Category: Magic in the Water
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Log Jam
Log Driver’s Waltz When working on a Big Project it can sometimes feel as though you are dealing with a log jam. There doesn’t seem to be any way to make progress, everything is a jumble. There doesn’t seem to be a way through – over or under, left or right. But you keep working…
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Retired
I spent a rather longer time and far more money than I wanted in order to self-publish this book. I did it because I felt it needed to be done. That the weaving community needed to hear this information. And it needed to have actual woven samples to truly bring home the message that…
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Milestones
cover of Magic cover of The Intentional Weaver cover of Handwoven (one of two covers my work has graced) Just got the galley proofs for the next article scheduled for the end of this year. One thing about turning a significant zero birthday and entering the world of the ‘elderly’ is the time spent remembering.…
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Precision
photo showing a red and beige fabric that represents plain weave as the design Weaving is the kind of craft where on the one hand there is a great deal of precision, and on the other, not so much. We can, with some effort, be quite precise in our math, in our physical skills, in…
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Stubborn
Stubborn, my mother called me. As if that was a bad thing. Which I suppose from her perspective it was. Personally? I prefer persistent… But it can also be negative. Especially when I stubbornly procrastinate about doing something that needs to be done, putting it off longer and longer until I really don’t want to…
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Pandemic Winter
Plants produce seeds that wait patiently for the correct time to germinate and grow. Generally we call this time of waiting, pausing for the correct conditions, winter. Seeds can wait patiently for quite a long time and still germinate and grow. Human beings right now are in this time of pausing. Waiting. Some are more…
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Under Pressure
This morning I pressed the towels that were cut off the loom on Friday, and run through the washing machine last night. The top photo shows the compression line fairly clearly – the bottom half of the cloth is smooth, while above it is not. The middle photo shows the blue ridges of the weave…
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Resources
A few years ago (quite a few now) a scholarly publication called Ars Textrina was produced in which articles about textiles were offered. It was a Canadian publication through the University of Manitoba and in spite of the price being in US dollars (with a really horrendous exchange rate) I made the point of buying…
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Detergents
Orvus WA Paste is a near-neutral pH, anionic synthetic surfactant and wetting agent with excellent detergency, emulsifying, and dispersing properties. What is Synthrapol? Synthrapol is a special detergent used in pre-scouring fibers before dyeing, and in washing out fiber reactive dyes after dyeing. It is also sometimes used as a surfactant or wetting agent to improve dye penetration.…
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Magic in the Water
shawl woven with rayon Yesterday I had the experience of seeing the Magic in the Water in action. I’ve been preparing an article for Handwoven (to approve – or not) and working from my stash. In The Intentional Weaver I discuss many of the considerations that go into the creation of a textile and while I…