Category Archives: Dyeing

Update

I added the piece on the left (in the top photo) yesterday. Since it’s shorter, it was easier to hang. I don’t have a good photo, but the one I took is the second photo. I have hard getting these pics to go where I want them to do. The picture is a little dark, but . . .

Friends

I spent some time yesterday afternoon catching up with friends that I haven’t seen in a while. Just made some calls, went to school and saw my former fellow colleagues. Two lunch visits are now scheduled for next week.

Stuff

I have also scheduled delivery of a new washer, something I’ve been putting off for more than two years. One of those new, super-efficient washers would be wonderful, but they’re too big for my space. I have a closet that holds the hot water heater and the washer and dryer. I recently had a new water heater put in and discovered that water heaters are much larger in diameter than they used to be. So are clothes washers–not in diameter, in width. The closet doesn’t get wider. In addition, since I dye all my yarns, I need a regular top-loading washer. After the dyeing is completed, I bring the yarns in, spin out the water, remove the yarns, fill the washer with water, put the yarns back, and let them soak for a while. Then I spin the water out and repeat the process. You can see that front-loading would not work. I’m getting a Speed Queen that’s 25.6 inches wide, close to the size of my current washer. Hope it works. It will be nice to be able to wash in cold water again. Haven’t had that option for over two years. I’ve also got the new roof scheduled for next week. Noisy time!

Movie

We went to the Modern Art Museum last night where they show “art” movies on the weekend. The movie last night was Waltz with Bashir, an animated documentary about a 1982 Israeli war veteran trying to regain memories of the war with Lebanon and the massacre of the Palestinians in the refugee camps there. The animation was like graphic novels and very good. This film has won several awards and was very interesting. Here’s the Wikipedia info.

Dyeing

I’m a little discouraged today about the yarns for the commission project. The colors are not quite right, so I pulled out my samples again and decided to try new formulas tomorrow. I’m going to have a mountain of yarn for another project when I get finished. Then, the challenge will be finding the perfect design for these color rejects. Limitations always make me more creative!

On the plus side–got the oil changed, tires rotated, and the car beautifully washed. Isn’t it amazing how a clean car makes everything seem better. And I know it drives better!

I may start recreating that database tonight. Or maybe not….

Faxing, Copying, etc

Darn! I got so involved in my to do list, I forgot to watch the inauguration. I really wanted to see it. Guess I’ll have to watch a video. Double darn! Does that equal a damn?

This morning:

I am so excited! I can receive faxes! G got me a wireless all-in-one HP printer for Christmas, and it’s finally set up along with the desktop–a must have after the Great Computer Fiasco. The computer couldn’t find the printer in the wireless network, so I had to go into the website for my ATT and find the IP address. Then I could print from anywhere in the house, via the laptop, and in the office via the desktop. This morning I tested the fax, and it works!

I had two dye pots going this morning and washed six skeins of previously dyed yarn. I was afraid the colors weren’t going to be right, but now I think they’ll be okay. They’re close to the samples in the Color-aid papers, but the true test will be when I take them to the customer’s house for her approval. You know, the light is everything. A friend took a small piece to her house to see if it would go in her den. She didn’t think so, but then she moved it to another wall, and the colors totally changed. Looks good there.

This is a computer generated design of what I’m going to work on next–the one on the top left. The squares will be shades of brown, from a creamy color to caramel to chocolate. The background will be charcoal.

I’ve also got the purple ikat blocking. So far, a productive day (except for NOT watching the inauguration). Wish I could solve the ikat weaving part so that blocking wouldn’t be necessary. I don’t block anything else, so it’s irritating.

This Evening

Discovered how to transfer files from one computer to the other w/o moving anything but my hand. Pretty exciting stuff! So now my documents are on two computers. Pretty sure I’m going to have to reconstruct my database files in eArtist, but at least I did keep names in both Outlook and eArtist. It’s the reconstructing of individual pieces and their new homes that will be the difficult part. Another lesson learned–even though the hard drive backs up on the external drive, some programs have to be backed up individually in order to access the files. Yuck!

Goals for the Week

 

I’ve read and heard several articles/commentaries on art just in the last few days. This morning when I awoke waaay too early, I clicked on the radio to check if that icy weather had really come in. NPR was broadcasting a piece about mural painting during the depression. Well, I couldn’t go back to sleep then! The picture above is a study for one of the heads in one of the murals. From what I’ve read, there are more than 50 murals in the Justice Department building.
Yesterday I read an article in the NY Times about how hard times and a depression improves design. Also yesterday, I heard a program on our local public radio station, KERA, about how art instruction improves critical thinking and test scores. The art instruction was not the craft kinds of things that we always did in elementary school, but involved looking at works of art and thinking about open-ended questions. Here’s the link to the program. Interesting how certain topics seem to come in groups or clumps. Which in a roundabout way, brings me to the topic of design. I have both a design book and a color book that I have been thinking that I need to work my way through. Maybe spend an hour a day working on those.

This Week ….

However, the goal for this week is to get the next major dyeing project going. First the yarns have to be weighed and labeled. Each of the colors for this piece involve using three dyes, whereas I mostly just use two colors for my colors. That in itself makes this dye project a little more complicated. I developed a spreadsheet long ago to help calculate all ingredients for a dye job based on the weight of the yarn, but I do have to input the weights and names of the colors to be used.

Second goal for the week

The piece on the right was cut off the loom on Saturday. It’s the purple weft-faced ikat that I mentioned earlier.

I have six pieces that need finish work done on them. Count ’em, SIX. See all those out-of-control warp ends in the picture to the right? That means needle weaving the ends in, steaming, pressing, and photographing. This is my least favorite part. I’m doing to do some needle felting on one of those six and think I’ll start on that today. If it goes well, that will be fun. The good news is that I have six pieces to add to my inventory, something I’ve been working very hard to accomplish. No need to go to a show without inventory. And it’s funny–everyone I tell about doing Main Street Arts Festival asks me the same thing, “Do you have enough pieces?” This is a very slow process. It’ll probably take me two weeks to get the dyeing completed. Even though I use really big pots, I can only have two going at once. That translates to two colors per day.
Personal Goals

I really want to get started with some yoga again. And then there’s all the stuff around the house. Call the roofer, work on the clutter, stay caught up on regular household stuff, and cook good, healthy meals. I have the continual goal of planning menus and then actually following through with them.

It’s good to have goals!

Weaving finally!

I’ve been weaving what I call my optical illusion piece–bars in gradations of blue from a turquoise-y blue to a deep, deep royal blue on a background of black. Each bar is a different length, so that the bars make a shape that appears to curve. (The drawing I did in Canvas is on the left.) While weaving this one, I’ve been thinking about using the same concept to make other shapes appear. Off to the computer! I love my Canvas 11 program. I can make a design and experiment with colors without having to erase my colored pencils. Before I start weaving though, I still draw the design on graph paper and make all my notes to use during the weaving process. When the project is finished, I put the design sheet and samples of the yarn colors, along with a picture in a plastic sheet protector. Those notes have come in handy for commissions.

I’ve made the dye sheets for new dye projects. These will be some greens for a commission. I don’t usually use much green, so I’m dyeing extra skeins. Maybe that will entice me to use more green! I’m looking forward to this commission piece, which will be a series of nesting squares in bright colors.

While the dyepots are going, I plan to mow the yard. Then treat fireants. They are really prolific this year. I’m using organic methods, but tomorrow I’m going to use some Sweet and Low sweetner on a mound. I read that it’s pretty effective. Then, since it IS a holiday, maybe we’ll take in a movie in the afternoon.

It’s supposed to cool off a little by Wednesday, so I plan to work on cleaning out the room which will become the dye studio. The new propane stove I bought should be much better than what I have now. Can’t wait to use it!

Dying to Dye

This has been a productive week for me. I’ve dyed 20 skeins this week. That works out to 10 pounds of yarn. Colors range from violet to scarlet to oranges to golden yellows. I’ll be dyeing shades of blue next-nine shades from turquoise to a really, really deep royal blue. That will complete all of the skeins that I have on hand. I’ll be making the next ones on my adapted horizontal warping reel/skein maker. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to find someone to make a real skein winder for me. Using the warping mill has disadvantages. I have to completely take the reel off its stand in order to remove the skeins. But I am able to count the number of revolutions so that I have a rough idea of how many yards there are in a skein.

I’m also measuring and tying off a violet yarn for the ikat portion in my next piece. After it’s tied in the pattern with the ikat tape, it will be overdyed with blue. Then I’ll be ready to weave, finally! I’m really looking forward to getting started. The ikat part has to be done first because quite frequently the width of the piece has to be adjusted to fit the ikat yarn.

I’m also excited about some design possibilities using Photoshop or Canvas to manipulate photos to either transform them in some way or to just get colors from the photo to use in a piece. We live in a wonderful world!