A Work in Progress

Halloween Spooky Basket

There was frost on the lawn this morning when I left and I had to wear my winter coat.  I am not ready for the cold, but this will certainly make the leaves really start falling from the trees.  So, I think it is finally time to share my most recent basket that I made in a class last month.  This is a basket that hangs from a doorknob and is Halloween themed!

To be honest I thought this was going to be a piece of cake to make, but it proved more challenging than expected.  I think it was the narrowness of the basket and having to weave while holding it upright and how fidgety it felt working with those first few rows.

Once the form took shape and more rows of weaving were added it became easier to manage.

The next challenge was getting the embellishment attached to the reeds.  It is a narrow space to try and squeeze your hand into to get the wires firmly attached, but I am glad I did it as I was weaving rather than at the very end with all the rows finished.

Getting near the top here and ready to finish the top edge.  As challenging as it was, I am happy to have learned how to make a different shape basket.  Third basket under my belt!

Here is my previous basket, which is an Autumn basket, which was the easiest to make.  I still need to tea stain it, but I have not gotten all the ingredients I need.  I think I will use it for postcards and letters that come in the mail.

And my first attempt--my herb basket.  I am pleased with it, but I can see how I would do it differently in the shaping and the way the sides sit.  Still, not at all shabby, I think!

I am going to take one last class to make a "poinsettia" basket later in November.  Something to look forward to.  I love basketweaving and want to keep honing my skills.  I would love to try my hand alone at home, but for now I am happy to keep taking classes and working with a teacher.  The more I learn in class the easier it will be when I try one solo.

I still want to get back to my at home crafts, most notably my cross stitching.  I did start a new project which I want to share but was hoping to get more of the design stitched before sharing here.  Maybe I should share sooner rather than later and it will inspire me to spend more time working on it!

Adventures in Basketmaking, Take Two!

Earlier in the summer I took my first basketweaving class and loved it so much I signed up for a couple more.  About a week ago I took a Friday off to learn more basketweaving skills and spent a great afternoon in a newish Makerhood part of Omaha making an Autumn basket.  This is the starting point.

What I love about these classes is you can literally make and take--the supplies are ready and the teacher walks us through the steps.  This basket was less labor intensive than the first, slightly smaller and no handle which meant constructing this one went very smoothly.  

Last time my basket had a more rounded feel to it as I was still learning and had not quite figured out how to square my edges very well, bu this one was easier to form into a nice square shape.

We used variegated, dyed reeds for some of the weavers and spokes (the horizontal and perpendicular reeds) to add a little color.  This side has more green and the red is red darkens into purple.

The other side is lighter green, browns and more reds.  I plan on tea staining it, and I have my box of tea bags (the "recipe I found calls for 50 tea bags!), but I need some pure ammonia that is used for the fixative.  I have not been able to find ammonia yet in any of the stores I have been to, so I will have to broaden my search.  I also have a few little embellishments that will attach to the basket with a wire, but if I like the tea stain look, I might just leave them off.  I am not sure what I will use the basket for yet--maybe to keep some of my favorite postcards?

I have since, taken yet another class, but it has a very distinct Halloween theme and a totally different style, so I think I will share it when October rolls around!  I plan on taking more basketweaving classes and if I can manage it, I hope to squeeze one more in yet this year!  Wouldn't it be nice to have a studio space to keep all sorts of crafting supplies and projects at the ready.  I tend to not want to pull out all my things at home as the setting up of work takes almost as much time as I might spend on the actual "doing".  In any case a little creative release is always welcome.  

"Making" and Learning Notes: August 2

Guess what I am learning to do?  Yes, throwback to the late 70s/early 80s for me.  The last time I tried my hand at macramé was in maybe the fourth grade or so.  We used these cork boards and pinned down our project and then did our knots with the pins.  I recall it being really difficult and confusing, but what can you expect when you are still refining your mind processes and motor skills.  

I took a class earlier in the week to learn how to make a macramé plant hanger and this is my first go.  Not perfect and plenty of room for improvement, but not too shabby either.  It was much easier to work standing up and with the cord hanging from a pole.  I love make and take classes like this.

I have to say there is something really meditative about making various kinds of knots.  I think we learned four different basic knots and used three to make our hangers.  I am contemplating signing up for another class in which you make a wall hanging.

And because it was so fun and I enjoyed it so much I had to look for books at the library.  The best of the batch for me is Weaving within Reach: Beautiful Woven Projects by Hand or By Loom by Anne Weil, which seems really accessible and easy to use with projects that I can actually imagine making and using.  However I am also perusing Macramé: The Craft of Creative Knotting for Your Home by Franny Zedonius and Raw Crafts: 40 Projects from Hemp, Jute, Burlap, and Cork by Denise Corcoran.  You never know where you might find inspiration, right?

A local community college has been upping their offerings of noncredit classes and there is a whole section of a warehouse in my downtown (known as the Makerhood as there are other crafty places in the neighborhood) that is dedicated to what they call "lost arts".  I am contemplating signing up, too, for a rug making class that is taught using a table loom.  I think the first class starts with learning and making a rag rug.  It lasts for five sessions three hours in the evening for five consecutive weeks this fall.  It is a commitment but it sounds like fun.  If I am not reading (or watching movies) then it is these creative kinds of endeavors that make me happy.

Learning to Weave: Baskets!

I am adding something new to my crafting repertoire!  I took a basket weaving class over the weekend and made my very first basket!

It was really very slick and somewhat intense.  My local Botanical Garden is offering all sorts of adult education classes and the basket weaving caught my eye (I would also like to learn fabric dyeing if I can squeeze it in).  I didn't exactly expect that I would complete a whole basket in the afternoon session.

We started at noontime (notice I was sitting by a window and you can see how the sun/shadow moved over the course of the day!).  A little over 5-1/2 hours later I was putting the final touches on the top.

And voila, I brought home a completed (save for the little 'herbs' tin plate that can be attached) basket.  I think it turned out pretty good for a first attempt.  Of course now that I know how the whole process works, I can see all kinds of things I would do differently the next time.  Centering the handle and making sure the right side of the reed is facing in or out and tension, why is it always so complicated to get tension just right?  

What I like about this is the 'instant' gratification.  Granted it took almost six hours of focused work to complete the basket but it is nice to walk away from a class with a completed basket.  Now I am inspired to do more.  I hope to take another class in the fall and will be perusing basket weaving books, which I have already started requesting from the library.  

Projects with Thread: Slow & Steady

I've not shared any weaving photos in a while, but I am slowly working on my most recent project.  As I only go weave on Saturday mornings now, my weaving time is pretty limited.  I've now woven approximately halfway through my warp.

This is a traditional Karen shirt that one of the ladies at the Refugee Center (where I go and work on my weaving) made.  Although you can't tell from what I have woven so far, this is what I will ultimately be making, though obviously a much simpler design.  Whoever made this shirt is a very skilled weaver.   

I'm not sure what this threadwork is called, but it is a design that creates a nice lacey pattern which I am learning.  To create it every three or four threads are separated by three or four opposing threads.  Remember the loom shifts every other thread up and down and then a thread (the weft, or horizontal thread) is woven over and under those vertical threads.   

It's a little easier to see in the above two photos.  I used different colors in order to be able to see how those threads shift during the weaving process.  My weaving was really meant to be all worked using purple and burgundy threads, but I ran out when I was making my warp, hence the yellows (and they are both yellow threads--just slightly different shades).

In order to make the shirt there are (or will be) four lacey sections on the top and bottom of each woven section.  There will be two woven sections (so four sets of those lacey rows) that eventually will be cut from the warp you see in the top photo.  They will then be laid side by side and sewed together.  The idea is the two sections and the four lacey sections will match up.  They will be 'folded' in half, so that top crease sits on the shoulders.  The open bottom part will have a fringe.  In a way, it will be sort of like an open poncho.

I'm afraid my shirt is likely going to be a bit of a mess as I didn't do a very good job of counting threads and measuring carefully that everything will be spaced accurately, but this is all just a learning experience.  Of course, in my defense, I have to say that sometimes learning is a challenge since communication is often very limited.  Most of the ladies only speak Karen, so it is a matter of watching, mimicking their weaving movements and not worrying too much about making mistakes.   The ladies at the refugee center are very generous with their time and knowledge, it has been a great experience to work with them!

I'll share photos of the shirt making process when I get to it.  Until then, I have to say I think weaving is such an interesting process and seeing the actual weaving up close always amazes me a little bit.  This section of my weaving looks pretty uniform and the edge even looks like the tension is fairly spot on.  Not to get ahead of myself, but I am already thinking about  my next project--I would like to learn some simple design/pattern with various colors on a uniform background.  As you see in the Karen shirt, there are a lot of potential designs.  Most are probably to complicated for a beginner, but I would love to try my hand at something new.

I have not shared my latest seasonal sampler.  I have finally started the Fall Sampler--just in time for the official start of it.  Do you like the scarecrow?  He looks pretty chipper, don't you think?  There will be lots of birds and pumpkins and falling leaves.  I finished the Winter Sampler, still am working on Spring and have yet to start Summer (why do things in order, eh?).  It seemed like a good idea to just jump into Fall.

And with the holidays just around the corner, I thought maybe something festive might be in order.  I started these little designs ages ago but then set them aside when I didn't finish them for a previous holiday.  It has been so very mild weather-wise, that it is really hard to even begin thinking of winter and the coming holidays.  Maybe finishing these will put me in the mood?  The idea is to turn them into a little scissor fob or pin cushion.  They are the same side so they will be sewn together--front and back wintry scenes.

And I have finished the stitching on my revamped Quaker heart.  It is time to start backstitching so I can sew them together.  I will be making a mattress cushion (most likely).  It will not have beads, but there will be an edge attaching front and back and on that edge I will have words, as yet undecided, however.  Backstitching is pretty tedious, which is why I keep putting it off.  My updated version looks a little different.  Six years later and my initials have changed.  I do like the nice warm colors.  It has been very relaxing working on this!  I may have to pull out another Quaker design for the coming new year!

My Handiwork on Display

Remember all those weaving (and other fiber) classes I took this summer? My finished projects are hanging up in the hallway outside the classrooms at the museum along with the other students' work.  Here's a little peek at my work (and you can see some other beautiful pieces by other students, too).

The classes were offered in conjunction with the last traveling exhibit, Sheila Hicks: Material Voices, which I enjoyed immensely.  The photos above show Sheila weaving as well as some of the works that were shown or that appear in the exhibit catalog.

Does this look familiar?  It was my second weaving project.  I used a slightly thicker cotton thread in two different colors in order to see where the warp and weft showed up.  Definitely a learning piece.

You can see my first weaving project to the right as well as a Sheila-Hicks-inspired "wrap" (the work in grey) just to its right.

This is one I never did get a chance to share as it really never came home with me.  It was in a Devoré class that I made this, but to be honest I cheated a little.  It was more weaving (tapestry style, not done on a backstrap loom) than "burning" which is what the devoré process is.  I tried to use some natural fibers (local grasses) in my weaving, but it is hard to tell from this photo.

And this is the last class I took, which was a textile wrapping class making fiber sculptures.  Another learning moment.  I liked the process though I think I would do it differently given another chance.  Mostly it was just fun being creative in a social sort of environment (this is also the class where I made the baby boules).  And yes, that yarn is just as soft as it looks--you do want to just grab it in your hands and run your fingers through it.  It is wool from a Nebraska company in the western part of the state.

I love the white and blue textile wraps you see here.  It was great fun taking the classes and hopefully there will be more opportunities in the future, though I am not taking anything at the moment.  I am, however, still very slowly working on another backstrap weaving project.  I will have to take progress photos to share again soon!  It is still a little fantasy of mine to buy a table top rigid heddle loom.  I am trying to save my pennies with that wish in mind.  Until then, there are still lots of needlework projects keeping me busy, too. 

A Little Thread Work: Stitching Notes

Moving right along in my weaving!  I am now working on project #3.  This is most definitely a Learning Piece!  Particularly since I have already messed up the warp (my teachers had to undo the heddle--that interweave of kite string that I use to lift/separate the threads in order to weave), didn't plan correctly for how much thread I would need (hence the dark and light sides) and now have messed up the decorative part you see below.

So, it was my intention to weave a new piece of cloth using the purple and burgundy threads, but those skeins don't go quite as far as I thought they would.  It looks like there is so much thread on the tube, but oops, it finished far quicker than expected.  So yellow tones it is to complement the darker colors.

I did, however, manage to separate the two different colors/tones so that when switching the threads (opening and closing the shed) one color falls to the back and the other is pulled up and open. 

And my teachers are showing me how to create those decorative lacy bits.  The weft (the thread you are weaving with) is woven over and under three threads.  It's not really hard, just a matter of transposing the normal threads you weave through, but I goofed on one of the rows and I have not managed to space the rows out evenly.  Oh well, it's all good.  Considering I have only been doing this for part of one summer and then not on a daily basis, I am still pleased with my progress.  Maybe with my next project  I will try something a little more planned and thought out.  For now I am just happy to be weaving and trying something new.  I think you learn more by making mistakes anyway.  Normally in weaving most mistakes can actually be fixed, though fixing mistakes is a skill in itself.  I wish I could weave more during the week than only on Saturday afternoons, but eventually I hope to set something up at home.  I still do not have my own loom pieces and am just borrowing the sticks, but I'm working on obtaining them!

I'm still pottering away at my needlework, too.  I have actually been making progress on my Quaker heart and I hope to have the motifs finished by the end of this coming week.  You can see the first one I made using a variegated red thread with beading on the outer edge.  Curiously the pattern calls this the back, but it seems more like the main side to me.

I stitched this first one all the way back in 2010.  Since then my initials have changed.  I like the nice warm colors of this second Quaker heart.  Orange and pink with a dash of red. 

Here it is in all its glory!  I hope I will have enough thread (I have no idea where I bought it.  I found it in one of my stash bins) to finish the back stitching and stitch words I plan on putting on the sides.  I will finish it as a "mattress cushion" and I am still contemplating which words I will use on that outer edge.  As my initials and the year will already be on one side, I can put something else on the outer edge. 

Do you remember this?  Spring feels so far back now.  I sort of fizzled a bit on it, but I do plan on finishing it at some point.  Winter was finished and is waiting for its three companion pieces. 

I sort of started the Summer sampler, but now I am going to re-purpose that piece of linen (I need to order more to have enough for all three samplers).  Autumn is my favorite season, so I think I will pick out the few stitches that went into Summer and jump right into Autumn.  I love the crows and the little squirrel and Mr. Scarecrow (who apparently is not really doing his job . . .).  The weather finally seems to have started cooperating after several rainy days, yesterday was cool at last.  It may be safe to pull out long sleeves and sweatshirts at last.  And I think I need to work on my Autumn sampler as a nice celebration!

Adventures in Weaving, Part 2

Finally, here is my work on my second weaving project!  I have photos from start to finish, so you can see what I have been learning.  Part of the work I did was at my local museum where I took the class, but it spilled over into the Refugee Empowerment Center as my teachers are Karen refugees from Myanmar (Burma).  My class is officially over now, so the other students and I are planning on continuing to go to the Center on Saturdays to keep on weaving.

This odd looking set of boards is a warping board.  This is what we use to create the warp, which is the structure on which we weave.  So what you are seeing is actually the threads that will eventually be removed.  It is sitting on its side at the moment, but once removed and we begin weaving it will no longer be horizontal as shown.  The large stick on the left will be what is connected to the wall (or some steady structure) that holds the rest of the weaving.  Some of those poles will be used as well and the thread is wrapped around them.

This is a very important piece of the loom.  It is the heddle rod and the kite string (in the future I hope to use something a little less slippery as I had problems with knots coming undone and the thread going wonky and causing problems) is what is separating the threads.  It is woven around every other green and/or white thread and it is what will eventually separate those threads and enable me to weave.  It's one of those Eureka discoveries--so much easier than trying to weave your weft through every other warp thread.

Here is a close up to one of those poles that holds the threads and creates my warp structure. 

Okay.  Here it  all is taken from the warping board and attached to the wall.  Do you see how all those poles now create the loom?  It took me quite a while to wrap my brain around how it all works and how it works together.  I am still learning, but I understand the very basic process.  The stick with the kite string attached is my heddle that opens and closes the threads.  So I can weave the weft thread through and then that nice, big, nicely sanded bar is a batten and it is used to beat the weft thread into place. 

Here is a close up of that heddle rod.  I could have been more systematic in the placing of my warp threads by color and made a nicer, more orderly pattern but as I am still learning I decided to let them go as they may end see how they randomly end up.  I should have taken a photo of the threads open, but there are a couple of photos back in this post.

Here is me working and you can see my heddle rod that has my weft thread I am weaving with.  When creating the warp you use two threads in tandem, but when you actually weave you only use one.  Again I just randomly switched from the green to the white.  The top part of the cloth has a white weft and the bottom a green weft woven in.

And here it is all finished.  The tassles at the end were really a challenge for me.  It took me a couple of hours to do them.  My teacher was showing me and she was so fast and could create them into tight wraps I was incredibly impressed.  What you do is take two sets of two threads separated by your finger and then roll them against your leg in one direction then take the two sets and roll those together in the opposite and make a little tie and the tension of the twists against each other holds them together.  For someone skilled it is pretty easy.  For someone new, like me, it was frustrating.  But for a first try they are not so bad, I think.

This is my one small detail, a fancy design my teacher put in one end and then helped me do on the other end.  It is really pretty simple (though I am not sure I could do it on my own yet) of weaving loose threads through the warp--she used extra sticks to open the warp in a different way that I cannot obviously explain to you here, but it looks nice, don't you think?  I think this sort of embellishment is particular to the Karen ladies in their weaving.  And you can see a close up of the actual weaving and tassles.

This is the whole cloth--I guess we can call it a scarf, though to be honest I am not sure I will ever actually wear it.  It is just a learning piece for me.  But all in all, it is pretty cool and I loved doing it.  It is folded over twice to give you an idea of length--a lot of work went into it!

And this is the first project I did after I took it off the loom.  It has some blue woven in as I ran out of black.  I used a much finer cotton thread (the green and white is also cotton thread, which is what works best for this type of weaving).  I could have created tassles on this one, too (the spun tassles that is), but I just could not face the prospect of doing more last weekend.

My adventures will continue tomorrow as I will be going to the Refugee Center and hopefully begin project number three!  Now to figure out how to get m own loom (as you can see it is something fairly easily cobbled together, though the batten is the most important piece that needs to be well made).

Learning to weave has certainly been a way for me to use my brain in a new way and learn to think totally outside the box.  It feels good to use that "muscle" in new ways, too.

Baby Boules and Kindness Inside

I finished my last art class last night at my local art museum.  I've already mentioned my weaving and devoré classes (photos still to come on the weaving).  This last class was on fiber wrapping--all in conjunction with the (now finished) Sheila Hicks exhibit.  It was an inspiring exhibit and the works were absolutely gorgeous.  I am lucky to have been able to see it several times and then learn how to weave as a result.  The projects I completed for all three classes are still at the museum as they may go into a student exhibit.  If any of the works end on display it will be the only time anything I have made will end up in a museum, which is a cool thought.  So no photos yet of those projects, but I brought home a couple of mini boules! 

My Sheila Hicks-inspired boules measure about 3" around.  The photo above is from the exhibit catalog (which, yes, I had to buy and am happy to have it) and shows Sheila's "Grand Boules" from 2009.  They are part of an installation and range in size from 33-1/2 to 45-5/16 in. in diameter.  They are made up of linen, cotton, synthetic raffia and metallic fiber. 

In the exhibit she had a wall of much smaller boules created from "found material".  I believe the small boules contained bits and pieces of clothing from her children--whatever was inside the boules was particular to her life and family and really only she knows what they contain.  I like the idea as it is her own personal past that she had carried with her from place to place and now they make up her artwork. 

At the end of the last class (we had been making larger wrapped fiber wall hangings) we had a little extra time to make our own little boules (actually mine are pretty small, most of the other students opted for larger size boules).  My instructor has bins and bins of fabric and fibers and fuzzy, shiny bits and bobs that we could choose from. 

We started with a piece of paper on which we wrote something personal--some wish or hope or dream or anything we wanted to have inside and then crumpled the paper and over that paper, which forms the base, wrapped fabric strips and then fibers--working from larger materials to smaller. 

It was fun and I could see how given time and thought and a chance to gather just the right sort of materials you could make something very special and personal.  As a matter of fact I am now contemplating making a few to pass along to friends for the holidays or just some other special time (or for no particular reason at all even).  The thought inside is meant to remain a secret--so the boule contains some special memory or hope.  It is a nice sentiment and the perfect way to end my classes.  And now the exhibit is down and the next one will open next month. 

I love working with fibers and textiles so this was all very special.  The next exhibit, which I am looking forward to seeing, has a few themed classes but I am likely not going to take any as they are mostly photography related.  I might however, give this Plaster Sculpture class a try in December (it is inspired by the museum's George Segal installation).  I love doing my needlework, but it is nice to take classes and get inspiration from other students and have a talented instructor give guidance.  Until something else comes along it is back to my needlework and hopefully I can find a way to continue on with my weaving! 

Weaving in Fiction and Nonfiction

Why do things by halves?  The pleasure of almost any activity can be doubled when you can read about it as well as do it.  So, a new creative path is my learning to weave and now I have to read about it, too.  Actually it was Susan's comment that made the light bulb go off in my head.  Yes, Homer, The Odyssey and Penelope's endless weaving to stave off all those suitors.  She has been rereading the book and I have been wanting to read the book properly.  I read parts of it in school a very long time ago and have wanted to read both the Iliad and Odyssey for several years now.  The idea was to make a project of it, and read nonfiction, retellings, maybe even listen to them on audio as well as read the stories.  Maybe this is the moment when I need to just pick up the book and dive in rather than continually wait until I feel ready . . .

I know Penelope was weaving in The Odyssey, but I think there are weaving references in The Iliad as well.  I know it likely doesn't matter whether I read the books "in order" or if I read them together, but I like to keep things tidy, so I think I have to start with The Iliad.  Now the question, do I read the Robert Fagles translation or the recent new translation by Peter Green?

And then there is Ovid's Metamorphoses (another wannareadthistoo book) who recounts the myth of Philomela and her loom.

I read Margaret Atwood's Penelopiad almost ten years ago and it is definitely time to read it again and with a sharper eye since I didn't seem to particularly like Penelope and failed to even acknowledge how she put off her suitors.  I think I would come at it from a very different frame of reference now.

In thinking of novels with weavers or spinners the first one to come to mind was Anita Amirrezvani's The Blood of Flowers set in 17th-century Persia about a young woman who designs (and weaves, too?) carpets.  Yes, I shake my head at myself, but I have not yet read the book even though I have owned it since it came out in paperback.  (The beauty of a personal library is that you have books on hand that will have their day--their moment in the sun so to speak).  Maybe I will take one of these on vacation . . . yes, I am still thinking about which combination of books appeals most.

And then there are two perfect nonfiction titles that I eagerly bought, but haven't had quite the right mood for them.  I think all of a sudden they are just the right books for the right time--Women's Work: The First 20,000 Years, Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times by Elizabeth Wayland Barber.  I have been learning a little about weaving and cloth and I know what an important commodity it has been through time.  Literally, wars have been fought over it.  It would pair quite nicely with Laurel Thatcher Ulrich's The Age of Homespun: Objects and Stories in the Creation of an American Myth.  For some reason Laurel Ulrich Thatcher's works in general have always seemed somewhat daunting, but now looking at the book I am eager to read her.

Great places to start with my reading and so many broad sources.  Of course if any other good books come to mind about weaving or any aspect of cloth--either novels or nonfiction no matter the time period, please do share.  I am also searching for images of weaving, so this will be an exciting literary and creative journey. 

And a little tease--the two balls of yarn you see sitting on top of my books just happens to be the colors I am using for my new weaving project!  Sorry for the poor quality of photo, but you can at least get an idea.  Green and earth tones in general are my very favorite colors!