weaving

Textiles

I love weaving. If I had all the time and all the space in the world. I would have a loom. I actually learned to weave years ago when I was in college, before I even knew what letterpress was.

:: Gunta Stolzl ::

A couple years ago, I got to take a weaving class again at Penland, and made this graph paper scarf out of linen.

:: me! ::

I think there's a lot of similarities in process and final appearance between hand-weaving and letterpress.

Both are labor intensive to set up, the hours of feeding each thread through the heddles and reed or the hours of setting type and spacing material, but quick to execute. Both are set up traditionally to work on a x and y axis, making design very linear and geometrical.

This is a constraint I actually really enjoy.

:: Impossible Objects by Huldra Press ::

And I just discovered the needlework of At Swim-Two-Birds. Love.

:: At Swim-Two-Birds ::
Maybe weaving will be my retirement.

blue beautiful blue


My color of the moment seems to be blue. Grey blues, indigo blues, navy blues. For my last class of the summer, I took a weaving class with Janet Taylor, a textile artist and weaver. She makes beautiful work, and I must say, is one the sweetest, most generous teachers I've ever had. It was such a perfect way to end the summer...

In that class, I wove a scarf to look like graph paper. What originally inspired this project was a Shaker kerchief I saw in a book that was a simple grid pattern woven out of fine linen.

graph paper scarf :: handwoven linen and cotton

I did some weaving in college and enjoyed it, but never felt I made anything with a personal look to it. As simple as it is, I feel like this scarf does just that. I hope to spend more time in the weaving studio this winter.

Around the same time as I was making the scarf, my friend Erika also asked me if I would make a book using graph paper and goats. I think this is the most fun commission I've ever been asked to do. So good! I'm working on it right now and I'll give you a sneak peek in process.

in progress case bound book

And lastly, I saw this incredible mushroom while walking home yesterday, and I identified it. Done and done.

an indigo milky mushroom