Deep Dive

 

One of the things that fascinates me is the materials that are available to weave with.  I fell into a little 'extra' money and had a gift card to Amazon, and found their listings for electronic microscopes.  Then I had some fun burrowing down the rabbit hole, looking at threads up close and personal.

The above threads are a case in point.  They both have the same 'count', but that doesn't make them 'identical'!

The accepted wisdom is that if a, for example, cotton yarn has the same 'count' as another yarn, they are interchangeable.  They will behave the same, and create exactly the same quality of cloth.

About that...

I'm still dealing with the brain injury and other ailments, so I have not felt able to read Michelle Boyd's book Twist - but I do pick it up and page through it.  But the other thing that arrived is the first issue of WEFT.  A magazine article is more manageable for me right now.  I can focus for several pages and read an article, now and then, where an entire book still feels like too much to cope with.

But I really want to read Michelle's book - thoroughly! - because if we do not understand the materials we are working with, we can't properly manage them.

I saw a request from a new weaver who just bought some really lovely yarn and wanted to know how to set up her loom to show it off.

The yarn was pretty - lots of colour changes - and if used as warp it would make an interesting scarf (the intended finished item).

But what did I notice about that yarn?  It was not 'smooth'.  It was described as a blend of two yarns, but all I could focus on was the texture.  One of the yarns appeared to be creating a lot of loose 'ends', which in a knitted sweater (likely its intended use), would be interesting, but would be verging on a nightmare if used as warp in the loom.

Those loose fibres would tend to start popping out of the structure of the yarn, then it would begin to snag on neighbouring yarns creating snarls and 'knots' which could affect the shed.  

I'm pretty sure it was quite expensive so I very much doubt the person would be willing to 'waste' some of it making a sample.

New to the craft folk are anxious to make something 'successful'.  Some of them don't see the value of 'sampling'.  They consider weaving a sample a 'waste of time/money'.  

But there is a treasure trove of choices, especially if you look at knitting/crocheting yarn.  And yes, you *can* weave with them - *if you understand their nature*.  And how do you find that out?  You weave with it.

Now sometimes a 'scarf' can be a 'sample'.  Or a 'place mat'.  Mug rug.  A sample doesn't have to just be a sample!  

But learning something is never (in my opinion) a 'waste of time/money'.  It is how we learn.  

I wish I'd bought the next microscope 'up' in terms of magnification.  While this one is good, sometimes I'd like to see individual fibres.  But this one wasn't terribly expensive, and it allows me to 'see' the yarns much 'closer'.

So don't be afraid to explore.  To find out.  To *learn*.  

To the new weavers, I hope you find as much satisfaction in weaving as I do from the craft.

The craft so long, the life too short to learn.

Subtle

 

I see so many suggestions about how to create 'perfect' selvedges.  Many of them rely on this 'trick' or that 'secret tip'.

I've been weaving for 50 years, now, and I can assure you I agonized over my selvedges.  I, too, looked for the 'magic' solution, fussed over creating 'perfect' selvedges.

But here's the thing - like everything else about weaving, selvedges are complex.  Not complicated - complex.

There are two 'sets' of threads (usually) - the warp and the weft.  And the way they weave together can change.  It can vary, even within the textile.  There are unseen forces at work that can be quiet during weaving, and suddenly - and rather dramatically - change during wet finishing.

I see people insisting that a selvedge *must* have a plain weave structure.  (No, it doesn't.)

I see people frustrated because they have loops at the selvedge, which they then pluck at and tug, which doesn't actually solve most of the problem.  It, in fact, can cause more.  It depends.  Literally.

In the above photo, you can see the selvedge.  The weave structure is in the twill family.  What may be more difficult to see is that the weave structure builds a 'wave' into the edge of the cloth so it's not exactly 'ruler' straight.  

The twill line changes direction:  /\/\/\/\

As it changes direction, the weave pulls the selvedge 'into' the cloth, or pushes it outwards.

There are 'floats' at the selvedge, but after wet finishing, they resolve and - using a fine enough thread - the length of the floats do not materially affect the cloth.

This structure also causes the selvedge to roll.  In areas where the tie up is 1:3 the cloth will roll upwards, while the areas that are 3;1 will roll downwards.

These are subtle effects that most people don't even notice when they are weaving, or if they do, they want to 'fix' them.

If you are a new weaver, I urge you to watch how experienced and proficient weavers hold and throw their shuttle.  Consider the way I do - and if you don't do it the way I do, you might want to consider changing how you hold and throw the shuttle.

You might want to pay attention to your posture and position at the loom - making sure that your loom bench is tall enough, that you are sitting (perching) on the edge of the loom bench.  I strongly suggest you do NOT sit on an ordinary chair.  Sit upright - back straight, shoulders in 'neutral', not hunched or shrugged.

Hold the shuttle in the cradle of your fingers, pushing shuttle using your index finger and catching it in the cradle of your fingers, give the weft a very slight 'tug', and make sure that the leading edge of the weft is not trapped into the shed without sufficient slack in the weft to begin the curving path through the cloth.

Still having problems?  Check your warp.  Have you beamed using tension?  Have you used a firm warp packing?  Have you tied on using about 1" worth of warp (give or take), not tied tiny bouts, or massive ones?

There are so many more things I could say about selvedges, but honestly?  I've said them over and over again.  But every day I see new weavers asking questions.  I hesitate to answer in groups because everyone gets to practice their weaving the way they want.  But if you are interested, or are trying to help someone else, I have (free) video clips on You Tube

If you are interested in this sort of information in print I tried really hard to think of all of the 'it depends' aspects of weaving in The Intentional Weaver

My online classes continue at School of Sweet Georgia  And at Handwoven/Long Thread Media

And of course I've got all sorts of articles for various magazines, including for the latest magazine, WEFT.

And of course, this blog, where I try to label each one as to content.  All you need to do is scroll down and click on the label to find the posts I've tagged on a topic.

Welcome to the wonderful world of weaving.  :)

'Interesting' Times

 

As I scroll through the online groups I belong to, it is easy to become depressed at the state of the world right now.

Can't help but think about a half remembered poem 'This is how the world ends - not with a bang but a whimper.'

The world seems to be falling apart right now.  Little 'liberal' victories are happening here and there, but other places?  Not so much.

What do I do about it?  What *can* I do about it?

In reality, not much.

In the end, our country counted as one of those tiny 'liberal' victories, although the bad actors have not gone away - and won't.  They were so close to victory they could taste it, as they say.  And we have the added 'bonus' of media promoting the 'both sides' doctrine instead of trying to report the facts.  

How do I find meaning in my life?  A way to continue?

I come back to what I *can* do as a way to fight off the worry/anxiety about what I cannot change.

I can share hope and love.  I can stay as positive as possible, and encourage others to do what they can.  Not everyone can do much, and it is wise to remember that, when we ask 'why isn't someone doing something to fix this?'

The only person we can 'control' is our own selves, so I suggest that people take a long hard look at what is happening, and what they can actually do.

So, here is my approach:

Stand up and tell people what you believe in.  Stay positive, as best you can.  For every election, find out as much as you can about who is running - what they actually stand for, not mealy-mouthed platitudes which can be interpreted in various ways - what do they *actually* mean?  

If you know something about history or politics, cast a wary eye over anyone who promises that everything is broken and only they will fix it - without actually saying anything of substance.  Slogans are not platforms.  A document like Project 2025 is a platform.  And our Canadian Conservatives have adopted it for their platform, too.

I do NOT want to be 'annexed' - which is a weasel word for 'I want your resources and I'm going to come and grab them'.  I am not USian, I am Canadian, and I have zero desire to be 'forced' to join the US as a 'state' - no doubt without voting rights.  For all the USian 'liberals' saying that Canadians will force the US to become more 'liberal'?   That means we would have to be given the vote - and I rather doubt the anti-liberal president would chance that happening.

A few minutes ago I saw an interview with a self described Trump supporter, who is now shocked that ICE isn't looking to deport 'criminals', but anyone who looks Mexican.  And he was appalled.  What 'woke' him?  Trump and his minions, doing what they promised to do all along.

I refuse to watch the alt right media.  I don't need to, I'm well familiar with their message of hate and aggrievance.  I need to focus on the messages of hope and positivity.  And prepare myself to make sure I vote in a way that mostly helps, rather than hurts.  If someone offers a simple answer to the world's problems, I will be extremely skeptical - because humans are complicated and very seldom do 'simple' answers work for every person.

In my daily life, I will continue trying to teach about textiles, and weaving.  Never mind the piles of tea towels etc. I already have on my shelves.  At some point this chaos will resolve, one way or another and perhaps I can sell more of my stuff.  But if not, I can keep writing (for so long as someone wants me to write for them), and weaving 'samples' to illustrate what I'm writing about.

Counting my blessings sounds trite, but sometimes it is A Good Thing to remember the things that are meaningful and pleasing in our lives.

And when I get tired, I am allowed to take a break and try to rest.

Sending hope and love to everyone who wants it.  If you need a cup of kindness, I will offer what I can.  A positive word.  A virtual hug.  Will continue to tie a knot in the end of my rope and hang on...but don't give up.  Keep 'fighting'.  #elbowsUp

Say Their Name

 

two different colour ways of kitchen towels, 2/8 cotton warp, cotton flake weft

In the past two weeks (give or take a day or two), 3 of my weaving 'friends' have died.  The latest was someone I knew, not well, but respected.  I took a class from her, and took a class along with her at Banff Centre of Fine Arts.  We respected each other, although we agreed to differ in the details.  But we agreed on one thing - we loved weaving.

We didn't get together very often as she lived 500 miles away, then moved to Salt Spring Island.  But we stayed in touch.  The last time I saw her was 2019 when we did a trip over to Salt Spring Island so I could pick up another friend's silk stash.  

The other two I knew for less time, but was no less interested in them and their journeys.

As my social interactions grow fewer and fewer, I often think about the people I've met along my journey.  When I do presentations, I try to remember to mention people from whom I've learned, because I know I have not 'figured things out all by myself'.  And I feel that - as a community - we are richer for those have gone before - or beside - us, (ultimately *beyond* us) in our explorations of the endlessly (to me!) fascinating craft.

When I started weaving I was 25 years old.  At the time, the perception of weavers was 'little old ladies in running shoes'.  I chaffed at that generalization.  And now I am one of those 'little old ladies'...

My life was filled with challenges, some of which I wish I could have avoided.  But nevertheless, the obstacles appeared on my life's journey, and as my life cycle begins to wind down (not dead yet, but) there is less energy to do stuff, but no shortage of *wanting* to do more.  

Just one sample!  Just trying to figure 'this' out!  What happens if, when...?

And the people who came along with me generally tossed more questions into the mix.  Invited me to broaden my horizons.  Find things out.  Test our conclusions.  Change our minds!  

So today I have been thinking - a lot - about the people who travelled with me.  And because the time seems appropriate, I will remember the latest names.  Because somewhere I read that for so long as your name is remembered, you are not 'gone'.  

So, Carol, Pat and Diane - save a chair/bench/loom for me.  And I will think about you as I head back to the loom.  I got the warp beamed, and made a small dent in threading.  Today's goal is to see if I can finish threading (preferably without threading errors, pleaseandthankyou)

In the meantime, I have been invited to participate in an event (remotely) and after some consideration, I have decided to accept.  Once the details are confirmed I will let people know where and when, etc.  It will be a test of my ability to speak coherently, or how much I 'fail' at 'public' speaking.  :(   If it goes well, I will consider beginning to do my one or two hour remote presentations.  The surgeon said the biggest recovery from the brain bleed would happen in the first 12 months after the injury, then slower progress over the following 12 months.

It's beginning to feel very much as though if I'm going to go back to 'teaching' (remotely), I need to be doing that 'now', not wait two years after the injury to see how well I can do it.  I hope people will be kind, and understand that I do, in fact, have a brain injury, and make allowances for that.

Am I nervous?  Hell yes!  But I never did what I did in my life by letting my fear get in the way.  This event was a gift, really, because it is 'just' one hour, they will 'feed' me questions ahead of time, and IF this new medication turns out to be good, hopefully I will have more energy to do things outside of my comfort zone.

A community is not that different from a woven cloth.  It is made up of a variety of people, each bringing their unique self to the whole.  And we are all richer for it.

Following the Threads

 

This is one repeat of the design we call Swedish Snowflake.  It is usually threaded over 8 shafts although it *can* be done on 4 - but with less definition.  Since I've had 16 shafts since, I dunno, sometime in the 1980s, I tend to thread warps over all 16.  It allows me to have fewer heddles per shaft and threading a motif over the first 8 shafts and the second set of 8 shafts, I can be more...playful...with how I interpret a draft.

This kind of messing about with a threading draft was what really excited me about weaving.  Learning how the weave structure works, then being able to set up the design to meet my requirement, was a learning curve and kept me coming back to the graph paper (to begin with), then to purchase and learn how to use a computer with weaving software.

I purchased my first computer system by taking the requirements for Fiberworks into the local computer shop, and pretty much made the two guys day by buying the cpu, keyboard, (no mouse, yet) tv monitor/screen with *colour*, and a daisy wheel printer.  Which pretty much ate up about $3000.  In 1987 or early 88.  I needed to wait until the holiday sales were done so that I could see how much money I could budget for such a system.

In the 1990s I purchased the computer assist (or Compu-Dobby as AVL called their system).  I waited until their equipment had done some beta testing, and generally, with the help of a couple of friends more savvy than me, I got it working.  Then in the late 1990s, I bought the air assist system.  I was getting it primarily for the fly shuttle (which AVL assured me would NOT work on my loom, but never mind, Doug knew it should), and while I was at it, for the treadle.  For which my knee thanked me!

I continued to weave on the AVL until 2019, when I decided to retire and downsize looms and purchased the Louet Megado.  I was sorely tempted to get 32 shafts, but thought about the physical requirements needed to thread that many shafts and gave my head a shake.

It is part of what keeps me getting out of bed and down to the studio - trying to work out the why as well as the how.

In the meantime, I keep committing to write more articles.  There will be another article for School of Sweet Georgia, later this month.  They are now offering content even if you are not currently a 'member' as a 'taster'.  And yesterday we shipped the next article to WEFT and I've been beginning to work on the next.  Plus I committed to doing two articles for an upcoming issue.

In the meantime I continue to wrestle with pain meds.  We got our Covid vaccines on Monday which kind of trashed my body above and beyond the 'usual' pain levels.  But I'm feeling 'better' this morning and will go down to begin beaming the next warp.

It will be another 2/20 merc. cotton warp - I am still working on stash reduction.  There should be plenty of the merc. cotton to wind a 'standard' length warp (about 24 yards) and have some left over to use as weft on 2/16 unmerc. cotton.

One of the things I did was buy the entire "Master Weaver" booklets that were edited by Robert Leclerc, using Mr. Zielinski's newsletter that he wrote a few decades ago.  If you remember Gestetner stencils, he used them to write his newsletters, then mailed them out to his subscribers.  But they were difficult to read and the illustrations were...typical of the day.  Mr. Leclerc went through the newsletters, collected all the information for particular topics, then compiled small booklets focused on a theme.  I learned a ton of stuff reading through the booklets, and they remain a steadfast reference in my library.

So, a friendly reminder about *my* books.  Given the tariffs, US folk will be getting the books shipped within the US and no tariff applies.  For my memoir, currently available on my ko-fi shop, digital only, again, no tariff.  If you want a copy of Kerstin Fröberg's book Weave A V, I can mail that via USPS if anyone is interested.  Although frankly, I'm not confident that the current regime won't try to dismantle the USPS and then who knows?

The parcel we shipped to WEFT yesterday was via courier, and the box was $40 to ship by ground.  I am hoping that the president will leave couriers alone, even though that means doubling the expense of shipping anything across the border.  

I was warned about the curse "May you live in interesting times" and here I am.  One of the most difficult times about these 'interesting' times is that there is very little stability, with at least one head of state who seems to be trying to kill off a bunch of his citizens.  

The only way to cope I think is to expect the unexpected, and be as flexible as you can be.  

Books are available here

Classes are available here and here

And of course I have some free content here and video clips on You Tube

It Takes Two

 

Ever danced?  Ever danced with someone who didn't want to?  Or wasn't very good at it?  Sometimes it is just 'easier' to walk away and find a new partner...

Right now I see multiple people advising the 'left' to find a way to 'work with' the alt right.  Except, how do you manage to 'dance' with someone who doesn't want to be an equal partner?

How do you convince someone to set aside their demands, rational or not, and be flexible?  How do you dance a tango when they want to, I dunno, 'break' dance?  The only 'victory' is a zero sum game of 'you' gaining everything you want and letting the other person not 'gain' (or win) anything at all?

How do you build a relationship when they don't want a relationship with 'you' (insert 'reasons') and would rather see you dead?  When they call whole classes of fellow human beings 'useless eaters'?  Who want to take away, in the case of the Canadian alt right, universal health care and social safety nets (which are already too flimsy, in my opinion.)

The paradox of tolerance is a look at what happens when someone who will not tolerate another and keeps demanding you meet them in the centre - but every time you try to, they move the 'centre' further 'right'?  Eventually dragging *you* into the realm of the 'right'?  So there comes a point when you have to stand up and say, I'm not tolerating your voice of hate and vindictiveness...

I *know* not all USians are alt right.  Not all Canadians are alt right.  And yet, somehow their angry voices, demanding 'justice' because something something gazpacho, seem to get all sorts of media coverage, lies get repeated ad nauseum until people who are primed to believe those lies accept them as truth.

Some of the alt right in Canada are already throwing shade at PMMC, saying that the whole problem with Canada is NAFTA, and blaming Justin Trudeau - and the Liberals - for NAFTA.

Which is a bit hysterically hilarious, given NAFTA was Brian Mulroney's 'baby', along with Ronald Reagan.  And the two of them famously singing When Irish Eyes are Smiling (yes, there is video.)

Whatever transpires today at the White House, I am relieved that our PM is willing to talk, but not mess around.  The president has constantly accused Canadians of 'ripping' the US off and the way he's 'punishing' us is to destroy our economy - or try to.   But PMMC actually knows how the economy works and he is willing to protect Canada and Canadians, and is already making deals with countries other than with the currently bad faith president, who has bankrupted 6 (or is it 7) businesses, and seems determined to bankrupt the US and destroy hundreds, nay thousands, of small businesses of *his own citizens* in order to trash Canada's democracy, too.

The effects of the tariffs are already being felt in the US marketplace.  Instead of dozens of container ships docking in the US, many are re-directing to Vancouver, BC.  The evidence will soon show up in the stores, with empty shelves because no one wants to, and many more cannot *afford* to pay tariffs in the triple digits.

So if Mr. Carney walks away from Washington, DC today and turns his (our?) back on the US?  Pretty sure the majority of Canadians are going to be just fine looking elsewhere.  No doubt he'll have Down With Webster on his playlist...

May 5

 

I have very few photos of my dad.  This was one that mom had in a double frame - one with her at 16 years of age, this of dad in his Canadian army uniform, no doubt early in the war.  The smaller photo is of dad at age 10, around when his mother died of breast cancer.

He was the youngest child in the family, and as such considered a 'mammy's boy'.  I suspect dad was a menopause baby, and perhaps was treated differently from the rest of the kids.  I will never know because anyone who can tell me is gone, now.

At any rate, he was conscripted, and nearly turned down (according to my mother, but her 'stories' were frequently suspect) because he didn't express enthusiasm about going to Germany to kill the 'Hun'.  (What I did find out was that the recruiting soldier marked down on his file that dad was 'thick' - because dad had no schooling and could not read or write well.  'Thick' he was not.)

Dad's family identified as 'German', although they immigrated from Belarus prior to the first World War.  The story about the family arriving in N. America varied, especially as mom 'dressed' the story up.  Eventually I just stopped believing her about a lot of things, especially when they seemed improbable.

But the fact remains - dad served in the Canadian Army, posted first to the Aleutians, then, when they were scraping the 'bottom of the barrel', he was sent over to England and found himself on Juno Beach.

The only time he ever talked about the war was when the Winston Churchill 'series' The World at War aired, which was yearly for a while.  Dad would park himself in front of the tv and both of us kids were warned that dad was watching 'his' show and we were to be quiet.

We learned early that dad did not answer questions about the war, so stop asking.  But when the film showed the landing on the beaches that day, dad would sit quietly, elbows on the arms of his Lazy-boy recliner with his hands gripped together, fingers 'tented', and leaning his chin on his clasped hands.  As the footage of the Canadians landing on Juno beach played, he would lift his head from his hands, point to the tv and quietly say 'I was there'.  Three words.  With such power.

I honestly don't know if dad would have swallowed the current fascist propaganda.  All I know is that he 'hated' war, but did his duty anyway.  Plus he survived, which was the 'important' part - for *me*.

Whatever the truth of his opinions about what is going on now, I'm actually glad I don't have either parent to deal with right now.  They wouldn't 'get' computers.  Dad barely used the telephone, never mind a computer!  Mom did have a computer, but we made sure she never went online.  

People ask 'when did you become politically active' - and I hardly know what to answer.  Politically, my parents were not party members, but voted according to their conscious on the day.  But my mother (who was willing to discuss such things - dad wouldn't) believed some things I could not.  When did I 'wake' up?  I think I came out of the womb thinking, questioning, deciding some things simply did not make sense (considering I went to Sunday School every Sunday, and attended Bible classes to be confirmed into the church).  Plus I read.  Non-stop, mostly.  Anything.  Fact.  Fiction.  Didn't matter.

Now we have a group of full blown fascists in our neighbouring country, threatening to 'annex' us by 'breaking' us financially/economically.  Today we learned about the tariffs on the movie industry - targeted primarily against all Canadian 'production'.  Given how many Canadians actually 'grew' Hollywood, it's just a tad ironic - but not shocking, if you've been paying attention.

Anyway, we now have 'new' (American) labels for various significant dates.   Like today.  My 'resistance' will remain low key due to my age/health restrictions.  But I will not follow the current president of the US, AND I will continue to use my 'British' spellings (eg 'neighbour' never 'neighbor').  I will continue to boycott US products - as best I can - and support Canadian businesses.  At this point I can see no possibility of crossing the border with the double jeopardy of Covid and fascism...

#elbowsUp