Crackle Jacket: First Rumblings

The idea for the crackle jacket I am in the (very slow!) process of designing had its first rumblings in two different places. First, I had the vague idea of weaving some yardage for the next HGA Convergence conference. I didn't have any idea at all for using the final woven yardage. I was just thinking in terms of weaving yardage for the sake of itself.

The theme for the yardage exhibit is Ebb Tide, and I didn't have the foggiest idea how I could weave that idea. So I didn't think too much about what I might do, except that I did want the structure to be crackle.

Then, I participated in an online workshop on using graphics programs to develop weaving designs. This workshop was hosted by an online fiber guild which is part of the British Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers. One of the things I learned there was how to pick colors from an image to create a computer palette.So I thought a bit more about the possible Convergence yardage and started hunting the internet for images of pearls and oysters. Not quite exactly the stated theme, but close enough, and at least pearls and oysters were something concrete and they interested me. I found tons of stuff, but here are a few of those that I liked the best.
















































I finally settled on the image at the top, an image of oysters. I very much liked the colors. I especially liked the rich blue and gold against the rather dark neutrals, and the lacing throughout of what seemed to be almost black. I took that into my graphics program (Paint Shop Pro) and picked out colors. And here are the colors I came up with:











The browns are not as rich as the browns in the image, and there is no black. Somehow I wasn't sure that I could fit that into a weaving and still have it be a coherent whole. But I did rather like what I came up with, the rather muted palette with no striking contrast. Or at least for a start....... even though this is not at all my "style." I weave with vivid or rich colors, not with pales or neutrals. And here is an example of my more typical weaving:

















Still, the colors did speak to me. Perhaps I was ready for a change? But not quite yet. I didn't quite know how to work with this muted language, so the yardage idea submerged itself somewhere in the depths of my mind for awhile.