Home Again, Home Again
Since I got home from Convergence I have had a few hours to regroup and work in the studio. One of the first things I wanted to do was mess around with the knitted blanks from Nancy Robert’s class (as seen in the loot photo – above right – also notice luscious silk viscose and Italian linen from Giovanna Imperia and some hand-spun natural silk from India – lucky!). The yarn in the blanks is a merino silk, so I wanted something compatible for the warp. I had some leftover 20/2 silk in a medium orange and an olive green. Not the most appealing color combination, but I thought they would serve as colors that would work with the range of colors in the blanks. So, I set up a warp using the 20/2 doubled, set at 20 epi and unknit the blanks into balls. I then wound bobbins of weft from the balls. I had woven several inches of sample scarf when I noticed that the weft was getting lighter. I had planned the blanks so that the colors moved from lighter to darker . . . so . . . hmmm . . . of course, by winding the bobbins from the balls I was essentially using the color gradations backwards. So now I wind from the ball to a bobbin and then from the bobbin to another bobbin. I wouldn’t say I have achieved the most beautiful result, but I am fascinated by the gradual change in the color interactions. Once the whole thing is woven, there should be some good information to draw from so that I can plan my next series of blanks. Did I mention that I bought a simple knitting machine?
The funny ball is the unknitted yarn. I wish I could use it crimped. The adorable child is my niece who I had working in a sock monkey sweat shop in my studio.
The scarves were displayed by Nancy Roberts and used her technique, but were woven by someone else.
Finally, the old Hollywood sign – couldn’t leave California without seeing it.
