A member of the Weave Tech list reminded us of the materials on designing with mathematical principles written by Griswold. These materials can be found here. Scroll down the page
to where Griswold is the author. The materials are all short and available as pdf documents.
Griswold has fascinating ideas on using mathematical principles as a basis for designing. These ideas go way beyond the Fibonacci series. That series has been my primary source for ways to order blocks and colors. He does talk quite a bit about Dietz' use of algebraic expressions. I cannot right now locate her monograph, but Griswold gives you the gist of it which he then goes on to expand on. In any case, though I have used algebraic expressions a bit in designing, I have not found them nearly as helpful as the Fibonacci series.
I have now printed out far too many of these little pieces by Griswold. But I do want to read them more carefully. Interesting, considering my difficulties just with basic arithmetic......
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Monday, August 6, 2007
A Caveat on Previous Post
I sew some of my clothes. I used to sew most of them. I have always used sewing patterns. I don't think I have ever modified a sewing pattern, aside from alterations.
I did explore pattern design on my own. I even took a class in it. Somehow the concept of pattern designing just never "took."
I did explore pattern design on my own. I even took a class in it. Somehow the concept of pattern designing just never "took."
Originality
A weaver who has decided to start designing her own stuff might well work in something like the following way. She really likes log cabin and she really likes the color combination of blue and green. So she weaves a scarf based on this idea. It is a lovely scarf. She is very proud of it. It is her own design, her own creation. It is original. Whoops. Then she happens to look at pictures of items done by other weavers. In doing that she finds at least one that is almost identical to hers. Actually, it would be amazing if she didn't find a lot, because this really is a favorite structure-color combination of many people. She realizes that her piece is not original. And she may even have sold it, so she might start worrying about copyright issues.
What is wrong?
Nothing is wrong. The idea was her own even if the result wasn't original. What matters is that the idea was her own. But she wants to be original. Why didn't she come up with something original? She feels she is just not talented. Whoops.
The easy answer, of course, is to say that there is nothing new under the sun. Ahh, she can breathe easier now. She can give up the effort and just go about weaving what other people have woven. And that really is a choice. But for those of us who are not comfortable with that choice, who actually would hate having to make that choice no matter how tempting, we can continue on.
Painters, sculptors, composers, weavers, for all of these, their first creations are probably all imitative and not truly original. I am forgetting the geniuses, but I suspect that even their first works were imitative. And how many artists burn and destroy their first creations.............. We never see their true beginnings. And we do have to begin somewhere. And imitating, whether conscious or unconscious, is a pretty good place to start.
Artists gradually develop original ideas by continuing day in and day out to weave, paint, draw, sculpt, etc. They work on finding and developing their own voice, they work on finding their own path.
I like expressing it as finding your own path rather than finding your own voice. Finding your own voice tends to suggest to me the need for deep internal soul searching rather than working at your craft. While soul searching may have its value, I think it is much overestimated in its value for the creative artist. Of much more value is, dare I say it, hard work.
One way not to find one's own voice is to try continually all different sorts of things. Flitting from oils to pastels, from structure to structure. This can be useful at the very beginning just to find what appeals most to you. But at some point a weaver who is trying to find her creative way has to settle down to exploring in depth something in particular: a particular structure or a particular fiber, for example. The person from the above example, for instance, might decide she really likes blue and green and wants to explore that combination. So she may try the colors in different fibers, in different weights of yarn, in different structures, in different variations of color, even starting to dye her own yarns. Then she may start exploring the two colors in combination with other colors. This could all be most interesting, if, and only if, this path really intrigues her.
Originality is something hard won. And perhaps it is not even possible to win if that is a person's goal. Perhaps the focus needs to be the joy (and frustration) of the hunt. Perhaps, like happiness, originality comes only as a by-product. Perhaps originality comes in the process of developing mastery of one's materials and instruments.
What is wrong?
Nothing is wrong. The idea was her own even if the result wasn't original. What matters is that the idea was her own. But she wants to be original. Why didn't she come up with something original? She feels she is just not talented. Whoops.
The easy answer, of course, is to say that there is nothing new under the sun. Ahh, she can breathe easier now. She can give up the effort and just go about weaving what other people have woven. And that really is a choice. But for those of us who are not comfortable with that choice, who actually would hate having to make that choice no matter how tempting, we can continue on.
Painters, sculptors, composers, weavers, for all of these, their first creations are probably all imitative and not truly original. I am forgetting the geniuses, but I suspect that even their first works were imitative. And how many artists burn and destroy their first creations.............. We never see their true beginnings. And we do have to begin somewhere. And imitating, whether conscious or unconscious, is a pretty good place to start.
Artists gradually develop original ideas by continuing day in and day out to weave, paint, draw, sculpt, etc. They work on finding and developing their own voice, they work on finding their own path.
I like expressing it as finding your own path rather than finding your own voice. Finding your own voice tends to suggest to me the need for deep internal soul searching rather than working at your craft. While soul searching may have its value, I think it is much overestimated in its value for the creative artist. Of much more value is, dare I say it, hard work.
One way not to find one's own voice is to try continually all different sorts of things. Flitting from oils to pastels, from structure to structure. This can be useful at the very beginning just to find what appeals most to you. But at some point a weaver who is trying to find her creative way has to settle down to exploring in depth something in particular: a particular structure or a particular fiber, for example. The person from the above example, for instance, might decide she really likes blue and green and wants to explore that combination. So she may try the colors in different fibers, in different weights of yarn, in different structures, in different variations of color, even starting to dye her own yarns. Then she may start exploring the two colors in combination with other colors. This could all be most interesting, if, and only if, this path really intrigues her.
Originality is something hard won. And perhaps it is not even possible to win if that is a person's goal. Perhaps the focus needs to be the joy (and frustration) of the hunt. Perhaps, like happiness, originality comes only as a by-product. Perhaps originality comes in the process of developing mastery of one's materials and instruments.
Saturday, August 4, 2007
Thoughts on Designing
There has been on-going discussion among members of the Online Guild of Weavers, Spinners, and Dyers on copyright. Virtually every fiber email list I have been on has had in the past five years extended discussions of this issue. I usually don't pay too much attention except to be aghast at some of the really illegal things some people do and to wonder how they can live with themselves.
This time around I began to wonder why weavers (and other fiber artists) copy other people's designs at all, even within their legal rights. Would these weavers use paint-by-number kits if they were to take up painting?
The notion that design process ought to be taught with the first baby weaving lessons is a notion that grows stronger for me. Learning to design what you weave is no more arcane or difficult than learning to weave. And I see no reason why designing could not be incorporated in classes from the very beginning.
The first project for many weavers is often a scarf. That's a really good first project because all you have to know is how to warp the loom and weave plain weave. You only need two shafts, in fact. And you can choose your own yarn and colors. Then you have a bit more learning to do, but not really much. Basically, you need to learn how to figure out the sett. What many weavers seem to do is use the wraps per inch and then divide the wraps in half. Wraps per inch is a fine way to start for a beginning weaver. But she does have to learn enough about the interaction of warp and weft to know that she is not done when she has divided those wraps in half.
When the sett has been worked out, then it is just arithmetic to figure out the ends per inch and the length of the warp. And here will be learned how to calculate for shrinkage and take-up as well. And the new weaver will learn to put on an extra yard or so so that she can use the first part of the warp to make sure the sett is to her liking. This means not only weaving that sample but removing it and washing and pressing it. Often what is on the loom looks more like window-screening than cloth. But what magic happens when it is washed and pressed!
OK, this is a lot to expect. After all, the new weaver has just gone through this long struggle of learning how to warp her loom. Finally the warp is on. She wants to get on with it. When I am ready to weave, I want to get on with it too. But it's a lot to expect as well for the new weaver to learn to warp her own loom. There are teachers on think that the first time the loom already should be warped and waiting for the beginner. I happen to disagree.
I do remember the agonies of learning to warp my loom . I think it was not until my 10th warp or so that I could go through the entire process without referring either to my class notes or to my much used Warping Your Loom and Tying on New Warps by Peggy Osterkamp. And it is a long process. That does not change.
Weaving is not about instant results. And now I am moving dangerously close to the question of why weave. I am not ready to go there just yet. Weaving Spirit, however, has posted recently on just this.
There are so many more complex and deep pleasures to be derived from weaving than just the simple pleasure of throwing a shuttle and watching the cloth grow. Still, I do not underestimate that last pleasure, especially when the selvedges are going well.............
This time around I began to wonder why weavers (and other fiber artists) copy other people's designs at all, even within their legal rights. Would these weavers use paint-by-number kits if they were to take up painting?
The notion that design process ought to be taught with the first baby weaving lessons is a notion that grows stronger for me. Learning to design what you weave is no more arcane or difficult than learning to weave. And I see no reason why designing could not be incorporated in classes from the very beginning.
The first project for many weavers is often a scarf. That's a really good first project because all you have to know is how to warp the loom and weave plain weave. You only need two shafts, in fact. And you can choose your own yarn and colors. Then you have a bit more learning to do, but not really much. Basically, you need to learn how to figure out the sett. What many weavers seem to do is use the wraps per inch and then divide the wraps in half. Wraps per inch is a fine way to start for a beginning weaver. But she does have to learn enough about the interaction of warp and weft to know that she is not done when she has divided those wraps in half.
When the sett has been worked out, then it is just arithmetic to figure out the ends per inch and the length of the warp. And here will be learned how to calculate for shrinkage and take-up as well. And the new weaver will learn to put on an extra yard or so so that she can use the first part of the warp to make sure the sett is to her liking. This means not only weaving that sample but removing it and washing and pressing it. Often what is on the loom looks more like window-screening than cloth. But what magic happens when it is washed and pressed!
OK, this is a lot to expect. After all, the new weaver has just gone through this long struggle of learning how to warp her loom. Finally the warp is on. She wants to get on with it. When I am ready to weave, I want to get on with it too. But it's a lot to expect as well for the new weaver to learn to warp her own loom. There are teachers on think that the first time the loom already should be warped and waiting for the beginner. I happen to disagree.
I do remember the agonies of learning to warp my loom . I think it was not until my 10th warp or so that I could go through the entire process without referring either to my class notes or to my much used Warping Your Loom and Tying on New Warps by Peggy Osterkamp. And it is a long process. That does not change.
Weaving is not about instant results. And now I am moving dangerously close to the question of why weave. I am not ready to go there just yet. Weaving Spirit, however, has posted recently on just this.
There are so many more complex and deep pleasures to be derived from weaving than just the simple pleasure of throwing a shuttle and watching the cloth grow. Still, I do not underestimate that last pleasure, especially when the selvedges are going well.............
Friday, August 3, 2007
Another Raddling Tip
I discovered quite accidentally another way to make the raddling process easier. I had put the ends of the bouts in clear plastic baggies. The purpose is to keep the warps clean and the bouts separated. However, in the past I had discovered that they tended to slip out of the baggies and get messed about anyway. This time I used potato chip clips to hold them. When I put the bouts over the top of the loom, I let out enough of the warp from their baggies so they would almost rest on the loom bench, but not quite. I.e., the bouts were weighted by the potato chip clips.
Here the bouts are actually resting on the bench at the front of the loom because I have done with the raddling and am ready to move on to winding the warp onto the back beam. While I was laying the warp ends into the raddle at the back of the loom, however, they were suspended over the front beam but above the bench, with those red potato chip clips serving as weights. Those weights gave the warp just enough tension to make separating the ends with my ever faithful crochet hook much easier.
Once I am ready to start winding the warp on, however, I will add much heavier weights to the bouts. From my experience, it seems that the warps should be wound on with at least as much tension as I will use when I am actually weaving.
Here the bouts are actually resting on the bench at the front of the loom because I have done with the raddling and am ready to move on to winding the warp onto the back beam. While I was laying the warp ends into the raddle at the back of the loom, however, they were suspended over the front beam but above the bench, with those red potato chip clips serving as weights. Those weights gave the warp just enough tension to make separating the ends with my ever faithful crochet hook much easier.
Once I am ready to start winding the warp on, however, I will add much heavier weights to the bouts. From my experience, it seems that the warps should be wound on with at least as much tension as I will use when I am actually weaving.
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Raddling Tip for Multi-Colored Warps
When I wind my warps, I wind rather small bouts. Usually these bouts are about 2 inches to 3 inches wide. That is when I am working with 60/2 silk. Small bouts in such fine slippery yarn beam on much more smoothly and easily than wider bouts. With this crackle warp I am making bouts about 5 1/2 inches wide. It is mercerized cotton and 20/2 in size. It will be sett at 30 epi. This is in contrast to the silk which I sett normally around 60 epi.
When I make the bouts I always label them, 1,2,3 etc so that I know in what order they are supposed to go on. Where I would get stymied, however, is in trying to figure out which way each bout supposed to lie when I slip it onto the lease sticks.
One day , for no particular reason, I decided to leave the counting string at the cross in when I took it off the warping board. I usually took it off and reinserted it whole through the cross. I noticed when I was dropping the warp ends into the raddle, that sometimes the string at the counting cross where the lease sticks were, was sometimes tied off at the right, sometimes at the left. This didn't make much difference to me except that it was more awkward for me when the string was tied off at the left. But then I just cut it at the right and continued laying the warp ends in the raddle spaces.
When I started winding this current warp, I figured something out. I realized that when I took the warp off the board the tie at the cross would always be knotted on the same side. That meant I had to watch the placement of that knot when I put the lease sticks through the warp ends in preparation for raddling. Once the bouts themselves were in the proper order, all I had to do was make sure that the knots were all on the same side.
Here are two of the bouts on the lease sticks. The red yarn are the marking yarns I put on as I wound the bouts. On the right side are the loops that I made when I tied them on the warping board. On the warping board those ties were always made on the same side of the bout, the side facing me. Here I have arranged them on the lease sticks so that they face to the right. Since I work from right to left during this process, having them face right makes sense. The warp colors here, by the way, are quite accurate, at least on my computer screen.
Why is this so important for me? It is important because often my warps are multicolored and the ordering will often be random enough that I can't tell or remember by looking at an individual bout, just how the colors are supposed to go. If I don't get the warps put on correctly, the arrangement of the colors will not be what I had planned.
Problem solved.
When I make the bouts I always label them, 1,2,3 etc so that I know in what order they are supposed to go on. Where I would get stymied, however, is in trying to figure out which way each bout supposed to lie when I slip it onto the lease sticks.
One day , for no particular reason, I decided to leave the counting string at the cross in when I took it off the warping board. I usually took it off and reinserted it whole through the cross. I noticed when I was dropping the warp ends into the raddle, that sometimes the string at the counting cross where the lease sticks were, was sometimes tied off at the right, sometimes at the left. This didn't make much difference to me except that it was more awkward for me when the string was tied off at the left. But then I just cut it at the right and continued laying the warp ends in the raddle spaces.
When I started winding this current warp, I figured something out. I realized that when I took the warp off the board the tie at the cross would always be knotted on the same side. That meant I had to watch the placement of that knot when I put the lease sticks through the warp ends in preparation for raddling. Once the bouts themselves were in the proper order, all I had to do was make sure that the knots were all on the same side.
Here are two of the bouts on the lease sticks. The red yarn are the marking yarns I put on as I wound the bouts. On the right side are the loops that I made when I tied them on the warping board. On the warping board those ties were always made on the same side of the bout, the side facing me. Here I have arranged them on the lease sticks so that they face to the right. Since I work from right to left during this process, having them face right makes sense. The warp colors here, by the way, are quite accurate, at least on my computer screen.
Why is this so important for me? It is important because often my warps are multicolored and the ordering will often be random enough that I can't tell or remember by looking at an individual bout, just how the colors are supposed to go. If I don't get the warps put on correctly, the arrangement of the colors will not be what I had planned.
Problem solved.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Crackle Jacket Fabric: A Change of Plan
Last night I finished winding the warp. I had made 6 bouts with a total of 1058 ends. As I was winding the last bout I began to realize that I really wanted to have the threads spread out on 8 shafts. The reason for this is that I wanted to be able to use any warp left over at the end for some 8-shaft tie-ups and try some things on them.
I thought this would be simple enough to do. I went to my original 4-block structure and asked my software to convert it to 8-shaft crackle. The resulting threading turned out to be a bit of a mess. Even after I made the necessary corrections manually, I discovered that there no threads called for on shafts 5 and 6. So I decided to start over. But first it was time to go to bed.
I didn't sleep very well for a couple of reasons. One of them was the warp. I had figured out what I needed to do, but it was the middle of the night and I was not going to get up and do it. So I was just quite restless through the night. Morning came. I took my morning walk, had breakfast, went to the computer and opened the software.
This time I redid the original 4 blocks as 8 blocks, keeping the same basic design. Here it is:
Then I asked
my software to convert the block design to 8-shaft crackle. The software made a few errors, but not many, and they were easily corrected. When I filled in the tie-up and the treadling, things seemed to be what I wanted.
There was only one minor hitch. The new block design was wider and so called for more warp ends. Consequently I created 3 instead of 4 repeats. That was fine, especially as I am in general a fan of odd numbers. But 10 more warp ends were needed in addition to the warp ends I had already finished making. So, I went to my color diagram, and using the next colors that came up, I simply made 10 more ends. I will simply call that last bout #6a. And when I wind on, I will wind on bouts 6 and 6a together.
There is one more change I plan on making as well, and that is the treadling. The original plan was just to treadle straight across, left to right, left to right, left to right, and so on. I would change the color order when I decided to start a new block. But then I tried notating a point twill kind of treadling. I had the treadling go left to right 2 times, and then return 10 times. Fortunately I will have plenty of room on the warp to try this out. Of course, something could go terribly wrong with the beaming on and I lose a yard or two of warp. No, not going to happen.....
Here is the drawdown, including a possible treadling:
It's a little hard to see what is going on; I zoomed out a great deal in order to give a better image of what the fabric might actually look like. What I like here is the illusion of direction change. What I do not like what happens at the point of change. Perhaps I can figure a way around that. However, the warp here is all black, which it is not in reality. And I will have to weave it to see what is really happening.
I thought this would be simple enough to do. I went to my original 4-block structure and asked my software to convert it to 8-shaft crackle. The resulting threading turned out to be a bit of a mess. Even after I made the necessary corrections manually, I discovered that there no threads called for on shafts 5 and 6. So I decided to start over. But first it was time to go to bed.
I didn't sleep very well for a couple of reasons. One of them was the warp. I had figured out what I needed to do, but it was the middle of the night and I was not going to get up and do it. So I was just quite restless through the night. Morning came. I took my morning walk, had breakfast, went to the computer and opened the software.
This time I redid the original 4 blocks as 8 blocks, keeping the same basic design. Here it is:
Then I asked
my software to convert the block design to 8-shaft crackle. The software made a few errors, but not many, and they were easily corrected. When I filled in the tie-up and the treadling, things seemed to be what I wanted.There was only one minor hitch. The new block design was wider and so called for more warp ends. Consequently I created 3 instead of 4 repeats. That was fine, especially as I am in general a fan of odd numbers. But 10 more warp ends were needed in addition to the warp ends I had already finished making. So, I went to my color diagram, and using the next colors that came up, I simply made 10 more ends. I will simply call that last bout #6a. And when I wind on, I will wind on bouts 6 and 6a together.
There is one more change I plan on making as well, and that is the treadling. The original plan was just to treadle straight across, left to right, left to right, left to right, and so on. I would change the color order when I decided to start a new block. But then I tried notating a point twill kind of treadling. I had the treadling go left to right 2 times, and then return 10 times. Fortunately I will have plenty of room on the warp to try this out. Of course, something could go terribly wrong with the beaming on and I lose a yard or two of warp. No, not going to happen.....
Here is the drawdown, including a possible treadling:
It's a little hard to see what is going on; I zoomed out a great deal in order to give a better image of what the fabric might actually look like. What I like here is the illusion of direction change. What I do not like what happens at the point of change. Perhaps I can figure a way around that. However, the warp here is all black, which it is not in reality. And I will have to weave it to see what is really happening.
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