Blog Archives

My Tapestry Weft

8/25/2015

Looks like this.

WOOL, Natural dyes: Indigo, Cochineal, Madder, Weld, Walnut

It was spun from local fleece.

Cotswold Fleece, washed

Long and lustrous
it could be
Coopworth,
Lincoln,
Leicester,
Old Style Romney,
Wenslydale or
Blue Faced Leicester.

It might, however, be Corriedale.
Or Suffolk.
(The hogget fleece of a Suffolk bottle lamb
has made its way into five or six recent tapestries).

If I lived somewhere else
it could be Teeswater.
Or Llanwenog.
Or Lleyn.

Suffolk/ Rambouillet X

Several tapestries are as they are
because of a coal black
Churro lamb fleece
that called to me
at a long-ago spin-in.

And I must tell you that
the background yarn
for this

Rough Copy #6: Postage Due (Detail) ©Sarah C. Swett

was a California Red Fleece,
that beckoned from the internet.

And while I"m on the subject,
it would be disingenuous
not to mention
the seemingly unsuitable
fine fleeces
(the perfect color),
that I'd normally spin for knitting
but which found their way into tapestries.

Rambouillet?

Anyway, I ALWAYS wash, tease and Drum Card

Pat Green Drum Carder, purchased in 1985 at Joseph's Coat in Missoula, Montana. I replaced the drive band a couple of years ago.

mixing up and re-carding the batts to even things out.

Unless, that is,
instead of teasing and carding
I comb
(mine are single row Russian Paddle combs).
But I don't have any digital photos of this
which shows how long it has been
since that was my fleece prep method of choice.

Lendrum Saxony (cherry)

I spin on my wheel, of course

Fournier (28g), Yerkovich (32g), Mongold (45g)

Unless there is a spindle
or two
or three at hand.

And
my tapestry weft
is ALWAYS
a singles.

4 ply Cormo; spindle spun; Cucumber Sandwiches (detail in progress) ©Sarah c. Swett 2015

...to be continued...

News of the world

8/19/2015

Item #1

Please note that I will be giving a Gallery Talk at 4:30 PM on Saturday, 19 September
Come visit. Ask me questions. Check out the other amazing artists.

Item #2

Millefleurs (detail) © Erica Diazoni. Note the image of the dye plant 'erased' onto the blackboard, that the erasers are made of plant dyed felt, and that she made the chalk from weeds growing around the exhibition warehouse.

A recommendation that you visit
the website of Erica Diazoni.
Erica was the 2008 Winner of the American Tapestry Alliance
International Student Award.
She subsequently studied at West Dean,
now lives in Switzerland
and has just completed her MFA.
Her work focuses on plants,
natural dyes and what she has made with and about them.
Her website shows some of this stunning work

Short History of a Panic Project

8/18/2015

My bags were packed

Taunton Press, 1989

and I had a solid hour
before it was even remotely reasonable
to leave for the airport.

Just the right amount of time

Knitting Counterpanes; Mary Walker Phillips; Taunton Press, 1989; page 169 (detail)

to remember that in Phillips terminology
LRD (Left-Right Decrease) means K2tog,
RLD (Right-Left Decrease) means SSK,

and to glance at the glossary.
(No room for the book in my bag).

Motel Lace

The rhythmic
mindless
zone-out
unthinking
bliss
of written instructions

for complicated lace
(with no charts)
turned out to be
exactly what I needed.

Grey Cormo, drum carded, spindle spun, dyed with Evernia Prunastri Lichen.

Once home, however,
the perfect panic project
ceased to satisfy.

I have the Power to Make Things Blue ©Sarah C. Swett 2015

and my casual insta-fix

The Gauge! The Gauge!

was not a good choice.

Sometimes the next best idea

love the new color!

is the last best idea

unravelled.

Mending Betty

8/12/2015

Banjo Betty came to visit the other day.

She was in need of some TLC.

No, that's not right.
Betty has been getting oodles of love.
It's just that my Great Grandmother's damask linen napkin
and the last scraps of what might have been
my favorite skirt of all time
were already worn to a threadbare fragility
before they had the chance
to become a doll.

Happily, I still had enough of the linen to cover her torso.

But her sleeves
required fragments of silk
from a length my brother bought
on a trip to India
decades ago.

Looks like the crooked needle has been well loved too..

And her new shorts
were fashioned
from a bit of rayon
of unknown origin.

I first made Betty
during a week long
doll-making binge
inspired by
Mimi Kirchner's blog,
Doll, and her
pattern on the Purl Bee,

I knew, therefor, how she was made.
But making and repairing are different things
and dismantling my fragile friend
was initially a bit daunting.

No need to remove the leg warmers.

But not for long.

"Good! Let's Play."

Golden Tapestry

8/5/2015

Last Wednesday I took off for Colorado

to teach a workshop on weaving lines and curves

co-sponsored by
The American Tapestry Alliance
and
The Recycled Lamb
(where we gathered).

It was an astonishing four days.

Comfort zones were abandoned
as weavers tried
wool warp

Brown Sheep Company Wool Warp

(singles no less),
and bravely wove without cartoons.

We talked about myriad
weaverly things
from bobbins and butterflies
to drawing,
the weaving life,
food
and fringe
(both fortunate and 'un').

Note how the front tire, viewed from the 'back' looks flat. Ah, the power of highs and lows.

I over-shared
about my
mythical
new car.

Everyone worked like crazy

Village Festival

In addition we were given
a private tour of Creative Crossroads,
the exhibit of tapestry currently at the Denver Art Museum
where I fell head over heels for the shoes
and stockings

Village Festival

Rebecca Mezoff wrote wonderfully
about the exhibit
so I'll let her tell you more.

Fate Destiny and Self Determination/le sort, le destin et l'auto-détermination

The four day tapestry gathering was capped by the opening of
Fate, Destiny and Self-Determination,
Line Dufour's glorious explosion of textiles and color,
an ongoing installation
currently leaping across the walls
of the Doyle and Margaret Hartman Gallery
of Regis University in Denver.

Fate Destiny and Self Determination/le sort, le destin et l'auto-détermination.

It truly is an inspiration
both to see and be part of.
If you want to contribute
DO!

Line and Rebecca
have also written thoroughly flattering posts
about the workshop
that I'd be mad not to post.
Their photos are even in focus!
Thank you both.
Thank you all.

My Tapestry Weft

News of the world

Short History of a Panic Project

Mending Betty

Golden Tapestry

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

Categories

Archives

My﻿ Tapestry Weft

News of the world

Short History of a Panic Project

Mending Betty

Golden Tapestry

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

Categories

Archives

My Tapestry Weft

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