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Diamonds and Rust

6/22/2019

So, here is another one! I knew I'd been hard at work doing something this past year. Now that all the publications are finally hitting the press, it feels really good to have something to show. It makes sense that that fiber art publications are not an instant thing, but sometimes the wait is hard! This particular weaving project was for the curated Loom Theory collection for rigid heddle looms. I was honored to be invited to design for this e-book publication and delighted to use Lunatic Fringe Yarn. Specifically, I used their American Maid yarns, which are natural cottons in their surprising natural colors. (Who knew cotton grew in green?)

At first, I was a little apprehensive about the yarn choice. Not because I don't LOVE Lunatic Fringe Yarns, but because I usually use them for things like dish towels. That just goes to show, I was only limited by my own bias and lack of imagination because the yarn was a delight and even packed a little surprise- the colors darken after a bath with baking soda!

The scarf itself was a combination of plain weave clasped weft and overshot. The clasped weft was between the dark green and dark brown cotton colors, as you can see in both the picture of the warp threads and the weaving. I did not want such a stark straight line of color down the side of the scarf, so I tried keeping the blend of clasped weft organic, never passing more than an inch on either side of the color change in the warp, but allowing the clasped weft to fall in different places as the scarf progressed. Perhaps a straight color line would have been better? I like the back and forth play, but I can see peoples' tastes leaning for a cleaner line, too.

The overshot was throughout the solid green portion of the scarf, creating subtle diamonds in the scarf body. The scarf was finished with a twisted fringe (which looked AMAZING with the American Maid cotton).

If you are interested in the pattern for this scarf, is is available in the Loom Theory scarf collection for rigid heddle looms linked earlier in this post. The ebook clocks in at $12.99, which is not bad considering the number of quality patterns it contains. There are a total of seven different scarf patterns. And even if this scarf does not strike your fancy, if you enjoy rigid heddle weaving, you should check out this book. Every scarf in the collection is designed with a specific, curated yarn by a different artist and the end result is a beautiful and diverse collection of both aesthetics and skills. I think there actually might be something in there for every type of rigid heddle weaver. I'm going to try my hand at Tammy Bast's "Rambling Rosepath." I had no idea you could do that on a rigid heddle loom!

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Sand and Sea Wrap

6/8/2019

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This rigid heddle project was featured in the most recent issue (2019) of Little Looms. I am very honored to grace the pages of such an awesome publication for weavers of the smaller loom world. Without giving away too many details of the pattern, which gets legally murky at this point because I do not think it technically belongs to me anymore, I thought I'd share some of the making adventure with you. And a big thank you to the model, photographer, tech editor, editor, and Interweave for bringing this project to life in their magazine.

This project was woven on an Ashford, 32" rigid heddle using two 12.5-dent reeds to create a fine gauge cloth. I used the wonderful Vale yarn from Brooklyn Tweed...I love Brooklyn Tweed. Vale is their lace weight yarn.

The wrap itself features a lovely Spanish lace, which adds the slightest texture to either end. You have to be dedicated to hand-manipulated techniques to tackle Spanish lace in lace weight yarn. It takes a long time. Also, while I absolutely love Brooklyn Tweed, they create yarns with the knitter in mind, not the weaver. Vale is lovely, but it is sticky and stretchy. Sticky and stretchy are not your friends when you are weaving. Particularly when you are weaving persnickety little lace waves with over 400 ends to contend with. Perhaps a different yarn choice would have been wise, but, as I've mentioned, I just love Brooklyn Tweed. In fact, I think the yarn of this piece deserves its own photo. Here it is.

Such nice yarn. How could I say no? I couldn't.

I was nine months pregnant when I started this project and my baby was born the day the project and pattern were due. Ha! But I saw that one coming, so I got it done a little early. You can see my rather sizable belly intruding on the loom in one of the photos below. However, even with my let's-get-ahead-of-this-baby-being-born planning, it was a definite crunch to get finished. Not only was there the delicate lacework, but I also did a twisted fringe. I really like the look of a twisted fringe, I think it keeps the wrap looking very clean and neat, even after a few uses. I guess it has a more formal looking finish to me that is not inherently fragile. The down side to a twisted fringe is that it, too, takes a while to complete. And I did little bundles. Why did I do little bundles? I thought I was going to lose my mind by the end of it.

At the end of the day, though, I was really very pleased with how this project turned out. And while it was not the first project to hit the presses, it was the first project I had submitted that was accepted to a major publication. It will always have a special place in my heart because of that. I still feel like a sloppy amateur trying to keep up with great fiber artists, but this project got me one step closer to believing that one day I will be able to count myself among the inspiring in the fiber world. I really hope people like the wrap and that perhaps someone out there is crazy enough to create their own version of my vision. That would be the greatest honor of all.

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