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a note from my younger self

4/27/2020

Dear Sarah,
I just have to ask--
why are you sometimes so rude to me?

"Why oh WHY did you do that thing
back when you were eighteen???"
you moan.
"It would have been so much better if..."

If what?
That's what I want to know.

I mean --
I'm the one who had the gumption
to learn how to spin
AS you might recall.

And also weave.

You know it's true!

Out The Window; hand woven tapestry; 9" x 9"; wool, natural dyes ©Sarah C. Swett 2008

Ok, so maybe I took a few chances--

Don't Look Back; hand woven tapestry; 9" x 9"; wool, natural dyes ©Sarah C. Swett 2008

--didn't always think things through.

Indigo Bath; hand woven tapestry; 28" x 48"; hand spun wool warp and weft; indigo; ©Sarah C. Swett 2003

It's not like a gal could --or would--plan
to find herself naked and blue
with nothing but a few strands of warp
to hold her up.

Sunlight On The Floor; hand woven tapestry; 36" x 24"; hand spun wool warp and weft; natural dyes; ©Sarah C. Swett 2002

But what could I do?
It was all so interesting.
And I was curious.

Blue Day; hand woven tapestry; 48" x 36" wool, natural dye; ©Sarah C. Swett 2007

I never expected
the hard parts.
I mean really -- who does?

Two Recipes for Coffee Cake; hand woven tapestry; 48" x 24"; wool, natural dye ©Sarah C. Swett 2007

And we sure ate well.

Anyway, you've got to admit
it HAS been really really interesting.

I mean,
what could better --

Diana's Fire; hand woven tapestry; 9" x 9"; wool, natural dyes ©Sarah C. Swett 2008

than to find yourself
a white-haired woman

Jane's Picnic III: Toast Marshmallows; hand woven tapestry (detail); 48" x 40"; hand spun wool warp and weft; natural dyes; ©Sarah C. Swett 2000

who gets to play
with fire and light?

If you think about it,
all I really did
was pick up that strand of yarn--

Casting Off: A Comic in Seven Tapestries -Pages 2-3; 10" x 10" x 2"; wool, natural dye, cotton/ hemp, thread ©Sarah C. Swett 2009

Casting Off: A Comic in Seven Tapestries -Pages 3-4; 10" x 10" x 2"; wool, natural dye, cotton/ hemp, thread ©Sarah C. Swett 2009

and follow it--

Walking The Walk 13" x 10" x 6" Hand Woven Tapestry Hand Stitching, wool, steel wire, stone natural dye

into the night

The Last Few Pages; hand woven tapestry; 18" x 24"; hand spun wool warp and weft; natural dyes; ©Sarah C. Swett 2003

until one tiny house--

The Plum Shed; hand woven tapestry; 9" x 9"; wool, natural dyes ©Sarah C. Swett 2008

led to another--

Tiny House Book 2.5" x 2.25" x 1.0" Handwoven Tapestry Spun paper (washi) Coptic Binding (linen) Paper (Handmade by Velma Bolyard (flax, milkweed, cotton; natural pigments)

and yet another--

Blue Moon; Hand Woven Tapestry (four selvedge); Hand spun wool warp and weft; natural dye; 2.5" x 2.5"

and eventually
I turned into you.

So no more whining OK?
We have stuff to do.

love,
Sarah

ps
and don't forget
that I started working in the weft ends too
so that all of the tapestries in this post
(plus the bazillion others in the archive)
could be woven that way --
AND so that you could write
TUCKING THE TAILS.

I mean, it's not like the technique is limited
to the monochromatic/geometric stuff
you're doing now.
Right?

So come on --
let's mess around some more.
It's still so interesting.

a book of color and light

4/21/2020

Book of Light and Color; hand woven tapestry; hand spun paper: coffee filters and variable annuity quarterly report pages, linen; 2" x 1 1/2" x 3/4" (closed) ©Sarah C Swett 2020

Though I'm super excited to show you
this tiny accordion book,
it was not what I intended
to write about this morning.

What I hoped/planned to do
was release the other
(less colorful) little book
I've been working on:

This second is not actually a book at all,
but rather a PDF guide--
though both (if you print the PDF),
are made of paper---
and this last week has seen me
bouncing between them
to see which would be done first:
one moment glued to the computer
moving my drawings half and inch this way or that,
the next, comfortably tucked into my backstrap
putting color next to color next to color
in breathless anticipation
of what it would turn (or fold) into,
then off to the iPad to draw something else
that would perfectly explain just one more thing.

I guess the accordion book won the race--
if race it was--
perhaps because my tapestries
are pretty much done when they come off the loom
while projects that rely on drawing and writing
can be shifted, adjusted,
ignored, changed and revised
seemingly
f o r e v e r...

Tucking the Tails actually is very close to being done.
Indeed after months of puttering along,
I really thought we (the zine and I), were ready.
Except, this very morning,
I had a new idea about the layout
and of course I had to try.

And that trying
led to more experiments/ideas
and there went the time
I was going to use to set up
all the behind the scenes stuff
to make it sellable in the web store.
But hopefully, later this week?
Maybe?

Despite seemingly competing for my time,
the two projects
actually do relate to each other
in an elemental way.

Tucking The Tails, if you can't tell from the title,
is a collection of the techniques I use
to work in the weft ends
as I weave my tapestries--
tucking them in as I build shapes, that is,
in contrast to 'needling' them in
after the tapestry is off the loom,
or, as I was taught to do,
leaving them to hang off the back of the work
to dangle... forever.

Making my tapestries this way,
so that they are in effect two-sided,
is what makes possible such structures
as this little book I just finished,
the tri-fold tapestry behind it: Nowhere to Hide ,
and, indeed, pretty much everything I've woven since 1994,
(whether or not you could actually tell).

One of the best things about all of them,
at least for me,
is that that when they come off the loom
a good deal of the finish work
is already done--
and finish work is not my favorite.
(The other fantastic technique in the minimal-finish work realm
is Fringeless, four selvedge warping
but I've talked about that a lot elsewhere).

It has definitely been the driving force
behind the mobiles, books, book covers
and other off-the-wall works
I've made since.

You can see more of this stuff in the Archive --
since I just realized that I wrote the post linked above
in 2016 -- and I've had a few new ideas since then.

And speaking of new ideas,
putting together this post
has just illuminated another REALLY fun aspect
to the two-sided, three-dimensional work:
taking PHOTOGRAPHS of it!

Photography, formerly a chore
(and often a very expensive chore at that
for the high quality photographs I needed),
has become an almost irresistible pleasure.
Not only do the tapestries get to play with the light,
but I get to play with both of them together.

And surprising pleasures
are things to be treasured,
are they not?
I hope you have time to notice a few
no matter what whacky (or terribly serious)
things you are doing--
wherever you are--
just now.

ps. I hope to get Tucking The Tails into the store
before next Tuesday, and if so, will probably send out
an auxiliary newsletter so if you are already on my mailing list
you'll know about it. Otherwise, you can sign up with the form
on the top right (or the very bottom if you're on a phone),
or just check in to the webstore toward the end of the week
and hopefully it'll be there.
Happily, being a PDF, there will be no shortage
so no need to worry or hurry.
XOXO

the view from here

4/14/2020

It has been a full week around here.
Not that I went anywhere (who did?),

but two fresh fleeces arrived from Montana,
and fleece washing time
is usually packed
(especially when scouring delicious fine,
seriously greasy, Cormo and Targhee/Debouillet),

Happily, the results
are always worth the effort.

Clean soft fleece + a pair of perfect spindles
definitely equals contentment--
both for present and future me.

As it happens, however,
though I'll be drum carding for days
and happily spindle spinning
for months and years,
present contentment sometimes lasts
only as long as the time
between the completion of one satisfying task
and the moment of being
struck/taken over/flattened
by a brand new and un-ignorable idea.

Ok, yes, I know --
the coracle/mask I wrote about last week
was also an un-ignorable idea.
It, however (the pulled warp coracle),
did not grow to be a source
of long-lasting satisfaction,
while I think this project will.

What's the difference?
You might well ask
since it is so hard to tell in the moment.
With the brilliance of hindsight, however,
I'm pretty sure that I started the coracle/mask
as an attempt to relieve
the persistent, pervasive, fearful angst
of this moment in time,
(no need to explain further, methinks),

while carving a funky 8-dent rigid heddle
from a scrap of wood I found in the basement,
was pure, self-indulgent joy,
and joy, a rare and delightful thing,
is perhaps a more useful a source of angst relief
than all the reluctant mask-making in the world,
if only because it wells up from inside
rather than falling on one
like a mildewed, news-laden blanket.

At any rate,
hyperbole aside,
one way or another
making the rigid heddle
led me to a forward thinking,
elementally satisfying place,
where in fact,
I already rather badly wanted to be:

that is:
cross-legged on the floor,
weaving paper and linen
on a backstrap loom.

Not that I had a vision
of exactly that thing.
I've just been missing the feeling
of working on my backstrap loom,
and vaguely dreaming about
the kinds of things I might make on it--
while still cutting and spinning paper
with persistent pleasure--
and these two things
seemed mutually exclusive.

Mutually exclusive, that is
until I saw the tiny rigid heddles
that Kirsten Neumüller has been carving
from a fallen juniper in her back yard,
and was immediately smitten.

Now, I did try to set aside
my instant longing to make one myself
( "it's just an idea storm-wait it out").
But happily it was un-set-aside-able.

Indeed, in the three days since I saw hers
the thing shaping up to be a source
of idea-consolidating calm--
an unexpected doorway
to both immediate and long term pleasure--
like fleece and spindles
with the added benefit
of getting to make a half-assed
yet fully functional new textile tool.

And I am a total sucker for such things
as you may have noticed.

(If you're unfamiliar with Kirsten Neumüller's work, her beautiful, useful and charming book Mend and Patch: a Handbook on Repairing Textiles has just been translated into English, and though I haven't yet read her earlier book on Indigo, I can only imagine it is as good).

So that was my week
and this is where you find me today:
right back doing the things I have been doing,
with a slightly different perspective,
a cool new tool that keeps me planted in place
(except when I need to mow and dig in the garden)
and much less angst,
for which I am most grateful.

How's your week been?

Coracle for a Weaving Warrior

4/7/2020

So I had an idea a few days ago --

--one of those un-ignorable
"must try this RIGHT NOW"
kind of ideas.

Can you guess what I was after?

It was not,
I have to say,
the coracle it apparently turned out to be.

No, I was going for something
a touch more practical--
something apropos to the world
in which we now live.
Cuz everyone needs a face mask, eh?

Clearly, the idea didn't work.
At least as an object.
As a concept though....
maybe.

Pulled warp is something
I messed around with back in about 2003
when I was developing projects
for my book Kids Weaving.
The book includes several projects
for weaving on cardboard looms
including the Rag Doll Warrior you see here,
and I thought pulled warp would be
interesting and unexpected
(the turtle was adorable),
Unfortunately, it involved adding
another warping method,
so fell by the wayside.

What joy, then,
to suddenly remember
the existence of that long ago sketch
while chatting (via Zoom, as usual),
about the making of face masks
with some dear friends.
Would the idea be workable?

Not that I expected it to actually function,
or be a substitute for the 'real thing'
(whatever that is;
opinions, you've probably noticed,
vary widely--if perhaps not this widely).

Certainly choosing to weave my prototype
with used coffee filter yarn--
probably not the most
virus-proof material out there
even if spun from a material
with the word 'filter' in its name
and designed to have boiling water
poured through it --
did not earmark it
to have a life in the real world

But I am a weaver,
and pulled warp is a thing,
(check out Susan Iverson and Sue Weil ),
and I had a a PVC loom put together,
so why not try?

Wanting it to be a dense fabric
(viruses etc -- even if I wasn't planning to actually use it),
I wove it on the PVC loom because
I could work at 8 epi vs. the 4 of a cardboard loom.
Otherwise, cutting out the template
and using the cut out bits as spacers
was the same as in the original.

It also tickled my fancy
to use the PVC loom
since I'd developed it
specifically for Kids Weaving--
(cuz really a subversive Adult book)

The loom, as I've said before,
is based on Archie Brennan's Copper Pipe design,
and skips all the hard parts,
like cutting (and mining) copper,
drilling, braising, and using threaded rod.
It is also totally functional for tapestry.
And did I say cheap?

Anyway, the weaving went quite fast
since I just made stripes.
It seemed counterproductive to put slits into the fabric,
though it has occurred to me since
that a series of little slits all around the edge
would make it easy to thread a ribbon
for head attachment.

I made the mistake of using
rather wimpy cotton yarn for warp
so had/have to be super careful
pulling it into shape
and can't do the kind of fine tuning
that might actually make the thing
a little more useful.
Seine Twine would be MUCH better
Because...nose shaping, anyone?

I also made it too tall for my face
though the width (aprox 9"), is about right.
Right, that is,
if one were going to make one for real--
perhaps with a lining for security
and indigo dyed yarn
for the extra bit of magic
and some clever way to attatch it--
none of which
I'm actually going to do.

No, what I'm going to do,
when I have to leave my house
(which I hope is almost never),
is continue to wear one of the
elegant pleated cloth masks
sewn by my dear friend Nicole,

let this lovely creature
use my experiment for her boat
(because a gal really does need a coracle),

then return my attention
to the ever increasing light
in the Northern Hemisphere,
and the making of
the perfectly useless
and entrancing
objects.

I do have a sneaking hope
that someone will take the pulled warp face mask idea,
do something really wonderful with it,
so if you do, please let us all know!

Otherwise,
if you want to make something else,
since this seems to be a project-based post
and because Kids Weaving is now out of print
(link is to ABE books where you can find used copies
since I don't make a penny from sales anyway--
never did, truth to tell),
I'm going to attach some pics
of the Rag Doll Warrior project
just in case you need them,
and end this super long post
and ridiculously long sentence.

Be well,
stay home if you can,
be careful if you can't,
smile as often as possible,
cuz it helps.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

a note from my younger self

a book of color and light

the view from here

Coracle for a Weaving Warrior

Sarah C Swett
tells stories
with
and about
hand spun yarn.

Categories

Archives

a note from my younger self

a book of color and light

the view from here

Coracle for a Weaving Warrior

​Sarah C Swett tells storieswith​ and about hand spun yarn.

Categories

Archives

Sarah C Swett
tells stories
with
and about
hand spun yarn.