Barn Raising

13 Friday Jul 2018

Posted by jeanweaves in Damask, Designing, Weaving Inspiration

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creative inspiration, Damask, family, Weaving

Framed Barn Picture You’ve heard the saying: “You can take the girl out of (insert your favorite place), but you can’t take the (insert your place again) out of the girl.” Cute and catchy. It explains all sorts of idiosyncrasies we aren’t even aware of, and some we wish we could outgrow, but no, they are part of our make-up.

For me, it’s my rural, upper Midwest upbringing. The way I pronounce certain words (much to my husband’s amusement); my love of cheese curds, brats, and beer; my preference for cool weather and all things “Norman Rockwell”-esque. You can take the girl out of Wisconsin…

I shared in Learning Experiences about this damask barn I was working on that would reflect both my Dad’s dairy farming and my Mom’s quilting. The challenge was getting the woven piece to show the same proportions as the graphed picture.

Five samples later, I took it off the loom, but then had to decide how to frame it. Another month went by before I found an answer in a box of my mother’s old pictures—a frame made by my grandfather. Its dark brown, rustic finish works, although I wish I had used a similar colored thread in the weaving. But then I didn’t know about the frame when I was weaving. Maybe next time.

It felt good and right to hang the barn above my loom, to step back and remember. I’m hoping they would approve.

UFO Sightings

02 Monday Jul 2018

Posted by jeanweaves in Damask, Doubleweave, Finishing, Placemats, Towels

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Damask, Doubleweave, Placemats, Production, Weaving

UFO as in “unfinished object.” I noticed this week how very many of these are lying around my studio waiting to be finished.

I started framing the three damask pictures I wove for family late last winter. In my defense, I’ve been undecided until recently just how to frame them, and now I just have to … finish.

Damask waiting to be framed

There’s the basket of cottolin towels woven in…hmmm…maybe May? They are ready to be hemmed, just waiting.

Towels to hem

There’s also the “new” towel warp put on while I waited to hear about a yarn order. Two towels woven, seven to go.

Two done, seven to go

Then there’s the doubleweave placemats that necessitated the said yarn order. These are on the loom and are my current focus since it’s a set order.

Doubleweave in progress

And there’s the agreement to weave an opphämta wall hanging with winter motifs, in the vein of the hangings I wove last summer. This one is not even on the loom yet, but it’s committed.

Not to mention the millennial braided rug, visited only sporadically because it is such a learning experience. Or the two knitting projects that sit next to my couch for evening relaxation.

UFOs are not bad things really. Each project moves at its own pace and if I have to wait for something on one project, it’s good to have another to work on. But there is a tipping point. It’s time to wrap up at least some of these UFOs — so I can start some more!

Do you have any UFOs waiting for your attention?

Light, Shadow, and Apples

21 Monday May 2018

Posted by jeanweaves in Damask, Weaving Inspiration

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creative inspiration, Damask, Projects, Weaving

I see intriguing lichen, a stunning sunset, a charming silhouette, and I think “How could I weave that?”

A loom comes home with bells and whistles that I’m compelled to use, compelled to learn techniques that will show the loom’s full capabilities.

Our guild challenges us to create within the framework of a theme, a museum inspiration, a commercially chosen color, a natural phenomenon.

These have subtly influenced my weaving this year.

Last summer’s total solar eclipse loomed large in our community. Everything had an eclipse theme, including our annual guild challenge— “Light and Shadow.”

I put it in the back of my mind, behind the hangings, towels, and blankets in progress. Gradually the idea came into focus, a continuation of my museum inspiration from last year—how highlights and shadows can be woven into a 2-dimensional fabric.

Last year I used undulating twill. This year I used satin damask. Last year I wove scarves, this year an interpretation of a photo, a simple bowl of fruit,

cropped for focus and color stripped,

leaving a pixelated image.

With each step, I reduced the image further to the bare minimum for single weave units. I graphed out the image on computer, trying to grade the shadows into the highlights. I adjusted the graph squares to more accurately reflect the proportions of my warp and weft.

This was a project for the process rather than the end product. It doesn’t have a specific purpose—which in itself is a learning experience for me! But as a challenge project, it did serve a general purpose—that of learning more about perspective, shading, dimension in weaving, proportion. I’ll tuck these lessons in the back of my mind until the next warp.

Meanwhile, there are towels to weave and aprons to sew.

I Wander As I Weave

23 Friday Feb 2018

Posted by jeanweaves in Damask, Designing, Weaving Inspiration

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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

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

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!

When My Looms Look Like This….

02 Friday Feb 2018

Posted by jeanweaves in Planning, Weaving Inspiration

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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

And this…..

Baby bib warp thrums

And this…..

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

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.

Containing the Excitement

22 Thursday Jun 2017

Posted by jeanweaves in Damask, Designing, Looms, Planning

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Damask, Loom, Projects, Weaving

Two weeks ago The Shipment came. In three long, heavy boxes: loom extension; shaft draw system to upgrade from the old one; combination single unit set-up. It was like Christmas in June. I think my husband was just as excited as I was. Let the fun begin!

The view from the back

The pieces of the extension were finished but the other wooden pieces needed to be oiled and finished before I could put them together. And I’m a bit slow to comprehend things, so I read and reread the sheets that came in the boxes. One box only had a parts list—I was on my own to figure out how to assemble it. Another had more instructions, but no identification of the parts, so I had to figure out what some of the pieces were. The third box not only had instructions, but they were numbered to correspond to a drawing and little baggies of bolts and nuts. Hurray! I also had an idea from the Vävstuga video, Dress Your Swedish Drawloom, about how to proceed.

Hanging the treadles

Piece by piece, it started to come together. By the end of last week, I had most of the attachments assembled and installed. Some had to wait till I had a warp on the loom.

As I was learning more about drawlooms this spring, my husband joked that he wanted some dragon placemats. That seemed like a good project to start with.

I found a fun graphed dragon in Here Be Wyverns by Nancy Spies (©2002 Arelate Studio, Jarrettsville, Maryland) and adapted a border from 826 Textila Bärder by Britta Johanson (©2009 Korssstygnsbolaget) Designing the border posed its own challenges. It took some work to balance the design to fit an 18” placemat.

The dragon taking shape

I chose to weave a 6-thread irregular satin with an 8/2 cotton warp. This allows me to be able to see what I’m doing and make any adjustments more easily.

Because my existing countermarche is too long to fit within the new drawloom frame, I set this warp up on a counter-balance beam. This, too, is a first. With the 6-shaft satin on this counter-balance tie-up, shaft 1 is tied to shaft 6, 2 to 5, and 3 to 4. So when I pull up shaft 1, shaft 6 goes down; the same with all the others.

I tested the shed by weaving a couple inches and measured a few random units to get a feel for how well the graphed design would fit in my planned weaving length. All set, the mat began, first with the hem, then the border, and on to the tail.

The view from underneath

The wings took shape, followed by the head complete with “flames”. Finally the border and ending hems. The mat ended up a bit longer than I intended, but the cotton will shrink in the finishing.

First mat finished

This has been a satisfying first project. Now I have to decide what project to follow.

Refilling the Creative Well

16 Tuesday May 2017

Posted by jeanweaves in Damask, Opphämta, Weaving Inspiration

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creative inspiration, Damask, Opphämta

Our part of the world enjoys four seasons and right now spring is transitioning to summer. The days are getting longer, warmer, and greener. There’s renewed hope for the garden, renewed energy in the morning walks, the desire to break out of the routine, for something different on the loom, something to get excited about. Getting away for some kind of retreat is a good way to refill the creative well for the coming months.

This past week was just such a retreat for me. I spent the week at Vävstuga Weaving School in Shelburne, Massachusetts studying Drawloom Basics with Becky Ashenden. Becky’s warm welcome and enthusiasm for all things Swedish made all of us feel right at home from start to finish.

What an inspiring week! Yes, I’ve woven on a drawloom for many years, but only with a few structures. Where I’ve woven 5-shaft satin damask before, this past week I had the opportunity to try 8-shaft satin damask.

Damask in 8-Shaft Satin

We learned the properties of the various damask weaves, 5- 7-, 8-, and 10-shaft. We even worked with weaving swords to hold pattern sheds open on two different looms.

4-Shaft broken twill woven with a weaving sword

Where I’ve woven opphämta in the past, at Vävstuga I saw the variety of designs beyond what I’ve tried, combining borders and designing effective figures.

Opphämta with Weaving Sword

Opphämta borders on 10 patterns shafts

And with Smålandsväv, there seems to be limitless variations to keep me busy indefinitely.

Smålandsväv, back

Smålandsväv, front

I have shaft drawlooms; last week I also wove on single unit drawlooms, both with pattern-saving lashes

Damask with Pattern-Saving Lashes, front

Damask with Pattern-Saving Lashes, back

and without.

Single Unit Draw in 6-shaft satin, front

Single Unit Draw in 6-shaft satin, back

I’ve woven mostly with cotton; this week, it was almost exclusively linen or cottonlin. I beat my warp with a steady hand; this week, I learned that some weaves just need a heavy thump.

Lithuanian Opphamta on 21 Pattern Shafts

I can follow simple directions, but I don’t always know the “why” behind the “how.” After a week of discussing the different kinds of looms, deciphering drawdowns, and weaving on several different set-ups, I have a lot more understanding of how to make the loom do what I want it to do.

And now that I’m home again, I’m putting more thought into rearranging my looms and their set-ups. When I bought my second Glimäkra last year, it was basically so I could have one dedicated to drawloom weaves and one to wide and multi-shaft weaves. The class gave me the incentive to make that happen. Over the coming weeks, I will take the draw attachments off my bigger loom and allow it to be used fully as the 12-shaft loom that it is. The smaller loom will then be the dedicated drawloom since I usually don’t weave wide drawn pieces.

I so appreciate Becky’s encouragement and the warm welcome from all the Vävstuga staff. Many thanks to all you! Now that I’m home, there’s so much to weave, so little time!

The Treasure of Winter Time

03 Tuesday Jan 2017

Posted by jeanweaves in Damask, Weaving Inspiration

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creative inspiration, Damask, Production, Weaving

Snowfall in the trees

It’s a quiet time of year. The to-do lists of the holiday season are checked off and tossed away. The company has gone home. The decorations will soon be stowed for their annual hibernation.

This is the time of year when I try to clean up the studio and record the drafts I hurriedly tossed on the pile after the warps came off the loom, weigh cones of yarn and replenish supplies for upcoming projects, ponder what I might want to explore in the coming year.

This is the time of year when I delve into something I’ve been wanting to learn but haven’t had time yet. A couple years back, I spent a few mornings with guild friends learning to tat. There was the year I attended a Fiber Retreat to hone my spinning skills.

So what will I do with the treasure of winter 2017?

Green and White Damask Runner

Photography is one of those things that I know I can improve on. I spend way too much time struggling with lighting and focus, and then trying to edit the photos into my vision of what they should be. So with a little time and a different camera, I will see what I can do about that. There will be a learning curve, of course. I don’t expect stunning results right off the bat, but I’m willing to work on it.

Same runner, different camera

Then there’s damask. I do love the sheen of satin damask, but so far, I’ve only tried 5-thread satin damask and only at a very narrow range of setts. What about 6- or 8-thread satin? What about varying the sett? If the tie-downs in the satin are spaced wider, would the fabric have more sheen or just be sleazy? I have some warp on the big loom that waits for sampling.

Our guild presents a challenge each year as a way to push our creativity. This year, we visited a local museum and are to translate inspiration into fiber. Some years ago we had a museum challenge and I wove fabric in the colors of an iridescent vase on display. This year I’m considering something with varying blocks to imitate drape since several of the paintings showed lovely fabrics on the subjects. We’ll see how far I get with that!

Now is the time to explore, before spring comes with a garden to plant, before we travel to see kids and grandkids, before I buckle down to more production in preparation for the fall. Now time is a treasure not to be wasted.

How to you spend your winter treasure?

Loom Therapy

30 Wednesday Mar 2016

Posted by jeanweaves in creating, Looms, Weaving Inspiration

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Creativity, Damask, handwork, Projects, Weaving

Another damask warp off the loom!

Life happens, and there are seasons when it demands attention. We have all experienced them. Parents age. Children struggle. Friends face crises. Sometimes it’s joyful distractions: weddings, graduations, new jobs, new children–or grandchildren. All these pull at our energies and keep us away from the work of our hands.

In the past, physicians recognized the healing properties of working with the hands. There are images of hospital patients, adults and children alike, weaving at looms, making baskets, painting. Occupational Therapy is only one of many fields in which arts and crafts are used to soothe. Who among us hasn’t found peace in the gentle rhythm of the shuttle or knitting needles?

The past several months have been full of distractions, and yet whenever I sat down at the loom again, it felt so good, so peaceful to throw the shuttle, listen to the gentle thump of the beater, to watch the pattern grown at the fell. And while I was away from the loom, knitting brought some peace at the end of the day. Each row, each stitch, helped unknot the tensions.

Just this past week, I finished a warp that had been on my loom since September. It’s rare for a warp to take that long, but how gratifying to throw the final shot and cut the web! How satisfying to see the yards of damask unfold!

There are other warps that have been languishing as well. I’m looking forward to continuing some linen towels that have been patiently waiting on the Baby Wolf! And then there’s “Junior” waiting to have the shafts properly balanced for the opphämta weave I’ve been wanting to try.

And all of these are my therapy, soothing my mind and soul. Whenever life winds itself up tight, it’s good to pick up the shuttle again and re-center.

What do you do to calm your spirit?

Progress Report

11 Friday Mar 2016

Posted by jeanweaves in Looms

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Damask, Loom, Textiles, Weaving

Lovely imprint of the maker

Junior is coming together. After almost 30 years of moving around, disassembled from coast to coast, Junior landed in my home, purchased this winter from a retired weaver.

Junior is a 10-shaft Glimakra countermarche loom, 47” wide with a drawloom frame on the top. I say “on the top” because that is its proper position, but it lay for many years in so many pieces along with a multitude of wooden sticks and metal bars that comprise the loom.

And I have to guess a little on that proper position, because this draw attachment is an earlier version of the one I have been using since 1993 which is a more robust design.

One of the replacement wheel ratchets

The first thing I did when getting it to my basement was to give it a thorough cleaning with wood conditioner. The wood was so very dry and dusty. Cleaning meant taking off yards of tangled Texsolv cords and washing those too. And I did a quick inventory of parts to be sure I could put it together. Ah, two vital missing components: the wheel ratchets to turn the cloth beam and the warp beam, and the wooden wedges that hold the frame together. Ordered those and waited patiently.

Yesterday, my kind husband helped assemble the frame and square it up. Then it got a second go-over with wood conditioner. The loom fairly glows now, although the wheel ratchets are a decidedly lighter color than the rest.

Junior Coming Together

Now I’m sorting and matching which cords go where. They all were cut to specific lengths for specific purposes; it’s just a matter of finding which ones fit on which component.

All along, I’ve been pondering what the first warp will be. I know there will be a fair amount of adjustment as I get it threaded and balanced, so the first warp should be simple. And since it has the drawloom frame, I might as well set it up for a drawn design. Perhaps just some cotton yardage that I can use for towels or aprons will be the inaugural project.

I will keep you posted.

jeanweaves

~ Jean Williams, Handweaver

Tag Archives: Damask

Barn Raising

UFO Sightings

Light, Shadow, and Apples

I Wander As I Weave

When My Looms Look Like This….

Containing the Excitement

Refilling the Creative Well

The Treasure of Winter Time

Loom Therapy

Progress Report