a field guide to needlework
  • Tapestry
    • 1994 - 1999
    • 2000 - 2003
    • 2004 - 2007
    • 2008 - 2009
    • 2009 - 2012
    • 2013 - 2015
    • 2016 part one
    • 2016 - 2017
    • 2018
    • 2019
    • 2020
    • 2021
    • 2022
    • 2023
    • 2024
  • Newsletter
  • Store
  • Blog 2014-2021
  • About
  • Comics
    • Fatal Distraction
    • Manuscript Revised
    • Stripes
    • Enid and Crow >
      • Enid and Crow: Days In The Life
      • Enid and Crow: The Peregrinations
      • Enid and Crow: Color Choices
      • Enid and Crow: Carried Away
      • Enid and Crow: Somewhere!

Wool, always.

11/27/2018

 
Picture
To blend, or not to blend -- that is the question.
Picture
At least it was the question a few weeks ago, 
when, all of a sudden (isn't always like that?)
this marvelous collection of 
Polworth, Cormo, Merino, Debouillet and, I think, Targhee.
from the Ortmann's  flock in Wolf Point, Montana,
​demanded attention. 

(These eastern Montana range sheep cope with extreme weather and wild winter winds, 
by growing amazingly soft, dense fleece--and the Ortmann's have bred for color.
 I'd put in a link if 
I could find a website...Nancy???)
Picture
But back to blending.
I didn't have a plan at first--
just a strong desire to work with the fleece--
and with only a few hand fulls of each value,

 teasing and carding each separately 
seemed a good starting point. 
Picture
While I was at it, 
(and since I didn't know how I wanted to proceed)
I also carded the few ounces of 
light brown something-or-other --
(not quite as fine but lovely and bouncy)
that a friend had given me a few weeks before.

Also, why not add to the pile
by turning some white fleece 
(Targhee/Debouillet also from the Ortmanns)
​a kind of periwinkle blue?
​I had an indigo pot going after all.
Picture
And as I dyed and carded
an idea began to  form --
a new kind of idea,
an idea that,​ once acted upon,
could not be undone.
Was it worth the risk?
Picture
Since Discretion is the better part of valor
and caution preferable to rash bravery (sometimes anyway),
I reserved a small selection of all the greys, 
blended one batt of the periwinkle with white
(to create another value range),

and set the whole works aside as a separate project
before doing anything drastic with the bulk of the batts.
Picture
But what did those batts want?
​Once upon a time,
I would have spun each 
into its own yarn
for weaving into tapestry.
This was, indeed, why I wanted
​the collection of fleece in the first place,
for value has always been elemental to my tapestry practice
Picture
But ideas change,
and between spring and fall
this new (or maybe very old) idea--
charming, complicated and irresistible--
had wormed its way in.
What I now wanted was: 
-fine, bouncy, heathery purple/grey yarn 
-to weave on my backstrap loom,
-into yards of warm, flexible fabric
-with an easy drape,
-that I could stitch into next winter's jacket.
Really? 
Well yeah -- really.
Picture
But clothing?  Sheesh.
I haven't woven cloth for clothing
since... well...
since  I wove my wedding dress fabric in 1989.

Well, maybe it's time.
And it's not like I'd have have to
buy, or even borrow,  a loom.
Picture
(​For those new to this blog,
I spent the better part of  the time between June 2016 and June 2017
weaving on a backstrap loom --

at first I wove only tapestry
but eventually devoted myself
to plain, simple, luminous, open cloth.

It was a thrilling,
unlooked for,
and disconcerting
expedition 
(especially for a tapestry weaver)
that began as a vague whim,
became an 
obsession,
grew into 
an exhibition, 
and finally insisted on 
becoming a comic ).
Picture
And thank goodness I wrote the comic!
Picture
Not only did I rely on it
​to make sure I wound my warp correctly,
but I also needed the tale
of  Luminist and Storymaker,
to remind me that trusting the yarn is a thing--
even if it is a messy thing,
with no clear outcome. 
Picture
So now I have it--
a mountain of messy blended batts,
 a winter's worth of spinning,
and a new project to freak out about.
​
​But hey,  that's miles in the future.
Picture
Thanksgiving Hepty Testing in the Canyon
Right now, 
the spindle awaits. 
​And oh golly, is this stuff nice to spin. 
Picture

Learning Curve

11/18/2018

 
Picture
Once upon a time,
​when computer text was green
and there was one font,
I was given an assignment in my Animal Science class--
use Lotus 1, 2, 3 to create a simple spreadsheet
​ on the topic of my choice.
Picture
​It was a big deal to learn about computers then--
something my professors thought no one in their right mind would do unless forced,
(nearly as essential as the endocrine interactions of newly pregnant ewes),
and I have to admit that without the nudge,
I would never have done it. 
Spreadsheets? Computers?  Bah.

I took the class because I was interested
in sheep, wool, and yarn,
and also because I was hoping
​ to become a Veterinarian--
a path I didn't ultimately pursue.
(Though I did not mind shoving up arm up a cow's rectum
while lying on a frosty, windy hillside,
I did mind that such calls would keep me
from knitting and spinning
as much as I might like).
Picture
Notes to Self; hand woven tapestry; hand spun wool warp and weft; natural dye; 25" x 24"
But Back to Lotus 1, 2, 3.
Yarn-centric nerd that I was even then,
I designed a knitting calculation spreadsheet

that would shift the stitch numbers from
those for the gauge given in a pattern
to stitch numbers for the gauge chosen by a knitter
for the yarn she had (ideally hand spun).


My professors thought it most original. 
I thought it pretty basic and silly--
a thing I could have done with pencil and paper in half the time.  

But I was a diligent student
out for the A's I needed to get into Vet school,
so didn't say so.

A couple of years (and many science classes later),
I strayed to a different end of campus,
wandering into a room
on the third floor of the home economics building,
where light streamed through big windows
and fell upon row up on row of floor looms
and all thoughts of veterinarianism flew away.

I quit calculus,
​learned to warp,
and devoted myself
​ to a grid of a different sort.
Picture
Time passed, as it does.

I wove -- quite a bit.
Lotus 1, 2, 3, went out of fashion.
Fonts became a thing. 

Spreadsheet programs began to be called  'apps.' 
Lives were devoted to creating them.
Other lives were devoted changing them.
Soon these apps
were filled with bells and whistles
many as silly as my spreadsheet
but which force us,
on an almost daily basis,
 to relearn things we thought we already knew,
or devote  hours, days, weeks
to finding that one little thing that has to be clicked
to accomplish the thing we did yesterday
with no trouble at all.
Bah.

As far as I know
endocrine paths of pregnant ewes
remains much as it always has.
We love our computers
and rely on them,
but the blankety-blank learning curve
never seems to flatten out.
Picture
Weaving, on the other hand
is pretty much what it was 20,000 years ago.
Picture
Over under, over, over, over under. 

There are skills to be learned, of course--

tension, selvedge control, warping techniques,
how to spin grocery receipts into yarn--
and these can feel momentous
if you've never done them,
the learning curve very steep.
Picture
But these days
we usually choose to climb
​these particular hills,
​and once we're heading up --

why the view just gets better and better.
The skills, once learned, are ours to keep.
Picture
I'm actually all in favor of learning stuff.
Indeed,  learning hard stuff
is what we humans do best,
and for many of us
person to person learning
is still easiest -- 
using arms and hands and voices

Once upon at time,
(even before computer text was green)
we might  have lived in the same village.
where we could slowly and easily
share weaving thoughts
as we spun our yarn 
and picked pebbles out of our bean seed.
We could wave our arms around
and describe that slick little maneuver
for getting the warp tension just so,
(or how to save a file to dropbox),
then show you after lunch.


It's the thing Elizabeth Wayland Barber
called "the courtyard sisterhood"
in her life changing book
Women's Work: The First 20,000 years

Sometimes we still get to do that
but with weavers separated, rare
and all over the world,
we now rely on  our marvelous
confusing, confounding,
 and ever-changing devices
to write blogs,
to shoot video 
to create WEBINARS,
in an attempt to mimic 
what we once accepted as normal.
Picture
They are miraculous, these devices.
After all, here I sit,
​ writing to you this very morning
while my laundry dries outside
 and my tea gets cold--
and it is almost like being together.
Picture
The trouble is that sometimes
the devices don't work as planned,

and those of us who know a lot about weaving,
are thrilled to BITS to ponder
esoteric, yarn-centric questions,

and to share what we know the best we can,
while you cook supper,

do not always have the latest
​digital technical minutiae 
at our fingertips. 
​
Picture
Last week, that meant that 
though Rebecca Mezoff and I
had the utterly thrilling miracle

of over 900 people registering for our Webinar--
(So many people actually interested!),

only 100 could actually "come"  to the live webinar itself.
Picture
Luckily, thanks to another techno-miracle
THERE is a recording of the whole thing,
waving arms and all.

that anyone can watch.
(Indeed, if you do, you will soon see
that I have some learning to do
when it comes to my interaction with the screen

for I seem to make a habit of
pointing at something amazing

as though you are next to me,
which it feels like you are

when, in truth,
all you get
is my finger jabbing your nose).
​
I don't know if it feels different, not being live,
but it is there,
and you can pause us at will.
​And one of these days, we'll try again.

Picture
This Four Selvedge Warping business
 is just so thrilling,
so useful in myriad ways,
that, learning curves and all,
we're going to keep talking about it. 

We have The Fringeless Class
to
explain all the details,
(Rebecca, the most patient of teachers,
is brilliant at finding just those tricky bits
that need a tiny, slow motion video to make them clear
as anyone who has taken her other tapestry classes knows).

And we now have the free Webinar
 to share more of the possibilities
when enthusiasm boils over.
Picture
Four Selvedge Bracelet -- specific instructions in the class but we talk about making them in the webinar
​So much of it is about connecting --
not only warp and weft
and spindle and yarn,
but all of us --
the 21st century 
Courtyard sisterhood,
learning hard things together,
then getting together to talk about it.


We, and the work, 
are worth it.
​

Thanks for being here.

Buttoned Up

11/13/2018

 
Picture
I find myself curiously restless this morning --
even tongue-tied. 
Picture
Filled with ideas of what to write,
I still hop up every few minutes,

to make a cup of tea,
twirl my spindle in front of the stove,
Picture
or wander around the studio
admiring the morning light on my messes.
​

What, I wonder, will people see--
what will you see 
if you've signed up--
 when Rebecca Mezoff and I 
have our live webinar on Thursday?
(That's Thursday, 15 November at 10 AM Mountain Time).
Picture
I'll be sitting here in my studio,
right about where I'm sitting  now
(though I'll have to do a little re-arranging
to avoid screen glare and so on),
and I wonder
if my working messes (un-styled),
are fit for company.

Probably not. 
But then, so what?

It's tapestry we're going to be talking about,
and Rebecca and I have such love and enthusiasm for  this medium --
 are so entranced by all that it can do,
that sharing work in progress is half the point, right?

We had such a fantastic  time
creating and filming the Fringeless Class,
that I'm really looking forward
​to this spontaneous conversation.
Indeed, 
it thrills me to bits to think of you joining us. 
(It's free and everything -- I think I"m supposed to say that)
Picture
But of course, 
as Mrs. Ariadne Oliver said to Hercule Poirot,
"You never know what is going to happen"
when doing a live chat on the interwebs--

and that makes everything extra thrilling.
Picture
It also makes everything slightly odd---
at least in these days before we start--
because  I'm talking a great deal about  this talk,
​ (or at least writing about it on various platforms),
yet not actually doing it.
Picture
Of course that is  the nature of plans --
travels and parties and events 
​and certainly tapestries--
never turn out as a gal imagines.
Picture
And who would want that anyway? 
The reality of the moment is the point. 
But I"m overflowing ideas
of things you might want to hear about
(not least these cuffs/ bangles and bracelets I've been making),
even as I know that some fabulous question
you're burning to have answered
will change everything!
Picture
So perhaps it would be best 
to stop second guessing you
(much less myself)
and to go back to the loom,
 nestle  another green oval,
amidst the warm charcoal fuzz of  shetland yarn,
and see if  this cuff can be released from the loom
to wear on Thursday.

See you then!

ps -- If you are interested in hearing our conversation,
(or asking a question ahead of time)
but can't make it  to the actual webinar,
it will be recorded,
If you register, 
the 'bonuses' will still be available.
At least I think that is how it works!
WEBINAR REGISTRATION
pps -- I've had quite a time with faulty links and such
in the last couple of days,
​so if for some reason the other links don't work
you can get to the registration page via Rebecca's BLOG
​and click the big black button about half way down.
Picture

When an idea kicks in

11/6/2018

 

time just flies...

Do you get caught up like this too?
Picture
BUT
​before I get completely immersed--
​I'm off to vote!
Picture
Baritone English Concertina; Four Selvedge Tapestry Bangle: hand spun coffee filters (used), semi-annual report pages, and flax; indigo; black walnut
ps --Building pipe looms,
Four Selvedge Warping
and tons of weaving tips
are available in  FRINGELESS
the online class I teach with
Rebecca Mezoff.
To sign up, learn more
(and hear the dulcet tones of this English Concertina)
click HERE! 
    Picture

    ​Sarah C Swett 
    tells stories
    with
    ​ and about

     hand spun yarn. 


    Picture
    Click for info on
    my four selvedge
    warping class
    with
    ​ Rebecca Mezoff  
    fringeless


    Categories

    All
    Backstrap
    Books
    Cellulosic Experiments
    Clothes
    Coffee Filter Yarn
    Comics
    Distractions
    Dyeing
    Embroidery
    Hand Spinning
    Knitting
    Linsey Woolsey
    Looping
    Mending
    Milkweed
    Out In The World
    Plain Weave
    PVC Pipe Loom
    Shoes
    Sketchbook
    Slow Literature
    Tapestry
    Textile Tools
    Things To Wear
    Vague Instructions
    Willow

    Archives

    September 2021
    June 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014

things to make:
yarn . music . friends
whatever it is you cannot 

not
begin
Proudly powered by Weebly