Last week I ran across an interesting weaver, born in the United States but now living in England. Her name is Heidi Lichterman. She weaves both clothing and large wall hangings, using hand dyed silk yarns. In 2002 she began experimenting on using wire to weave in her large silk hangings.
Many of her pieces can be viewed on her website gallery. She also has a page where she briefly explains a bit about her dyeing techniques. Go here and click on the link in the left column called "About Me."
I was especially interested in her work when I learned that her hangings are based on ikat and dip dyeing. She does not explain her weaving process, but if I understand correctly what she is doing, her hangings seem to be either warp dominant or warp faced, probably warp faced. This is a quick summary of what I understand her to be saying: when you see the dip-dyed warps stretched out on the loom, you see her design. For her design then to be visible in the woven fabric, that warp would have to be at least dominant.
I have occasionally thought about setting up a crackle warp so that it is warp dominant (not warp faced). Looking at the pieces on her website have brought these thoughts back to the surface. If I turned the draft so that the warp became the weft and vice versa, I could uses a larger yarn for the warp and a fine yarn for the weft. That way I could achieve the kind of thing I had thought about achieving when I talked about ikat dyed wefts. And the process would seem to be easier.
I would have no problem turning the current draft I am using. I say this, having never actually turned a draft myself. I have only read how to turn drafts. From what I remember and perhaps understand, since my current crackle draft uses six treadles, that is how many shafts the turned draft would require. And since I actually have eight shafts, the number of shafts should not be a problem. But, as I have never actually gone through the turning process, I have no idea what hidden, sneaky problems there might be lying in wait!
Zielinski talks about turning crackle drafts in the Master Weaver volume (8) that I am using. So I will read that first. He is not talking then about the kind of thing I am weaving now, but about normal crackle drafts. Nevertheless he may have some tips.
I find it interesting that Lichterman generally does not use ikat ties. She prefers the blurred effect that dip dyeing yields. I really enjoyed going through her web pages. They have given me much to think about.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
End-of-Loom Sampling
I found this in a recent email newsletter from Robert Genn:
"Regarding order by size, small field sketches and studio
thumbnails have traditionally preceded larger, more ambitious
work. A valuable exercise is to make sketches as postscripts to
majors. This second look, perhaps an inconsequential toss-off,
rethinks previous commitments and becomes its own unique
personality. Funnily, afterthoughts are often superior to the
main thought."
Genn is talking about painters, but I immediately thought of sampling for weaving. The samples a weaver makes before weaving the actual items function very much like artists' sketches and thumbnails. The order for both the artist and the weaver, of course, is to sample and then to produce the final piece based on what was learned from the sampling process.
But what about sampling after I am done with a weaving project? This is why I try to put on extra warp. Other weavers do this as well. But for me the problem often is battle fatigue. "Battle fatigue" is probably not quite the right phrase; I usually do not feel I am doing battle with the loom as I weave. Unless the loom or the warp is misbehaving............. But the phrase does suggest how really tired I can be of that warp by the time I get to the end of the project. The thought of weaving samples on this same warp is sometimes more than I can bear. Yet I do feel guilt if I don't. There is still a bit of the Depression child in me who cannot waste things. The guilt trip, however, is not the point. I would like to figure out a way to combat this battle fatigue.
Often as I am weaving on a project other possibilities come to mind. If these possibilities include trying some different treadlings, it is not that hard to push through the fatigue. But often it is not that easy.
When end-of-warp sampling is not so simple, and if I still have a fair amount of warp left, I could just let it sit. Fatigue needs time and space to diminish. If, however, I simply must remove the woven fabric and I have enough extra warp, I can always do that and then reattach the rest of the warp. Then I can get away from the loom and get on with the more mundane business of finishing the piece.
When I am done with a piece, I am always really eager, however, not only to get the warp off the loom, but to get everything cleaned up, dusted, vacuumed, have my weaving space returned to its original pristine nature. Well, that's a bit of an exaggeration. I am not exactly a pristine housekeeper. But have the space returned to that point where the loom is ready for the next warp. I really like that. That makes me feel good. I think that might even make me feel good about thinking what to do with the remaining warp.
"Regarding order by size, small field sketches and studio
thumbnails have traditionally preceded larger, more ambitious
work. A valuable exercise is to make sketches as postscripts to
majors. This second look, perhaps an inconsequential toss-off,
rethinks previous commitments and becomes its own unique
personality. Funnily, afterthoughts are often superior to the
main thought."
Genn is talking about painters, but I immediately thought of sampling for weaving. The samples a weaver makes before weaving the actual items function very much like artists' sketches and thumbnails. The order for both the artist and the weaver, of course, is to sample and then to produce the final piece based on what was learned from the sampling process.
But what about sampling after I am done with a weaving project? This is why I try to put on extra warp. Other weavers do this as well. But for me the problem often is battle fatigue. "Battle fatigue" is probably not quite the right phrase; I usually do not feel I am doing battle with the loom as I weave. Unless the loom or the warp is misbehaving............. But the phrase does suggest how really tired I can be of that warp by the time I get to the end of the project. The thought of weaving samples on this same warp is sometimes more than I can bear. Yet I do feel guilt if I don't. There is still a bit of the Depression child in me who cannot waste things. The guilt trip, however, is not the point. I would like to figure out a way to combat this battle fatigue.
Often as I am weaving on a project other possibilities come to mind. If these possibilities include trying some different treadlings, it is not that hard to push through the fatigue. But often it is not that easy.
When end-of-warp sampling is not so simple, and if I still have a fair amount of warp left, I could just let it sit. Fatigue needs time and space to diminish. If, however, I simply must remove the woven fabric and I have enough extra warp, I can always do that and then reattach the rest of the warp. Then I can get away from the loom and get on with the more mundane business of finishing the piece.
When I am done with a piece, I am always really eager, however, not only to get the warp off the loom, but to get everything cleaned up, dusted, vacuumed, have my weaving space returned to its original pristine nature. Well, that's a bit of an exaggeration. I am not exactly a pristine housekeeper. But have the space returned to that point where the loom is ready for the next warp. I really like that. That makes me feel good. I think that might even make me feel good about thinking what to do with the remaining warp.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Mending Fabric
I've learned not to waste time sobbing. Well, maybe I do sob for a moment or two.... I have finally gotten to that large swath of crackle fabric that came off the loom more than a month ago. I am now in the process of examining it and, where necessary, mending it.
Yes, there is mending to be done. It looked like there was none at all to be done when I looked at the top of the fabric, the fabric that I saw when I was weaving. But when I looked at the other side, the side that was pretty much invisible when I was sitting at the loom, there I saw some long overshots. Not a lot. My weaving technique with crackle has much improved over the past years. But few or not, they were there. And they needed to be tended to. Here is a closeup view of two of them.
Here you can see the two long pinkish threads that need to be corrected.These two are part of a whole row that I have to mend. Because this is not an isolated overshot but extends (here and there) over the entire row, I have used one correcting thread for the whole row. I start at the selvedge, weave in and out to the first overshot. This part is easy, for I simply follow the thre thread that is in there correctly.
When I get to the first overshot, I cut the offending thread. Then, following the pattern I have been using, and also using the pattern established in the rows above and below, I weave in the new thread. Then I pull out the original thread that begins at the selvedge.
Then I continue weaving along following the original weft thread until I get to the next offense. I then cut it, weave with the new yarn till it is right, cut off the original weft thread where I have just rewoven, and continue onward until the row is finished. The advantage of this is that I end up with no doubled threads anywhere. The disadvantage, of course, is the time involved.
When there is only an isolated error in a given row, then there is going to be some doubling of thread on either side. I don't much like that, but after washing and pressing it is not particularly noticeable.
To do this I use a small tapestry needle. The needle is blunt. That way I am very unlikely to pierce threads as I move the needle in and out of the fabric. I also use something called MagEyes. This is a magnification lens which is fitted on a headpiece so that my hands are free. For more information, go to their website here.
What I need to figure out now is how better to avoid the overshots that appear on the bottom side of the fabric. They occur when warp yarns do not rise as they should in the shed. My mirror system has really worked very well for picking up sheds that are not clear. What that system does not pick up, however, are threads that lie absolutely flat on the shuttle rest. The system picks up only threads that are neither up nor down or are at an angle.
Possibilities. First, after I weave a sample, I could remove it from the loom and check the underside. If there are overshots, are there any consistencies? For example, are they always on the same shaft or shafts? Do they always occur with the same warp threads?
Second possibility is to use a mirror to look at the underside of what I have woven. But I find that difficult if not impossible. This just doesn't work for me, at least with a small, handheld mirror.
A third possibility is to wind the woven part down over the front beam and to the space where it is starting to move towards the cloth beam. There the woven fabric actually is upside down and I might be able to see it better. I might actually be able to see it standing at the front of the loom because all that would be on the top would be warp ends. A flashlight might also help.
It is really important that I figure this out because weaving at 60 epi or finer creates a fabric that is next to impossible for me to mend. It is not that mending is a difficult task in and of itself. It is tedious. But not difficult. When I am working with really fine yarns, however, I simply have so much trouble seeing that I just sob.
Yes, there is mending to be done. It looked like there was none at all to be done when I looked at the top of the fabric, the fabric that I saw when I was weaving. But when I looked at the other side, the side that was pretty much invisible when I was sitting at the loom, there I saw some long overshots. Not a lot. My weaving technique with crackle has much improved over the past years. But few or not, they were there. And they needed to be tended to. Here is a closeup view of two of them.
Here you can see the two long pinkish threads that need to be corrected.These two are part of a whole row that I have to mend. Because this is not an isolated overshot but extends (here and there) over the entire row, I have used one correcting thread for the whole row. I start at the selvedge, weave in and out to the first overshot. This part is easy, for I simply follow the thre thread that is in there correctly.
When I get to the first overshot, I cut the offending thread. Then, following the pattern I have been using, and also using the pattern established in the rows above and below, I weave in the new thread. Then I pull out the original thread that begins at the selvedge.
Then I continue weaving along following the original weft thread until I get to the next offense. I then cut it, weave with the new yarn till it is right, cut off the original weft thread where I have just rewoven, and continue onward until the row is finished. The advantage of this is that I end up with no doubled threads anywhere. The disadvantage, of course, is the time involved.
When there is only an isolated error in a given row, then there is going to be some doubling of thread on either side. I don't much like that, but after washing and pressing it is not particularly noticeable.
To do this I use a small tapestry needle. The needle is blunt. That way I am very unlikely to pierce threads as I move the needle in and out of the fabric. I also use something called MagEyes. This is a magnification lens which is fitted on a headpiece so that my hands are free. For more information, go to their website here.
What I need to figure out now is how better to avoid the overshots that appear on the bottom side of the fabric. They occur when warp yarns do not rise as they should in the shed. My mirror system has really worked very well for picking up sheds that are not clear. What that system does not pick up, however, are threads that lie absolutely flat on the shuttle rest. The system picks up only threads that are neither up nor down or are at an angle.
Possibilities. First, after I weave a sample, I could remove it from the loom and check the underside. If there are overshots, are there any consistencies? For example, are they always on the same shaft or shafts? Do they always occur with the same warp threads?
Second possibility is to use a mirror to look at the underside of what I have woven. But I find that difficult if not impossible. This just doesn't work for me, at least with a small, handheld mirror.
A third possibility is to wind the woven part down over the front beam and to the space where it is starting to move towards the cloth beam. There the woven fabric actually is upside down and I might be able to see it better. I might actually be able to see it standing at the front of the loom because all that would be on the top would be warp ends. A flashlight might also help.
It is really important that I figure this out because weaving at 60 epi or finer creates a fabric that is next to impossible for me to mend. It is not that mending is a difficult task in and of itself. It is tedious. But not difficult. When I am working with really fine yarns, however, I simply have so much trouble seeing that I just sob.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Progress on Sample Warp
I have made some progress with the blue and brown wefts on the sample warp.
These are definitely not my favorite colors. Nevertheless weaving with them is producing some interesting results.
One of the new things I have tried here is having some of the blocks shorter. In the three groups near the bottom, the blues predominate. But in between are two shorter groups of blocks where the browns dominate.
Above that, there are three groups of blocks where the browns dominate. In between are two shorter groups where the blues dominate.
More information to put into my think tank!
Unfortunately, I pulled a muscle on the side of my lower back. It is healing more rapidly than I have any right to expect. But my focus for the next few days will be on heat, stretching, walking, and resting. Not on sitting at the loom. Fortunately I have many weaving activities I need to get done which have nothing at all to do with sitting at the loom.
And here is a gratuitous photo of my cat Button at the loom.
She is an American Shorthair and the most doglike cat we have ever had. We love her dearly. And in the years we have had her, she has never created a serious problem with my fiber pursuits.
The taped mirror on the left is one of the mirrors I use to check my sheds as I weave. One side of the mirror broke in the course of our move from Georgia. Hence the brown tape across it. Fortunately the broken side was the magnifying side.
These are definitely not my favorite colors. Nevertheless weaving with them is producing some interesting results.
One of the new things I have tried here is having some of the blocks shorter. In the three groups near the bottom, the blues predominate. But in between are two shorter groups of blocks where the browns dominate.
Above that, there are three groups of blocks where the browns dominate. In between are two shorter groups where the blues dominate.
More information to put into my think tank!
Unfortunately, I pulled a muscle on the side of my lower back. It is healing more rapidly than I have any right to expect. But my focus for the next few days will be on heat, stretching, walking, and resting. Not on sitting at the loom. Fortunately I have many weaving activities I need to get done which have nothing at all to do with sitting at the loom.
And here is a gratuitous photo of my cat Button at the loom.
She is an American Shorthair and the most doglike cat we have ever had. We love her dearly. And in the years we have had her, she has never created a serious problem with my fiber pursuits.
The taped mirror on the left is one of the mirrors I use to check my sheds as I weave. One side of the mirror broke in the course of our move from Georgia. Hence the brown tape across it. Fortunately the broken side was the magnifying side.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Next Warp, Dye, Dip Dye, or Paint?
In all my color dreaming and planning for the next warp, I have pretty much thought of the warp as consisting of neutral colors. Notice on the last post that I had even decided which neutrals I planned to use, including the formulas for them. I had also thought about occasionally including some blue ends. But the color plans for the warp were basically neutrals.
On the other hand, I have been so tempted to paint the warp. There had been an aside on a WeaveTech Yahoo group email about how excited someone's students got about weaving off a painted warp. It filled me with nostalgic memories about painted warps I have done. How exciting it was to weave them. How hard it is to stop and how eager I always am to get back to the weaving.
Those warps, however were either plain weave or twill so the changing of the colors in the warps created the major focus for the finished textile. Such would not be the case in the crackle warps. They would simply provide another element of interest. The result could be confusion. This is what has really scared me away from painting the warps. However, if I don't get too fancy with the painting, I think it might work. I think I should try it.
Moreover, I do not really want to paint the warps. I want to dye them. I believe that I would get better results with the neutrals if I dip dyed those parts of the warp instead of painting them. But for the parts of the warp that are to be blue, or blue related, I am not so sure. I have never dip dyed warps, so fear brought on by inexperience holds me back. Inexperience, however, only means that I should start simply. The design should be very simple and the areas of color should be fairly long rather than short and many.
One possibility that might work is to dip dye the neutral areas but paint the blue areas. I think, however, that if I make the areas of color fairly long, that will be simple enough to have a go. I think I could get the neutrals on in one go with three dye pots on the stove. And if I used only two or three pots of blues, I might be able to finish that in another go.
If I tie crosses at both ends of the warps I could, if I wanted to, put some warp bouts on the loom beginning with one end of the warp. And the other bouts I could put on the loom beginning from the opposite end.
I have also been wondering to what extent could I rearrange groups in the raddle, and then in the threading without making a mess?
But I need to stop thinking about these rearrangement possibilities. As a beginning dip dyer, I would be getting into too much complexity without having the foggiest notion of how this would work out in the final result. Foreign as this notion is to me, I must think simple!
On the other hand, I have been so tempted to paint the warp. There had been an aside on a WeaveTech Yahoo group email about how excited someone's students got about weaving off a painted warp. It filled me with nostalgic memories about painted warps I have done. How exciting it was to weave them. How hard it is to stop and how eager I always am to get back to the weaving.
Those warps, however were either plain weave or twill so the changing of the colors in the warps created the major focus for the finished textile. Such would not be the case in the crackle warps. They would simply provide another element of interest. The result could be confusion. This is what has really scared me away from painting the warps. However, if I don't get too fancy with the painting, I think it might work. I think I should try it.
Moreover, I do not really want to paint the warps. I want to dye them. I believe that I would get better results with the neutrals if I dip dyed those parts of the warp instead of painting them. But for the parts of the warp that are to be blue, or blue related, I am not so sure. I have never dip dyed warps, so fear brought on by inexperience holds me back. Inexperience, however, only means that I should start simply. The design should be very simple and the areas of color should be fairly long rather than short and many.
One possibility that might work is to dip dye the neutral areas but paint the blue areas. I think, however, that if I make the areas of color fairly long, that will be simple enough to have a go. I think I could get the neutrals on in one go with three dye pots on the stove. And if I used only two or three pots of blues, I might be able to finish that in another go.
If I tie crosses at both ends of the warps I could, if I wanted to, put some warp bouts on the loom beginning with one end of the warp. And the other bouts I could put on the loom beginning from the opposite end.
I have also been wondering to what extent could I rearrange groups in the raddle, and then in the threading without making a mess?
But I need to stop thinking about these rearrangement possibilities. As a beginning dip dyer, I would be getting into too much complexity without having the foggiest notion of how this would work out in the final result. Foreign as this notion is to me, I must think simple!
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Next Crackle Project: Dyeing Plans Begun
The threading plans for the next crackle warp may have changed, but not the plans for the colors. The color plan, brilliant blues against dominant neutrals with flashes of gold and orange, has not changed despite the fact that I absolutely love the deep reds and violets I wove with
in the first part of the current sample.
I know the colors in that photo do not look all that rich and deep, but they are. I had not yet learned how to play with my software to get the photos to show the real thing, to make up for my unskillful photography, in other words! I know that I need to get a tripod so I can stop using automatic settings on the camera, but until I get one, I am grateful for PaintShopPro.
Anyway, whenever I glance at the reds and purples going on to the cloth beam, I am so tempted to throw out my original notion of blues and neutrals. But I am not going to. I am hoping against hope to get a similar rich effect. But instead of the total fabric being rich, I will have the rich, brilliant blues set against the neutrals. Are rich and brilliant contradictory? I don't know.
In any case, I have decided on the colors and the formulas for the colors. As it now stands, I have three different neutrals for the warp: a gray, a brown, and a slightly golden brown, all three in the medium range. What would happen if I used intense colors here? I love intense colors. Should I go with what I love? I might get more the same kind of richness I got on this warp with the reds and purples.
It is so tempting to go with the familiar, with what I love. But staying there will not help me explore new things, discover new possibilities that I might love equally well. So I will continue with the original plan.
For the weft yarns I have these same three neutrals I am planning for the warp plus four more. Also five different blues. For the occasional sparks, I have three red-oranges, two reds and one gold.
These are a lot of variations of colors! This is what I like to do. And having been exposed once again to Randy Darwall's ideas on color, I am strongly motivated to go ahead and do this. It helps that I also love to dye.....
Now I must figure out the amounts I need for each color. To do that, I have to figure out how much warp and weft I will need. Right now these only need to be educated guesses. I intend tol make larger amounts of the dye solutions than I will actually use just to make sure that I do not run out.
in the first part of the current sample.
I know the colors in that photo do not look all that rich and deep, but they are. I had not yet learned how to play with my software to get the photos to show the real thing, to make up for my unskillful photography, in other words! I know that I need to get a tripod so I can stop using automatic settings on the camera, but until I get one, I am grateful for PaintShopPro.
Anyway, whenever I glance at the reds and purples going on to the cloth beam, I am so tempted to throw out my original notion of blues and neutrals. But I am not going to. I am hoping against hope to get a similar rich effect. But instead of the total fabric being rich, I will have the rich, brilliant blues set against the neutrals. Are rich and brilliant contradictory? I don't know.
In any case, I have decided on the colors and the formulas for the colors. As it now stands, I have three different neutrals for the warp: a gray, a brown, and a slightly golden brown, all three in the medium range. What would happen if I used intense colors here? I love intense colors. Should I go with what I love? I might get more the same kind of richness I got on this warp with the reds and purples.
It is so tempting to go with the familiar, with what I love. But staying there will not help me explore new things, discover new possibilities that I might love equally well. So I will continue with the original plan.
For the weft yarns I have these same three neutrals I am planning for the warp plus four more. Also five different blues. For the occasional sparks, I have three red-oranges, two reds and one gold.
These are a lot of variations of colors! This is what I like to do. And having been exposed once again to Randy Darwall's ideas on color, I am strongly motivated to go ahead and do this. It helps that I also love to dye.....
Now I must figure out the amounts I need for each color. To do that, I have to figure out how much warp and weft I will need. Right now these only need to be educated guesses. I intend tol make larger amounts of the dye solutions than I will actually use just to make sure that I do not run out.
Monday, December 31, 2007
Threading Error Revisited
As I was weaving today, I noticed a threading error. I had not seen it on the photo I posted yesterday. But when I went back to it and clicked on the photo, the closeup version came up and the error was crystal clear. Here it is, with a black arrow pointing to it, an arrow that I doubt is necessary............
Sitting at the loom, I looked at the heddles that held those warp ends. I discovered that I had threaded 1,4,1,4,1,4. This is definitely not a crackle threading! Clearly I had inadvertantly omitted some heddles.
So I decided to go back to the post where I had given the original threading. In that process I discovered the post titled, "Who Spotted the Threading Error?" At first glance, the error there looks quite different from the current error. In the earlier post what is visible is the extra-long weft shots. But what called my attention to the error here was the repetition of those 3 red warp ends, each alternating with a beige weft. Those red warp ends were coming up too often. I did not notice the long overshots until I looked at the photographic blowup.
So the error was not caused by incorrectly threading a block, specifically by leaving out some heddles in that bit. That is what I thought while sitting at the loom. Rather, the error occurred, as I explained earlier, because I had failed to do a good job in writing out the transition from the last threading in the draft back to the first threading. The result was the appearance of an incorrectly threaded separate block.
It was a good thing I noticed those overshots and finally discovered the real problem. Just sitting at the loom, not aware of the overshot, I thought this threading might become an interesting design feature by using a different colored warp and repeating the threading a few times. Of course that would be possible anyway. But I would have to be willing to have some wefts shooting over more than three warp ends. But there are problems with longish wefts in fabrics meant to be used. They can easily catch on things, especially when the yarn is slippery like mercerized cotton or silk.
Sitting at the loom, I looked at the heddles that held those warp ends. I discovered that I had threaded 1,4,1,4,1,4. This is definitely not a crackle threading! Clearly I had inadvertantly omitted some heddles.
So I decided to go back to the post where I had given the original threading. In that process I discovered the post titled, "Who Spotted the Threading Error?" At first glance, the error there looks quite different from the current error. In the earlier post what is visible is the extra-long weft shots. But what called my attention to the error here was the repetition of those 3 red warp ends, each alternating with a beige weft. Those red warp ends were coming up too often. I did not notice the long overshots until I looked at the photographic blowup.
So the error was not caused by incorrectly threading a block, specifically by leaving out some heddles in that bit. That is what I thought while sitting at the loom. Rather, the error occurred, as I explained earlier, because I had failed to do a good job in writing out the transition from the last threading in the draft back to the first threading. The result was the appearance of an incorrectly threaded separate block.
It was a good thing I noticed those overshots and finally discovered the real problem. Just sitting at the loom, not aware of the overshot, I thought this threading might become an interesting design feature by using a different colored warp and repeating the threading a few times. Of course that would be possible anyway. But I would have to be willing to have some wefts shooting over more than three warp ends. But there are problems with longish wefts in fabrics meant to be used. They can easily catch on things, especially when the yarn is slippery like mercerized cotton or silk.
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