Future possibilities in my fiber art: which way do I go?

Almost there! One of the three ruanas is complete except for sewing in the tag. And the other two are cut and pinned, ready for sewing. The one hanging has a black cotton weft. The one on top on the ironing board has a black tencel weft. It amazes me how much more vibrant the tencel weft is vs. the cotton one. I don't know if it is a function of the fiber choice, or the fact that there was an 8 hour difference between when I dyed the warp for each one, and I might have gotten different concentrations of dye in that time frame. In any case, I think I like the feel of the tencel weft better than the cotton one. It is a bit smoother, cooler to the touch, and drapes a bit better.

I'm loving the results, but I'm looking forward to being done with this project. I want to move on to something new. In May, I'll be doing a weave along with a group on Facebook, exploring a 4 shaft pattern in the Echo and Iris style of weaving. I'll post pictures of that as I go along, so that will make sense in a bit.

I also have all sorts of things that I want to explore. I want to do some more needle felting. I'm thinking maybe some landscapes, based on the photos that I take when I'm out on my hikes. Or, I love doing abstracts, and just playing with the colors. And, I think I want to use that medium to do some self portraits, as well.

And, I also want to play with nuno felt. I fell down that Pintrest rabbit hole the other night, and I'm itching to give it a try. I love the idea of vibrant drapable felt, that I could make into wearable art garments. (My inspiration board for felt is here: https://www.pinterest.com/lissamc/felt-inspiration/)

And speaking of garments, I also want to pick up my sewing again. I haven't done much of it since I gave up the historical recreation group that I was part of. I'm thinking of making some simple summer tops to start with, and maybe some dresses. My body has shifted with menopause, and much of my current wardrobe doesn't really look flattering on me any more. I think I want to express myself in something I can wear that I can be proud of. And then, once I have my pattern dialed in, make myself some wearables using my own woven fabric, and perhaps the nuno felt.

I can sort of see the direction that my art will be going. I just need to let myself play long enough to explore the possibilities!

Hand painting a ruana: Don't get cocky!

My latest project on the loom is a warp painted ruana. It is going to be gorgeous! But it has been a struggle, mostly because I got cocky and missed little details.

So, it started well. I sat down with my client, and we batted around ideas and picked colors. I usually do my warp painting with about 4-5 colors of dye, but she picked out 10 colors. We figured out how to put them together, and off we went.

When I had the dye and the yarn, the measuring began.

And then, the dyeing. Here was snag number one. I usually dye with foam brushes, but I forgot that I only had enough for 6 colors of dye. And I was working with 10 colors this time. And I started dyeing after stores closed. So, I shrugged and got eye droppers, which I had plenty of. Annnnnd dyeing took a bit over 8 hours, non-stop. Eye droppers are NOT the way to go. Lesson learned. It turned out, but that was quite the marathon.

Also, see the strips of cut up plastic bag that I tied on the ends of the warp chains in that middle picture? I use a permanent marker to write numbers on them, so I can keep track of the order of the warp chains. That helps me get them back onto the loom in the same order that I dyed them in. Lesson two: use Sharpie, not the knock off brand even if it is near to hand. Because the knock off brand washes off in the rinsing process, and then you have a puzzle to solve when you take the chains to the loom!

Lesson number 3: It is quite ok to use your top loading washing machine to soak your warp chains when you are rinsing them, to get the excess dye out. But for the love of God, do NOT turn your back and let it flip over to agitate mode. Luckily, I had put the chains in lingerie bags, so it wasn't a total disaster. But I had some serious untangling to do to separate things back out.

Lesson number 4: Double check which reed you have on the loom before you start sleying it. I got halfway done, and realized I had the wrong one in. I had to take the old reed out and lay it across my lap, then one by one transfer the threads into the new reed. Again, nothing I couldn't recover from, but a pain in the neck! And it would have been an easy catch if I had looked before I started.

Thank goodness for the warping trapeze! It took some patient work to straighten out the tangles from my previous goofs as I beamed the warp on, but I did eventually get everything on the loom under even tension.

From there on out, things have been much easier. I've got enough warp on here for three garments. I'm using black cotton for the first weft choice, purple cotton for the second, and I'm currently weaving black tencel for the third.

So, all's well that ends well? This is turning out beautifully. But boy, have I said a few words along the way!!

Finished purple ruanas, and the start of the next baby wrap

I know. I said I wasn't going to do baby wraps for awhile. But, I have a mother who has one of my wraps, and asked me so nicely to make another for her brand new baby. And well.... Here I go again! The yarn got in today, and I'm excited to get working. I'll put three wraps on this warp. One for my mama client, one to be sacrificed to the new testing regulations, and one more to be available to the public. She made some lovely color choices on this one, don't you think?

And in the meanwhile, the two purple ruanas that were spoken for are complete and ready to go to their new homes! The one on the left has the dark purple weft, and the one on the right has the light silver grey weft. It is amazing how much difference that makes to the overall look of the piece!

I have one more purple ruana to finish up today, and get listed for the Etsy shop. And then, it is baby wrap time! I want to get that project done start to finish in three weeks time, so I can get it shipped off before I take off for my vacation/family reunion on Lake of the Woods, Ontario. (Is it time yet??)

I've been going to this particular lake for vacations since I was a teething babe in arms. It is where I went on my honeymoon with my husband Eric. It has been the one constant in my life. And I want to go home...

Purple Ruanas: three different weft colors

So, the last post left off with the warp for the purple ruanas on the loom, and my weft test stripes done. I was trying to decide which colors to use for the weft. Well, two out of the three ruanas got claimed, and so those clients got to pick their weft colors. One chose silver (light grey), and the other choose a deep purple.

I decided I really liked the purples of the warp, so I chose black for the final weft color, in order to keep them as close to true as possible. I was tempted by a dark pink, but figured the black was a safer choice. Maybe next time I'll get a bit more adventurous.

And so, the weaving part is done! I've cut the fabric off of the loom, trimmed thread ends, zig-zag stitched the beginning and end in order to prevent raveling, and popped the fabric into the wash to wet finish.

I've got it on hot, with high agitation. This fluffs and shrinks and moves threads into their final position. The fabric comes out much softer to the touch, with a nicer drape. I love seeing the transition that this first wash and dry brings!

Now... I often put just a bit more warp onto the loom than I think I need, in case of mishaps. I wove that extra off with the black weft, and ended up with 21" of bonus fabric (pre-washing). I'm wondering what to do with this extra bit. I'm thinking that a handwoven yoga mat bag might be in order, with perhaps a matching inkle woven strap. But I'm not sure. What else would you do with that extra bit of fabric?

EDIT: After washing, the extra bit of fabric ended up 24 1/2" wide from selvedge to selvedge, and 18" long.

Warping the loom for the purple ruanas

I've been working this week on getting my purple warp onto the loom. I do a front-to-back method on this particular loom, just because it is more comfortable to sit on the floor with the back beam off to thread the heddles. So, in the above picture the warp has gone first through the reed to spread it to the proper width, and then each thread went through its individual heddle, which controls when it is raised and lowered.

Once through the heddles, I tied the warp onto the back apron rod.

And then? I set up my home made warping trapeze. I threw the warp chains up and over that top beam, and weighted them down where they dangled down. That gave me even tension when I wound the warp around the back warp beam. This warp went on slick as a whistle! I usually get more tangles and headaches, but not this time.

Around and around the back beam it went. I put one or two sticks on for each revolution, to keep the thread from burrowing down into previous layers as it built up. That would mess with the weaving tension, as some threads would end up shorter than others.

All wound on! I'm loving the way the colors are blending from light to dark.

Then I tied onto the front apron rod, and wove my first bit. I weave a test stripe of each weft color that I'm contemplating. That lets me (and my customers) see how the colors interact with each other in real life. And, by the time I'm done with these first several inches, any initial tension bobbles are evened out, and the threads have drawn in to their weaving width.

So, which color weft is your favorite? From the knots over, the options are a dark pink, dark blue, grey, purple, red, black, and light blue. I'm weaving three ruanas, and each one will get one solid color for the weft. Each one will have a different color.

The gentleman who commissioned this weaving looked them all over, and then asked if I had a silver instead. I have a light grey, so I wove one more test strip to show him. He gave his thumbs up. The lady who has put dibs on the second of the ruanas chose the purple for hers. So, unless someone speaks up to reserve the third garment, I get to choose the third weft color. I'm leaning toward the black, but I also like the dark blue, and the dark pink. Hmmmm..... What do you think??

And so you can visualize what I'm talking about, here's me modeling one of the previous batch of ruanas at the Grand Canyon last weekend.

Northern Arizona road trip Part 2: the elf cottage, condors, the Grand Canyon, and a night sky

My husband Eric & I went wandering around northern Arizona on Saturday. I started the story yesterday, talking about seeing a condor and its nest at the Navajo bridge. http://tangibledaydreams.blogspot.com/2017/05/northern-az-roadtrip-part-1-navajo.html

So, after marveling at the condor and the view of the Colorado River, we headed westward along 89A, skirting the southern border of the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument. Vermilion Cliffs is one of the national monuments that President Trump has put up on the chopping block to have its monument status reviewed, and I wanted to see what was at stake for myself. For the record, it was a gorgeous drive, and I wish we had been in a sturdier vehicle so we could take more of the interior roads. But, I digress.

So, soon after leaving the bridge, we came to Marble Canyon, and a strange little view. On a whim, we turned off into a dirt parking lot, and found the ruins of this strange little house.

There was an outbuilding too, also built right up against one of the huge boulders strewn about.

There were no signs posted saying to keep out, so I wandered right in. Eric took a picture of me taking a picture.

I felt like I was in a magic fort, squirreled away from the world. I could see setting my blankets on the ledges on my left, and curling up, protected from the elements.

I wandered around the main house, too. The roof was missing, save for some remaining beams, but there were still wood frames around the door and windows. The front window gazed out onto the road.

So, what was this place? There was a sign, up against another boulder, but I'm not sure that it is quite right. The original text is missing, and instead someone had scrawled:

"Point of Interest: Elves live in the house behind you. They consume soley pickles and weed. (The elves R us)"

Well....not exactly. Internet to the rescue. This was the home of the Ziegfeld Follies dancer Blanche Russell, back in the prohibition era. Her husband Bill was diagnosed with tuberculosis, so they decided to move to the southwest climate for heath reasons. On their way, their car broke down in this spot one night. When they woke up, Blanche loved the spot so much that they just bought the land, and built the house. They started selling food and such to travelers, and ended up running a restaurant and trading post for a decade. You can read more about the story here: https://frametoframe.ca/2014/10/blanche-russells-rock-houses-marble-canyon-arizona/ and here: http://theproperfunction.com/the-cliff-dwellers/.

I love the story about the elves, but I think I like the real one better.

Anyway, back to our own travels. After leaving Blanche's place, we drove to the western edge of the Vermilion cliffs, and up to the condor viewing station. This is where the endangered California Condors have been being released back into the wild. It was a gorgeous drive!

This road was dirt, but very well maintained, and our car handled it with no issues. When we came to the release site, there were in fact several condors to be seen soaring above the cliffs!

I'm presuming that, just like at the cliffs by the Navajo Bridge, the droppings on the cliff face indicate possible nesting sites. Knowing that we were down to under 30 birds total in the 80's, it was amazing to see the birds living wild and free here, and making their slow comeback.

Also? Condors are BIG. I hadn't appreciated just how big they were, until I measured my wingspan against theirs, at this sign posted at the viewing spot. Just wow.

When we were done with marveling at the condors, we drove through the Kaibab National Forest, and to the north rim of the Grand Canyon. There were meadows flanking the roadway, and they were filled with herds grazing. They were quite back from the road in the late afternoon sun, but when we drove back after dark they were right up at the road side. It made for some tricky driving, making sure to spot them before there was trouble, but we got through with nobody hurt.

At the Canyon, we got down to the reason that we had actually made the trip. I've been weaving ruanas for the Etsy shop, and I thought that it might be a fun idea to take some product photos, showing the garments as they'd be worn. Eric manned the camera for these shots, while I modeled.

And then, business done, we just enjoyed the views!

We watched the sun down, and then made our way back through the deer and back to Flagstaff.

Well, with one more stop. Just north of Flagstaff is the Wupatki National Monument, which we know from past trips is very, very dark at night. And so, we turned off the highway into the monument a little ways, just far enough to get away from the lights of the passing cars. And, I made my first stab at night sky photography:

Not bad for a first try!! I put the camera on a tripod, and set the focus by hand. I set it to f4.8 for 10 seconds, with the ISO cranked up to 12800. Next time, I'll do more reading ahead of time, and make sure I use the remote trigger on the camera. And there will be a next time. Because this shot really, really tickles me!

So, all in all, a most excellent adventure!