Warp -N- Woof

2009-01-14T11:17:00.002-06:00

I haven't gotten around to wet finishing the cell weave yet.

I did warp up about 5 yards of white 10/2 perle cotton for a summer and winter weave along on Ravelry. I'm trying (and so far successful) in weaving every single day. I've never done much with summer and winter, so I'm going to do a little sample first based on Sharon Alderman's drafts in Mastering Weave Structure. Other than the basics she also does some "as ifs" to produce a pile weave and a lace weave based on s&w.

Now that I've wrapped my brain around it, I rather like s&w threading. It's pretty balanced and I like that you can have blocks of any size without adding incidentals or anything odd.

2009-01-09T15:24:00.002-06:00

The false doubleweave/cell weave is done. I ended up with two samples, a scarf and a handtowel. So designated by just how long they are and whether I'm going to have fringe or a hemmed edge.

I'll post photos tonight.

I also knitted up another 3-button shawl for my step-mother-in-law.

2009-01-04T18:20:00.002-06:00

Okay, I'm back... yeah, it's been a long time. like really long time.

I rejoined a site a few weeks ago and realized I just sorta dropped out about April... lots of things have happened since then--mostly moving. And then moving. And then moving some more.

I've moved from an enormous studio, to a big studio to now the smallest studio in the world. I can barely shut the door and the loom occupies the whole thing... but ironically, I've been really productive.

I'm taking on as a New Year's resolution to weave every day. I might amend that to do some sort of fiber art every day, but right now I have a warp on and am about done with it.

So, I'm about to pull off two long scarves in false doubleweave or cell weave. I misread the pattern, so it's not exactly what I thought it was, but I like it anyway. The yarn is some mill end stuff which I believe is cotton and linen flake. I did a burn test on it.

The sett is 12 epi.

2008-06-02T10:21:00.002-05:00

My New Studio is SOOO Hot--Literally!

Okay, so for bizarre and irritating circumstances (namely that the idiots in the space below me --formerly my studio--decided that 11:30 at night was an okay time to toss toxic fume generating floor stain on, which forced me out of the loft with my 3 dogs to the studio down the street), I discovered that sans air conditioning, my studio becomes a stifling 90 or so degrees, even at 2 a.m. And that with no lights, the scrap heap formerly know as my loom does major damage to one's shins.

Color me grumpy today... and with no weaving done this weekend... grrr...

2008-05-30T11:47:00.003-05:00

Okay, so the move has been incredibly slow... the space still needs work (painting) and there's a bunch of stuff stored in the area, so I have to shift it around to get the space to paint.

Anyway, on with weaving--

I've decided to do two panels for the commission--on the first I'm taking inspiration from old wireline communications--so I'll incorporate some floats of copper wire and the basic pattern design will be in some undulating twill. I'm mimicking the analog sound waves... will probably do this with some sort of shadow weave, which will be fun.

For the second piece which is based on "new" technology I'll incorporate fiber optics as floats (I don't know how fragile they are, so I'll have to experiment with their ability to bend). The part I'm really excited about is the idea of using spectral color.

Little science lesson here: when calls are transmitting over fiber optics the sound is converted to digital format (on/off, on/off) which looks like little tiny bursts of light (on/off, on/off), get it. The super cool thing is that in order to gain more capacity on the fiber optic cable, some smart and creative person thought to break the while light into a rainbow of colors (almost literally running it through a prism) and then each color carries a different transmission), called DWDM, or dense wavelength division multiplexing.

So, I'm planning on using lots of spectral color and I really have fallen in love with Bonnie Tarses's method for using three threads as one, so that the colors blend along the length of the warp. I'm even thinking of running them through my spinning wheel so that they wrap around each other -- Stay tuned.

2008-04-06T21:14:00.006-05:00

Whew!

Most of this weekend has been spent down in the studio. Had lots of folks in for First Friday gallery crawl, so did lots of demoing which was a clever disguise for actually weaving off the rest of my warp. I've got a little more to do some samples on or maybe yardage for pillows or something.

Spent most of today figuring out and correcting the errors in my horoscope chart weaving. That was tedious. I should be able to weave that off this week sometime.

2008-03-27T11:59:00.002-05:00

Commission Piece(s)

I briefly mentioned this when talking about the move, but I do have this commissioned piece for a large telecommunications company. Right now I'm thinking of it as 3 panels on the theme of Telecommunications: Death of Distance. Each piece becomes a major phase of communication over long distances, from paper "snail" mail, to telegraph and wireline phone, to fiber optic networks. So for each of the three I'll use paper yarn, copper wire and fiber optic fiber as long floats on each of the piece. Right now I'm struggling with the ground cloth. My temptation is to do some interesting patterning on the ground cloth--like a networked twill or a snowflake pattern. The other options I'm still working through is to encode something meaningful in the ground cloth--either words (a la name drafting) or some other numeric system related to telecomm-- morse code comes to mind as well as some of the modern encryption systems typical of data communications.

Now as for color--I'm still being drawn to just black (unless I do name drafting or something), so that it shows off the fiber optic and copper really well. I have some black rayon (or maybe it's cotton flake, I can't remember) that I can at least do some sampling with.

Those are the ideas swirling around for now--we'll see where it all lands...

2008-03-24T09:02:00.005-05:00

The move is on.

Well as of yesterday, the landlord put "For Rent" signs on the front window of my place, guess that means I need to pack. Just heading down the street about 4 blocks... as it is, I just keep moving further and further south, next I'll be inside Union Station itself (that's the local historic railroad station turned museum and attraction space).

I hate moving the loom, just because it's so much work, but I look at it like a lot like dressing the loom, you just do it thread by thread, or in this case bolt by bolt until it's done.

I have to weave off the rest of the warp on the big loom and also have to quickly get the warp finished on the LeClerc. I need the LeClerc for my commission project, but then again it takes less effort to break down and move.

2008-03-23T09:57:00.002-05:00

Must. Post. To. Blog...

Geez, has it really been since last summer since I posted to the blog, bad, bad, bad.

Well, here's what's happened. Moved the studio (just in time for me to move it again now) to the studio space directly below my loft. It has helped somewhat with my motivation, but not a lot. It's just more convenient procrastination.

Did a personal appearance at the Merchandise Mart in January and had zippo responses, although after I left, got a placement in Sawbridge Galleries.

Sold a couple of blankets here and there, but it's a slow go.

In non-blanket news, I did get a commission for the Sprint Art Collection. I'll post on that separately.

2007-07-20T11:48:00.000-05:00

Well, it's been a while since my last post, but things have been hopping around here. The Chicago Home and Gift show will begin this Friday and I sent up a full sized blanket for display with my rep and had to get all of the promotional materials done as well.

I've also been working on the website-it's still rough, but hope you all can visit it. Feedback welcomed and encouraged.

http://www.fortnerhall.com

2007-07-09T10:59:00.000-05:00

Well, now that the fourth is over, it's time to get ready for fall production... I'm expecting to need a good stock of blankets for the next few months, so want to get ahead of the curve. Weekend before last I wove almost 12 feet of fabric. I figure I can turn out a blanket in about 4 hours/8 hours with finishing, hemming, etc. Which is what I had always estimated, but never really proved out with a stopwatch or anything.

On the loom--other than the blankets--are some spools of thread to weave a test sample for the tie fabric. My tailoring mentor is interested in doing a little project where I weave custom silk fabric for her to make into high end ties. Cool idea, but there are a few snags: A)I'm not used to weaving that fine--I'll have to weave sewing thread weight or finer B)Ties are cut on the bias, so need a lot of fabric C)Initial investment is going to be high--I figure 3 yards of fabric using retail cost silk sewing thread will run about $157.00. Not sure how many ties could come from that but that's pretty pricey at a wholesale expense.

The economics of handweaving are really pretty intersting. I think most hobby weavers aren't too concerned about it, the weaving is part of the enjoyment, not part of the cost. It makes it very interesting to think about these sort of things, efficiencies to be made, etc.

2007-06-04T12:44:00.000-05:00

Had a few folks drift through on First Fridays--I actually got a bit of weaving done. Still have a problem with the shuttle jumping the track, so need to tweak the boxes some more. I avoided weaving when there were folks milling around, would hate to have someone speared with the point of a shuttle!!

A couple of projects that I need to get underway. The blankets of course, but was also planning on making some hand towels, my horoscope blanket, and some rugs from some Pendelton selvedge worms.

the list keeps growing... after the 10th I should be able to get back into the studio regularly.

2007-06-01T09:56:00.000-05:00

Well today is another First Friday and I haven't been in the studio hardly at all this past month... way too much going on in other realms unfortunately.

First Fridays is always a good boost for me and a reason to be there and active. I'm wondering if I need to change my pattern and look at getting up very early and working for a couple of hours BEFORE going to work, when I'm still fresh and caffeinated... worth a try, huh?

2007-05-15T11:36:00.000-05:00

Well, First Fridays was a bust as far as selling anything, but there were a few interesting people to stop in... other weavers actually. So, it was good to talk shop. I'm going to keep plugging at the event, the upside was that they weren't people I knew, so apparently, strangers are finding me. And it will no doubt be strangers who purchase something... although I've got some friends who are looking to buy.

I got the most recent batch of yarn this past weekend, it is absolutely gorgeous, a faded moorit with just a touch of random gray fibers here and there. Sharon thought the fibers were too weak, but she managed to spin it up, so I think it's just the preference of her machinery. Gail (Ozark Carding) is moving to Oklahoma and setting up shop there--which is why I had to hurry up and pick up my wool.

In the works, I have some sewing to do--we're re-covering the cushions on the rattan sofa that goes on the screened in porch with a mismatch of printed linens and cotton fabrics... very lovely. It's all in soft faded gray-greens and some pale blues and khaki/cream color.

As always, I need to get in and do some weaving, but perhaps I put too much pressure on that. I don't want to be so obsessive that I dread going in. Ultimately, I really enjoy weaving, despite the frustrations of the equipment and time restraints.

2007-05-02T11:00:00.000-05:00

Open house this Friday for the First Fridays event in the Crossroads District.

First Fridays is a gallery crawl of sorts that brings thousands of folks down to the arts district of KC.

2007-05-01T09:28:00.000-05:00

It seems the software upgrade has taken care of the issue with the skipped picks--why didn't I think of this before... now my problem is that the shuttle keeps flying off the race, so I got some hardware work to do.

I also finished the irridescent shadow weave table runner. I'll give it a good was and ironing and post a pic. I'm very pleased with it.

2007-04-27T13:13:00.000-05:00

Friday philosophizing--what is your aesthetic sensibility? I've often thought about this in different realms of artwork for me. I always found it hard to define that for myself--my drawings were radically different, from lush realistic drawings to rough smeary expressionist inspired drawings in charcoal. In the realm of weaving, am I a color person or am I a struture person? Structure probably first, but I'm also intrigued by color in a plain weave. I'm not sure that I can produce fabric just for loveliness' sake. If there isn't a story behind the work, then it has no energy, it has not soul. I don't really consider myself a 'colorist" --I've met people who have magnificent color sense, but I'm not one of them, I'm not usually the first person to think about putting color x and color y together (chocolate and lime for instance). But I am definitely drawn to a particular range of colors. Love Randall Darwall's work, which is essentially colorist... maybe I'm a texturist???

2007-04-25T13:34:00.000-05:00

I've been doing some thinking lately about encoded weavings--name drafts are an obvious type, but what if some other aspect of the weaving contained the code, or if you had to manipulate the fabric to decode the message... I have always been interested in secret codes, so this kinda makes a nice merger of interests.

2007-04-24T13:10:00.000-05:00

Okay, so it's been a while... a long while, but life has been busy. It looks (tentatively) like I have the AVL pick skipping problem fixed--it was either an electrical surge issue caused by another device on the same circuit, or the 9-pin wasn't quite tight enough on the back of the dobby box... I'm thinking most folks out there just don't care, right. Anyway, I did a dry run of a bout 60 pics with no errors, so I'm thinking I'm good to go.

Now, for WHEN I'm going to get into the studio. I'm writing the script for the summer concert for the Heartland Mens Chorus, The Pink Carpet, based, loosely, on The Celluloid Closet. It has become a lot of work, plus we just got a new puppy that requires watching every single moment of the day, so dealing with that.

As far as weaving, it looks like I've got a couple of commissions lined up, one person wants a blanket for his future nephew/niece and another wants a blanket as an anniversary present. Unfortunately, the anniversary is in July, so that makes it a bit weird. I'm offering up some other options for something in cotton or silk.

The shadow weave in greens and blues is looking really gorgeous, unfortunately, I did some demo weaving on it during my open studio on First Fridays and when I returned to it realized that I hadn't left off in the right spot, so lots of un-weaving to do to get that back on track.

Currently, interested in coded weaving--name drafting, music and horoscope drafting. See Bonnie Tarses's site for some great examples of word drafting and horoscope drafting--totally gorgeous. www.bonnietarses.com

2007-02-02T10:40:00.000-06:00

Drawn to the floor

More and more I'm becoming interested in rugs and rug weaving. Mind you, I haven't done any and it could possibly be the most tedious thing in the world, but I'm also working on a theory that male weavers are more apt to be rug weavers. Some one suggest that it's because of the physicality required to beat a heavy rug, but I think it's by elimination. I see lots of bloggers knitting up beautiful delicate lace shawls...something that as a man, I can't get away with wearing (well, in most locations). There also seems to be a bias with yardage for making clothing (again many men aren't taught to sew). And while some men would feel uncomfortable making a brightly colored scarf to wear, they are fine with a brightly colored rug in a wild pattern. it's just a thought, but so far a lot of the male weavers I know or know of tend toward this form... obviously there are exceptions.

For myself, I'd really like to do a navajo rug, though I'm probably better off starting with something like a samitum or maybe even a rya rug that can be done on a horizontal loom.

We'll see where this falls in the list of projects for the year!!

2007-02-01T14:32:00.000-06:00

Life continues to intervene...

Since putting on the warp this past weekend, every day has had some crisis or obligation that's kept me out of the studio. I've even wondered if some of it is my natural inclination to procrastinate, but this week's delays seemed legit.

At one point, I might have had the energy to rise at 5 a.m. and weave for three hours and stay up that same night til midnight fast at the loom... I just can't do it anymore. Getting old sucks, huh?

2007-01-30T14:26:00.000-06:00

Talked to a local fiber shop owner who might be taking over the front part of my space. This would totally rock. The space has been unused and is such a waste, since I have to heat it as well and it just gathers boxes and junk that should be tossed out anyway. I've entertained the idea before of subletting it, once to a financial planner and currently to my other half and a little local non-profit to store their stuff in. The stuff amounts to about 4 boxes and that could easily go elsewhere.

The nice thing about having a fiber artist/shop owner would be the energy and the focus. Another weaver would be ideal, but a spinner would be just as cool. We'll see how this turns out. It could be a great thing for everyone.

2007-01-29T11:43:00.000-06:00

Miles of warp

Spent the entire weekend warping up the back sectional beam with 30 yards of warp at 102"--I'd have gone with more yardage, but it's all I have of that color. My body is actually tired today, but the results are very satisfying. Now of course comes the tedium of threading and denting the whole thing, but that's easier to do alone. Had a friend come over and help with the warping--it really helps to have two people, there's lots going on to monitor. Sometimes we caught the break at the creel sometimes at the tension box.

So, I'm ready to crank out these last chocolate brown blankets and move on to something else. I've not been particularly pleased with the chocolate. The yarn is a little thinner than I had hoped for and seems more prone to breakage. It's also pretty dirty... lots of vegetal matter and bits of fluff. Don't know if it was the original fleece itself or lack of processing, but I've had to go back over these yarns several times as I'm weaving and pick out slubs and trash.

In the end the blankets are gorgeous though. I love the color.

2007-01-25T14:23:00.000-06:00

Well, it seem that January came and went, mostly under about 6 inches of ice. Somehow all of that has put me a bit behind my schedule, then again, I need to stop being so apprehensive about time.

Earlier in the month (the week of my birthday January 11th), I went to Seattle and had a great time, not only visiting the city and stocking up on books at their local weaving store, Weaving Works, but I also had an opportunity to meet with two great weavers, Bonnie Tarses and Khris Fruits, who were both inspiring in their outlook and manner and the beautiful things they produce.

Bonnie especially has inspired me to move down a path where I have a bit more of a spiritual connection with my weaving, something that in production weaving is often missing I think. So, the gauntlet, or shuttle or whatever has been thrown and now I must really think about how that works for me. Khris inspired a new reconsideration of weft-faced and rug weaving. Something that I've really not been interested in before. But heck, I do have a rug loom, so maybe that's what I should use it for...

As far as production goes, I'm about to warp on a long warp and make a run of blankets in chocolate brown. I really had to do a lot of planning with this since my yarn stock is a little more depleted. I think I'll only be able to get about 8 blankets out of this run if my calculations were on the money and I'm hypervigilant about loom waste. I've got a very eager studio assistant starting, okay, actually just a good friend who has nothing better to do, but it'll sure help with the tedium of dressing the loom and if nothing else he's entertaining.

Two new gadgets this week--a digital postal scale so that I can weigh as close as 1/10 of an ounce but up to 35 lbs. (My Weigh UltraShip model), and a digital counter that will record every turn of the crank as I'm beaming on. It is pretty ingenious and uses a magnet proximity method--i.e., the magnet attached to the crank increments the counter every time it passes by the reader, $25 at www.chameleoncolorworks.com

2007-01-03T14:26:00.000-06:00

New Year Resolution

Some years, I've done well with resolutions, others not. I think this year will be the year o' weaving. I'm already off to a good start. In addition to getting a nice fat warp on the AVL this week, I also finally put on a 10/2 perle warp for a shadow weave scarf in watery shades... we'll see, that one is definitely on the back burner.

My big project for the month is to finish off the vest and get some blankets out the door.

For the year, my plan is to complete the Master Weavers program or the COE (or heck, both..), in record time. I think most folks take about two years of concentrated effort. I wonder if I can do it in one year. That's a lot of weaving, I don't remember how many items I counted, but it ends up being at around one per week.

Either way, good goal to shoot for and I need something to get me up the hill to the studio.

2006-12-15T09:27:00.000-06:00

After that great spinning class, I've been inspired to spin, spin, spin. I even asked for a niddy-noddy for Xmas... yeah, I'm sure my mother-in-law will harrass me on that one for the next decade...

Anyway, I spun up some really great wool that was dyed a burgundy with sections of green and plied it with wool that was long sections of straight green and red--a marl with a self-striping, basically. The end result was great, though I had some overspun sections of the singles.

It'll make a nice gift for my sister-in-law, who was the one that originally dyed the wool. Note to her by the way, she forgot to set the dye and it got all over my khakis. I rinsed the finished wool a couple of times and threw a little vinegar in the final rinse.

This weekend will be spent working on the vest--hopefully with the help of my old tailoring teacher. The current copy of Threads magazine has an article about making jackets out of boucle fabric, which is pretty close to what I'm doing. The writer promises some faster techniques, particularly for bagging it out.

My client picked out a big, big mother of pearl button for it, so I'm going to try to match up a silvery dupioni silk for the lining and the edge binding. I'm very tempted to try my hand at some marbling techniquest on the silk that would just show up on the inside as a little "surprise" touch. In particular I'm interested in using the "shaving cream" technique. We'll see!

2006-12-11T10:46:00.000-06:00

Fantastic workshop this weekend

The spinning workshop(s) were terrific. I got a little coaching on my technique, which wasn't too terribly off and got some practice with some other techniques. I tend to do a modified long draw, but my short draw isn't bad. We learned the Mabel Ross true longdraw, spinning from the fold, and even did some kind of spinning with raw mohair locks that made beautiful fuzzy yarn.

I'm pretty sure we got to spin every conceivable type of fiber in the store, plus some of the other spinners that have fiber animals/plants brought in some green organic cotton, some longwools, mohair and some llama to try out. The only thing I had problems with was the flax--not very fun to spin, so of course I'm now obsessed with it...

In the second workshop we did a lot of wool preparation--drum carders, combs, blending, dizzing, etc. Also did a good amount of work with fiber blending. I only wish there had been more time to spin. We gave Navajo plying a try, but most of the stuff I had spun up as singles was too fat when 3-plied. I later spun some plan wool at home and did a nice Navajo ply with it. Lovely.

At some point, I think my head exploded... right around the Mabel Ross bit on calculations and twists per inch and ratios. I'll dive back into that later--it was just a long day, but I'm very interested in learning how to spin to a specification. AND to be consistent from one batch of yarn to another.

2006-12-08T10:04:00.000-06:00

Spinning up a storm.

Read Diane Varney's Spinning Designer Yarns--great little book, btw, and getting through Deb Menz's Spinning in Color. Between reads, I've been spinning up a storm. I've been practicing my long draw technique which is fun and a little dramatic, and of course we love a little drama no matter what we're doing. The downside is that it doesn't seem to put enough twist in the yarn, or better said, the twist angle is really steep, so I add additional twist as I'm letting it wind on.

I also fitted my client with the muslin and it was right on the money. We needed a few alterations for the shoulder area--she has one higher than the other I think, and there was some gapping. I'm also going to give it just a little more ease across the bust so that it lays perfectly. Well, this step is down and now on to executing it in real fabric. I'm concerned about the bulk and how to eliminate all of the extra pieces...

2006-12-06T10:43:00.000-06:00

I have an intermediate and an advanced spinning class this weekend. One just to expose me to more fiber types and spinning techniques and the other to make designer yarns with different plying techniques. Should be a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to getting somewhere with my spinning technique, right now it's all lumpy and overtwisted.

I told C. last night that I really need a studio buddy. It's pretty lonely up there by my self. Even though I probably get way more done if I don't have distractions, it would be nice to have someone around to bounce ideas off of and actually get me up there without pulling teeth.

Of course, once I'm actually there, I enjoy it. It's peaceful and there's nothing I'd really rather be doing...

2006-12-06T10:38:00.000-06:00

Okay, so I've been commissioned to make a vest for a client from my handwovens. The original pattern she requested is unavailable, so I purchased a commercial pattern and was going to modify it. I forget how complex women's patterns are with darts and weird shaped pieces. I made the sample up in muslin, but I'm concerned about being able to execute it in handwoven. I need to make it simpler with fewer pieces. I think I can work out the iss with the back, but it alone is 4 pieces--as is the front. Instead of 8 pieces I think it could be done with a full back, two side pieces and two front pieces. AND no darts. I looked at ways to pivot out the darts and eliminate them at the side seam, but this really only works if the side seams are straight.

I'm going to have to go back to my old tailoring teacher and get some advise. Really don't want to risk cutting up some expensive handwoven, just to find out it won't really work out.

Anyone have any advice on fixing/eliminating darts in a complex piece?

2006-11-15T11:02:00.000-06:00

Just finished marking the samples to be sent off to my rep in Chicago. For so much work it seems like so little... I think we've decided on packaging. There's a company in B.C. that makes gorgeous and simple wooden boxes with a decided eco-friendly bent to them. They are perfect for heirloom quality textiles. I might have them lined with cedar paper, or include some cedar sachet or a cedar brick with the blanket.

I also came across a perfect tag for the blanket-- a small thin brass tag that can be hand-stitched to the hem of the blanket. Simply elegant and very upscale.

My carding supplier hasn't responded to me yet on the weight of the next batch of wool, guess I need to get on the e-mail and see what's up with that.

2006-11-09T09:39:00.000-06:00

I haven't been at the loom in over a week and a half, but do have a commission to do some clothing, which should be interesting. Look out Project Runway... maybe I should call it Project Run-away. It's for a vest and I pretty much have carte blanche which is nice.

I'm only about half warped up on the loom and there seems to be millions of things getting in the way of my focus. Today for instance, we're going to have to take our oldest dog to be put to sleep, he's 14, blind and diabetic. This past weekend he really crashed and his liver function is totally off. We've been expecting this for the past 2 .5 years, so it's really time.

The other major project seems to be constantly rethreading my serger... it's a total bitch, but every time a thread breaks, it seems the only way to get things back running is to rethread the whole thing. My goal this week is to serger up the samples and get them out to my rep in Chicago... we leave for a cruise next Friday and I'm out of commission til the 30th at least with that.

2006-10-25T15:11:00.000-05:00

I don't usually cover the news, but it looks like New Jersey's Supreme Court approved for same sex marriage (or as MSNBC puts it, "punted" the issue) for the legislature to write into law either as expanded marriage language or some form of civil union.

Interesting this should come about two weeks before the midterm elections... is this the October surprise that will roust the conservative voters to turn out in droves? Only two more sermons til Election day.

2006-10-23T10:21:00.000-05:00

Heritage Days
Every fall down at the lake they have a big pioneer/crafts/history festival called Heritage Days. I love it, but this year it was miserably cold and I was underdressed. Since I've seen most of the stuff going on, we made a quick afternoon of it, but spent quite a bit of time with the rug hookers. C. was/is much more interested in it than I am, but I love that they use all wool fabric, and other than a few of the more "country charm" looking pieces, I think it really is great artwork. One woman used wool from her recently departed mother's favorite red winter coat in a piece to give to her brother. It seems that a lot of the better pieces had some element to them that was personal, either in the design or the materials, so I have to appreciate that.

Other highlights were the handspun yarns and they had someone weaving on an antique loom that is part of the year round display at the visitors' center. It was interesting in that the beater had rocker feet rather than being attached. they were kept aligned by a strap of leather than was nailed to the bottom of the rocker and then nailed to the side pieces. The reed was also literally reed. I have an old reed just like it and the slices of reed are held in and spaced by twine which has been wrapped around and through the pieces. The thicker the twine the wider the sett of the reed--clever.

As much as I'd love the opportunity to weave on this historical loom, I'm in no hurry to get one.

2006-10-23T10:17:00.000-05:00

Serger
I ordered a serger online from Hancock Fabrics. It was a sweet deal (discontinued) for $179.00 marked down from $399. So probably not a bad machine, and all of the online reviews of it were good. It's a White 1634D. It has differential feed and up to 4 threads, so for what I need (basically just finishing the edges that will be tucked up inside the hem, it should work just fine. My partner pointed out that considering the edge is hidden, it doesn't need to be particularly fine and if I need a better machine later, this would make a nice back up machine. For the price, I couldn't argue.

I am concerned, in that most of what I've been reading about sergers is that they are hell to thread and they have a steep learning curve. I've got access to a good sewing teacher locally, so if I really have to, I can shuck our some modest cash and get a lesson or two on sergering.

2006-10-18T11:30:00.000-05:00

Rethreaded at last
Well, after a near marathon session last night, I finished up my rethreading. It's now threaded as a straight draw of six rather than eight so that I can use shafts 7 and 8 for my selvedges. yeah, it just kills me to waste them on that little half inch selvedge, but in the end it's the right thing to do. I'll eventually add harness so that I can get a more complex pattern out of it.

Granted, if these samples look like crap, I'll do that anyway, or come up with some method of shedding a selvedge or making a floating selvedge happen.

BEST tool tip of the day. Being a guy, I don't have long fingernails, so I went out and bought a set of metal guitar finger picks. They are perfect for picking out and separating the heddles and the individual warp yarns. Since they just wrap around the finger tips, they really don't get in the way and I'm able to maintain the position of my heddle hook, which I tend to use to grab yarns with or to separate the heddles. I ended up with one on each of my index fingers, but they might also be good on a middle finger, depending on how one warps up.

Tonight I get to use my other favorite tool, the auto reed denter--genius, that little thing is... maybe I'll use it in conjuction with the finger picks... ah, weaver geek bliss.

I figure I have enough warp left to do a decent sized sample of each of the new 6 harness weaves. If they work out, then I go into full force production.

2006-10-13T11:26:00.000-05:00

Weekend weaving

Ended up taking some great photos of the weaving samples, some outside and some as bed dressing. It was actually pretty tough. The pillows I used were fairly colorful and tend to draw attention away from the blankets. I tried to shoot as many of them at a low angle to get the blankets to dominate the view. I've made a website with them and hopefully this weekend will give me a little time to get that posted.

We're in town this weekend, so I'll spend as much time as possible in the studio getting set back up, adjusted and re-threaded... have I mentioned how much I dread that? Speaking of, I must say how much I love my autodenter... the best $46 I've spent. It's an ingenious device--the hook never leaves the reed.

I've got a warp up on the LeClerc, and I'm having a hard time remembering what I was going to do with it... it's a shadow and weave scarf in an undulating twill pattern. I'm sure it'll make someone a lovely Xmas present.

Speaking of Xmas presents. I'm contemplating making either an intarsia knit or a rug (or hell, both) from some of the designs from Christopher's company. They are beautiful abstract designs intended for a stationery line, but a lot of them would be perfect as textiles. This might be a top secret surpise project...

2006-10-11T13:05:00.000-05:00

Back on track
I got some great pictures of my samples this weekend and will be putting together a little website. I'll post it when I've got it up. With the beautiful fall leaves down at the lake, it makes perfect backdrop for the blankets. I'm going to take a few more with the blankets in use--set up some linens and bed shots instead of them hanging on a tree.

The metal piece from AVL arrived on Monday, so I need to get that installed and get re-threaded. I think I mentioned that I hate re-threading... arg.

Also heard from the company that does my wool processing. They are ready to do another batch for me. This will be the light gray. I've very excited about this color.

2006-09-29T15:12:00.000-05:00

The main concept of an AVL is this centerline idea. The shed should open symmetrically above and below an imaginary line that runs from the breast beam to the back beam. Mine was 2" and 4" and after adjustments it should be 3" for both. To get there I have to reset the entire beater and shuttle box configuration--actually it'll be closer to the way that I had it before the "fixes."

Lots of frustration, but there appears to be light at the end of the tunnel.

I'm taking my samples down to the lake and if the leaves have changed enough, I think this would be an ideal time to take some shots of them in nature, as it were.

2006-09-22T16:28:00.000-05:00

Okay, I spent 3 hours on the phone with the guy at AVL who built my loom... actually he hasn't worked there in a year, which might tell you something...

Anyway, it seems that everything that we've been doing has been misguided, he explained how the loom "should" work and then the right thing to do is to fix things around that principle. The principle being of the centerline. The shed should be symmetrical above and below a line that runs from the separator beam to the front beam.

This required my cutting off all of my current warp, testing this, adjusting, possibly ordering more pieces and then rethreading. I hate threading. I hate, hate, hate it. I'd pay someone to do it. grrrr....

2006-09-20T11:56:00.000-05:00

some picture:

2006-09-20T10:31:00.000-05:00

Magic Six
Well, I'm going to change my battle tactics, and frankly probably for the better. I've normally used what handweavers consider a "natural" selvedge--the selvedge just happens, the pattern just "ends" at the edges. If there are lots of floats in the pattern, then the selvedge is a little wavier. Lots of people use a floating selvedge yarn to catch the floats.

So, I'm changing all of my 8 shaft patterns to 6, so that I have two free shafts for creating a basketweave selvedge. It'll give the blankets a nice firm edge, so that I have less draw-in and should make the blanket look more finished. Right now some of the samples look like they need that detail.

Basically, the adversity will have a good result. I'm just not looking forward to rethreading all of that warp.

2006-09-20T10:25:00.000-05:00

Too tall?
Some of the feedback I've gotten now is that my height (I'm 6'1") is what makes me have to lean over to reach the beater handle on my loom. Which made me think about the fact that the majority of looms are built with someone in the 5'5" to 5'7" range probably. Most weavers are women--at least in the handweaving world. I had heard that Robert LeClerc design his looms to fit his mother's very petite 4"11 height. I do find that I have to sort of angle my knees out when I'm treadling my LeClerc Nilus.

I guess as people get taller and of course, as I get older and shrink, it'll be less of a problem...

2006-09-19T15:32:00.000-05:00

Sergers
Well, the sample for the recessed squares (at least that's what I call the weave) turned out really nice. It fulled to just about the right amount and except for the issue with the plainweave hems, I'm fairly well pleased with it. I'll cut it up into sections and send them out as samples.

I'm really considering buying a serger--against my better judgment. I've never liked sergers, maybe because they reminded me of all of those fleece and quick sew projects. However, I think they do have their place and the fact that they can simulataneously finish my ends and cut off the fringe is a bonus. I'm spending way too much time doing that part. I promise to only use it to finish the ends and will promptly tuck them under and hide them with *real* stiching... really, I promise, I really, really do...honest.

2006-09-18T11:53:00.000-05:00

Ugly yarn
I had a bag of "mystery fiber" that came, well, I don't know exactly where it came from, but I've had it forever. It's sort of a taupe long staple English wool with 1 to 2 inch strands of colored viscose in it in burgundy and yellow and maybe some other colors. Anyway, I've been busy spinning this up on my new Kromski and I've come to the conclusion that it is the ugliest yarn in the world. We swept a pile of dog hair off the steps and coincidentally it appears to be the same exact color and texture.

I'm going to have to enter this into an ugliest yarn contest... really, it's gross... but I keep spinning it.

2006-09-13T16:17:00.000-05:00

Sample woes
Although my samples washed up pretty nicely and hid a multitude of weaving errors, the hems have really screwed it up. The plain weave makes an hourglass wedge on all of them, which I kinda expected. The other odd thing is that the fabrics still seem very thin. Thinner than my first batch on the LeClerc. I even went back and recalculated my yarns... they weighed in at 1600 ypp after washing, and using Ashenhurst method, the set should have been about 14, which having them set at 12 should be totally normal. Other yarn specs I have put similar weight yarns at 12 epi, so I'm not sure what's going on here. Weave looks like its square. I guess I can do a pick count to see if I'm getting a balanced weave--that'll be tedious.

Haven't heard back from AV-Hell yet, which is making me pissy. They tend to do that, go hot and heavy for a while and then I don't hear from them for a few weeks... is this a dysfunctional relationship? Should I read Weavers who Love Too Much?

2006-09-12T10:33:00.000-05:00

Creating a counterbalance harness system
Well, last night I bought four closet poles (12 feet long each), a U-shaped pole clame, a clip and pulleys and rope... seems that I forgot that I needed the two pieces to run perpendicular at the top. If I'd been smart, I would have bought two of the poles long enough to cut off an additional 4'. As it is, I have to cut off 2' from each of them, which basically gets wasted... think, dammit, think...

Alas, the whole Home Depot experience just overcame me and I didn't think that part through. Guess I'll take my receipt and head back tonight.

I also bought some spring clamps to use as side-weighted temple stretchers. I don't think they'll hold, so I'm going to search for either some rug hangers or maybe two small canvas stretchers would work. Then I'll need to go to Cabela's or someplace for fishing weights of various sizes. A good thing to have as well for hanging repair threads off the back.

2006-09-11T14:04:00.000-05:00

Confession--I've been really bad about my bills lately. I think when I freak out about stuff, I tend to horde money in my bank account. Inevitably, something major comes up and wipes me, then as the bills pile up, I just go into avoidance mode. Once I stop and break things down it's usually all okay, it's when I see it as his hugh insurmountable amount, that I freak out.

2006-09-11T13:59:00.000-05:00

Oh, so tonight I'm going to actually do it. Despite my bitchiness about the loom, I have to get this thing working, so tonight, I'm heading to Home Depot to build my counterbalance selvedge system in the back and whatever other gimmicks I can pull together. What I really need to be doing is sewing up my sample pieces, photographing them and getting them out the door to my rep. But, as with all things in life, being mad about it doesn't necessarily get it done.

Oh, and I haven't gotten a reply back from AVL yet... sometimes they are all over it, sometimes, I wait, and wait and wait...

2006-09-08T14:00:00.000-05:00

AV-Hell Loom

I'm on yet another tirade about AVL today. They are indeed the nicest people and maybe I just got a bad loom, but it still isn't working properly and the "fixes" I discussed with them last night are pretty bizarre. I'm really not interested in a loom that has jerryrigging and duct tape and lashed on parts. The loom is just badly designed, that's just the reality. And frankly, I'm shocked and dismayed. My expectations for the Mercedes Benz of looms was pretty high. Instead, I've spent the past year, yes YEAR, trying to get it up and running. Some day, I'll recount all of the problems, but for now, the request is that I do some pretty odd things, like make a fabric sleeve to go over the breast beam so the yarns don't slip and cause more draw-in. (Okay, granted this was my own idea, but still the fact that I have to come up with something at all is ridiculous.)

They also want me to rig up a counterbalance harness in the back for my selvedges and make it out of pulleys and closet rods and string heddles... I don't have time for this. I really, really, really was hoping last nights call would solve all of these problems. Even if the end result was that I was an idiot and just didn't know how to do it, or put it together wrong. Unfortunately, it's the design of it.

I'm under big pressure right now to get my samples finished and some full-sized pieces made so that my rep can start selling... oh, and then I guess I have to actually produce product to fill the orders, huh... argh.

2006-09-05T14:14:00.000-05:00

Take up and shrinkage

Really struggling with the finishing on my blankets--the header and the bottom hem. My blankets are mostly textural (waffle weave, Brighton honeycomb, etc.) so there's lots of shrinkage in the wet finishing--it's the nature of those weave structures. The trick is that those weave structures make for lousy material to hem. Way too bulky, so the solution it would seem, is to make the hems a small section of plain weave. As I discovered in my little test samples, the plain weave doesn't shrink nearly enough and leaves an odd wedge/flair kinda thing in the transition area. Hope still lies in using a 2/2 basketweave, but I may have to go to a 3/3 or 3/1 or some other type of basketweave, particularly with the waffle weave.

I'll post some photos of the samples when I get them all done and detail the issue and (hopefully) the solution.

2006-09-05T12:54:00.000-05:00

'bout time I start blogging about my weaving.

I have a textile production company Fortner Hall Artisan Textiles, Inc. and have been weaving for a good decade or so. I started this company as my alternative to the corporate job. Given the volatile state of corporate life these days I believe in having a backup. If I'm lucky, I can just switch over to this as my full time shortly.

I weave full sized wool blankets made of naturally-colored Merino wool. Hopefully, this will help documents some of the woes and joys of being a production weaver for the many folks out there who have this as a dream... hopefully, it won't be my personal nightmare, but I can already tell you, it's work, lots and lots of work.

More than the biz, I also want to document and explore the other fiber arts interests I have that are not commercial. They range from machine knitting, spinning, reeling and throwing, and couture sewing.