Flossa…..finally!
I had a wonderful time in Albuquerque, first teaching at the Complex Weavers Seminars and then helping out in the Lunatic Fringe booth at Convergence. And now I’m back and finally getting into some of the long-deferred projects that I haven’t been able to get to. I took a rug weaving class at Vavstuga some time ago and came home with a set of flossa bars and a desire to weave one of these Scandinavian pile rugs. The Harrisville rug loom as been sitting forlornly in the corner for some time and, after a minor warping misadventure, the rug is now underway. There is something wonderfully satisfying about sliding the knife between the bars to slice through the loops to create the cut pile….
The first couple of inches of flossa...
I managed a total of 50.75 inches on 3 of my looms this week including these samples of woven kitty cats designed using Photoshop Elements. And I’m down .5 lb in spite of some regrettable dietary excesses.
I’ve got a little problem with focus as those who know me personally can attest. Goal setting is not my problem–but prioritizing is. So I decided to combine a couple of my goals for the new decade and record my progress here. There may not be any obvious link between my attempt to lose many excess pounds and to actually finish some of the numerous weaving projects that are currently on my looms. However, I recently discovered a remote connection that may help me acheive both goals.
I’ve been a Weight Watchers member for some time now (I’m not saying how long.) And without that help I’d probably still be expanding in girth. One of the elements of the program is a connection between how much exercise you do and how much you eat. I’m not a lover of exercise for its own sake, as attested to by the treadmill that is currently being used as a laundry rack in the other room. But after actually getting some weaving done recently, I realized that my looms, especially the big ones could really be regarded as exercise equipment, if used every day for significant period of time.
So I’ve decided on a strategy of posting my week’s weaving accomplishments along with a count down that reflects my weight gain/loss for the week. I’m not tempted to tell you how much I weigh now, nor what my ultimate goal is…I’ll just let you wonder based on my weekly post.
So for today, I’ll set the counter to zero and post this picture of the cotton damask that I just finished….
“Pseudo” Saddleblanket
I’ve finally gotten around to playing with 3 shaft weaves after years of ‘contemplation’. I recently acquired a copy of Erica de Ruiter’s book on 3 shaft weaving and was delighted to see her version of ‘Indian Saddleblanket’ weaving. I’ve been fascinated by it since I bought a beautiful example of the real thing (picture coming) at a trading post in Arizona a number of years and I’ve been longing to try it. Real saddleblanket weave is a double faced twill with 4 selvedges woven on a vertical loom. One face is striped and the other is twill tapestry. Erica’s version is double faced plain weave with one face showing either a solid color or stripes and the other plain weave tapestry. I’ll post my samples shortly–
Off on another tangent
After a fellow guild member showed up at our last meeting with a wonderful book entitled “Crocheting adventures with Hyperbolic Planes” by Daina Taimina, I had to get my own copy and dig out my crochet hook.
There is something mesmerizing about these and I can’t stop making them in various sizes and colors…
More on bobbin lace
I recently wrote a short article for Complex Weavers Journal on how I got hooked on bobbin lace…Here’s the draft in pdf form: bobbin-lace
We decided to escape from winter’s last blast by heading for Costa Rica for a week or so. It turned out to be longer that expected since our flight home was cancelled because of the storm in Atlanta and it was three days before we could get on another flight. There are worse things than being stranded in Costa Rica!
Lastest Bit of Lace
I’ve finally gotten back to my lace pillow and finished this piece made from 4 prickings from Barbara Underwood’s “Bedfordshire Lace in 20 Lessons” . (These represent Lessons 7 through 10)…Now if I can just find time to work on # 11….
Hello from Riverside Fiber Arts Studio
Greetings! Starting a blog has been on my ever-growing todo list for some time. A recent question from a weaving friend and customer finally gave me the push I needed. The question had to do with a feature of “The Textile Design Studios: Computer Games for Weavers“, an interactive tutorial I produced on designing fabrics using any of four popular weaving programs for handweavers. The ‘problem’ with producing such a tutorial is that the authors of these programs continue enhancing their capabilities. And, unfortunately, there is bound to be a bit of lag-time between the time the updates are released and the time when these updates get incorporated into the latest version of The Textile Design Studios. (For more information on The Textile Design Studios, you can visit my site www.riversidefiberarts.com )
The basic question that got me started on this blog pertains to a feature of the weaving program PixeLoom, from Kitchen Table Software. It was this:
Now I have a question which you might, or might not, be able to answer. I have version 6 of Pixeloom. When I go into the Search function (now called Browse) it will only go into Browse for Pixeloom. I can go to “Open” and search other folders, but not using the groovy browse ability that you describe. I’m wondering if there is something I have to set in the deeper recesses of the program to allow me to browse all of my folders etc. Any thoughts?
Go down and select “Browse Folder:”, and then click the Modify button. The folder you point to can have subfolders, but you can’t just specify your C:\ drive (or at least I can’t) because PixeLoom may hang. I have a main folder for my weaving drafts that then has subfolders for each of my draft collections. After you specify your folder name, Pixeloom will open in an ‘explorer-like’ window. Pick the folder you want to browse and then you can scroll through the folder by selecting the first draft and using the down arrow key. If you are a user of PixeLoom, this will make perfect sense to you. If you are a weaver considering a design program, you can visit my site (see the link above) and from there you can link to websites for the vendors of this and other weaving programs to see their features and download demo versions to play with.
So there you have my first official post!
I plan to use this new blog to answer similar questions and to identify features and capabilities that should be added to subsequent editions of The Textile Design Studios.
I’ll also use this forum to keep you posted on my newest project: a DVD that will use animation and interactivity unlock the mysteries of weave structure and drafting. There are some very good books out there on the subject, but they all have the same drawbacks: the diagrams are static and have a single surface, while weaving is a dynamic process and cloth can be very complex structurally. I’ll be giving you a ‘shuttle’s eye view’ of what’s going on in the shed so that you can easily visualize the weaving process and the rich design possibilities of such structures as double-weave, lampas, and various tied weaves.
Now to get back to that ‘todo’ list I mentioned above….
