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~ Jean Williams, Handweaver

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Monthly Archives: August 2016

More on Opphämta

26 Friday Aug 2016

Posted by jeanweaves in Opphämta, Uncategorized

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Color, creative inspiration, Projects, Textiles, Tradition, Weaving

Opphämta on the Loom

Opphämta on the Loom

Earlier this summer, I set out to explore opphämta and chose to put together some aprons using the patterning as borders along the sides and bodice. This has been a season-long project, but one in which I’ve learned a lot.

Because I wanted to make unique aprons, I wound only enough warp to make two aprons of each color. I also wanted to include some contrasting threads spaced randomly across the warp and weft. Since the borders and ties are woven on the same warp, this presented a bit of a challenge. Those contrasting threads interrupted the opphämpta pattern.

Royal Apron with White Opphämta Pattern

Royal Apron with White Opphämta Pattern

My first solution was to weave the body of the apron first with the contrasting threads. Then for the tie bands and patterns, I replaced those threads in the warp with the main color and weighted them off the back of the loom. This worked okay but caused a few tension issues.

White Apron with Star and Rose Pattern

White Apron with Star and Rose Pattern

I actually preferred the second solution—changing the contrasting threads on the warping board as I was measuring the warp. This did take some calculating, but the warp tension was more consistent.

My color choices were mainly pretty traditional—blue on white, white on blue. Then for the third warp, I used some seafoam green mercerized cotton that blends well with lavender. Those color studies from earlier this month came in handy.

White Apron with Star and Leaf Pattern

White Apron with Star and Leaf Pattern

Each apron uses a different opphämta design. There are so many different sources and motifs that I can spend hours playing with stars, roses, diamonds, and crosses. The scale of the pattern had to fit on the apron, so I kept my units to two threads each. With a sett of 24 epi, a five-unit float is almost ½”, so any float over five units had to be tied down.

Seafoam and Lavender Apron

Seafoam and Lavender Apron

As enjoyable as the aprons have been, I’m ready to move on. The nice thing about these opphämta patterns is that they can be used for other weave structures. Next up—damask. But what if these same units could be woven in overshot or lace or ….hmmm…

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The Language of Color

12 Friday Aug 2016

Posted by jeanweaves in Color, creating, Uncategorized, Weaving Inspiration

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

Color, creative inspiration, Weaving

Color Swatches

Color Swatches

I get a kick out of perusing the color trends that come down from who knows where. Just do an internet search for “color trends for home interiors” and you can get an idea of the colors being promoted by industry. Everyone from paint companies, interior decorators, furniture manufacturers, not to mention fashion designers, all have a take on what colors we want in our homes this year.

And the names of the colors can be quite poetic. Green is not just green; it’s Lush Meadow, Nile, Malachite. Pink can be Orchid, Salmon, Peach, Rose.  Phrases like “transcendent, powerful and polarizing,” “restrained and refined,”  “serene”, tempt me to read between the lines—what color are they really talking about? What does “serene” look like? I think of the soft green of a summer meadow, but really it’s a pale sky blue.IMG_0274

This is more than a casual search for those of us who create for the home. It does little good to go to all the trouble of handweaving a piece that doesn’t go with anything in anyone’s home. I used to buy odd lots of mill end yarns because the price was right, but soon discovered that those odd lots included colors that were long out of date.

There is a down side to following the trends. It takes a good long time to plan something, weave and finish it. Will that “trendy” color still be trendy by the time my handwoven hits to market? And who redecorates completely every year? A friend of mine doesn’t watch the color trends for just that reason. She creates large quantities of items for an established line and she can’t afford to have unsold pieces sitting around because a color has gone out of style.

The upside of color trends is that they are usually pretty broad. Look at most forecasts and you are bound to find some shade of your favorite hue. And the trends from previous years will carry over to a certain degree. The Marsala and Radiant Orchid of 2015 and 2016 still show up in 2017 forecasts, even if they are not called exactly that. Even the Emerald of 2014 shows up in home interior ads.

This is especially true for those of us living outside major urban areas. Often color trends on the coasts of the U.S. take a couple years to filter into the midsection of the country.

Yarns on Hand

Yarns on Hand

But when it comes right down to it, when I’m planning a project, the colors come from my yarn on hand.  When I stock up on yarn, I focus on colors that will “play well together” over time, to make something pleasing both to me and to the person who buys it.

So that’s the creative challenge for handweavers—using the yarn on hand in ways that will complement the current color trends without being limited to what someone else says we should choose.

Cotton Kitchen Towel in Aqua and Turquoise

Cotton Kitchen Towel in Aqua and Turquoise

I am not a color theorist, nor have I done any extensive study of color. What I know, or think I know, about color comes from paying attention to what’s in the market, what yarn colors are currently available, but most of all, what I like.

Look at the yarn on your shelf. What can you make from what you have?

Inspired by Nature

05 Friday Aug 2016

Posted by jeanweaves in Color, Nature, Weaving Inspiration

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Color, creative inspiration, Weaving

If you  scroll through my photo files, you will see landscapes, family members, fascinating flowers, and – what’s this?

That’s the reaction I get when showing trip pictures. There’s always some odd picture that is not quite identifiable. I know what it is, but my husband and other family members just scroll right past, thinking it’s a mistake.

Colorful lichen formations

Colorful lichen formations

This, from our recent trip to Wyoming, is lichen growing on the rock. Yes, I did take pictures of the area as a whole, but these colors intrigued me too. So I brought them home – on the camera! Orange, lime green, rusty tan on a background of cool gray — an interesting color relationship!

I’ve written before about my adventures in choosing colors. This rock made me think again of Sharon Alderman’s suggestion to pay attention to what colors occur in nature. She spoke about going around her neighborhood photographing tree bark, moss, and lichens. So I try to train my eyes to see the colors with the idea of perhaps using them in some woven piece.

Blues and greens in grape hyacinths

Blues and greens in grape hyacinths

And not just the colors. Notice the many shades of blue and green in these grape hyacinths, how the highlights and shadows blend together.  I can see these together in a kitchen towel. The trick sometimes is to choose an effective weft. The colors may be stunning in the warp, but choosing a weft that won’t overpower them is also important. I’ve learned from experience that darker weft colors will “recede” and lighter ones will dominate. If I want the warp colors to draw attention, then I will pick the darker color from the warp and use that as the weft.

Choosing colors from the garden

Choosing colors from the garden

Sometimes I blend colors across the warp from one hue to another, similar to a flower garden. However, a weft that will work with one of the warps may not look so good with another. That’s where I need to sample before winding on a long warp. The red and yellow of these geraniums and heliopolis may work as accent colors, and perhaps a soft green could then be the “background”, just as the grass and asparagus fern here.

And just because colors look lovely on the stem doesn’t mean they’ll look lovely in a scarf or a towel. Not every color combination will be the current trend. But it’s a good starting point, a good prompt for creatively thinking about colors.

What colors come home with you from your walks and adventures?

 

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