Ending my blog

I've decided to call it a day for Material Girl.

I've completed A Creative Approach (the course I set the blog up for) and I want to give myself a chance to make a better presentation.  This blog was set  up  in such a rush and I've never really fully explored it's possibilities.

I'm starting Exploring Ideas shortly and I plan to start a completely new blog for it.

http://exploringib.blogspot.co.uk/

If you've dropped in to Material Girl I think it will be more of the same really.

Thanks for looking.

Wire weaving with Helen Meakin

I've looked forward to this workshop ever since I saw Helen's work at the Dome in Buxton earlier in the summer and I wasn't disappointed.

Helen weaves in wire and yarns and uses beads and sequins as embellishments.

https://www.google.co.uk/#fp=238ebefbc6aa347e&q=helen+meakin+textile+artist

A friend and I shared a day long workshop and in the morning we both had a look at what a dobby loom is all about (I understood just a little) and made a sample using our chosen color scheme.  I chose blues, lilacs, dark grey and cream yarns of various textures.  I used a pale pink pearl bead along with a clear larger bead and a pale blue ribbon. All this went onto a .02 mm brown wire warp.  There were many, many more warp threads than I'm used to. The loom was set up to work in a six row cycle - one open weave and one much closer that gave a satin finish.  This can be seen clearly on the cream boucle yarn. The lower rows are open and the top much closer together.

My sample

I decided that I needed some pizzaz in there so my final piece included a deep plum ribbon

After a good lunch at the Wharf Cafe we each took about an hour to make our weaving.  It grew quickly but only because I welcomed help every step of the way.

My finished piece is 20 x 45 cm 

Showing the variety of yarns and the way the beads separate the warp and add extra texture

The inclusion of the dark red makes such a difference

I can't see a way that I could use wire warp with my Kromski harp loom but I could use a wire weft and see what happens.

I had a lovely day and I think I produced something really worth framing.  Thanks Helen.

More weaving

I worked this in cotton and silk.  The cotton was a selection of  Wendy Supreme 100% luxury cotton DK and the silk was a lovely variegated yarn in roughly the same colours.  I chose to do a plain weave so I got lots of tension practise.

I warped up using multi colours and for the weft used my yarns doubled (two colours).

I inserted some merino tops for a bit of variety.

The finished piece measures  87cm x 29cm and will make a lovely table runner.

This is anything but boring because of the array of colours.  Variety was achieved  with the multicoloured warp and the decision to use two colours of thread for the weft.

The space between courses

My loom

Sending off my final piece of work felt like a real milestone but it left a gap that being the person I am I have had to fill.  And I've missed writing in my blog; it's become something of a habit. Yes, I know I have to prepare for assessment but I have become the proud owner of a 24" Kromski Harp loom so I have been having a play. Whilst it's not exactly course connected I think it's worth recording. 

My 29cm x 67cm sample

Considering the problems I had with tension on my tapestry work I'm quite pleased that the width of this is much the same throughout.

I warped up with some 4 ply wool and found it very stretchy and I had to keep tightening the warp threads or the heddle fell down constantly.  I have used several types of yarn in the weft; more four ply wool, some chunky synthetic yarn (some variegated) and a small amount of cotton.  As with my tapestry I found the weft showed best with the chunky yarns.  I have the Ashford Book of Heddle Loom Weaving (Hart, 2002) and I have used this as a guide.  As ever, I'm impatient to get a good result so I wasn't happy with my first rows.

Difficulty with turning - it got better

Various yarns and patterns

"Bronson" as described in my book

All in all I pleased with what I have made.  However, I'm itching to use a few more adventurous yarns and see what happens.  Running before I can walk again.

Warping up the second time was easier

My husband fashioned a lovely oak stand and this has made life easier because I am more comfortably positioned.

Masson Mill

I spent a lovely day in the White Peak.  The aim was to show Richard Masson Mill which I visited a few weeks ago.  He brought his engineer perspective to the Museum and was as fascinated as I knew he would be.  For me it was a chance to take more photos which have generated some ideas.

I liked the colour and texture contrasts here

Spools

We also had a walk.  We parked in Winster and took in farmland, moor, woods and almost anything else you can think of.  Again I was looking for opportunities for photos with possibilities.

Debris at the quarry

Cat Rock.  I love the carved initials.

If I imagined that the end of my course was going to provide a holiday I need to re-evaluate.  The looking and thinking I've been encouraged to do over the past year has got into my bones and its influence pervades throughout my life.  I'm reminded of my therapy training - you can't "un know".

Hart, R. (2002) The Ashford Book of Rigid Heddel Weaving.  Ashford Handicrafts Ltd.  New Zealand.