Getting Harder

Group R met at my house today. We're getting down to the nitty gritty of some specific things about the exhibition in October, and things haven't been all smooth sailing. In fact, for the last two months, I've thought the rest of the group would do better if I left the group now, because I seem to be making all kinds of waves. But then I think that way of any group I belong to, and I like the woman involved so I've hung on so far.

The thing is, from my perspective, we need to discuss, as a group, everything, from the size of the posters to how we're going to put our names on the wall besides the work to... everything. And we agree in principle. But in the last two meetings, it appears some of the subjects/items I bring up rub people the wrong way, or these are such mundane things they need not be discussed.

See, contrary to popular believe in the group, I don't have especially strong opinions about most things, but I want to make sure they are discussed. There are some in the group who won't offer opinions unless asked, and it is in these discussions that we find out about each other, and ourselves, and I find it so very... fruitful. I also believe relatively simple things can make a great difference, like whether to use matt or gloss paper to stick on the foam sheets that will carry our names, work titles, material and techniques. But then there are others who feel I don't respect their experiences in exhibitions, or that I don't trust them, and when they corner me, I get flustered and say whatever that comes to my mind, which may not be what I mean. The truth is, I'm more interested in picking their brains and sharing what they've seen or used in the past, so we can choose the best possible option.

I feel like I have to defend every topic/item I want to bring up, and justify my being in the group. And because I had the gallery space in the first place, nobody will ask me to leave. And I must have a terribly way of saying what I mean, because my intentions are incorrectly interrupted more often than not.

Group, eh. Next meeting is the day before my birthday, so I'll stick it out at least until then.

* * * * *

Sampling spoils me. Thank you very much.

3/11

Since around the 20th of February, (Christchurch was 22nd), I've been in a somewhat somber mood inside, (while working on that very colorful piece,) feeling it's my duty to come up with some sympathetic and cogent thoughts on, I guess, natural disasters, misfortunes, or patriotism. I had a few false starts intended for this morning, but nothing seemed right.

The truth is, this is one of few occasions I am left speechless, just like those deserted communities by the sea. So for today, I give you silence; I shall take this day to not think too hard, move slowly, sit down often, and contemplate.

Thank you. 

Practicing Twiddling my Thumbs

I saw this pic, then last night's pic, and well, they look pretty much the same, but here it is, I'm waiting for it to dry.

I fixed some of the floats, but not all, washed it in the washing machine in hot water/delicate cycle, and kept interrupting to check. I don't know if it was the temperature or the length of the not-quite-full cycle, but the mercerized cotton looked a little too-handled when I pressed.

More about the hand, sheen and structures later, but we won't mention the selvedge, because it's pretty bad, much worse than it appeared last night.

Off the Loom

Well, it's off the loom, and currently resting under the couch.

Because selecting the weft colors was such a big part while I wove, I was surprised to see such bold vertical stripes when I put it on the floor.

There are a lot of bits I like, sometimes the pattern, sometimes the color combination. There are a few weaving mistakes, which I decided to leave in this piece, partly to admonish my being so terribly nervous/intimidated by the faceless Guild selectors and their "technical criteria", but more my subsequent inability to enjoy anything to do with the Guild organization.

I do one have specific problem. One of the drafts I modified after the halfway point either had big float problems, or perhaps the tension was loose in some areas of the cloth that the shuttle went under the warps, and I have big floats across the width in two rows, separated by one OK row. If only one row was problematic, I would have simply pulled it out, but with two rows, I would need to do some mending.

Boo hoo.

I'm relieved I'm finished. But as usual, I'm wearing that same old stony expression and feel exasperated. I can't wait to move on to the next piece. Or at least to wash and press this and see how it'll turn out.

What, The Penultimate Weaving Day??

I wove for about an hour, after modifying every lift plan in the first and second combination every so slightly.  In some instances it worked, and made the appearance of the block slightly different though you can't tell here because they are not seen along the original lift plans; in some instances, they look like Big Mistakes. But I'm going ahead; I don't pray a lot, but when I do, I get distracted and loose my train of thoughts, and I often wonder how many favors/forgivenesses one can ask in the duration of one prayer, and how long I can keep his attention to myself before handing him over to the next prayer. And by him, I mean, THAT Him, because I did go to a Catholic Convent School for 10 years.

For example, the draft that looks Very Bad above was altered like this.

Lately, though, I thank the universe, sometimes out loud, instead of praying.

I had planned to weave for just one more day and I've woven 125.5 cm so far, but because I probably don't need to do anything more to the fringes, I could weave Friday afternoon, I suppose. I'd like to get back to it this afternoon/evening, but not sure if I can because we're having supper at a pub with friends we get to see only once or twice a year and then tale a stroll along the isles of the supermarket.

Slow Morning

I'm taking things slowly again this morning, doing some physiotherapy exercises, looking at pictures of woven scarves and textile exhibitions on the Internet. At the end of last night I'd woven 98 cm, but I need to weave over 200 cm, hopefully around 216cm, so I get a respectable 2-meters-plus of cloth after the piece is finished. And that's by the end of the day tomorrow.

On the good news side, I received two more yards, and a beautiful card.

Thank you, Peg Cherre and Holly Haynes. I've started to think about weaving something I can carry around with these friendly one-yards, not a scarf, but some kind of a talisman/lucky charm; I'm moving away from the idea of a standalone object d'art/craft.

Combed

I did some physiotherapy exercises first thing this morning, and the old left wrist/elbow/arm is definitely complaining, so I cleaned the kitchen pantry, cooked dinner, wove for 15 minutes, and tried to make the Italian Hemstitching a little tidier by crawling under the loom and pushing the bottom up a little with a comb I had for years but never used. When pushed up, however, the bottom of the lozenges loosen, so it's most definitely worth getting it right the first time and not manipulated later. But this comb is going into my weaving tool drawer.

I think I'll go read a little now. I hope to get another 15 minutes weaving in before the end of the day, but it's a worry as I only have 78 cm done.

Ooops

Tired Monday

I kept waking up last night and couldn't go back to sleep for no apparent reason. And the old arm started telling me something; no pain, no soreness, just reminding me it's there. So I took it easy this morning, looking at the three samples, noticing some things that should have been blatantly obvious.

1) If the sett is set closer, the colors appear more saturated. Well, doh!

2) If the sett is set closer, my rectangles become skinner and longer. Well, double doh, but I decided I can live with this.

3) If the sett is set closer, the hand is definitely different. This, I knew, and from my recent experience with Mom's scarf, I almost looked forward to the less fluffy, more fabric-y hand. As I said yesterday, Sample 3 is too small to give me a good understanding of the difference, but that and what's on the loom now feel thicker and... more trust-worthy, rather than fluffy and lacy and airy-fairy. 

4) If the sett is set closer, the appearance of my designs change. For now, I can only say they are different, but can't explain how, nor which I prefer.

The idea of knotted fringes did not appeal to me at all, and I considered putting in not-so tiny beads at the head of the fringes; I had something like the rosary or prayer beads in mind. But the fabric is not thick, so the sizes of beads I had in mind would have been be disproportionately bulky. And as much as I liked the intricately laced fringes, I have no appetite for them for this project.

I studied the illustrations in Virginia M West's "Finishing Touches for the Handweaver" and Suzanne Baizerman and Karen Seale's "Finishes in the Ethnic Tradition", and tried out Italian Hemstitching from the former, (page 24) and Neolithic Edge from the latter, (page 9). Neolithic was easier and quicker but the Italian Hemstitching looked somewhat reminiscent of the bead idea, so though my technique is silly-shocking-laughable, I went with it.  The shape reminded me of medallions of Virgin Mary, the only jewelry we were allowed to wear in our convent school, and fitted nicely with the prayer theme.

I didn't get to weaving until around 5.30PM, but the weaving goes quickly, and I managed 67 cm today. So far I'm pleased; not ecstatic, but pleased, with what I've got.

Sample 3, and No Rest for the Tardy

Reed Marks/Stripes
On careful inspection (by Ben) my 12-dent reed (from the US?) also had skinner blades/separators, but my 6-dent reed had thicker blades, resulting in these three choices:

A) Resley 2/20 cotton at 42EPI but keep the thicker cotton at 36 on the current 6-dent reed,
B) Resley everything at 36EPI on the 12-dent reed,
C) Resley 2/20 cotton at 40EPI and the thicker cotton at 35.

I wasn't sure if A) would improve the situation much, since the size of the blades will remain the same, and a dent in a 10-dent reed is much easier to see than in a 12-dent reed, (B), so I went with C), fiddling around where 2/20 are adjacent to the thicker cotton. Oh, that pesky pale cream that doesn't full, that was sleyed at 50EPI.

In addition, I put yesterday's Sample 2 in a hot, regular rinse cycle and then in the dryer for about 20 minutes but did not see any improvement. Which was kind of a relief as I hate the thought of putting mercerized cotton in a dryer.

Drafts/Structures
I did not make new drafts/lift plans. I altered my test patterns aiming for 44 or 88 picks each. I did not create more complicated lifting, either, because the way I see it, most days in my life are same-old-same-old but it's the slight variation that makes a big difference, like a Tui came to my banksia tree, or a loaf came out great even though it's the same old recipe in the usual setting on my bread maker. Things like Brisbane trip doesn't happen to me too often, so I wanted to stick to structures like twills and basket weave.

Here are the three lift plans with four variations each, plus two variations of the short 8-pick part.(I can show you only the lift plan because I don't have the random threading documented.) And you can see how easy it would be to modify them as I go.

First draft combination, four permutations, 44 picks

Second draft combination, four permutations, 43 picks

Third draft combination, four permutations, 85 picks

Two faces of the short rectangles, shown here with 16 picks, but woven 8 picks each

Because so much is left to random, unseemly floats, not too long but not pretty, pop up every now and then. Based on today's sample, I rethreaded six ends; this only guarantees there won't be too many blatant floats if I use the same lift plans in the same order.

I'm deciding on the draft as I weave, referencing the structures in the samples. (The tags specify the draft variation.) If I get bored, I can start the draft from the other end, or change face, to create yet more slight variations. For the short rectangles, (not necessarily all 8 picks), I can also use one of the first four varieties. And I can still alter a draft as I progress.

Weft Colors

Dark, Depends, and Light containers; I am choosing as I weave.

The Last Sample

52.5 cm wide and 26.5 cm long on the loom after weaving 291 picks; washed in hot water/regular cycle, steam-pressed, and almost dry, it's now 50.5 cm wide and 25 cm long. And I have reached that "something of maximum return" place.

The sample is too small to know accurately how the hand differs from Sample 1, but it feels heftier, which I don't dislike. Reed marks negligible if you didn't hear/watch me go on and on about it, though they are still there.

I'm not sure if I still like "Prayer" as the name of the piece; it's more like Shakers shaking, Quakers quaking and African Americans singing and dancing to their fabulous Gospels. I'm warming to the idea of changing the title to "Hallelujah" but we'll see how the final piece looks.

Tonight, I contemplate about fringes, and tomorrow I start weaving the real deal.