Thrills and spills and our heroine wins through!

So all this learning happened today.

I realized that the four selvedge idea works with loops, not individual warp threads. This means you need a loom that uses a looping method of warping. Such as all my notched cardboard looms. Or my dear Hokett loom.

 I could have been doing four selvedge all along. It was fun making the fancy jig idea, and, to be fair, I did make an award-winning tapestry on it, so it was hardly a total loss. But it coulda been more fun.

And in the course of finding cardboard to use for the new tiny loom, I realized that a couple of my older tapestries still had uncut loops.

 If I'd known about  all this a couple of weeks ago I'd have better finished covers but oh well.

So I tried out the technique on two of them, and quickly found this wasn't learner country. Too big, too easy to get lost in pulling direction. But I did learn a bit. I'll have to finish those pieces some other way.

Meanwhile I soldiered on.

And finished the little cotton warp book cover

And did the warp pulling thing.

AND IT WORKED.

I can die happy. Not for  a while though, got a lot of stuff to do yet. Mainly much better Little Books.

Now to do the second cover to this one, cotton warp and weft, the weft dyed like this one with something pinkish, probably red onion skins.

And spin paper for wefts.

Aside from that, not a lot happening.

Despatches from the front

More thinking has been happening. After the talk about paper, I began to think about collecting foliage for paper pulp. This usually involves collecting from out front, iris, daylily, but that's not a thing in March.

And I remembered my house is full of foliage, quite a bit needing to be pruned, because it's gone mad since the daylight has started to lengthen.

Viz:

Including the leaves I trimmed from the March flowers. I can include the flowers in the mix.

And there are a couple of big paper artworks around here, while we we're thinking paper, the left made with second cut cotton linters, the right with a combo of abaca, banana, fiber and some cotton linters.  The right one dates back to papermaking class in the 70s, this stuff is so stable it will outlive us all. This is just a tangent, where was I..

So papermaking will happen, with other ingredients as well as boiled leaves.

Meanwhile I've been casting a cold eye on my current tapestries and thinking better continue with four selvedge technique, so as to get a better finish.

 The idea of four selvedge is that there's practically no finishing beyond removing the tapestry from the loom. What there is, though, is fiddling about with special jigs and warping and my set-up was for much bigger work, not miniatures.

 I blogged about this a while back, and if you're interested, you'll  find links to posts about four selvedge in that endless list down the right of the screen.

So I looked around for ideas and see I can probably make the exact size loom I need very simply, using materials I have. Weave the loom completely full, slip the weaving off , adjust the warp threads, no fringes.

So here we go

I can also use this little loom as a guide to creating there mold I'll need to make paper to the right size for the covers.

I think I'd better stop and pick this up tomorrow with new energy.  Enough excitement for one day, all these discoveries.

Paper weaving done for now

So I've got the makings of two paper-woven Little Books.

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Next I'm going to weave using cotton warp for weft, too. A chance for a bit of fancy stuff there.

After that I will make pages and start binding them.

Ze moment of trrrrruth, as Poirot would say.

State of play, Little Book project

In case you're losing the thread (!) all

this weaving and spinning, in wool, paper, and upcoming, cotton warp, is all part of the Little Book Project.

Currently it's all about the covers, while I review various binding ideas, and pagemaking thoughts.

I'm considering pages made from side products of printing on silk

 or handmade paper

 or coffee filter paper

or image transfer of my photographs

Or maybe all of them. Decisions.

These Little Books, the ones I think are good enough, they won't all qualify,  will be artworks, for exhibit, most probably in box frames where there aren't glass cases. They will be for sale and can be drawn or written in, depending on the page material. If I ship, they will be unframed, safer all round.

But that's ahead a while. Meanwhile the paper is my teacher. A patient one.

Interesting discovery

I wove up the green paper and found the texture was different from the first,  because of the dyeing. It was stiffer, less yielding. Interesting.

And though it was the same amount of paper, I think cut the same width, it wove up a whole centimetre shorter than the first. Which it's supposed to match.

This is not a problem. I'll just unweave enough of the first to match, and go from there. But it's a finding to remember.

Meanwhile I'm reviewing Coptic stitching for binding. But I find it a bit fussy. I have another idea to try. We'll see.

Green supply ready, learning has happened

I used one of the green set of filters here, see the floss  bobbin, nicely filled with one filter'sworth of thread. The color didn't come off on my fingers, good.

I was interested to see it was harder to spin than the first. I wonder what that was about.

 The next one will be spun z. I think I was spinning s on this one and it felt as if I were working against its real direction. So the next one I'll do differently and see what's up.

 I didn't realize, since I was using my thumbs, not the spindle, which direction I was going. When you spin the spindle, usually you flick it to spin clockwise, z. But when I slowed down to observe, it looked like counterclockwise, s. Which is okay if the paper doesn't argue the point. Paper, however, has a grain and direction, and I may have been working against it.

I have two thoughts for next time: make sure I'm spinning s, which my thumbs might not like, t'ain't  nat'ral, Missy, or start at the other end of the strip and see if that works better.

Amazing amount of learning in this little nutshell of a project.

First paper tapestry

So here's the first try at weaving paper thread.

 So now I know that one filter will yield 1.75" x 1.5" approx. Or 4cm x 4.5 cm.

I warped both sides of the loom again so I can't make a book yet. So I need to make more thread for a cover that will work with this one.  Probably that green, or maybe the gold.

Dyeing results

The filters dried overnight, and here they are.

 It's a pleasure just to handle them. I expect some dye will come off on my fingers as I spin, particularly the red.

Those lovely green shades are from that mixture of leftover dye.  And the little bobbin of tea dyed yarn dried nicely and held the twist. I was wondering if it would undo itself as it dried but no.

I'm happy with this batch. Now to cut and cut and cut to get strips to spin. But I think I might just warp up and try weaving the yarn I made. I'd like to see how far one filter goes.

I'll also experiment with making pages for the Little Books from some of the filters. I'll iron them to get out the crinkles. One of the few times the iron is used around here.

Winding and dyeing and dreaming of weaving

So I have maybe a yard of thread on the floss bobbin, of which I found I had a bunch, thanks to the downsizing.

 During its course, I not only found, but relocated, a lot of things where I can now find them with no irritated fumbling and tossing and fussing.

 To wit: the floss bobbins, exactly what I need to wind the paper yarn on, the silk dyes, which I needed instantly just now, and containers for the dyes. To name but a few.

Anyway, since it looks like I can do this thread, dyeing is up now. I took out the iris, pale green, in fact the residue from making iris paper, from the freezer, and the mix of turmeric, yellow onionskin and black walnut, too. Added in a lovely red/pink silk dye and a blue mix. The latter two are from silk dyeing days, prep for teaching freeform embroidery on silk.

I just dropped filters into containers to take up the color, then drained the excess dye all into one container and dropped more filters in there.

Here the color is spreading through the filters.

Then I needed a break, pot of tea, few cashews. And noticed the floss bobbin of blinding white thread just lying there. Clean thread, clean bobbin, the work of a moment to slip it onto a spoon and dip it into the teapot.

Seen here on a lovely homespun napkin, from a friend, don't know the weaver, or I'd credit them. Nice tint.

All in all a productive time was had by all. The containers are now in a warm place on top of the fridge to dry out. Stop me before I dye again.

This kind of art reminds you that the processing of your raw materials is part of making the art.

 The decision on how fine to make the thread, what colors to use, what to mix to get subtlety, how weaving miniature work needs the color miniaturized too.

 It's all artmaking, rather than just getting ready to make art. As warping the loom is the first part of the work, not just a process you have to get through in order to work. Or making the ink with the stick on the stone before you do Chinese brush painting. It's calming, meditative, vital.

About miniaturizing color: long ago I was a miniature needlework designer and maker, sold finished work to serious collectors, kits to keen makers.

 In the course of designing I realized that if you want to convey, say , black, as a rug background, if you use an actual black it looks toylike, not like a rug that you need comparison to realize it's not full-size. Red likewise. And so on. If the original full-size item was a solid color, the miniature version needed to be muted a bit to convey the illusion.

You can do this by mixing close shades in the needle if you're working with a plied floss, or by going into a finished work and seeding a lighter shade here and there.

This is where the craft, faithful perfect rendering in small scale, meets the art, deciding how to adjust that, so the eye sees it as a faithful rendition.  What Picasso called the lie that tells the truth.

Tomorrow I'll warp up ready for more weaving. You'll notice I'm not in a mad rush to do the finishing of the first group. Not a fan of finishing. It's like framing, you don't have to like it, you just have to do it.

First paper thread!

I learned a lot this morning from making this wonderful new thread.

I damped it and as I worked damped my thumbs and first fingers. Although you see it on my smallest spindle, I quickly realized the spindle would put too much stress on the fiber. So I spun with both thumbs and first fingers, spinning with the right hand, feeding the paper with the left.

And you see one coffee filter turned into a lovely yarn. It looks as if it stays spun, without having to set the twist, a nice bonus.

I found that as I filled the spindle, my hands were stressed. I needed the shaft resting on my hand. So next I think I'll spin onto a thin dowel.

Now I know I can do the spinning, I'll go ahead and dye some filters ready to work with.

This is great! Books coming up. And now I'm wondering about creating pages from coffee filters..

Paper spinning prep under way

I'm going to experiment again with spinning paper for my Little Books. Warp with cotton, paper weft. This time I'm using coffee filters, strong, can tolerate damp and dyeing.

I'm learning this from the blessed Sarah Swett, whose blog, A Field Guide to Needlework I hugely recommend. She's a great weaver, spinner, artist, and person.

Anyway this is my first shot at making a long continuous strip from a coffee filter, following her instructions. It came out in a couple of strips owing to a couple of slips, but that's not a big problem.

Next I plan to dye, then spin. I have dyes in the freezer which I can use. Just need to choose colors.

If this looks like working I'll get more into it. So far as I know, the cutting worked okay. I need to try spinning next. Previous attempts at spinning  paper haven't met with great success, but that wasn't coffee filter paper, so hope springs eternal.

The reason I think this will work better is that paper spins best damp, and this paper, unlike the other ones I tried, doesn't lose tensile strength when damp.

However it's been a long day and I think I'll do it tomorrow.

Tonight I'll finish the big sweater frame, do the day's dishes, and it'll be about 9 on, so I'll take the rest of the day off.

Loom now freed up

I released the four weavings and steam pressed them. They need to rest before I do the finishing.

Meanwhile I can warp up again and use the cotton warping thread for weft as well.

I find I like the smaller book size better, so I think I'll go with that for a bit. I plan on some different techniques with the cotton weft.  I put my hand in the pix for proportional information, posh way to say how big,or small, the weavings are.

Right now I need to wait, tired, vision blurry. Eye doctor today, nothing ominous, nothing progressing, except I need new rx, different for each eye. He can get me to 20/30 with luck.  I'm recycling the frames, just too expensive to buy new. As it is, the lenses are north of $700. That's aside from the Medicare covered exam and testing.

He also wants me to wear safety goggles while I spin and weave because the microscopic fibers irritate my eyes. I guess I'll try it, but I'm liable to get irritated over wearing them. We'll see. I have them somewhere, but I used them mainly for drilling.  I  may have to get new ones.

All in all, I'm blessed. And eager to get on with the weaving.

Book cover two

The loom now has two Little Book covers on each side. I will need to take them off, steam, press and rest them before I get to the next adventure.

Latest book cover, clasped weft, leno

This one's smaller, as I realized it needed to be. So it's 2"x3". Still a nice ratio, and works better for some reason.

The gold insertion I did as a clasped weft, and ran into instant problems. The gold has no give, and it shrinks back from the edges, pulling them in. I had to remove and replace several times to get it fairly acceptable. And clasped weft pulls in anyway, so this was a bit of an extra challenge. I think it came out okay. I'll see how I like it once it's off the loom.

Clasped weft is a lovely technique where you use one weft thread to draw another behind it until it gets to the point you want. You can create great free designs as you go.

It was a bit over optimistic to try to do it with a combo of handspun wool and gold embroidery thread, though. Note to self. Better not mix materials for this process.

But when I get to the cotton warp thread weaving, soon, with the same fiber for the weft, it should work better. Also then I plan to learn and deploy leno, a nice lacy effect, which I studied in that great weaving book I reviewed recently.

Cotton has more definition than homespun wool, so it's better for fancy footwork. But spinning your own weaving yarn is great, and there's something to be said for the lovely softness and liveliness of the weaving.

I'm leaning more and more to making paper to size for the Little Books, rather than adapting what I have. Probably abaca/cotton linters rather than my own foliage. I just need to create a new small mold and deckle. Or maybe just a simple piece of screening.

Always looking far ahead and having to haul myself back to the present.

The Little Book Project continues

Tonight's spinning for tomorrow's weaving

 Today's output, and the process

The red ended up out of this pair. Good for tomorrow, probably

 One side of the cardboard loom, annnddd

 I carried the warp over the top, down the back and now have warps for four pieces, two pieces per side. A cool advantage of a simple, some would say primitive, loom.

Yesterday's output off the loom, steamed, and resting. This is where I remembered I can use both sides of the loom. Aka rush of brains to the head.

I also realized I can avoid a lot of ends to work in at the finishing process by spit splicing as I go, this being wool yarn after all.

A good day of remembering, realizing and doing, all in all.  My arm's tired from all the back-patting.

Miniature book covers, day one

A good studio day.

I found that the hokett loom on which I planned to work still had work on it. So I looked around for another small loom.   Since the books will be 4"x2.5", and I will need to accommodate two of them on a single warp, I realized that my bead loom will do fine.

It's a sturdy piece of matboard on which I've done a lot of beadweaving. Already marked off in inches, width fine for my purpose.

Then I foozled around a bit deciding on a warp thread. Ended up with a cotton one, which I dyed a while back probably with diluted black walnut. The idea is to make it less glaring white so it vanishes better under the weft.

Then I happily got into it. This small lightweight loom is easy on your hands, very maneuverable, and will bend slightly if you need to slide a finger behind the work to secure an end. It's as simple as can be.

So I just picked any newly spun yarn and started needleweaving.

 Just used a big blunt yarn needle.

Here you have two covers which will go to different books. The plan is for a series. So I'll weave a few, varying the colors and designs and later see which ones are happy together. I'm already mixing colors as I spin, so part of the design is accounted for.

 I'll separate them by cutting the warp threads between them, then weaving back the ends into the weft. Then do top and bottom similarly.  Then steam and rest them. Then warp up for the next two.

At that point,I when I've got the collection done, I'll decide if I need to make a new post (batch) of paper to size, or if I can use some of my current stock, torn to size. No need to know that yet.

As I expect you know, you don't cut handmade paper. You can wet a line then tear on it where the fibers are weaker. Or use a straightedge to secure then tear.

And later I'll decide what sort of stitching I'll do to bind the books.

Happy spinner/weaver/stitcher/bookie.