My New Obsession

My new obsession is backstrap weaving.

One of my guild mates weaves on a backstrap at most of our demonstrations and I lurk. I've been following Laverne Waddington's blog for about a year. I have an interest in all things weaving already. Backstrap weaving seems to be the next logical method to explore. It seems so basic and yet so full of variety and technique. It makes me feel connected to history in the same way spinning fiber does. Backstrap weaving is a visceral and tangible connection to humanity and civilization. Where would we be if early peoples had not figured out how to twist fiber into yarn and make clothing with it?!?

Anyway, with help from my best friend and fiber arts enabler, Kathleen, I wove my first tape in November. I'd watched Laverne's intro to weaving lessons online but it was really great to have someone show me in person.

My 3 color warp using 3/2 pearl cotton. I set it up using the complimentary method with 2 colors for pick up potential.

Wrapping my string heddles around my fingers.

Tying off my string heddle bundle.

With a couple of cardboard spacers in place I started weaving. Using my fingers the way Laverne describes on a narrow warp, I really had to work hard figuring out how to manage my body to get consistent tension. I am sitting in a chair here.

A close up of the tape.

I was so obsessed I finished the next day. The tape has no pick up pattern. I just loved how the two colors alternated so cleanly. I had to refer back to Laverne's blog to see how she finished tapes with fringe.

Close up of finished tape.

 I wound another warp almost immediately and finished it within the week.

 Close up of my second tape.

Here is the set up in front of my TV shelving. I attached a clamp on the edge. Folded a towel to use as a backstrap. I even used a bar to do the roll up of finished tape.

My son took this slightly blurry picture of me. I moved to sitting on the floor when I got home from Kathleen's. I found it more comfortable. I can sit in Dandasana (yoga pose) and work my legs! The floor is useful as a work surface too to hold my tools as I weave.

I love the simplicity of the loom being my body and an anchor point. I can hardly wait to start the next warp.

Stuff I Did While On Vacation

At first I thought I wasn't doing much crafting. No real focus. Then I catalogued what I did during the week of Thanksgiving. Turns out I was really productive.

1. Made a new bath robe for my son. Super funny combination of fabrics.

2. Crocheted a small coin purse inspired by something I saw on Pintrist.

3. With help from my friend, Kathleen, I dyed eight 4 oz. bundles of fiber in the crock pot.

4. She also helped me get started on my first backstrap weaving. I've been wanting to do something with a backstrap for a year now. I was so obsessed that I finished the tape the next day.

5. Dyed silk samples for a tie dye class I taught the next week.

6. I demoed how to spin a fun curly textured yarn from mohair locks with my Saturday Spinners.

All of these things will appear in more detailed posts in the coming weeks. Random photo: the big guy below is a resident at a spinner friend's home. He is just about as wide as the sidewalk.

Somethin' Pumpkin

At the SCWSG guild meeting last week, in about an hour, I took these bits of fluff....

And needle felted it into this cute pumpkin...

It's about the size of a large orange. Super fun program. Thanks Robal!

Studio 49 Retreat 2017 Challenge part 5 Finale

The final end to this Polwarth fiber challenge. Lots of pictures below...

Two scarf ends that needed sewing together to make a loop.

I wanted to have a flat seamless invisible join instead of an overlapped hem. I chose to cross opposite ends and loop back to the same side.

Detail of crossed warp end with needle weaving end into fabric.

 Almost done.

Ends all crossed and ready to pull each loop closed flush against the fabric.

The join turned out a little more wonky than I thought it would. It's not as invisible as intended. Instead of pulling two ends in opposite directions at the same time, I should have pulled one side flush then the other side separately. Ah well, lesson learned.

I wasn't confident the crossed ends would be secure, so very lightly, I needle felted the seam.

Then I got to the fun part...beading the fringe.

I chose three tubes of the larger glass beads, put 3 little beads on each strand and started twisting. A bigger glass bead finished off the ends.

After hand washing and air dry, WALLAH! A finished challenge project.

I had lots of little cut ends left over from the warp. I couldn't bear to throw them away. The solution: a pom pom for a keepsake. Which I finished with beads as well.

Finally, I leave today to show off these items at the Studio 49 Retreat.

Studio 49 Retreat 2017 Challenge part 4

I finally wound my hand spun Polwarth yarn onto my 10" Cricket loom and started weaving. Post for part 3 here.

Scarf in progress on the loom. The thick grey line is the BFL hand spun yarn for the weft fringe.

A close up before I took it off the loom. Nice pleasing Fibonacci color sequence eh?!?

Off the loom ready for finishing and beading. I used every bit of the white Polwarth hand spun I had (part 2 post here).

My selection of glass beads to play with.

It only took me a week to weave the scarf. Duh! Now I just need to make time to do all the finishing. Sew in the yarn tails, connect the ends in to a loop, twist and add beads to the weft fringe, and finally wet finish. Doesn't seem like much but I know it'll take me longer than I think.

Lastly, here is a picture from my sister of the yarn I spun for her (see this part 1 post) and the beads she plans to knit into her piece. I can hardly wait to see her finished cowl.

The retreat is next weekend. Gotta finish!

Look What I Made! part 2

Part 2 of my ceramic birthday party. See this post for part 1.

We returned to Muddy's Studio a few weeks after the party to a table full of bisque ware. That means the clay pieces were air dried then kiln fired once, ready to glaze. 23 pieces in total.

All of our wet gray pots were now white. The pieces had shrunk about 20%. Which we were told about but were still surprised by.

Only 3 of us were able to make glazing night. We had to glaze all 23 pieces in two and a half hours. We decided to focus on our own pieces first then glaze the rest. I had 7 pots to glaze. My own four items and three bowls that were gifted to me by Stacy. She's a pro so her bowls actually look like bowls. She wasn't able to make it so I got to glaze them myself. Practice makes perfect!

By the end of the evening, we were frantically scraping and finishing the pots. A few got single dunks in the glazing bins. I was surprised how fast the glaze dried. Apparently the water in the glaze gets absorbed quickly by the very porous bisque ware. 

Me at the end, exhausted and slightly manic, trying to finish and pack up all the pieces. There was a class in the background glazing their pieces too. Unfortunately they left us to clean up after them. Oh well.

All the pots looked like this. Shades of beige, tan and brown. We couldn't tell what colors we had chosen or remember what we had done by the end of the night.

But the finale is this most beautiful collection of ceramic art from a group of mostly novices. We lost one piece in the kiln. Plus another 10% shrinkage. But look at all the pretty colors!

One of Stacy's pots glazed by her daughter.

My personal collection.

Close up of my gift bowls.

My very favorite piece. As I said in part 1, The Wave was supposed to be a big bowl. I made the clay a little thin and it started to twist in my hands when I tried to push it back. My bowl became art. I had fun with "painting" glaze on. I just love it.

Thanks again to Audrey for arranging this most wonderful event for my birthday!

Solar Eclipse

Kind of off topic but way too cool not to share.

Along with millions of other people all over the world, I watched the solar eclipse on Monday. In Southern CA we got about 60% coverage of the sun by the moon.

Here is where I started my day in Orange County. Pin holes in card stock on the sidewalk at my place.

Then I moved to my friend's house because she had solar glasses to share. Ian and his friend checking out the real eclipse.

My personal shot using my phone camera with the solar glasses snug against the lens. Sun is the tiny crescent on the upper right side.

More card stock viewing with extra crescents between my fingers holding the paper.

Then a flurry of photos from my family via text in Los Angeles County...

My mother's cardboard box with two little crescents.

My sister at my niece's elementary school.

Using her binoculars, a pair of crescents.

And on cardboard.

My brother's binocular shot.

My sister, in the Bay Area, found the crescent in the cloud cover there. The tiny spot in the center.

Many crescent shadows through the leaves of a tree. I feel like I could replicate this pattern using Shibori stitching and dyeing techniques on silk.

And the finale from the cousin of a friend in Oregon.

So amazing!