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jeanweaves

~ Jean Williams, Handweaver

jeanweaves

Monthly Archives: February 2018

I Wander As I Weave

23 Friday Feb 2018

Posted by jeanweaves in Damask, Designing, Weaving Inspiration

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

creative inspiration, Damask, Weaving

We’ve had a lot of icy weather this past month, at least by Missouri standards. Perfect time to retreat to the studio for some serious warping!

Threading inside the loom

Threading inside the loom

During the course of a year, while weaving fabric for utilitarian textiles, I let my mind wander a bit. Not so much that I lose my place in the treadling, but I do dream about what’s next. What can I weave on the drawloom that will use more draw shafts? Do I set it up for shaft draw or single unit draw? What figure can I come up with that will be easy enough for this rookie single-unit weaver?

And following those wandering thoughts led here—inside the drawloom, threading 468 threads for a single unit 8-thread satin damask. This set-up will allow me to lift individual units of threads randomly for whatever figure I can graph out. It’s more free-form than the repeating patterns of shaft draw weaving but if I want, I can work those in too.

There are so many motifs that can be woven, so many designs that show up in embroidery, knitting, quilting—whatever a person can put her hand to. Mediums often cross too, like the quilt patterns painted on barns.

While tossing around ideas for the newly warped loom, my husband suggested putting one of those barn paintings into the picture. A perfect expression of my family’s dairying and quilting backgrounds.

Barn in progress

Barn in progress

Idea met computer sketchpad and after several edits, I took it to the loom. Since this is a learning piece, I’m taking time to evaluate along the way. There will be adjustments if I choose to weave it again, a shadow added here, a line softened there.

And while I weave, I let my mind wander, but not too much!

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When My Looms Look Like This….

02 Friday Feb 2018

Posted by jeanweaves in Planning, Weaving Inspiration

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Damask, Making, Production, Weaving

New Year, new month plus one, and this is the first week I’m faced with this….

End of the blanket warp

End of the blanket warp

And this…..

Baby bib warp thrums

Baby bib warp thrums

And this…..

Opphämta warp ties

Opphämta warp ties

This can be daunting if there aren’t any projects in the works, but it is also a refreshing point to be at early in the year. What could be better than facing a clean slate in the middle of winter when there’s time to ponder the possibilities?

Many years, January sits on the far side of the holidays and the winter stretches before me in a quandary of unknown directions. Not so this year. The apron warps bridged Christmas and the New Year. The dark aprons sat finished with the blue warp planned but not yet warped. In between came a baby blanket order. Both projects kept me busy in the studio throughout January.

What remains of the January projects

What remains of the January projects

So here I am, aprons and blankets neatly stacked, with that clean slate.

Some years I formally make a list of what I want to weave by when. Other years, like last year, I set out to improve my skills in one area or another.

While I was throwing the shuttle these past few weeks, my mind casually wandered around all the possibilities waiting for the drawloom on the other side of my studio. After finishing the opphämta hangings last fall, it has been patiently waiting for another warp. Maybe I should pay attention to where I’m wandering.

So at least for the next while, I’m borrowing a bit from last year’s challenges. First step is to plan out a warp for satin damask and decide whether to work with 5-shaft satin or 8-shaft satin. Then I’ll need to review how to dress the loom for single unit draw and spend some time graphing out a design or two or three.

I’m not sure just what I want to try first, but it’ll be a pleasant exploration whatever it is.

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