Holiday Greetings and 2017 in Review

Well I had the best of intentions to send holiday greetings to all my friends, followers and email recipients but we spent several days in Auckland and though I'd loaded pictures before leaving home the reception was so slow I gave up.  Hope you all had a great celebration.

The last 4 days before departing home were spent birthing creating "Flower".  This is an old Simplicity pattern that I had when my daughter was little so not new.  I'm still amazed that I had all the bits bar stuffing to make her, even the hat wire for the wings and the bells for the shoes.  The only change I made was to attach the wings by domes so she can hang them up when she goes to bed.

And so to the year 2017 in review.  January started with some spinning, unusual for me.  I plied this with a 60/2 bottle green mercerised cotton but it still hasn't told me what it wants to be.

February was mostly spent on a commission for a wall hanging "Wave".

All up I wove 32 blankets this year.  First up Kereru.

In March I got back on the dobby loom and wove this gorgeous cotton wrap titled "Spoon Drift" which is the description of the bubbles left when a wave breaks.

"Kakabeak" came off the same warp

and then "Kowhai" which I'm proud to say won the Complex Weavers' Award at Creative Fibre Festival.  This time I used changes in the tie up to change the amount of weft showing on one face of the wrap blending from navy to yellow in a 4 colour double weave.

Also this month I put my dress maker hat on and sewed "Dragon's Breath" from fabric handwoven the previous year.  This was shown in the Fashion Parade at the same Festival.  Later in the year (September) the same outfit was entered in the Bay of Plenty Area Exhibition and I'm very proud to have received Best in Show award.

Throughout the year my Nitschke 8 shaft loom is constantly producing blankets, this time Moerangi - Sleepy Skies.

In May we had a wonderful time on holiday to Melbourne, Australia and areas around.

June was time to work on a series of scarves for Pauanesia reflecting New Zealand native birds.  In this pile from the top Kokako, Tui, Kakapo, Kiwi.  Also did Kotuku. Black Robin, Pukeko.

In July, while taking a break from blankets, I had a play with deflected double weave.  Would like to have time to go back to play with this structure more.

Also used some stash velour and wove a tabby scarf, first time successfully using this fibre.

In August I had a play with shibori scarves

and Paua blankets.

As I mentioned above September was exhibition time and I thought this 4 colour double weave runner a worthy candidate and was delighted to receive the Barbara Wilson Trophy for best woven article.

I called this piece Ravenna as I had just threaded the loom and Peter called me to his computer and said what do you think shall we visit - it was mosaic tiles in a building in Ravenna and reminded me so much of what was on the loom.  (Many hours of planning but trip booked for later this year.)

Also finished this commission for daughter in law and grand daughter just as the weather warmed up.

October was blanket month, this one Kaimai

and Kotare.

November I tied more warps on to the Ravenna one and worked on runners and placemats.

We finish the year with Pohutukawa blankets

and luxurious possum, merino, silk and cashmere loop scarves.

And so the year ended with what seemed like three Christmas events and my son's 40th birthday (how did that sneak up on me) in the middle of them and now my two delightful grand children are staying for 5 nights.  I'm typing this while I listen to them going to sleep.  This will be the second night and I'm exhausted already.  Doesn't happen often so I better get my own shuteye so I can keep up tomorrow.

Wishing everyone wonderful adventures in 2018.

Table mats

Looking for some advice please.  You may remember a couple of posts ago I was working on these place mats.  They are finished but I haven't been able to get a "beauty" shot of them.

As there are still several metres of orange and white warp on the loom I thought I'd try another style but they aren't singing to me.  What do you think?  Too busy for a table setting?  The ends are just folded under and all the threads sticking out from the under side are trials of colour, thickness and pattern.

 

 Reverse side showing more orange.  I'm not an orange fan so maybe that is influencing my thoughts.

 My second query is, how would you present place mats to a shop or gallery for display/sale purposes?  Pinned in a stack, boxed, rolled with paper band around.  As a customer I'd want to be able to feel them and see at least one flat on a surface.

Any thoughts on these subjects?

Mosaics of Ravenna

A while back Peter called me to his computer and asked what do you think of this, want to go visit.  It was a whole page of pictures of Ravenna, a city in Northern Italy and steeped in history and art.  You bet I want to visit.

At the same time I was gob-smacked.  It was just what was on my computer screen (sort of) in Fiberworks (for the uninitiated  fiberworks is weaving software) and I was threading the loom with a navy and turquoise cotton warp sett at 40 epi.  The pattern is a 4 colour double weave with blue and an apricot in the weft.  Treadled as the warp threading with weft threads pretty much the same thickness as the warp to square the pattern.  I thought I was pretty clever with that allowing for shrinkage at different rates in warp and weft.  Don't fall off your chairs, for once I did sample.

I'm really smitten with this pattern, there is so much going on.  Are they square tiles or diamond shaped?  The patterns within the tiles are fun and where the diamond tiles meet there is another circle event happening.  The straight draw border brings it all together.

And here is the reverse side with a whole lot of more fun.

The ghastly labels are not mine but this has been entered in the Bay of Plenty Area Exhibition and one must follow the rules.  Selection was last weekend so think I'm safe publishing this.

Its a bit odd photographing a table runner on the deck but someone was filling ink cartridges for a photographic printer and had an ooopsy!  Our table is not the best now.

The second runner on the same warp with the same weft colours is designed using an altered tie up similar to what Marian Stubenitsky shows in her wonderful book "Weaving with Echo and Iris".  Its still four colour double weave but I've altered one half of the tie up.

Have now tied another warp on, this time orange and white.  I just love it when the knots all line up nicely.

These are still on the loom and again, lots of little pattern areas to make me excited.  Again woven with an altered tie up on 16 shafts in 5 end advancing twill.  This time the weft threads are slightly thinner than the warp giving the warp more emphasis.

Love these echoing hearts.

Can't wait to get these mats off the loom.

Secret sewing

There has been some secret creating going on.  Later this month work has to be ready for two exhibitions and a fashion parade (its not called that now, its a runway event or something like that).

Anyway I got out the plastic fantastic and have been sewing for the "runway".

I decided if us weavers don't make an effort and enter garments we will be swamped out of the consciousness of the organisers by the multitude of felted and knitted garments.  And the consequence will be no weaving tutors.  So I'm putting my money where my mouth is and (at least) trying.

It was pretty nerve wracking cutting into the fabric I can tell you.

More on this garment later.

Ann's kitchen towels

This post is really a record for me.  The photos are awful but if you look at the light stripe on the outer edges you will see the treadling line followed.  Threaded in 6 shaft echo, 28 tpi, 2 threads of 20/2 cotton together, charcoal and rust alternating.

My brief was the colours in these bracelets.

 Below, echo weave, pohutukawa green weft. 2:1 twill

 Below, turned taquete, apricot weft, two shuttles one with single thread the other with double thread.  The pattern is not very distinct.

 Below, 4 colour double weave with white and green in weft.

Below, 4 colour double weave, apricot and green in weft 

 Below, apricot weft, echo.

 Below, echo, white weft, treadling line same as threading

 Below, echo with 2:1 twill (which I just read is called jeans twill)

 Below, echo with pale green cotton/linen weft

 I think this last is echo again with a cream weft. 

 I seem to have missed photographing one which I'm sure was 4 colour double weave.
 Out of 9 towels there are just 2 left, 5 will go to the States and 2 are off to France.