New Scarves

I just finished four new scarves.  They are in the Collapse Weave technique. I wrote about this in previous posts. Check out http://studiojottings.blogspot.com/2009/07/collapse-weave.html & http://studiojottings.blogspot.com/2009/08/this-and-that_10.html to get more information on how these scarves are made.  I love making these scarves!  Better yet I love how they feel after they are finished.  The weaving on these scarves is very labor intensive!  It is slow and exact in order to have the technique work effectively but the results are wonderful.  The time it takes to weave them is worth it. The wool/silk yarn that I use is beautiful and soft and I love working with it.  It is like butter to the fingers! At shows I always get the comment that wool makes people itch.  Some wools many times do because of the processing the yarn has gone through at the mill.  Unless you are allergic to Lanolin, the itching is most likely due to the shortness of the wool fiber in lower grade wools or the chemical processing that the yarn has been exposed to. That is not the case with the wool/silk yarn I use and believe me I would know as the yarn is always going through my hands and fingers through out the whole process.  I never itch once! And I love to scrunch up the scarves and feel them in my hands.

In making any handwoven item, the yarn must be measured before going onto the loom.  This process is called warping.  While warping it is important to make a cross in the yarns so the sequence for threading is there and the yarn does not tangle. When all the yarn is measured it is removed by putting it into a chain.  When in the chain form it can be stored safely without tangling until ready to be put on the loom.

Here are a few pictures:


Warping Mill measures the warp



Warp Cross



Warp Chain



After weaving the scarves look like this.  They have a stretchy quality to them due to the technique I use and the over spun wool crepe yarn which is the second yarn used in these scarves. 



Four Scarves



Close up of four scarves 



During December you can purchase one of my Collapse Weave scarves at Guilford Art Center in Guilford, CT, http://www.guilfordartcenter.org/, Some Things Looming in Reading, PA, http://www.somethingslooming.com/, or my studio in Plymouth, MA.   

Designing a Shrug

I'm getting ready for a show in Reading, PA at a gallery called Some Things Looming.  I am a follower of their Face Book page and receive their e-mail newsletters.  I recently visited STL and was impressed with what this mother and daughter team have put together.  They are devoted to Fiber Arts and that in itself is rare.  There are very few places that have devoted their space entirely to Fiber Art. Some Things Looming's mission is to work with fiber artists, exhibit their work, and bring  Fiber Art to the forefront with the public by education through classes and exhibits. I use to work for a gallery in West Chester, PA called Woven Fiber Art House.  Woven had the same mission but sadly had to close.  I am so happy to see STL pick up the mantle.  For this reason I am happy to be a part of the Handmade Holidays 2 show which opens Dec. 3 and runs through Dec 24. You can go to www.somethingslooming.com to get more information about the show and what's happening at STL.

This show has inspired me to work on a new shrug.  My shrugs are all one of a kind.  They are made from extra fabric I've woven and various embellishments from my "stash of stuff ".  My stash is BIG so there is plenty from which to choose!

After careful consideration and playing around with the various choices I have, here is a picture of the elements that I gathered for use in this new shrug.  It consists of my handwoven fabric, some hand dyed samples from a workshop I took on "Art Cloth" with Jane Dunnewold, hand dyed yarn, some polymer beads that a friend made and gave me, and some glass beads.

So the first step was to make bias trim from the hand dyed silk pieces which were only about 8" x 10" big.  From this 2" wide strips were cut and sewn together to form bias binding.

These bias strips became the binding on the neck edge and the trim on the sleeves, the beads were hand sewn on and the shrug was ready to be worn.



Front view



Back view





















So I have a chance to send 12 pieces to this show. Should this be one of them?

Detail

 

What other pieces of my work do you think I should send?  I welcome comments.

I'll be posting pictures on Face Book of possibilities.  You can go to my fan page without having an account on Face Book.  Just follow the link on the right hand side of my blog. If you have a FB account, don't forget to "Like" my page and then let me know what I should send to Some things Looming for the show.