Category Archives: Ikat

Steps and inspiratiion

Ikat-partially-wrapped I have gone from this

to this

Ikat-on-chair to this. Ikat-unwrapped

Today I plan to finish the last few inches of the piece on the loom. I’m going to ball up the first section (hope I know which end to start with). Then comes the part of getting the width of the warp correct for the ikat weft. Once all of that is taken care of, the weaving goes fairly quickly.

Inspiration–does anyone take pictures for inspiration? I’m wondering if I can make myself take a least one picture daily with colors, shapes, or textures that are inspiring in some way. And when I say “make myself” that doesn’t mean not wanting to; it means remembering and making the effort. Thinking….

June

Lizard Gosh, it seems like a long time and not long enough. The boys went home yesterday. It was really hard to send them off, but now it’s time to get back into some kind of routine. It seems that everything we did was hot and sweaty!

One of the things we did while they were here is ride the train to the Dallas World Aquarium. The creature left Reading-the-paper is one of the many pictures I took. The boys wanted one last trip to Benito’s before heading to the airport. They waited for me outside as I paid the bill. Waiting for me with newspapers in hand was a joke for me.

On the way home from the airport yesterday, I took a detour to Olla buy an olla, which I’ve been trying to find for a couple of years.

I dyed part of the ikat yarns while they were here, and my night hours are spent cutting the wraps off of those yarns. I put them on a towel because they’re still damp. This ikat Ikat-Yarns-partially-unwrapped tape makes a mess, even though I try to be careful. You can see just a couple of the bits that get scattered (marked by the arrows). Multiply that by about a thousand. There’s still one more section to dye. I decided to dye them in sections because of probable dye lot variations. My evenings in the near future will be spent cutting off ikat tape–a mindless activity to be done while watching a movie.

Question–does anyone know of a way to convert treadles on a loom to treadles for a standing loom? Maybe there’s an engineering type out there that can think of a way. I really wish there was some way to stand and weave on my Cranbrook. I get really tired of sitting!

A search for the perfect setup

IkatBoard-sizing I’ve been trying to come up with a new way to set up my ikat boards. This latest project really made me tired of sitting, so some way to stand and wrap might be good. I started looking at drafting tables/desks. When I tried out one at World Market, I remembered that when I first set this ikat station, I had tried to think of a way to slant the board. Right now, I have two Elfa drawer units from the Container Store. I remembered that when I first set this ikat station, I had tried to think of a way to slant the board. Right now, I have two Elfa drawer units from the Container Store. A piece of plywood is on top. Since the boards are held down by c-clamps, damage to the underlying surface is likely–hence the plywood. You can see from the picture that all kinds of manipulation are necessary to get the needed space between the boards. Many pieces of various sizes of lumber are on the right side as spacers–no lumber gets thrown away! Oh, and my feet can be seen at the bottom of the picture, a very important detail, vital to good ikat wrapping!

 

Not today!

Sherri’s Summer Exercise Program is underway, but not today. Yesterday and the day before, I cleared brush and made a pile. Brush pile-May-2013 The picture of this pile does not do it justice. In the picture it looks really small, but my body tells a different story. And I am no where close to finishing this job. But not today. Today is a studio day–weaving and wrapping ikat. The ikat section that I’m working on now is going pretty fast or I’m getting better. The biggest problem is keeping up with the order and orientation of the various sections. My cartoon for the final product was broken into three sections, then each of those sections has been broken into smaller more manageable sections. So, there’s 3A and 3B. 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D. The number 3 sections are finished and I’m working on the 2 section now. The reason that orientation is important is nothing will match during weaving if you don’t know where to start. I seem to start at the bottom and work up. My start is on the left bottom, so a written Tyvek label is attached giving the section and orientation: 3A, bottom, left. At the top is another label: 3A, top, right. The labels must be of some material that can withstand the dye pot. And maybe, just maybe, if it’s not too hot (or whatever), I’ll go out and work some more later to day.

Another wishful-thinking field trip

Another field trip is in order…Denver. Wonder how long it would take (and how much it would cost) to travel from DFW to Denver, down to Santa Fe/Taos, then on to Flagstaff, Scottsdale, and Tucson? The train between Albuquerque and Flag might be fun.

Anyway, this Denver Museum Spun: Adventures in Textiles exhibit looks to be a great one. This picture is amazing! Look how the pieces seem to be lighted from behind; they seem to glow, don’t they?

Today will be another day to the same–weaving, wrapping ikat. Gosh, I hope my math is right! If not, I’m doing a lot of wrapping for nothing. Maybe I should plan on a stand-up wrapping table. I am going to weave standing today.

 

 

Not much

There’s really not much to write about around here. I’m still wrapping ikat, weaving, cutting the weeds and brush, etc. My mother got to go home–she and her dog are very happy about that. My sister took Dandy to visit her at the rehab center. As soon as he got out of the car, he knew where he was and could hardly stand it until he got inside to see his “friend.” Dandy

Have you ever thought about getting a sari cleaned? I hadn’t either. Here’s an interesting article about that. I actually don’t understand why labels always say to dry clean silk. The cloth has been around for a lot of years before dry cleaning.

Wrapping, wrapping, wrapping

As I’ve said before, the time spent on wrapping an ikat design is all on the front end. Weaving goes pretty fast, especially when compared to tapestry. And I am not experienced enough yet to know if all my math calculations are correct. That Ikat-partially-wrapped will be discovered in the weaving process, but if I don’t keep trying, I won’t gain that experience. When the design calls for gradual angles, it is necessary to measure the yarn in smaller bunches, which, in turn, means that the design has to be enlarged lengthwise to compensate. For a piece that is going to be 60 inches wide, the cartoon could be twice that length, or even more. Fingers crossed!

Tuesday and Wednesday

How I spent Tuesday and Wednesday….measuring out ikat and wrapping. Ikat-wrapped-cartoon Plus all the have-to stuff, although I have yet to unpack my suitcase. Does anyone else have a problem doing that? And why would that be? I took this section off the board last night and then measured out a new section. Interesting…after taking this picture this morning, I see a couple of mistakes. Ikat-ready-to-wrap Wonder whether I would have noticed them without the picture. If only all mistakes were as easy to correct as this one!

I mentioned trying some new things–this is not really new, but it’s different than what I’ve been doing. The problem with experimenting is not the possibility of wasted material, but of the TIME involved. There’s never enough.

Belated Post

Written May 13

This was written before my visits to the Beamis Center and the Old Market, which I are mentioned in previous posts.

Clocks and Calendars

Okay, this takes the cake! I know I’m challenged when it comes to clocks and calendars, but this is a first even for me. I’m taking an ikat workshop with Mary Zicafoose in Nebraska and decided to drive, as I enjoy driving by myself and don’t enjoy flying much any more. From where I live, the drive is about 686 miles, so I planned on a two-day drive, spending one night in Wichita, Kansas. Well, guess what? I arrived a day early for the workshop! So, now I have a day in Omaha before the workshop. When I realized what I had done, I was really upset with myself. Not only am I paying for an extra, unnecessary day in a hotel, but I could have driven to Lawrence and gone to the Yarn Barn with this time. So, I’m taking deep breaths and checking on some art kinds of things here in Omaha for tomorrow. Definitely don’t have to plan on getting up early!

PS Except for the extra expense, I enjoyed my stay in Omaha. I would not have been able to see what a nice city it is otherwise. There’s a great park/walking area along the Platte in addition to the other sections that have been mentioned.