Playing with warp & weft

Finally I have finished my 3rd tapestry sample (though it is not yet cut off the loom!). The idea was to use as many different materials as possible for the weft. Here is the rather messy back before trimming:
The wefts include tissue paper, ribbon, mohair, eyelash yarn, wire, ripped chiffon, carrier bag strips, sock yarn, plastic bag ties, embroidery threads and many more. All this is interweaved with axminster rug wool. Using papers & ribbons I have also been creating some bright & fun weave sample structures.
Getting into the weaving mood, I have been listening to WeaveZine podcasts on the bus. Certainly makes my journey to work more enjoyable! Episode 48 introduced me to Rodrick Owen, and kumihimo and Peruvian braids. I can't wait to try this craft! Another great internet find is The Josef & Anni Albers Foundation website, which not only has an enormous amount of information on this extremely talented couple, it also has galleries of Anni Albers weavings. Interestingly, it was only because the Bauhaus barred women from certain disciplines than Anni reluctantly studied weaving!

Inky sketches and a mouse

I have been continuing to sketch with inks. Starting off with this rather coy birdie. I quite like the unforgiving nature of the ink strokes, this means that I have to work with my so-called mistakes, rather than reach for an eraser.
I have been using old copies of BUST and Selvedge magazines for sketching inspiration. Some are more successful than others. The ink colour washes remind me of old children's books.
Finally I had a request for another mouse - though not filled with catnip this time. This little fella was made at a chilly stitch 'n' bitch. After sampling some cheese he will be off to his new home tomorrow.

Happy New Year!

Welcome to 2010! I have been playing around with inks on both wet & dry surfaces. I like the way the colours bleed into each other.
My current craze for playing with ink even extends to covering old Christmas wrapping paper with colours. The gold print remains unsaturated by the inks, to create a vibrant pattern.
I am also working on my third (yeah!) tapestry sample. I am trying to use a variety of threads, here is a sneak peek:I knew that charity shop find of blue & white mohair yarns would come in handy one day! And yes that is a Black & Decker logo you can spot - the loom is currently being held by my partners workmate! The weaving is coming along slower than planned, this due to a rather poorly guinea pig. Fletch is currently recuperating from an operation yesterday (all together now "ahhhhhh"). Here he is helping me finish off a plum stone earlier.

Festive holiday weaving

In between the endless eating, sleeping & being merry - this festive season I have also been working on my second tapestry sample. For this I used two colours of axminster yarn from Texere Yarns. The final piece is approx 26cm x 6cm.
I tried a variety of different techniques in this sample, many from Tapestry Weaving by Kirsten Glasbrook. I initially started by trying to merge one colour into another, imagining each tapestry bead as a pixel, with each colour gradually being taken over by the other.

The middle section contains horizontal stripes, regular spots, pick and pick, and my first attempt at distorted wefts and irregular shapes. The distorted weft gives an unusual movement and texture, and is certainly an area to explore.

Finally in the last section I tried to create different textures, carrying loose wefts across areas, soumak, exposed warps, hatching and rug effects. Next I hope to experiment with using different materials for the weft.

Christmas tattoodles

I hope Santa was good to you all!

As a present to myself I got new tattoos to represent my crafty & science sides!
The only problem with new ink, is that it makes you want more & more!

Merry Christmas!!!!

Have been rushing to finish Christmas presents, firstly cute catnip filled crochet mice for cats Bill & Marsha. The pattern is available here.
Handwarmers for Kate, made from altering the pattern I used for these.
Last Saturday we went off to Falkirk to Callender house. As well as looking around the house and the working Georgian kitchen (freshly baked mince pie - with real mince anyone?), we also saw the Winter Warmth exhibition at Park Gallery. Some of the many highlights of the exhibition including tapestry weavings from Louise Oppenheimer. I love the movement of colours within her work. There were also intricate embroidered mixed media pieces from Midge Gourlay, as well as retro prints from Clare Nicolson and fun cross stitch from Miso Funky. Whilst inside in the exhibition, the snow came to Scotland! Here is me in the snow outside the house:
The snow covered ground is great for spotting animal footprints, check out these squirrel & bird prints - I wonder where they were off to?

Have a great Christmas everyone!

Tapestry Weaving & some silliness

At the end of November I attended a 2 day workshop at the stunning Stirling Castle. The course was an 'Introduction to Tapestry Weaving' tutored by the very knowledgeable and very lovely Louise Martin. Louise is the senior weaver at Stirling Castle for West Dean Tapestry Studio, producing the hunt of the unicorn tapestries. Louise took us through the basics of warping a loom and starting to weave. After 2 days of hard work I had managed to produce 12cm x 10cm - which certainly makes me realise the huge amount of hours that would have been needed to produce the tapestries seen hanging in our museums and stately homes! I have finally finished the exercises given to produce a 12cm x 26cm sample. The final exercise was to weave a circle (this I was dreading) and was pleasantly surprised with the outcome!
Having been bitten by the tapestry bug, yesterday afternoon I went to visit Burrell Collection. Sir William Burrell gifted his collection of over 9000 items to the city of Glasgow, of which over 200 are tapestries. Currently these tapestries are being catalogued to produce an accessible archive. The Burrell Collection is within Pollok Park, a huge park on the south side of Glasgow, and well worth a visit. On walking through the park, I was reminded that it wasn't just humans who could weave.
Finally, some silliness. The combination of Movember and craftster lead to some fantastic knitted facial hair! (PS: It is not my stubbly chin in the pic! But that of my boyf).