Aliens……on the beach??

Here is another version of the Alien warp. This is the leftover piece of warp, that was woven for someone else with a cotton weft in charcoal. I am still loving this warp, but am torn between the two wefts. They both really show the colours off, in different lights. This one should be mailed out in the next few days, and for now at least, the loom is bare. This is a very unusual circumstance, and even got commented on by one of the kids. (“Mom, what is wrong with your loom?”)

I am already planning more projects using these colours!

This next photo is a partial warp. I am winding this one in four bouts, as the colour gradations are numerous, and complex. The colours (at least as they are seen on my monitor) are not quite rich enough, but it gives you an idea of the transition.  Many of the threads in the transition will go on the loom as singles (one turquoise, one blue, two turquoise, one blue, one turquoise, three blue…..) which results in an awesome, random blending of colours, but is fairly intenstive to measure out. I have a rather large chart, in my own shorthand (that most people don’t understand, but I am OK with that), that tells me how many of what colour, in what order. It also contains notes about where to stop and start each bout, and which bout goes where on the loom. Every time a thread colour changes, I check off the section that I just finished (anywhere from one to 100 or so threads), cut the yarn in use, double check which colour is next, tie one the correct colour, and start winding. Then I repeat all of the above steps. In this case, I repeat them about 165 times. That is a LOT of knots, none of which will ever be seen in the finished product.

It sounds like a fairly onerous task, but today, like most days, I find myself getting into a rythm, and losing myself in the process. I like that I run every inch of thread through my fingers, that makes me feel good about what I do, and it feels like a little of me goes into every fabric that I produce. If those little bits make other people happy, then I consider myself a success.

I really enjoyed measuring this bout. It was a beautiful sunny day, I was working in the dining room, with windows and doors open, a breeze gently blowing through, and the sounds of birds in my ears. It made me think of sitting on a beach on some tropical island…..I wonder if the colours were reinforcing that thought at all????

 

Chained to my work…..

 

This is the reeling of the alien yarns. I am very happy with it, as is the client. The only change I made is to switch out the medium blue for a slightly darker shade as I felt it would blend in too much once the weft is added.

 Here is a “I am trying to be artsy, but forgot too look at the background” photo of the actual yarns.  (Please disregard my piles of things to be hemmed on the ironing board. I prefer to think of this as proof that I do actually use my iron and ironing board, regularly, if not for the intended purpose)  I am always shocked at photos like this, because the colours above look good together, at least to my eye. Down below, well….let’s just say I would not pick this group of colours out of the crowd at the school dance. The large blocks of solid colours never fails to look completely different from what I envision them to be in a warp. The trick here, my friends, is to soldier on, and trust that the end will look like the reeling. (It almost always does)

So, I buckled down, and measured the warp, then chained it, and took it upstairs to acquaint it with the loom that will help me transform it into something amazing.

 

Chained to my work…..I always think of this phrase when I chain a warp, and I always wonder to myself:

“Why is that phrase used in a negative way?” Because really, what is more wonderful that chains of yarn, just waiting to become a piece of handwoven art?

(All things needed to measure a warp in a single, mostly continuous session….yarn, pencil and paper to help keep track of where you are in the thread order, a BIG glass of water, and a good audiobook to help pass the time)

ALIENS!!!!!

I am so excited about this upcoming custom project!  I have a lovely client who requested a warp design based on this little guy:

Alien colours

You might recognize him from a childrens movie. I absolutely LOVE the colours, and really enjoyed working with this client to get a design that preserved the feel of the character, and is visually pleasing. After a few emails back and forth, with input from both of us, here is the final design:

Mockup of warp

(the shade of the green is a bit off, we have used several sources to get just the right shade of green, photos of the yarn will come once the orders arrive!)

 

I think it will be stunning as a piece of fabric, and I dream about weaving it. It just makes me happy.

Can any of you really say that these little guys don’t make you smile?

ALIENS!!!

Technical Difficulties

Computers and the internet are awesome. They truly connect the world and they make life so much easier.

When they work.

I spent this morning talking to my internet provider, doing all kinds of weird things to my computers (yes, several of them), trying to figure out why my internet connection was not working. I am borrowing internet from a friend to post this, but please know that all the people that emailed me expressing interest in custom weaving will be hearing from me today.

 

Thanks so much for your patience.