6 Sep 2016

When wool is not lovely

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The Campaign for Wool are on tour in Scotland this week, “celebrating Scotland’s wool industry” with visits to various mills, weavers etc. It’s great to have that energy behind a revival of interest in wool, which truly is an amazing fibre. But last night I was at Dundee Rep to see The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil. They have produced a stunning revival of a very compelling play, and it is a potent reminder of the deeply unhappy side of Scotland’s history with wool: the Highland Clearances. If you have a chance to see the play, grab it!

Latest double huck pattern is pinwheels. Can you see them?

huck pinwheels

The colour’s disappeared in that picture. We are still on the same blue warp, though I think (hope!) the end is not far off.

“When wool is not lovely” was posted by Cally on 6 Sept 2016 at http://callybooker.co.uk

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28 Aug 2016

Seeing squirrels

1

Yesterday S and I drove across Perthshire to the far end of Lochs Earn and Tay. It’s beautiful country and it was a lovely day just for a drive, but we did have a particular purpose. Our destination was Wildgrass Studio at Wester Lix, home and workplace of the photographers Dave and Gill Hunt.

Dave teaches workshops in product photography so it seemed like an excellent way to get some ‘staff development’ for my underpaid staff and his boss. It was. We both learned an enormous amount about camera, lenses, lighting, composition, software… even though we were working in their wonderful conservatory gallery/studio and constantly rushing to a window with cries of ‘squirrel!’ every time a red squirrel dashed past.

Alas, I have no pictures of speedy squirrels to show you (check out their Facebook page if you need a squirrel fix) but I can share a baby bunny.

baby bunny

Back at the mill we have some Goethe warps going on to table looms for the Highland Guild workshop (now fully booked)…

warping for workshop

…and some zig zags looking rather funky under cover of the loom.

zig zags underneath

“Seeing squirrels” was posted by Cally on 28 August 2016 at http://callybooker.co.uk

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20 Aug 2016

Another zig-zag

6

I am unreasonably delighted with simple shapes. The latest piece of double woven huck lace is imitating a simple twill, but it makes me smile outrageously.

zig zag huck lace

Quite a bit more zigging and zagging to go on this one before I change to solid light blue on top.

And in fact the linen is doing something similar in single cloth. Just a tiny peak of that for now, though: I’m still thinking.

zig zag linen

The warp yarn is actually a bit too soft and prone to disintegrating. I can manage small samples, but I’ll need another warp for a long piece.

“Another zig-zag” was posted by Cally on 20 August 2016 at http://callybooker.co.uk

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10 Aug 2016

Many Strands

4

I’ve been hand-stitching hems on my ‘Goethe gamps‘ in the evenings while I watch the Olympic gymnasts. It’s almost as good as test cricket.

Meanwhile…. warps have been made and sent out to workshop participants.

Goethe warps

Meanwhile… students in the studio have been weaving up a storm, trying out some new structures.

purple samples

Meanwhile… I am turning these skeins into a new warp for the Megado to create some more Waterfront lace pieces.

blue skeins

Meanwhile… I’m putting a narrow linen warp on the Magic Dobby to pursue a new statistical idea.

linen warp

“Many Strands” was posted by Cally on 10 August 2016 at http://callybooker.co.uk

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