SOME INTERESTING BLOG POSTS

Posted by Peg in South Carolina

LIMITS AS A GOAD

I know I will never get another loom (well, maybe a table loom????), so I shall always be working with 8 shafts.  That is really not a bad thing at all.  In fact, it can be a very good thing because it is limits that result in creative effort. It is limits that force me to think.

There was a recent blog post that shows what beautiful results can happen when a weaver feels trapped by limits.  It is the post Kaleidosilk Scarf posted by Dave at The Weaving Studio. 

Back to the limitations of 8 shafts. I have begun to realize it is not so much the number of shafts that is limiting as it is the number of treadles.  I have read on the weaving lists about adding treadles.  That has seemed so beyond me.  Until Dorothy wrote this post on her blog, Dot’s Fibre to Fabric:  14 Treadles on my Countermarche Loom.   Well, maybe it still is beyond me.  But........  Who knows........   Maybe?

BEAD LENO

Bead Leno is something I have always wanted to try.  The idea of getting a really lacy open weave where the warp yarns wouldn't slip around really seemed incredible.  The little I saw of it I simply did not understand.  It seemed so mysterious.  And now Linda has written a post which, while it does not describe the exact process, has clarified it enough for me that I think I might find it possible.  When I have time............  The post is called Bead Leno and is found on her blog called Linda’s Weblog.
   
MAKING DO

I am always interested in those inventive people who can come up with solutions when they don't have all the right equipment.  Tangled Threads has done this with her latest attempt at sectional warping without a spool rack.  The title of her blog post is Beaming a Sectional Warp.......properly this time. 

One of the most ingenious things I found was how she attached screw eyes to a scrap piece of board to give her yarns the guide they needed.  These eyes are important in other aspects of weaving, in guiding thread from cone to warping board, for example.  This is especially important if you are using a paddle.  These eyes are also useful in guiding the thread from cone to bobbin winder.

I would add that a solution I have used for winding a warp with multiple threads (whether onto a warping board or in the sectional manner that Tangled Threads describes) is to take a reed and lay it flat between two chairs (or boxes, or whatever you have handy, as long as they are the same height).  Put your cones behind the reed and guide the threads up through the slots in the reed and from there onto the back beam or onto the warping board.  This was what I used to do until I bought Leclerc's cone holder, which will hold 8 cones of thread, with an eye for each of the cones.   And those who are at all comfortable with tools could probably easily build one for themselves.  Here is a link to a picture of one.
   
“EFFORTFUL STUDY”

I found this post by Tien to really speak to me.  It said, so much better than I could ever have said, much of what I have learned through all the years of learning:  Effortful Study   Indeed, Tien’s post is largely responsible for my current reading, a book by Geoff Colvin: Talent Is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else.  I have read only the first two chapters so far, but am finding it a fascinating read.

PLAYING WITH COLOR

I use Paint Shop Pro to correct colors on a photograph.  When I am engaged in this often frustrating task, I am so intensely focused on how to get the colors right, that I never think of playing with the software to see possibilities for color variations.  Weaverly uses the more sophisticated Photoshop.  But in her post called Theme and Variations she has opened my eyes to play!  And I can do this with my software as well!  (Do I really need to spend more time at the computer…………..)

POSTSCRIPT

If you have made it through this post, you probably have figured out that I have changed my way of approaching favorite posts.  Doing this is much more helpful to me.  I hope that others find it helpful as well.

"Some Interesting Blog Posts" was written by Margaret Carpenter for Talking about Weaving and was originally posted on December 3, 2008. © 2008 Margaret Carpenter aka Peg in South Carolina