11 Feb 2018

Enjoying

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There haven’t been any posts for a while as I am pretty confident you don’t want to see the admin mountain I have been working through.

February always brings the start of a new term in my OU teaching life and this year I have an unusually large workload, with the added bonus of a new system for our online classes. Because we all love having to learn a new system and adapt all our teaching materials to work with it, don’t we? Anyway, while that process rumbles along, there has nonetheless been enjoyment in getting to know my new students and in a few other things I thought I would mention here.

If you haven’t seen A Stitch in Time on BBC4, catch it on iPlayer while you can! It is one of the best programmes I have seen in a long time. Our fearless heroines work to recreate garments from the past as seen in portraits of the wearers, with lots of insight into materials, techniques and social history.

And speaking of sewing, I have been seriously enjoying the fact that my new sewing machine (thanks, mum!) threads its own needles. I mean, really. How long has that been a thing? The last new-as-in-brand-new sewing machine I had is now more than 30 years old, and even the new-to-me machines I subsequently added must be well into their teens, so I guess I missed a few developments.

Then last weekend I treated myself to a day of willow weaving at Off the Rails Arthouse, where we made fruit bowls.

Alas we only had three apples left in the house when I put my fruit bowl into action, but at least you get a clear view of the weave. I had intended to take more pictures of it to share with you here, but then I dropped my phone and smashed it: one of life’s less enjoyable moments and the cue for yet another item on the tedious-but-necessary to-do list.

In other news, plans are taking shape for exhibitions and activities later in the year which I look forward to sharing soon!

“Enjoying” was posted by Cally on 11 Feb 2018 at https://callybooker.co.uk

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11 Jan 2018

New Year’s reading

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When I say ‘reading’ here, what I chiefly mean is ‘looking at pictures’ because my new books are full of them.

I had seen the new edition of Albers’ book, because I was lucky enough to receive a copy to review for the Journal for Weavers, Spinners & Dyers; but that will shortly head off to the Association Library and I didn’t want to let it go! So I put in a Christmas request which my mother kindly granted. The main text of the book is unchanged from previous editions, but it has been ‘expanded’ in two ways. One is the inclusion of some essays about Albers and her work, and the other is the explosion of colour plates. The quality of the images is eye-boggling. Never mind the textiles, I particularly love the reproductions of her hand-drawn drafts on squared paper.

Norma Smayda’s book on Ondulé Textiles was a gift from Pat, who has made a significant contribution to it. I knew the book was in progress, but didn’t know that it had progressed to completion, so that was a really nice surprise. It is also full of weaver-bait in the form of luscious photos of textiles and glamour shots of reeds in various stages of construction. It’s when I am turning a book through 180° to examine a photo of clamped metal strips that I wonder how I ended up here… Subcultures are brilliant, aren’t they? I love the fact that while I am looking closely at pictures of reeds, there are whole worlds out there of people getting excited by cricket ball design or the composition of compost. What would we be without our capacity for enthusiasm? And I haven’t even started on the text yet.

“New Year’s reading” was posted by Cally on 11 Jan 2018 at https://callybooker.co.uk

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30 Dec 2017

Echoes of Freeform

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It’s been a while since I posted about freeform techniques, but I haven’t forgotten about them. I had a chance to play around at the end of a couple of warps, and now I finally have a warp on the Megado which is dedicated to using freeform echo weave to interpret data about Arctic ice loss. Yes, there’s quite a lot in that sentence, but I won’t unpack it now. I just want to share some quick photos before 2017 makes its getaway.

The warp is a mix of cotton and silk yarns from my stash (along with a sparkly thing I found there as well).

I haven’t got two distinctly different layers, but I am using a parallel threading to get the greater warp density.

I have two different liftplans: one for ‘ice’ which is warp-faced and angular, and one for ‘water’ which is weft-faced and a little more curved. To keep things as simple as possible, I am weaving ‘water’ on the right and ‘ice’ on the left, so there is only one shed change per pick. The first pick goes from right to left, so the first two lags are pegged (1) water pick one (2) ice pick one. The second goes from left to right, so the next two lags are (3) ice pick two (4) water pick two. And so on. This minimises the amount of thinking I need to do about the actual lifts, so I can concentrate on the freeform element.

Nonetheless, when I started the weaving, on the Friday before Christmas, I made every kind of mistake and then some. I wove an inch. I unwove an inch. I wove two inches. I unwove an inch and a half. I wove the same inch three times and it still wasn’t right. And can I just mention that unweaving freeform is the stuff of weavers’ nightmares? I left the loom and went to a Christmas party instead.

After almost a week of cooking and feasting, I finally got back to it yesterday and wove the first few inches straight through, no mistakes. It is amazing what difference a holiday can make!

My intention is for this to be the start of a series. Always supposing I can finish the first one…

“Echoes of Freeform” was posted by Cally on 30 Dec 2017 at https://callybooker.co.uk

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21 Dec 2017

Jazz Festival

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The Dundee Jazz Festival takes place in the middle of November. This year we managed to book early and get a discount on our tickets, so we went a bit mad and opted for three consecutive nights out. We were confident we could cope…Then the studio on the second floor became available, and November became the Month of Moving.

And in the middle of it all we did indeed go to the festival three nights in a row! It was extremely chilly, so we went muffled up in woolly hats and scarves (we have plenty of those) and had a brilliant time. And I felt that my current go-to scarf – which is echo weave in purple, olive green and a pinky-orange – was in some way the perfect scarf for listening to jazz music. The colours are warm and vibrant and slightly off-kilter.

I wanted to see whether I could get the same colour palette from natural dyes and start weaving some jazz-inspired scarves, so that is the first thing I have worked on in the new space and these are the first results.

I’m really pleased with the colours. The structure is twill blocks on 16 shafts, with assorted different liftplans including herringbone, cord weave and others on a broken twill ground.

I’m having fun with this concept and plan to come back to it in the new year. Sadly there is no way round it: my next job is to face my tax return.

“Jazz Festival” was posted by Cally on 21 Dec 2017 at https://callybooker.co.uk

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12 Dec 2017

Moved

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It’s done. The new studio is up and running, the old one is now occupied by new tenants. I posted my key under their (previous) door two days before the end of November, giving them just enough time to shift their belongings along the hall before the month was out. No ladders required!

I’ve taken a bunch of pictures at different angles but also at different stages of setup, so don’t be surprised if things seem to be moving about. They are.

I think I mentioned purchasing a blind: here you can see why. Both studios face south, but the light in here is much brighter than I have been used to. Upstairs the windows are shorter and mine had textured wired glass, which diffused the light very comfortably. Other than the blind, which is mainly for my benefit, I haven’t yet taken any special steps to protect my yarn from the light. I may end up doing more. Of course the sun is almost at its lowest point now, so it won’t always be as direct as this.

The Ashford table looms hang on hooks just above the tables. I am one loom short at the moment as it is out on loan, but eventually there will be four-in-a-row.

Looking back towards the door…

Hey, nice ladder!

The Ashford stands are still leaning against the loft balustrade. One is going to a new home; the other will eventually hang on the wall.

As there is no built-in lighting under the platform I have added my own.

Overall the room feels much larger than it looks, which is a pleasant surprise. I think the height of it overwhelms one’s perception of the length and breadth. But I’m particularly pleased, and slightly amazed, by how spacious this little corner has turned out to be. That warping mill has a 3m circumference. Not only is there plenty of room to twirl it but, crucially, it is standing a good metre away from the back wall so there is also ample space to walk behind it and access the shelving in the alcove. Yes, those are Ashford loom stands. They are quick and sneaky, aren’t they?

You get the best view from the loft.

We had to go to Ikea to get a new end piece for the yarn shelves, which have been split from one long unit into two shorter ones. So I seized the opportunity to treat myself to this little trolley as well (shamelessly copying a friend) and am already wondering how I managed without it.

You may spot that the Delta is not present. It is currently on ice in our dining room, awaiting further developments. More on that in the new year.

Meanwhile, as you can see above, weaving has commenced. There is warp…

…and there is weft.

And a weaver who is very happy to be back at the loom in a lovely workspace. I just have to try and remember what I was working on!

“Moved” was posted by Cally on 12 Dec 2017 at https://callybooker.co.uk

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