Firebird Cocoon Jacket by Lorelei Caracausa
We hung the guild show yesterday, a very long yesterday. You can see pictures here and a Picassa album here. There are some beautiful pieces hanging. What was gratifying to me was hearing the comments of people coming in. I frequently heard, “Oh, I love this show!” Our biennial show has become a tradition in a few short years.
I went out to what I euphemistically call my dye studio and look what I discovered! I should be embarrassed by this, but it’s so interesting that I’m not. I forgot to empty the dyepots the last dye session, and these are pictures of the mold growing on the surface of the liquid left in the pot. You can see the circle formed by the pots, but I wonder about the circles formed by the mold. I’ve never seen mold like this. Both of these were taken with the phone, so not great pics, but still interesting. 
After a good scrubbing, the pot is now bubbling away with ikat-tied yarns and black dye.
All three ikat sections have been tied and will probably get dyed tomorrow. Great sense of accomplishment to get that finished. Like anything else, the more I do this ikat stuff, the better it goes. The cartoons from my small drawing were enlarged 380%. After tying the first board, I decided that clean-up was necessary. Got a Sharpie water-based poster marker in white and a larger chisel point Sharpie in black and went to work. (I tried several things, but those worked best.) With the cleaned up cartoons under the yarn, I used a pencil to mark where the wraps should go. I also cut the tape into the size I needed while zoning out in front of the TV Friday night. Doing those two things made the wrapping process go smoother and faster. No breaking of rhythm to stop and cut tape and trying to line up the cartoon with the tying. It was already marked. I still have to find the ideal height for the chair and table because my back is sore.
Last Christmas when my daughter asked me what I wanted for Christmas, my response was a gift card to Central Market so that I could buy flowers without feeling guilty. They frequently have specials on certain flowers, so I thought fresh flowers a few times a year would be a nice treat. The vase is also kind of unusual in that it’s a thin rectangle, about 1 inch wide and 6 inches long. The photo on the wall is one that I took many years ago as part of a photography class. We went to a coliseum on the north side of Fort Worth where the “wrasslin’” was held weekly. I have a whole series of pictures from that night, but this one is the only one made into a poster-size image. It usually affects people in one of two ways: laughter or “ooh, gross.” I fall into the laughter category. It makes me smile.
Here are pictures of Board 1 of the latest ikat wrapping. The first picture shows one of the labels cut from a Tyvek envelope. This one is for the front left, where the wrapping began. There is also a label for the right back, the part where the measuring ended. The labels are important because things can be forgotten before the actual weaving starts. I also use masking tape for labeling, but some people have problems with this. I once laid out the wrapped ikat project in the correct order for weaving, but forgot what was what before I got around to weave it. When weaving ikat, it needs to be put on the shuttle starting with the back, so that your beginning is actually in, well, the beginning.
This project only has 4 wraps per peg, so slipping off the pegs has not been a problem. However, when bouts of 24 wraps are done, there’s another step to keep them from slipping off the pegs during wrapping. I use really heavy duty rubber bands “twined” around the pegs. Seems to work.
This is one section. There are two more boards to do. The next two are diamonds.
This picture shows a close-up of the twining done on each side close to the pegs of the ikat board. this helps keep everything orderly for the dyeing process. Once (and only once!) did I not do this step. What a mess!
The other day I heard a program on NPR about scanning old photographs. That made me remember that my scanner has a thingy for doing slides. So, I’ve been scanning old slides of family vacations, four at a time—not a fast process, but much cheaper than the alternative. What a trip down memory lane! Some of the slides look like negatives—does anyone remember negatives? I thought they were lost until I discovered the ‘invert’ feature in Photoshop. Hope to have this project finished by, oh, I don’t know—maybe Christmas? Can’t you see these on a DVD on the TV screen? I love this one of my daughter (she’s the tall one) and a friend running on the dock. And then there are all the people that I no longer know who they are…hmmm.
Found this at Woodcraft.
Best laid plans and all that … The ikat boards popped up when the pressure of measuring began. Had to put an extra C-clamp on the front where it interferes with my drawer access. Looked for larger clamps, but when you go larger, you really go LARGER! Went Woodcraft and found some different types to try. Ended up buying a toggle clamp, something I’ve never seen before. Going into that store makes me want to do woodworking. Wow! I may just have to break down and cut the plywood “tabletop” but I don’t want to because I’m not so good with straight lines and a saw. A work in progress.
I’ve done the weekly quick run-through of housework, laundry is being processed, and now it’s time to work on the ikat tying.
I’ve slipped into the habit of sleeping until ? Think it’s time to start with the alarm again and try to have more regular hours. So, this AM, I had the alarm set for 6:30, but what time did I finally raise my body to sit on the side of the bed? 7:20! This from someone who used to get up at 5:30 every day! Hmmm… Well, another work in progress, right?
I’m starting a new ikat project today. It’s narrower than what I’ve done previously, so I have had to cut some new boards to use as spacers between the ikat peg boa
rds. Then there is the problem of where to attach the C-clamps. I hope the solution works. I have used a couple of smaller boards to reach the side of the table where the C-clamp can be attached. The arrows show where the clamps are, however, the one on the bottom is partially hidden by the cameral strap. The second picture, with the red arrows, shows the same thing, just more of a bird’s eye view.
As you can see, this portion of the cartoon is zigzags. I seem to go back to zigzags quite frequently—don’t know what that means–but the goal is to measure the yarn in smaller increments (1/8 inch segments, based on weaving at 24 picks per inch). Theoretically, the angles of the zigzags should look fairly smooth and not stair-steppy. This may be equal to 3 inches woven in the finished piece, since there is much compression in the weaving process. It all depends on my mathematical computations, always a scary prospect. There are two more sections of diamonds. Lots of practice with angles here! Because I am using undyed yarn, the ikat-tying portions should be fairly simple. Famous last words?
Had yet another root canal on the same tooth, this time by a specialist. Won’t go into details about infection (they’re not pretty), but so far, it’s feeling better. Without whining too, too much, this has been dragging on for a month. But who’s counting? Okay, done with that!
Have kind of stopped on the weaving for now, but not being idle. Doing finish work on pieces for the guild show and sale, in between naps demanded by the pain meds. I may even go ahead and do the wrappers, labels, etc.—ahead of time! I think I’ve worked out the mathematical details for a new ikat piece. That math part’s a killer for me. I plan for my mouth to be pretty much normal again in a day or two. Next week should be great for weaving. I have several books on CD checked out from the library. I love to read, and these recorded books kind of seem to help with that desire, and I can still make progress on my weaving.
I’ve also been uploading new pictures onto the guild website. There are a few new ones added that are interesting. One, The Letter, by Camille DeSalme, is tapestry. Look at the Fiesta Ware Jacket by Evaline Wright. There’s a bag on the first row of the gallery that is woven of plastic bags by Amy Horrey. Wish you could see the lining that she used. I am so glad that members are sending me pics. It’s a wonderfully diverse group. A great guild.
Also interesting is this PDF of the work of James Bassler. I saw the single-page article in the American Craft Magazine, but forgot to do further research. Thanks, Jennifer, for reminding me.
If you can’t get out for your own inspiration, here’s a blog that might help. It’s by Jane Dunnewold, who is a surface designer. She set out on a mission to post a picture a day for a year. Which reminds me, our guild is having a workshop with Holly Brackmann in 2010. Oftentimes, workshops in other creative areas can spark inspiration for my weaving. Plus, many years ago I wove a striped piece to just use up yarns and I hate it. Thought maybe some surface design might improve it … just thinking out loud.
Today is a day of weaving and maybe some finishing on the previous piece. Why do I postpone that finishing? Wait until it HAS to be done? Much prefer the actual weaving. Will also make another trip to Kinko’s for an enlargement, and to the library for more books on tape. Boy, I’m spending lots of hours at the loom with those books on tape!
