Weaving is an art.

I have never considered myself an artist. But I understand colors.

I enjoy sharp contrast. I like bright colors. I like cool colors. I like pink and blue and orange and green (well, some green). Yellow is another favorite. My absolute favorite is red. Lots of red

So when I took up weaving, the thing that kept me at the loom were the colors. I got to experiment with color combinations and color refraction. “Color and Weave” is my favorite genre in weaving. Shadow weave is just a kick with various colors.

Every summer our teacher (Patricia Martin!!!) sets up the fabric dye and we get to play. We dye our own yarns! Cotton, silk, wool. Doesn’t matter. Natural fiber or rayon fiber. Doesn’t matter. There are dyes for everything.

Last summer I dyed some cotton and cotton slub (slub has bumps on it) in yellows and greens. Then I made a couple of shawls from that yarn.

I learned about the chemical properties of dyes for use on natural fibers, how natural fibers react to dye and, most importantly, how to shade and move color. It was an amazing experience.

In weaving the shawls, I couldn’t figure out why my thread count (that means just what it says–you count the number of threads to get the proper width on the loom) was off. The piece was more narrow than I had planned. About 50 threads too narrow. I did not understand. But they turned out to be of a decent size and useful. I was really pleased with them.

Then a couple of weeks ago, I was rummaging through some cloth bags that I use to carry my weaving junk around and there it was. The 50 missing threads. All tied up and ready to be put on a loom. All in a bright yellow.

How I missed them when I emptied the bag of the rest of the yarn, I will never know. The bag was dark blue. Bright yellow sorta stands out against that…..

I didn’t know what to do with it. It was only 50 threads.  Enter Patricia Martin. And a spare cone of purple cotton thread (the commercial stuff).

VOILA!!!

A lesson in supplementary warps and different sizes of yarn in the same piece. I am also learning how to weave a pattern called “Huck Lace”.

A warp is the thread that is wound onto the loom. The weft is the thread that is woven over and under the warp to make the fabric.

A supplementary warp is the thread of a warp that lays ON TOP of the regular warp. In this picture the supplementary warp consists of the yellow threads. The regular warp is the purple thread.

After much effort and consternation, it appears that the result may be quite pleasing. The colors and contrast make me happy.

I am beginning to think that I may be a budding artist!!!