Happy Happy Happy 2014
“I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. If you’re making mistakes, you’re doing something,”― Neil Gaiman
I love this thought. And I want to keep it in mind for the new year. Now for another holiday mishmash entry.
During the crazy crunch of holiday food/family/festivals I found myself leaving the color and frenzy in the house and kitchen (and thanks to Keldaby Farm on our feet)
and focusing on simple weaves in luxury materials. I wove two scarves in the mill-end 28/1 cashmere used tripled.
Some might think that the selvedges should have been threaded in a plain weave or basket, but I really like my “mistake”. The lacy delicacy of those edge floats really appeals.
I have been working on a twisted fringe variation . . . still figuring it out . . .
I also have 10 yards of hemp in bleached and natural on the loom, and I am using a very fine linen weft for a set of dinner napkins to go with the raw silk/linen rep placemats. The materials are so appealing that weaving yards and yards of plain weave is pure pleasure (as well as a welcome intermittent break from the divine but complexly intertwined family life in the holiday house.)
We had a fab visit from two of my husbands life-long friends after Christmas – one of whom has assembled his own drone – and has been repairing it by printing parts on his 3-D printer! He flew it for us and took aerial pictures of our house –
We had an exciting afternoon.
Our pets seem to have had a relaxing holiday despite the general frenzy
And most of my “makey” impulses were directed at festive projects.Despite having so many holiday things to do I did get to enjoy working on an interesting project with my older son. We made a “Hakama” for him to wear almost like a snow pant in Providence. Hakama are traditional Japanese wide-legs pants. We went to Osgoods fabric store in Springfield which is always a bitter-sweet experience for me because the place is enormous, filled with a million amazing fabrics and always begs the question . . . “why weave?” But we got some old wool blend fabrics for the hakama/haori that look great and are very warm. I love working with my son on these creative art student fashion ideas.
And then yesterday we did our annual “out with the old” New Years’ bonfire.
So for 2014, few miserable mistakes, many miraculous mistakes and the courage to make them all.
P.S. I promised (and forgot . . .) to post a pic of Joy Pond’s great towel that I got at the WeaveMeet towel exchange. Here it is – and remember Rust and neon LIME green . . . miracle!
Alice Schlein
Your twisted fringe variation is fascinating. It reminds me of some of the rug finishes in Peter Collingwood’s book.
Elisabeth Hill
Hi Alice,
What a great omen for 2014 – a comment from one of my weaving idol stars! Crepe is on my bedside table as we “speak”. I like using rug finishing techniques on non-rug textiles (most of the techniques I learned from Jason Collingwood – the apple and the tree, etc.) and have twined many a blanket edge. I also like weaving warp back into the body of the textile like rug weavers do when I can’t get a good fringe for whatever reason. I found myself stumped by the fringe for this scarf. The cashmere is very fine and static-y in the winter dryness so even cutting it short would leave clingy hairs. It also compressed a lot and looked pretty sparse in a regular twist. So, while the holiday board game marathons went on, I tried to get a nice looking, controlled treatment. I wove the unknotted ends back into the basket weave header, but there isn’t a lot of consistent grip in the waffle body, so the fringes are only woven back in for about a half inch . . . as you can see I have been afraid to nip the extra off because I am a little worried that they will pull out with a tug. I will post pics when I come up with a sturdy solution. Thanks so much for the comment!
jean hosford
Wouldn’t a light fulling hold those fringe ends in place? The effect of the looping, plied ends is really captivating. Keep experimenting!
Elisabeth Hill
Hi Jean!
Another star weaver commenting on my blog! 2014 should be a good year!!
And . . . great minds think alike. I received a suggestion that I lightly needle felt the edge where the woven-in ends are a clipped. I think you all are on to something.
But, I went in search of my needle felting needle, got caught up in some technical editing, and the scarf remains untouched . . . I hate to say that my teaching/thinking/writing/editing about weaving has severely impacted my actual weaving . . . and my blog and sanity have suffered. Loom withdrawal is real! As soon as I am unshackled from my computer I will test the fringe theories and let you all know . . . very soon I hope!
Claire
Happy New Year! It looks like you had a lovely holiday 😀 I really like that towel received – rust and neon green = PERFECT!
Julie Schubert
I would love to see a photo of the pants your son and you created!
Happy New Year! Here’s a toast to 12 months of invigorating entanglements 🙂
(The good kind, not the pull your hair out kind!).
Elisabeth Hill
Happy New Year to you too Julie. Thank you for providing the phrase “invigorating entanglement”! It will be my theme for 2014! We sadly didn’t get any pix of the outfit before Hardy headed back to school. Maybe I can get him to send some – he claims he is wearing it all the time with great feedback from his fellow eccentrics at art school. Wishing you the best of all for 2014 . . . a new grandbaby seems like a perfect “invigorating entanglement”.