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Wool, always.

11/27/2018

 
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To blend, or not to blend -- that is the question.
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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. 
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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?
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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
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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.
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(​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 ).
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And thank goodness I wrote the comic!
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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.
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Thanksgiving Hepty Testing in the Canyon
Right now, 
the spindle awaits. 
​And oh golly, is this stuff nice to spin. 
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Vacation Shoes

7/31/2018

 
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I don’t know if it shows up on your screen,
but at the bottom of page, just under where I am typing,
is something I wrote when I first set up this site.
(otherwise it just says Weebly, and who wants that?).

In case you can't see it 
(since by now it is probably underneath about a dozen photos),
here it is.
Picture
things to make:
yarn . music . friends
whatever it is
you cannot
not
begin
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This past week,
the thing I could not
NOT begin,
​was another pair of shoes.
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Unlike the last ones,
I do not NEED another pair of shoes.
​

Indeed, considering  that both vamp and heel
are made with hand woven linen needlepoint canvas,
leftovers from a tangent of my
 backstrap loom sojourn two years ago,
these shoes are never going to prevent thorns,
​or anything else,
from biting into my ankles.
Picture
But not every pair of shoes has to be practical.
And I have a box full of these
beloved but unused linen/backstrap experiments
which have been whispering to me.
​"Choose us!  Choose us!"
ever since I turned onto a slightly different
path (see Backstrap Dialogues for details),
Picture
I could have put them to work
once the show was over,
but other ideas intervened and I didn't listen
until the shape and feel of that last pair of shoes
(too hot for this summer, esp after I waxed the canvas),
led me back to that box of miscellaneous rolls of cloth.
Picture
There isn't a lot of structural integrity to these shoes.
When the lace holes are nicely stretched out,
I'll probably have to stitch some solid eyelets.
(and weave some actual laces).
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I'm also not completely happy with the way
​they tuck (or fail to tuck), around the bottom of my heel,
and wonder if I'm going to want to put a heel cover
on top of the X and bar stitches up the back. 
Heel covers are more traditional
and I had chosen a  narrow strip 
from the same box of experiments,
but found I so loved the look of the spindle spun linen 
stitches that I just couldn't hide them.
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Overall the shoes feel great:
light and flexible,
open and airy,
just the thing
for my upcoming August holiday.
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Just the thing, that is, 
but for one tiny detail.
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Or maybe two.
​I do like to keep my work close by.
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Not sure what the g is for --
other than that it is my favorite letter to weave.
  girl, perhaps?
Certainly I feel about 11 years old when I wear these.
which is a fine way 
for me, my shoes, 
and our four selvedge tapestries to feel
as we set forth to explore whatever paths may beckon
between now and when we return to the blog in September. 
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While we're gone, if you have a yen to make shoes
check out Sharon Raymond's fabulous website
where you can find instructions, kits, materials, videos, tutorials and inspiration. 
She has a whole book just on sandals.
Picture
photo: Rebecca Mezoff
And if you have a yen to make four selvedge tapestries
as the finishing touch to your shoes (or whatever)
remember that early bird pricing for Fringeless
(the online four selvedge tapestry class with Rebecca Mezoff and me),
ends TONIGHT (31 July) at midnight Mountain Time.
Of course you can sign up and/or start at any time in the future,
but for those who register by tonight
will have your names entered in a drawing
for the tiny house tapestry pictured above--
a piece I wove on film  (or rather, video),
so that in the class you can listen to/watch me
weave and unweave and weave and unweave
and make all kinds of pick by pick decisions
in rather excruciating detail
for a LONG time.
(Some people seem to like it...:-)

Anyway, it could be that house wants to be on your shoe.
Picture
Tiny house...
movement...
no wheels...
​Just saying..
​
Have a lovely August and see you in September!

Picking Sheds and Passing Bobbins

7/16/2018

 
Picture
Tapestry Bobbins, PVC pipe loom, Tapestry Squiggle in progress photo by Rebecca Mezoff
A couple of days ago in the Fringeless class
someone asked: 
​"How do you do that cool picking-up-the-sheds thing?"

The class includes a number of weaving videos
including a rather long one
in which I weave most of the piece in the photo below--
chatting all the while about what I'm doing and why I'm doing it.
At least I talk about building shapes.

Apparently I don't talk much about 
what I'm actually doing to open the sheds
and pass the bobbins however,
so I thought I'd try to explain further here
in case those of you not taking the class might find it useful too.
Picture
Hand Weaving, Galvanized/ black pipe loom, Tapestry Squiggle (from cartoon) in progress; photo by Rebecca Mezoff
As I may have mentioned before,
I adopted both techniques--
first  bobbins then finger picking--
after a decade or more of  butterflies, beater and treadles.
Once again, it was Archie Brennan who made it seem worth a try.
With a big pipe loom warped and ready
I committed to weaving the entire thing
 (Hang Up and Draw first tapestry on the linked page)
using only bobbins.
 I started with leashes as well
(long heddles you can grab and pull), 
but before long found myself finger picking both sheds
so haven't bothered with leashes or butterflies since. 
Picture
Anyway, yesterday I decided to try to film myself weaving.
Without Rebecca Mezoff and her
excellent eye and amazing camera

the following two videos are not the snazziest thing in the world,
but here they are nonethless:
1-over and back, over and back, at 'slowed down normal' speed
2-over and back in super slow motion
3- a rather wordy description of what I think I'm doing
(which may, or may not, be what I'm actually doing
but is the closest I can come)
4. Some assorted comic drawings which might help too

 EDIT!!!!!!!OH NO!  The videos vanished.  SOSOSOOS sorry 
I have no idea what happened but will try to figure out
or fine another video solution
They take HOURS to upload so it'll be a while I'm afraid.
After all my boasting and that marvelous feeling of doing something cool
Maybe words and comics are the best after all
​SIGH.
​
The Wordy Description
-Bobbin in right hand going both ways, always
-Shed picked with left hand going both ways

OPEN SHED
(in this case weft moving from left to right but not always)

LEFT HAND:
(always picking up the warps from left to right no matter which direction the weft is going)
-decides which warp to pick up first,
- slides up that warp towards the shed sticks where the opening is wider
-fingers slip behind three to five raised warps
-pull them open
RIGHT HAND:
-slips into shed just opened
-passes bobbin through the space behind the warp and back into the same hand
(bobbin now in front of the warp)
-pulls slightly on the weft while 
LEFT HAND:
-releases warp threads
-drops down to grab the end of the weft
-adjusts weft tension
(leaving enough weft in the shed to make a nice bubble)
-holds onto weft while
RIGHT HAND:
uses bobbin to tap weft into place.
Picture
Note: finger picking techniques are the same no matter the loom you're working on. This image from my comic, Backstrap Dialogs
PICK SHED
LEFT HAND:
(scooping up warps from left to right no matter which direction the weft is going)
-chooses  warp at the edge of section to be picked up,
-pushes back against the open warp to the left of that warp
-reaches back and grabs desired "back" warp between thumb and middle finger
- pulls that warp forward, holding it on forefinger 
-moves one warp to the right, over the next open warp 
-pushes back against that open warp as before to make space to grab next "back" warp
 continuing in this way until 3 - 5 warp threads (about one inch worth) have been grabbed.
-pull to open that section of the shed
RIGHT HAND 
​​-slips into space just opened
-passes bobbin through the space behind the warp and back into the same hand
(bobbin now in front of the warp)
-pulls slightly on the weft while...
LEFT HAND:
-releases warp threads
-drops down to grab the end of the weft
-adjusts weft tension 
( leaving enough weft in the shed to make a nice bubble, which is easier with pick shed as the released warp adds its own tension)
-holds onto weft while
RIGHT HAND:
uses bobbin to tap weft into place.
Picture
Backstrap Dialogs (detail p. 39) -- same technique for passing the bobbin, using string heddles as leashes instead of finger picking the second shed.
All of this takes a LOT Of words,
and I generally find Comics to be a more efficient medium
than plain text, but hopefully the videos make things somewhat clear.
And alas, if I had to draw an entire comic 
for every blog post, you'd get one a couple of times a year!

NOTE: Bobbins
Still REALLY happy with both sets of new bobbins I wrote about here
Both makers are HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

NOTE: Sett
​ The warp on the loom in the videos above is sett at 10 epi,
8 epi is easier and smoother (more room to teach and grab)
but much of this depends on the size of your warp 
and the size of your fingers.
If your fingers are large and/or you like to work at closer setts
I  recommend some kind of shedding device for the pick shed --
Leashes and String heddles (very short leashes), are both excellent.
I describe the latter in Backstrap Dialogues,
and will put a detail below, which should help.
Picture
So that's it for now --
EXCEPT! that for those of you not on Instagram
I wanted to include a photo
of  the finished running shoes
I was working on last week!
SO happy.
(Shoe pattern from Simple Shoe Making)
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A New Skirt!!!

10/17/2017

 
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This is not the project I thought I'd dive into when I returned from my travels.
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It was not even on my radar.
Picture
But a few days ago,
 there I was,
 cutting up an early backstrap experiment,
knitting short rows panels with leftover bits of the same walnut dyed yarn
​(Brown Sheep Nature Spun Fingering used double),
and sewing them together.
Picture
I have long clung to a belief that I am an organized person 
(at least in the realm of my textile work),
a planner who spends months on tapestry cartoons,
and years bringing ideas to fruition.
But apparently, instead, I am a slave to the thrills and chills of
 making-it-up-as-I-go-and-using-what-is-at-hand-on-the-roller-coaster-ride-to-an-unknown-outcome.
​
Who knew?
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Another early backstrap experiment  --
linen paper yarn from habu textiles that I'd had for years and years and years,
then wove and indigo dyed last summer--
turned out to be the perfect thing to fold over the top edges of the woven fabric
both protecting the cut edges of the woven cloth
​and giving the knitted sections sufficient structure to prevent the skirt from  falling down.

And when I ran out of the walnut dyed yarn a few inches shy of making it around my butt,
the idea of an indigo button band became a reality. 
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The buttons themselves are a mixed bag,
though most are all that is left of a beloved dress I wore till it was compost.
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Along with my sense of myself as an organized person,
I've also nurtured definite ideas about mixing woven and knitted structures --
NOT in favor. 
But changing my mind has not been as painful as I might have thought.
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Just a couple of leg  lunges
 while taking unintentional and rather grim selfies when trying to show...
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...how the woven panels over my butt will (hopefully) prevent that "cling and sag" effect of so many purely knitted  skirts,
made me reassess all my 'never mix never worry' prejudices about knitting and weaving. 

Which reminds me of yet another assumption with which this garment has forced me to contend: 
Picture
 that I am not the kind of person who wears short skirts.
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But just because I have not done such a thing in the past
does not mean that today,
a couple of months shy of my 57th birthday,
is not a fine time to start. 
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I mean -- what the heck?

a new way to fly

10/3/2017

 
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Three weeks ago,
in the midst of packing,
freaking out,
repacking,
​ and generally wallowing in pre-travel angst about the trip from which I have just returned,
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I was seized with an unexpected and unstoppable urge
to stitch together a  random collection of backstrap experiments
​and leftovers from
 this project
into a blanket/ shawl/ scarf thing
​without which,

Picture
​or so it seemed,
I would be unable to set foot out the door.
Picture

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Panic projects are not a new thing for me
(indeed, unpredictable as they are, I've come almost to take them for granted),
but rarely has my home-leaving-misery
been so thoroughly transformed  
into something as magically functional, as this.
Picture
Small enough to be shoved into a bag,
it yet unfolded (without a wrinkle)
to cover me from shoulder to knee.

It was a blanket on the red-eye from Seattle to Boston,
and a pillow while sleeping in a squeaky bunk bed at the YMCA camp where I  attended  the North East Squeeze in.
Picture
It served as a bathrobe at the myriad places I stayed
and 
 made my three items of clothing seem like six
 (traveling with a concertina in your bag means clothing gives way to the instrument).
​
It covered my back,
scrunched into a scarf,
​and
Picture
Picture
unfolded
Picture
​ featherlike,
Picture
into a pair of wings
Picture
that bore me safely home.
Picture
Not bad for some scraps of plain weave, eh?

​ps. photos by my wondrous sister Evelyn R. Swett

pps.   In case any of you are suddenly seized by a need to make some wings of your own, the  Etsy store is open once again, Backstrap Dialogues ready to fly to you .

Happy Fall!

The Thing about Houndstooth

9/12/2017

 
Picture
or any checked pattern for that matter,
is that these squared off weave structures allow weird mixes of yarns
to become balanced lengths of cloth.
Picture
yellow = handspun 3 ply Cormo with weld; red = machine spun 2 ply Columbia with madder/cochineal; light green = Blackberry Ridge 2 ply fingering; grey = Quince and Co 4 ply Finch; Pink = Quince and Co 3 ply Chickadee (I think)
Sparked, perhaps, by slightly cooler temperatures,
I've been dreaming of thick tweedy fabric--
something spongy but light,
sturdy but... well, I'm not quite sure of all the characteristics I'm after,
but I'll know it when I see it. And feel it.
 Actually, I don't even know what I want to do with said cloth,
other than find out what I'm after.

But they only way to learn
is to start
because pictures on the internet just don't cut it,.

To that end, I've been grabbing dibs and dabs of leftover yarn from my stash,
filling  a couple of gaps with the odd skein from The Yarn Underground (four blocks from my  house),
spinning a bit,
and weaving them all together.
Picture
10 epi
One of the most delightful surprises has been
 how readily the backstrap loom accommodates the hodgepodge--
quick to warp and easy to set up and put away,
it allows me, as part of that loom, to subtly shift the warp tension with my hips
to allow for different weft needs. 

All in all, it's a lovely, low stakes way to mess around.
I  get to ditch a few prejudices and internal rules I didn't know I had:
things like combining hand and mill spun yarn in one piece of cloth. (I know.  Horrors!!!!),
and is also good practice in noticing what I like,
which is not always (indeed, it is rarely),
what I think I'm going to like:
 the Backstrap Loom itself, for instance,
also blogging,
and texting,
and mill spun yarn. 
Hmmm... is there a pattern here?
Picture
Indigo = 2 ply spindle spun Cormo; Grey = singles spindle spun Cormo; 12 epi
New things are so messy, so unpredictable, interesting and annoying-- and sometimes sometimes utterly useless.
But they  also spark my nerve endings to moments of design possibility,
and I think that is a good thing.
​
We all need a few new ingredients, now and again,
at least I do:
​ideas, people, techniques, tomato varieties.
Picture
3 ply Cormo (2 white, 1 grey), Spindlewood spindle, 45 g (tape on the too-smooth shaft creates friction for rolling down my leg)
Picture
It keeps the path compelling.
Picture
Light Green = Blackberry Ridge 2 ply fingering; Light Grey = 3 ply spindle spun Cormo; Dark Grey = Spindle Spun Rambouillet; Darker green, purple etc stripes below = 3 ply spindle spun Cormo with assorted natural dyes.
Because you never know things are going to turn out.
And speaking of not knowing -- 
I'm in full on travel angst/freakout mode because I'm heading off next week and 
have no idea what I'm going to pack -- knitting and spinning and concertina and sketchbook and a change of undies?  Or skip the change of undies but add two or three of these houndstooth scarf-like sample thingies in case there is a blizzard...
​
I do, however, know that I will be closing my Etsy shop for about three weeks,
so if you planned to get Backstrap Dialogues or How to Weave a Bag on a Box  in that time, best to do it before Friday.
 No worries though -- I should be back up and running by the second week of  October! 
Not sure if I'll be able to blog or not --
Guess we'll have to wait and see...
Picture

Plain Weave for Joy

9/5/2017

 
Picture
Harrisville Highland; 10 epi
Houndstooth is a bit of an obsession just now.
It might be that I love my shuttles so much that I want to use two at once.
Picture
Spindle Spun Cormo; 15 epi
Or it could just be that the possibilities of plain weave continue to unfurl before me like an endless enticing road,
be it balanced or weft faced. 
Picture
Yes-- this is tapestry. See the lazy lines?
Or it could be that I am a cheap date.
(Four selvedge Warping Instructions here).
Picture
Four Selvedge Tapestry (weft faced plain weave where the wefts are discontinuous across the shed); 9 epi; wool warp and weft. Fly Line Backing for auxiliary warp
But whatever the reason, I'm having a swell time.
Naturally, my inner Storymaker is busy thinking up things to do with all these pieces of cloth, 
but for now I'm letting the Luminist have her way,
--at least, as much as I can.
Picture

Thanks so much to everyone who wrote in about their inner helpers last week-- goats and spinning wheels and as yet unnamed beings. Lovely.

ALSO --anyone who ordered a copy of The Backstrap Dialogues before the last few days, (digital or paper), please note that at the bottom of  page 29 I put the wrong web address for Laverne Waddington's wonderful blog about backstrap weaving. It is a fantastic resource and I want to make sure people know how to get there.  So here is a link.  And here is the correct address so you can write it in your zine for future reference: ​https://backstrapweaving.wordpress.com/

I contacted Laverne the moment I noticed the error and she has been most gracious!
Astonishingly, there really  isn't all that much specific information about backstrap weaving(and almost none that I could find about using it for tapestry or gauze -- thus my zine),
 so it is worth getting it right.
​

Balancing Act

8/29/2017

 
Picture
3 ply grey Cormo; spindle spun; natural dyes; last bits from knitting projects
What is it about finishing a big project?
Or perhaps I should say finishing three big projects,
if I count the two solo exhibitions this spring/ summer
(Luminous Cloth at the Latimer Center in Tillamook OR closes on 3 Sept)
and then sending the first copies of Backstrap Dialogs out into the world last week!
Picture
Comic Diary -- August 2017
Suddenly, open space to 
knit and read in the late summer air.

At least is what my inner Luminist  suggests.
Picture
Comic Diary -- August 2017
My inner Storymaker, on the other hand, has plans.

And as usual, I'll try to please them both.

Those of you who were kind enough to order Backstrap Dialogs may already have met the Luminist and Storymaker, but for those who haven't, here's a page from the comic in which they discuss  my relationship with the backstrap loom-- and how it should be used.
Picture
The Backstrap Dialogues p.12 by Sarah C. Swett
The comic went through many iterations before I found the voices of these two, 
and once they existed as characters, it took even longer to settle on their names. 
It was all too easy, I found, to make one of them the "good gal" and one the "bad," 
when in truth, both are vital to the development of my work.
They are different, but equal, and I would hate to be without either one.
Picture
 I definitely didn't want to call one of them 'the inner critic,' because they are both critical-- insofar as  both have needs that often conflict and both are stubbornly themselves through thick and thin.  Sometimes, of course, this makes the process of making stuff, or of getting to the heart of whatever it is I am in the middle of making/ doing/ creating/unearthing, a touch fraught
​But ultimately, I beleive it keeps things interesting and fresh.
Picture
The Backstrap Dialogues p.10 by Sarah C. Swett
Yesterday (while knitting in the shade),  I tried to remember some of the words/ names I tried out  and found I couldn't, beyond the first, which were Minimalist and Storyteller.

Minimalism, however,  has so many connotations these days (sartorial, artistic, tidy, ecological and otherwise), that ultimately it felt limiting. And Storyteller -- well often as not  her job would be to tell stories that already exist, and though nothing really is new under the sun, this bit of my psyche is pretty into  building (and embellishing), in the moment with the materials at hand.

For a time I thought the solution would be to call them after  archetypes (the artist, the dilettante, the heroine, the inner child etc etc), but though I identify with many traditional archetypes, none were a good fit.
Picture
Houndstooth; backstrap loom; 12 epi
Happily,  when the right words finally  came along, I knew it almost instantly--

Storymaker, by the way,  came from the concept of the  Theatremaker via my dear actor running partner one early morning. Alas, I don't actually know how to define theatremaker, so you'll have to look it up yourself if you want to know more, and I never bothered to google Storymaker as I didn't want anything I found on the internet to wreck it for me, but it felt so right I just went for it. 

Luminist came from Luminism, an American school of painting that grew out of the Hudson River School --definitely not minimalist but a concept deeply influential to all my work, narrative, tapestry, translucent or otherwise. 

​​
​What is in a name?  SO much.
PictureComic Diary -- August 2017

Anyway, now  that the comic is out in the world
and it is too late to re-write or re-draw or re-organize any of it
I find myself extra grateful for the process --
not only the process of developing this totally unexpected  body of work, 
but also the process of getting to know and name the Luminist and Storymaker,
who I dearly hope will continue to squabble and compromise and interfere with one another's plans for a good long time. 

So do you have inner characters?
And are they friends?
Are they a  help?
Do they have names?

This is terribly nosy, but now I'm  curious.​

Backstrap Dialogues

8/21/2017

 
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is ready to go out into the world!
Picture
The Backstrap Dialogues (detail) page 29
At any rate, it is as ready as it and I can be today
given the messiness of process, 
the joys of editing and rewriting, 
the trails of drawing and and redrawing,
my penchant for carets, corrections,

and the angst of sharing all of this.
Picture
The Backstrap Dialogues (detail) pgs 20/21
Once upon a time I hoped to have this done back in June, but along with all of the above (and the distraction of exhibitions),
it took me a while to figure out the ins and outs of actual production.
Backstrap Dialogues is almost 3x longer than the Bag on a Box zine and after making a bunch of proofs I decided I wasn't ready to photocopy, fold and bind that many pages myself.
Actually, I  would love to have done the binding, but once you have someone's machine print and fold hundreds of sheets, it turns out to be a huge hassle not to let them staple too.  
I also wanted to use a heftier paper than standard photocopy paper, but not so hefty that the mailing cost would go too high, so had to do some experimenting.
​ It's amazing what a difference the weight of the paper makes, both with mailing costs and how the booklet fits in its envelope--esp for shipping overseas-- and I really want to keep them in the first class letter category. 
But perhaps this won't be as much of an issue with this zine, as I am offering it as a downloadable PDF as well as a paper booklet. Yipes!
As with everything I undertake, it's all a bit of an experiment with a steep learning curve.
Picture
The Backstrap Dialogues (detail) pg. 39
But as of today, my Etsy shop has
1. Backstrap Dialogues-- 56 page saddle stitched zine
2. Backstrap Dialogues--56 page downloadable PDF
3. How to Weave a Bag on a Box--20 page saddle stitched zine
4. How to Weave a Bag on a Box--20 page downloadable PDF

​Off we go! 

(hope it all works... eek)
Picture
ps.  As I don't have any system for computer generated address labels, everything is hand written, which means it takes a little bit to send them off
Thanks for being patient!

Back to the Backstrap

8/15/2017

 
Picture
Hand spun cormo singles (grey); hand spun cormo plied (indigo); sett: 12 epi
And about time too!  
Been too  busy drawing backstrap looms to actually warp one.
Picture
Backstrap Dialogues (detail)
But the pleasure is undiminished.
Picture
Hand spun Cormo singles (grey); millspun rambouillet plied (lichen yellow); sett: 12 epi
Interesting to go back to the combination of singles and plied yarn I was working on last spring to make those swaths of open cloth now hanging in Tillamook, this time putting some of  the plied yarn in the weft as well.  
Picture
shuttles: Purpleheart by Henry C Edwards
It feels so good to be weaving, especially outside,
the rhythm of shifting colors,
of picking up one shuttle as I put down the other,
 compelling enough that it is hard to stop.  

Just one more stripe!​​
Picture
It's a pretty open sett for this yarn and requires a light hand with the beater/ rigid heddle, which means the fabric was pretty translucent both on, and freshly off, the loom (above and below).
Picture
But a nice soak and swish in hot water fluffed  up both the singles (twist set by time but not water),  and the plied yarn, resulting in a light, flexible but also remarkably sturdy feeling cloth.
​ I think it'd make a wonderful, drapey shirt or light warm jacket--were I to make enough of it.
Picture

But as the weather here has suddenly gotten 20 degrees cooler, I've done nothing more than throw it around my neck, where it happily hangs out with last winter's pink and grey sweater,

Picture
while I weave the  blue and grey length of cloth in the top photo and  wait to hear from Girlie Press in Seattle, who will, I hope, be printing Backstrap Dialogues, my new 56 page zine,  in the next few days! I was joking yesterday that the comic is:  'artist angst and instructions,' but then decided that's not  accurate as most people, and certainly artists,  do not need angst  instruction. 
Better, perhaps, to say it's half  artistic process, half  technical process, or something boring like that, but I'm sure I'll get my one liner down before I list if in my  my Etsy store --next week, perhaps?
Anyway, I'll  announce it here or in the Newsletter or probably both the moment it is ready --and I think/hope  I'll have it as a downloadable PDF too.  How high tech is that?
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