teaching the course. This fall the class is small - a total of 5 students. We can accomodate 8. I usually start the students off with a warped loom and encourage them to try a variety of treadlings on a plain weave threading. Once the students have completed the samples, they choose a project to weave. The project choice is limited by the fact that they will be weaving on a narrow table loom. Other than that, the students are free to create an item that meets their expectation in terms of complexity and time required to complete the project. Students can take the looms home in between classes or just choose to weave in the class time.

Tomorrow night is the last class and yesterday one of the students came to get some help on putting together a project to be put on her loom at home. It is always exciting when students are anxious to get to the next project. During the class time she has warped her loom with a 5 yard warp and will now try an 8 yard warp. I think once many of us find out how long it takes to warp versus weave, we gradually add to the length. Most of the time I try to warp 20 to 50 yards, to keep me busy for awhile.

My husband created some tea towels in an M's and O's pattern and my student liked these. The texture is really nice. She has chosen different colours for the stripes. I was able to show her how a drafting program works and we used the program to calculate the yarn requirements and then she choose the cotton yarns. I explained this is how we develop our never ending growing stash of yarns. Leftovers from here, buy new yarn for next project, oops more leftovers, more shelving, etc.

Two other students in the class have purchased looms that were being sold off by the guild. So we hopefully will have 3 new weavers in our fiber world!

First Blog Posting

2006-11-25T10:04:00.000-08:00

This is my first blog post so please be patient if I do something wrong. I love the new technology and really enjoy learning how to use it when it is applicable. When I first started weaving and wanted to create drafts of my own, the only way was to sit down with graph paper and pencil and neatly colour in the squares. Now, of course, I use a computer program to help me do the drafting.
I am creating the award ribbons for the ANWG conference in June 2007 and fortunately weavers have websites that share drafts. It is so exciting to be able to download and edit the drafts to meet your particular needs. The yarn is on order and hopefully I will get to warping and weaving over my Christmas holidays.