CRACKLE AND PAINTED WARPS

Dyeing the weft yarns for this upcoming crackle warp has brought warp painting back to mind.

PAINTING A TENCEL WARP

What popped up was a painted warp scarf I had done years ago. The yarn was tencel. The structure was plain weave. Using MX Procion dyes, I painted the warp yarns in swathes of bright yellowed orange and bright yellow. Then I painted skeins for weft with the leftover dye solutions. I let the warps and skeins cure for a couple of days, then steamed them, let them dry, and got to work.

WEAVING THE SCARF

When I wove it off, I used yellows in the yellow section and oranges in the orange sections. But because the warps were not painted rigidly but very loosely, the yellows and oranges flowed into each other. Thus there were times when yellow wefts crossed orange warps and orange wefts crossed yellow warps.

The scarf turned out to be an absolute favorite of mine. I hung it in my studio (I had a studio back then). Looking at it lightened my heart and brought a smile to my face. It was a joyful, happy scarf. And my heart leaped a bit whenever I glanced at it.

PAINTING A CRACKLE WARP?

Couldn't I just do something simple like that with crackle? Two colors. Paint the warp in swathes of the two colors. Nothing rigid. Paint the wefts with the leftover dye solutions. Steam and dry the yarns. Warp the loom. And weave.

THE RESULT?

I envision a scarf where blocks appear and disappear. Or at least a scarf where blocks lose and gain prominence. I think it might be interesting.

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