Blog Archives

Noticing

5/29/2018

Not sure why sitting on the floor
using my ever available 'knee swift' to wind a skein
is so comfy and satisfying.
But I guess I don't need to understand.
I can simply do it.

I do, however, know that these 'bones'
(bobbins for Aubusson low warp tapestry weaving
which have been sitting unused for decades),
make fabulous holders for hand spun linen warp.

I also noticed yesterday (for the bazillionth time)
how much I love building little pipe looms,
even ones I've built dozens of times before,
and how pieces of cardboard
from the backs of sketchpads
make excellent
(if not the most photogenic),
work surfaces.

Weaving little tapestries is a good thing for me to do right now--

not only because they are endless compelling,
filled with questions and answers
and ever ready for some experiment or other
(here I've used some flour paste sizing to tame my less than smooth hand spun linen),
note: size = flour and water mixed to the consistency of cream and applied with my fingers

but also because they keep me in one spot
for large chunks of time
which means the old dog
can keep track of me
without moving too much.
And moving can be hard
when you are 117 years old (17 1/2 +).

House of Sky; hand woven tapestry; spindle spun linen and wool; natural dye. 2 1/2" x 2 1/2"

Anyway, for these reasons and more
tapestry weaving pleases us both.
So I guess I'll try another.
Today -- back to wool warp
(only 1 1/2" square four selvedge)
But what weft?

Now that I've begun to mix wool and linen in the same work
and have noticed that despite my apprehension
I quite like it,
there are ever more things to try.
Which pleases both me and the old dog.
Guess I'll have to stop typing,
sit back down on the floor,
wind a bobbin,
and keep exploring.

Tiny Houses Tapestries; Hand Woven, Four Selvedge Tapestries by . Sarah C. Swett; Photo by Rebecca Mezoff

ps. Work on the Four Selvedge Class continues.
You can find out the latest here: Fringeless

pps. The photos and videos that Rebecca took for this class are amazing.
They sure make me notice and appreciate
the difference between my ipad pics
and those from a serious camera.
Golly.
I think I'll go make some pictures with yarn.

The Fine and the Makeshift

5/22/2018

What's not to love
about a mahogany Hepty
or a handmade mast
awaiting its boat's new deck ?

How not to salivate
over spring greens
flourishing in buckets of compost?

Yet another flax distaff

whipped together before the red osier dogwood got its leaves.

works just fine--
as long as I spin with the proper tool.

And experimental linen yarn

doesn't seem to mind
the precise sett and high tension
of a plastic loom.

What's not to love
about coming to know
when precision matters,

and when the half-assed
is simply
perfect.

Onto the Floor

5/15/2018

Standing desks are apparently quite the rage these days,
so I,
as a contrary sort of gal
have moved my operation (and my butt) to the ground.

It wasn't a carefully thought up plan,
but rather a happy accident
that resulted from a sudden urge
to clear out the seemingly endless binders
of expensive and carefully collected slides
from back in those pre-digital image days
when the last step of tapestry completion
was a trip to the photographer
and subsequent filing and storage of
the resulting 4x5 transparencies
and sheets and sheets of images in their little plastic cases
that exhibitions and publications demanded.

Since I didn't exactly intend to tackle this project,
I just plunked down on the floor and began.

But of course the sorting took hours
and was somewhat distracting
as somehow
between 1990 (when I wove my first tapestry),
and 2007 (when digital images took over completely),
I managed to do a lot of weft faced plain weave.

And what an unexpected pleasure
to come upon projects long forgotten
(Scarface was such a great dog,
that carpet bag-on-a-box project was pure fun).

But even more delightful
was standing up afterwards
and noticing the absolute absence
of a nagging hamstring pain
to which I've grown so used
that its absence was more noticeable than its presence.

So not only did I manage to get rid of pounds and pounds of slides
(still have one fat binder for posterity and/or my son to toss after my demise,
but NO discards for future Pinterest-worthy window covering projects),
but was also was moved to remove
the work table in the middle of my studio.

I can now wiggle and stretch
and shift my position as I work,
get to my feet with nary a twinge,
and trot off in the morning,
loose of limb and light of heart.
Who knew?

In other news --
spring is definitely here,
and the new insta-desk (board on books)
has coincided with comic diary #18
to which I added a few sheets of Reeves lightweight
that I had in the basement.
So far this paper is more satisfying to draw and paint on
than the lovely-to-look-at-but-hard-to-use
handmade Mexican paper in the last book
(visible in the running drawing above,
and on the right in the slide sorting comic at the top).
But as with so many things (image storage etc),
only time will reveal the efficacy
of one's seemingly sensible decisions.

Speaking of which...
version four of the knitting project
proceeds apace,
in all its fat stockinette glory.

Never a dull moment around here.

the next best idea

5/8/2018

Can you see it?
It's right there--
in the wrinkled, raveled remains

of the last best idea
that wasn't quite right.
Sigh.
But such a relief.

For the last couple of days
I've caught myself wondering
what the yarn would 'really' become
even as I knit on.

I was, it seemed, in love the idea of the sweater,
more than the garment itself.

Also, I'd put a graft in it, which I was reluctant to undo.
(I quite like grafting, but un-grafting is just not as pleasurable as pure unraveling).

Do you ever have this experience--
continuing to knit
occasionally muttering,
"it'll be all right,"
knowing all the while
that it is not?

If so, you'll understand my delight
when finally,
this morning,
I realized that I loved the yarn too much
to 'waste' it on a clever concept
I would never wear.

The yarn is a 5 ply Cormo:
local grey and white fleeces
blended in various ways,
spindle spun over time,
and collected as singles on toilet paper tubes
(not archival but never intended to be).

By the time I brought the whole works to my cabin a few weeks ago.
I had a fat pound waiting to be plied.

Unlike the sweater I just decided to reject,
Plying 5 strands with the Charkha was an experiment that worked,
but only when I turned it into a two step process
like when plying with a spindle:

1. wind the singles together without twisting
2. add twist.

While I wouldn't take this extra step with a treadle wheel
where both hands are available,
with the Charkha, the extra step was worth every second
because there I only have one free hand
many strands to manage
and no tensioned lazy Kate
(though my makeshift multi-mug system pictured above was ideal).

At any rate, I used the Charkha for both steps,
covering the spindle shaft with paper purns (rolled up squares)
that I could hold in one hand as I turned the crank with the other.

The weather that week was very April --
nice enough to be outside whenever it stopped raining,
but cool enough to make the cookstove a constant necessity
for cups of tea
and to dry the yarn after blocking.

You might notice that the drying skeins twist a little --
this is because the yarn sat so long as singles
that the warm water released the stored twist energy
rather than relaxing it has happens when you wet the yarn
closer to the time it is actually spun.
Kathryn Alexander of Entrelac and Energized Yarn fame.
first brought this phenomenon to my attention.
Check out her work.
It truly is beyond anything.

At any rate, the finished yarn was/is YUMMY --
squishy and super soft--
and I started knitting with it
the moment it was dry,
used double no less
with gargantuan needles --
size 9 I think.

Alas, whatever I had in mind then wasn't quite right--
or anyway another idea,
the one I decided against this very morning,
took hold and wouldn't let go
until today.

But the yarn is still waiting--
so yummy I can hardly wait to cast on with it again.

And see --
there it is--
the new idea--
waiting.

Portable Property

5/1/2018

Round Yoke; Hand Woven Tapestry (four selvedge); spindle spun wool and linen 3" x 3"

"as to myself, my guiding-star always is,
'Get hold of portable property.'"
(John Wemmick; Great Expectations (24.41)

Mud Bricks; Hand Woven Tapestry (four selvedge); hand spun linen and cotton (natural colors); 3" x 3"

I can't help but agree--
it's nice to have one's treasures at hand.

All Ready Here; Hand Woven Tapestry (four selvedge); spindle spun wool; natural dye; 2 1/2" x 2 1/2"

With no restrictive or fragile mounting devices,
dreams can be carried about, and fondled.

Here I Am; Hand Woven Tapestry (four selvedge technique); Hand Embroidery; Wool; 4" x 3"

They can be pinned temporarily to a wall,

My New Car; Hand Woven Tapestry (four selvedge); wool; natural dye; 2" x 3"

then tucked in a place where it is possible to
see and feel them on a regular basis--
where they might bring delight to an otherwise
pedestrian transaction--

or even serve
as a reminder of relative value.

Where DO I want my money to go?

Four Tapestries from the Twenty Tiny House Series; linen, cotton, wool; natural dye; each 3" square

It is hard to describe the pleasure I find in these tiny works
and I'd love for you to get to hold them too.

To that end,
I've just put ten tiny tapestries in the now open store!
(button in the menu at the top of the page
and hope everything works--
turns out I was not quite as close as I thought last week.).

I'll leave them there for two weeks
with free shipping
to celebrate what feels like
a ridiculously mammoth accomplishment.

Then hopefully I'll get back to making some more --
even as I work on handouts
and Rebecca edits video
for our upcoming class for her school:
Fringeless: Four Selvedge Tapestry with Sarah C. Swett
which we hope will be ready by the end of June (double yippee)!
making it possible for some of you
to weave your own magic
into pieces of portable property
to tuck in your purse.

And once again, I cannot thank everyone enough
for the wonderful support and heartwarming encouragement
in last week's comments.
It's all so much fun with you there.

Noticing

The Fine and the Makeshift

Onto the Floor

the next best idea

Portable Property

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

Categories

Archives

Noticing

The Fine and the Makeshift

Onto the Floor

the next best idea

Portable Property

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

Categories

Archives

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