Transparent, but still double

Then there was this show. A group of artists, representing many techniques (from glass blowing to textiles via painting and woodwork), were to have a show titled "Transparency".
At first I wasn't very interested, but then I had an idea: a drapery, with the basket weave for the joined areas, and the occasional word printed on something clear in the pockets.

Something clear... like plastic? Would laser printed plastic survive washing? Or hand written with a waterproof pen? It had to survive pressing, too. Sampling, I found that waterproof pens apparently are only waterproof if used in the wrong place (like if you get a spot on the shirt). I found that laser printers are different - pieces from one printer survived, pieces from the other did not.
In the small samples the basked weave acted like in the first sample, that is: it was nearly invisible.

So I wove, placing various words here and there.
Then I wet finished the piece. Some of the words were still visible, and the one-layer areas were a lot more visible than in the samples...

So... why didn't sampling help? The only reason I can think of is that the wear on the printed words was harder with a whole piece in the machine. (But I had washed the samples, not perhaps in a full machine, but with several towels, at the same settings, in the same machine!)
Why did the basket weave areas become more apparent? Is it just size - that everything looks different on a bigger scale?

The next weave of this type has half-transparent plastic in the pockets. The idea is a triple helix, with two plastic pieces in the same pocket where the "helixes" meet. But I abandoned the basket weave...

I made one "worded" set to order. Most of the words were still visible after wet finishing, but I had to replace some. As I had used a mercerized yarn, it was possible to tease the plastic out (and in) without permanently distorting the weave in the pockets.

The coloured plastic is cut from cheap folders, the type that can take about 10 pages without overflowing. It will survive any kind of abuse - washing machine, any kind of iron, sunlight... and by doubling the colours it also becomes educational. (Several people do not want to believe me when I say that there are only 3 colours. They must not have been allowed to play with watercolours?)

Slightly better?

Now it (the not very exciting) is finished into a circular scarf. The (Morse code) text says "make ends meet", from both directions.

A circular (or moebius) scarf can be worn in several ways:

On a cool summer evening, perhaps? (It can be used without a cat, but he really, really wanted to be in the picture...)

Just twice around.

Or, if it isn't needed, but you don't want to lose it (to the cat wanting to get back up, for instance):

I prefer the moebius finishing (a half-twist before sewing), but as this one has two distinct sides it could not be. But I have another idea...

From among the snowdrifts

(for my Swedish readers)

or, a more , er, "generalized" message:

Every year I think I should weave them - but they have such limited usage (ok, maybe not the second).
Generally I have less exact messages in my shawls.
Currently in stock are: FESTINA LENTE ("hurry slowly"), ARS LONGA ("art is long"), CURA TE IPSUM ("take care of yourself"), UTRAQUE UNUM ("two become one") and TWO INTO ONE and a few others. (Granted, it is a bit too late for x-mas delivery...)

Can't you read Morse code? - no problem, check here, and all will be clear.

The pictures also illustrate that you have to think about (and write out) the messages before you try to weave them, or the scarf can become very short (perhaps there is something that can be added, as en enquiry mark (..--..) or an exclamation mark (..--.)?). If the scarf will be too long - can it be worded differently? "Save the world" is considerably longer than "save the earth", for instance. Or, as above, could it be written "seasons" instead of "season's"?

Over time, I have accumulated a list of "suitable" messages in three versions, with different widths (and lengths) of the code marks. "Save the world" can be done on 14 ends/picks per ".", while "ars longa" does better on 20 ends/picks per ".", for instance.

To end - a snow picture from this morning:

She did have legs of normal length!


So... season's greetings!

the BAG bag

When weaving the chair fabric I warped for several generous samples, and put on some extra as well. After the chair was done, I had enough for a big floor cushion (not yet done), and a smaller piece for a bag.

As the text was centered for the chair, either the bag would be very small, or I had to piece the back. I chose also to turn the fabric, partly because I thought it looked better to have the leather band vertical. Now the horsehair is vertical on the front side, horizontal on the back.



Many years ago I had a bag that I loved - but all good things must pass, so, when it could not be mended any more, I threw it out.
NEVER THROW OUT THINGS THAT CAN BE USEFUL LATER... I could have used the leather and the hardware...
Anyway, the design of this bag started with the memory of that old one.





The resulting bag is about 40 cm tall, 30 cm wide at the bottom. It is closed with three magnetic buttons.

The leather pieces? They are from an old skirt - I never throw out things that can be useful later - if they can be stored flat...

Playing with the fan reed, part II

Some time later, I decided to try the fan reed on a Morse shawl warp.

I had a white cotton warp, on which I had woven some pastel-coloured shawls using linen singles for weft. So I re-sleyed to the fan reed, decided to stay with the linen weft.

As usual, I started with the bottom layer. All was ok.

Started the top layer. All was ok. Or...? I realized I could not see the left selvedge of the bottom layer. Of course, I can never see the left selvedge of the bottom layer - but for a straight selvedge this is not a problem. However, with the fan reed - when the selvedge begins to widen, you have to allow for that by leaving the weft slightly slacker...
Oh well, it was an experiment, after all.

Soon the web reached the breast beam. As usual with the fan reed, the cloth makes small folds where the wider parts (where the "fan" makes the web wider due to the more open dentage) have to be accomodated to the narrower parts.
Would that become a problem?


To make the message connected to the experiment, I had chosen "wriggling". And wriggle it did! To get the best wriggles, I found I had to move the reed every 10 picks (10 per layer, that is). I also found I had to advance the web at the same rate. So I wove 10 picks, advanced the web one or two "clicks", moved the reed, wove 10 picks...

The tension problems I had anticipated did not occur (or maybe I did not notice them - the fell looked all wriggly, too)



When it came off the loom it looked... like this. The bottom left selvedge wasn't a total disaster, but not very good either. Many folds, and sharp. Well, it was good enough to finish, anyway.



Fringes done, wet-finishing not.



Done - fringed, washed, pressed.



A detail of the bottom left selvedge (that was bottom left on the loom, that is!) - it could be better!



But... all of a sudden this occurred to me: it is always said, about knitted pieces in museums, that they have "evened out" by time. All knitted pieces look more than perfect - but "don't despair - they probably knitted with uneven tensio, too - it has evened out by time". And I have always been reassured by this - maybe my knitting will look perfect in a hundred years time, too.
And, as if this is not enough, myself, I have always said that minor unevenness in woven pieces will come out with successive launderings.
So what happens if I combine these thoughts with a fan-woven shawl in plain weave?
Will the wriggles still be there, in a hundred years? Or should it have been woven in a gauze structure, to better lock the warp/weft intersections?
Hmmm...
Does this mean I have to put this shawl in every wash I ever do for the next, what?, year, 5 years, 10 years to find out?

And - even more important: is it interesting enough to bother with? I can't decide...

Making messages - other ideas

Weaving actual letters is not the only way of incorporating messages in a woven cloth.

As you know, I weave shawls with double layers, making the messages in Morse code. (And, in case you thought Morse is "out" - read a blurb about Morse-It, a new iPhone App, here. And no - I don't even own an iPhone, but I found it funny!)

Another way is "name drafting" - nearly all weaving software has some version of turning letters into overshot patterns.

The idea can be used in many ways - use colours, as does Bonnie.
Leigh has used bar codes - read here.

.... .- ...- . ..-. ..- -. .-- . .- ...- .. -. --. -- . ... ... .- --. . ...
(Here is one place to de-code the above message)

Latest woven words

This last winter, I decided that the third of the chairs should have a horsehair fabric with text. (Why horsehair? Oh - tradfitional, expensive and - today - uncommon) (Why text? Oh - because I can...)
After consulting the upholsterer it was decided that the horsehair should go from front-to-back on the chair. I also decided that the words should be in English. (Why English? - oh, hoping for worldwide fame... more people understanding English than Swedish?)

Ahem.

I felt that blocky letters (like for instance Arial) was too, I don't know, sinple-looking? - and besides, whenever I can, I use Garamond.
Decided on the words: SEAT, BACK - but what to put on the back side of the chair? CHAIR was one obvious option.

To make the draft, I used PCW: wrote the words in different ways and sizes, saved them as .bmp files, imported to sketchpad in PCW. The first thing was to get a draft that could "write" all my words in max 14 blocks (as I have a 16-shaft loom).
I soon found that lower-case letters were more block-hungry than upper-case.
After some experimenting I decided on Garamond 14 - that gave me 13 blocks, which meant I could use the 14th to put in the exclamation marks. I wanted them to give the surface a more "rounded" apperarance.

But... this time total size was very important - the words had to fit the chair.

So - sample time. Being adventurous, I wound the whole warp, but wider (to have room for making the sett closer) and significantly longer (to have room for many amples). I used a thin 3-ply merc cotton of unknown number (looks approximately the same grist as 30/2 cotton) in several shades of bluish pink - lilac. For the pattern warp I used it doubled and sett it at 12 "working ends" per cm.

For the first sample I used the draft exactly as it was.



The height of the letters was ok, but they were waaay to wide - . I tested using black and also one of the warp yarns for tabby.

As horsehair fabric can shrink a lot when the tension is off (the stiff hairs will force the warp to do all the "undulating"), I let the fabric sit without tension for 24 hours before evaluating the sample. The shrinkage was only about 8%, which meant I could now start to calculate the actual length of my letters.

I had to shorten the design. The letters had to be made narrower, the A could be made to start "under" the C and so on. I shortened the pattern area about 20%, and also softened some of the blockiness.



Lots of "fixing" later, I could start to weave. One pick with three (and only three) hairs, tabby pick in black cotton. Next pick three (and only three) hairs, tabby.
This may be one of the slowest projects I have ever woven... but, if I may say so myself, the result was worth it!

First attempts at weaving words

This was almost 10 years ago. The AVL was new to me, and (of course) I wanted to jump in at the deep end.



So I decided to weave "open" and "closed" signs for my shop. I mean(t) - how difficult could it be? I had some nice weaving software, and a computerized loom... so on I went.
Doing the design was no problem. The software could handle letters, and after testing various typefaces and sizes I had all my letters done, none requiring more than 13 blocks. (Multi-block summer & winter was sort of new to me, too. Before the AVL I had - still have - a 16-shaft countermarche with "only" 20 treadles)

On to weaving.
Unfortunately I have no pictures of my first try (tries), but it came out backwards. (Or maybe both backwards and upside-down - I can't remember, but I was really confused)
Totally confused, I tried to understand what was happening.
Tried to do all sorts of things to my design, but could not get the letters to come out correctly. I still don't know why my first "t" came out mirrored...
Despaired.
Started thinking, tried the draft with pen and paper... until the AHA-moment came: the difference between draw-UP and draw-DOWN.

The Swedish way (draw-UP) shows what happens when you weave, as you weave it: the first pick is nearest to you (the weaver), then the design develops upwards (on the paper) or away from you (on the loom). WYSIWYG, as they call it in other applications :-)

After too much work (considering it was a short and narrow piece of weaving), I finally had my signs.
I did the "open" double-sided (and no - it doesn't work to use the back side. I had to weave two pieces)

Nowadays, if I have a directional design, I always (well - nearly) remember reverse the weaving direction.

Plan B

I had warped for 5 message shawls - or so I thought. Obviously the messages (and the fringes) had got a bit longer than what I had reckoned - but the thrums were a bit too long just to cut off.
So I decided on Plan B - and I can always use another shawl myself, right?


Of course it should have a message. KORT (short) ought to fit.
As a joke on myself I let the marks get shorter along the text. The closing T (long) is only two picks longer than the first "short".


When cut, the cloth measured almost 85 cm. I had decided to join the ends with the fringes going through loops - and now I decided to make it into a Moebius strip. So, first the ends got hemmed, the fringes twisted with temporary slip knots.

I made loops on both the white and the black hemmed ends. (Have you ever wondered why there is "buttonhole twist" threads to be had, try making 36 buttonhole stitched loops with ordinary sewing thread - then you'll know...)

A Moebius strip is a loop without outside (or inside). It is made by taking a long strip, making a half turn, then joining the ends. So I made the half turn, then threaded the white fringes through the loops on the black end, and vice versa. - Maybe I should not have used temporary slip knots, it seems I lost a bit of the original twist when the fringes were tied together two-by-two.





All this done, it was time for the wet finishing. As usual, the fringes came out the washing machine in one big mess... but it was a lot easier to un-tangle fringes that are attached at both ends :-)

It can be worn long, with the knots on the fringes at the looped end - or it can be worn short (as in the top picture)