More Krokbragd

September 5, 2014September 5, 2014 / handmadebyjo / 6 Comments

The problem with learning a new structure is my unbridled enthusiasm. It’s a problem because I just jump in and figure things out as I go. This can be good but at times it’s not so good.

The mat that I’m weaving comes from an older weaving magazine. Although I had spent a couple of weeks reading up on the process I neglected to actually read the instructions of the project I was weaving. I had yarn, in various colors, I figured I was good. I figured I’d just wing it, decide as I was going along. Uhm, yeah. That worked until I realized – four colors in – that some of them repeated and I was going to have to make it all work when I got to the center and worked my way back through the color scheme. I thought there were 9 colors in the pattern but it turns out there are only 6. What I had with me for yarn was not going to work.

I spent some time during my last session going through the yarn available. I’m fortunate that the last two colors don’t really require a lot of yardage so I picked two skeins from Pam’s stash.

I’m pretty excited about how I envision it looking at this point. It also showed me how much planning has to go into the weaving of these Scandinavian treasures. I didn’t plan at all and now realize that maybe I should have. I guess that’s what class is all about for me, learning what the important things are for each particular structure and dreaming about the possibilities.

Weaving Wednesday – Krokbragd

August 20, 2014August 20, 2014 / handmadebyjo / 7 Comments

I started weaving camp last week. This is a short course for the month of August on a technique of my choice (although it was really with the help of my instructor Pam that the decision was made). We decided to do a rug technique since it is something new to me. This will be a 24″x 36″mat done in Krokbragd, a Norwegian rug weaving techniques known for its color and design.

I don’t know what my problem was the past week but getting this project warped has been an exercise in frustration. It’s 4 doubled epi, so it should have been quick. Between threading mistakes and a heck of a time sleying the reed (missed all kinds of threads, did it over TWICE) it took me about 8 hours to get to the point of throwing a shuttle. 8 hours – to wind and warp – there must be something wrong with my brain that doesn’t allow projects to happen in August.

Finally, towards the end of class yesterday I began to weave. I’m using Harrisville Shetland yard so it doesn’t work up as fast as it would with a thicker yarn but oh, is it beautiful. I chose Shetland because of the colors that were available to me (and I had a lot of it). I have to say I’m very excited about the possibilities in color and pattern for this.

Another woman in my class woven a runner over the summer and brought it in last week for me to photograph. It is stunning.

She started out with a couple of muted tones and then took off with color. It’s so much fun to look at and so exciting to think this is something I can do that isn’t terribly complicated.

I love it when I’m learning a new structure. The drive home from class is always filled with thoughts of how to use this new-found technique. I’m thinking of color combinations and patterns the whole way. I can’t wait to get back into the studio with a serious block of time devoted to weaving. Let the magic begin.

The Party’s Over, but the Sheep Don’t Seem to Notice

October 28, 2013October 28, 2013 / handmadebyjo / Leave a comment

My neighbor has four sheep. They are curious creatures, staring at me the entire time I am outdoors within earshot (they always move into viewing range when they hear any of us outside).

The glorious colors of this autumn are a distant memory. There are a few trees with some leaves hanging on, the blackberry bushes still are beautiful.

The leaves this fall were spectacular, better than I’ve seen in years. The traffic on Route 2 was worse than I can recall in recent memory. I take a certain satisfaction is knowing that I can avoid driving that route by taking back roads with the bonus being better views of the foliage. I have always looked at the “leaf peepers” with a small measure of disdain. How dare they cause these crazy traffic problems on an otherwise lightly travelled road? What are they thinking driving 20 mph and stopping suddenly to take a photograph of particularly colorful maple. These are my trees. I have watched their entire cycle and October is the reward.

I then realize how blessed I am to be living in such beauty. How wonderful it is to have family and friends locally that take advantage of all of it with their cameras and how amazing it is that we can all share our imagery so readily via the internet. With all of the complaints an old film photographer can have this is one time when I think digital is amazing.

Weaving Wednesday 7

May 15, 2013September 11, 2013 / handmadebyjo / 2 Comments

Pam, our instructor, lashing a warp for a Navajo rug.

I left early yesterday thinking that with an extra hour I would be able to finish threading it and possibly sley the reed. Ahhhh, the best laid plans. Last week when I started threading my warp I was on fire. Everything went in order, no mistakes, perfection. I only had time to thread the first half so with the extra time I figured this should be easy. I threaded, rethreaded and threaded again the last half of that warp. Three hours into it I had 25 to 30 threads left over at the end. Count, count, count, rethread, count, count count, thread again, still wrong, ugh. Sometimes your head is in the game, sometimes it’s not, last night it definitely was not. I got there at 5:00 and by 8:30 I had the reed on ready to start that but really didn’t have enough time so it will be waiting for me next week. Bummer.

When I first arrived at the studio I went around and took a few photographs of the other weaving projects going on. It’s all fascinating to me and there is just so much you can do (although the just gives me weaving ADD). Since my loom looks almost exactly the way it did last week I’ll share some of the other weaving – without description since I’m not sure of the proper terminology.

I have my class on Tuesday evenings so there are only a couple of other women that I actually weave with.

We do have weaving “theory” classes once a month where all of Pam’s students get together to learn about drafting, structure and color. Now I can put the names and projects with the faces.

It has been an amazing experience playing with these women who are all at different places in their weaving education.

All of the weavers that I have met are very generous people. They are open, honest and giving. It’s like going to therapy every week. We are all around the same age with wildly diverse backgrounds but we come together to create beautiful things. You see everyone’s tastes are so different in their color choices or even their projects. Pam steers people in the direction of their capabilities and gives direction when needed. She encourages each of us to work on our own so when we leave we can go home, warp our own looms and weave without her assistance. It’s nice to know that she’s only a phone call away though, I’m not all grown up yet.

The photo above is of a double weave rug (I know this much). It is one of the most stunning things I have ever seen. Makes me think a rug is in my future.