This past week has seen some really epic weather systems moving through the country. The Cape has been battered by gales and torrential rains, there is snow on the mountains in the Western and Eastern Cape, and Natal. The highveld is shivering, and yesterday, I spend most of the day sitting on my patio, weaving away in a t- shirt!
In short, we are having a glorious Winter!
Truth to tell, I hope that the weather does change pretty soon, because this is just so not right, but that doesn’t mean that I’m not enjoying it immensely!
When the big table on the patio looks like this:
Then I know I’m in a good head space, and that the ‘Winter’ weather is definitely at least partly responsible for this feeling of well-being!
It seems that my brain works best when I have more than one project on the go at any one time, and I am loving the Shadow Weave that is on the eight shaft loom closest to the camera here.
Shadow Weave is fascinating, and the more I dig into it, the more I am amazed at just how intricate, and yet simple it is. The project on the loom you can see is that start of a series of small potholders that I will be using as a vehicle for demonstrating just a few of the possibilities of this fascinating technique for my 4+ weavers.
On the other end of the table there is a piece that I wove some time ago – just because I could! It is a demonstration of pick-up techniques – from the very basic through to the not so very basic, but also not particularly complicated either. I’ll be sharing those over the next few weeks, as our study progresses.
Over the years I have collected a nice little reference library of pieces that I can use for samples and demonstration. This is mainly down to the fact that I am a terrible finisher. I love the weaving, but once the fabric is off the loom and washed and ironed, I tend to lose interest, and my work all too often ends up neatly folded and stored. Sometimes I unpack the storage container, and re-acquaint myself with old friends that I have totally forgotten about and find a use for them, but all too often they are forgotten about as I relegate them and move onto the next ‘bright and shiny thing’!
The thing is, that most of my weaving is designed for learning, teaching and sharing, and then of course, there is weaving just for the sheer pleasure of the exercise! Mostly, I am pretty good about documenting my sample weaving – and I believe that sampling is an essential part of our weaving lives – but samples that are three or four metres long deserve a better fate than languishing in a box.
Most of my students prefer a far more project based approach to our studies, and with this in mind I have become more focused on weaving with an end goal in sight.
I am a tea-towel weaving addict. I seldom do scarves or shawls, unless I can really indulge in exquisite materials, like silk, or beautiful merino. Tea towels, give me room to play. I can put up a nice long warp and explore and experiment to my heart’s delight, and at the end of it all, I have a useable item.
I am thinking that the little potholders, that I am using to demonstrate the Shadow Weave might fill a similar gap, and they are small enough that we can rethread for different patterns quickly and easily.
The black and bright pick-up piece, was destined to become a cushion cover – which, as you can see, never happened, but I think the time has come…….
I don’t often weave specifically for selling and have never thought of myself as a production weaver. I don’t accept commissions either – these are tricky in the extreme. I weave because it fascinates me, and invites me to continue learning and exploring – it feeds both brain and soul.
So, while the state of my work table might look more than a little chaotic, it means that the state of my mind is rather like the weather – calm, placid and comfortable.
Not a bad little refuge in the middle of a very stormy Winter!
This might of course all change before next week – we’ll just have to wait and see!
Until then…..
