I’ve been busy teaching. The Midwest Handweavers Conference was held at St Thomas College in St Paul, Minnesota. I taught a finger weaving class and then a sprang class. On the way to Minnesota I stopped in Fargo to visit. Kim Baird said I should look up another instructor while there, Donna Kallner. Arriving at St Thomas College, I was assigned a roommate … none other than Donna Kallner. What a lovely campus, and terrific vendor’s hall. I found just the yarn I was looking for, the right size yarn to work a more authentic version of that Coptic sprang turban. Back home, I’m working on yet another pair of sprang leggings. These will hopefully be more accurate to that portrait of a Venetian gondolier. Not quite sufficient time to finish those leggings, and I’m off to Colorado and the Intermountain Weavers Conference in Durango where I taught a three-day sprang workshop. Great to catch up with former students. And there was a batch of new sprang students The lovely thing about a three-day workshop is that students are supported through the learning process. By the third day some really creative things can happen. After the initial bag, and a circular warp lace sampler, and some exploration of twining, some students were ready to explore. We were looking at images on the internet of wildly braided sprang pieces. Sally offered to use her piece to explore this method. We began the process in class. Recently she sent me this image of the completed piece. You see, sprang is so much more than ugly bags and hats. After the conference I had the opportunity to tour Mesa Verde, Canyon de Chelly, and Bandelier National Monument, sites of ancient cliff dwellings. One room was clearly set up for weaving, a place for the upper beam in the ceiling, loops to hold the lower beam in the floor. Thanks to Laurie Webster and Glenna Dean for being my tour guides. In other news, I’ve been working on a collection of sprang lace patterns. I’m looking for individuals interested in trying out my lace patterns, giving me feed-back on the readability of the patterns. Any takers out there? Send me a note, carol at sash weaver dot com.
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Some of the things I’ve completed recently an oblique-weave sash And a silk military sash And a better version of that Egyptian turban This replica turban is based on a visit with a mummy in the collection of the Guimet Museum in Lyon, France. The turban is interesting as it makes use of a common phenomena in sprang: one side is not the same length as the other side. Here this was done intentionally. The part around the head is 3/4 the size of the ‘tails’. That is to say, the tails were packed more loosely. Here’s how it went: Once blocked, the tails can be wrapped around the front of the head, transforming this into a turban.
Spring is slow in coming here in Winnipeg. Today was a balmy above freezing temperature, but back down to below freezing tonight. Meanwhile, I’m busy with my sprang. I’ve been busy making military sashes. I’m also working on another pair of sprang leggings. These were inspired by images of Persian warriors fighting the ancient Greeks. Indeed a friend of mine is a re-enactor, who plays ‘Hoplite’ and will be going to Marathon, Greece, to re-enact the battle that made famous the practice of 23 mile runs. Yes, sprang can be ‘shaped’ and there is fair evidence that ancient Persians used the sprang technique to create form fitting clothing such as leggings and shirts. Here is my current sprang piece, destined to be leggings. The zig-zag pattern is achieved by the use of twining within a background of interlinking. For more information on sprang twining, check out my youtube videos which give you basic instruction on twining.
Instructions for the ‘W’ pattern can be found in my book Sprang Unsprung. The past few months I’ve been busy working on a replica of that amazing shirt in the collection of the Arizona State Museum. http://www.statemuseum.arizona.edu/coll/photographic/tonto_shirt.shtml The idea began with a visit to the Arizona State Museum in April 2014, in the company of cotton spinning instructor Joan Ruane. Joan offered to hand spin the cotton, but then somehow it became the job of Louie Garcia, specialist in Pueblo textiles. Louie grew the cotton himself, hand ginned it, spun and plied the cotton. It was excellent material to work with. I made two ‘trial’ pieces before working the real replica. Mapping out the lace pattern was one thing, mapping the ‘irregularities’ was another. In the end, the irregularities held much information. Based on these, I’ve come to the conclusion that the original artisan did not have the benefit of graph paper or any such means to calculate out the pattern ahead of time. Quite the amazing feat.
Inspired by that famous shirt, found near the Tonto Ruins in Arizona (check out http://www.statemuseum.arizona.edu/coll/photographic/tonto_shirt.shtml), I’ve created a shawl. The material was ‘sock yarn’ hand dyed by Glenna Dean of Abiquiu Dye Studios. It began as an extra long hang of yarn, eight ft in circumference. I asked Glenna to do a special ‘rainbow dye’, that is, to dye in sections, creating a multicoloured warp. Here’s the finished shawl. I knotted the ends to form a fringe. Now I’m working on a proper replica of that Tonto Shirt. I’m collaborating with the Arizona State Museum, who permitted me to photograph details of the shirt, and Louie Garcia, who will hand-spin the required amount of cotton (no small feat). Not wanting to mis-calculate the yardage required, as well as verifying my pattern-writing skills, I’m presently working on a ‘practice piece’. Looking at details of the original, I noted that the loops from front and back, where they meet at the shoulder line, are looped around a common thread. This made me think of Peter Collingwood’s ‘false circular warp’ setup. That’s the way I set up this shirt. It means I need a frame that is only half as long.
Now, re-examining photos I have of the front and back, I see that the back was turned over before being attached to the front. I’ll not be able to use this common starting line as the shoulder seam. I’ll have to separate front from back, flip one over, and then attach at the shoulder. October 2014 was spent in European travels. The impetus for the trip was the invitation to present information on sprang at the Early Textile Study Group conference in London. The topic for this year’s conference was Peter Collingwood. Dagmar Drinkler agreed to present her research on the subject of ‘tight fitting clothing in antiquity’, and I contributed my experience making leggings. I did take the time to tour around London, spent a day on a double-decker bus. While in the UK, I stopped in to visit friends. First up was Oli and Erica of Weavolution. They hosted me while I taught a finger weaving class to the Cambridge Weavers. Next I visited my friends Elaine and Andy. They toured me through Yorkshire, including a trip to Chatsworth House, an amazing place. Elaine and I talked sprang, and the probability that ancient Persians and Celts work sprang clothing. Back in London, I stopped in at Alexandra Palace for the Knit and Stitch show, on Oct 9, minding a booth for The Braid Society, and gave a class on finger weaving: Weave a scarf on the train. After the Early Textile Society conference in London, I travelled to Reading. There I was able to have a sneak preview of an amazing collection of braided pieces in the Reading Library, the Braid Society’s Biennial Exhibition. Near Reading is the town of Aldebourne where individuals interested in diverse braiding techniques meet regularly in the local town hall. Thanks to Sally, and to my hostess Rosie, I taught another workshop there, this time finger weaving (last time was sprang). On to the mainland of Europe. Thanks to Frieda who met me at the train station in Antwerp, Belgium. I taught classes in the Belgian town of Sint-Job-in-‘t-Goor. This was an ‘advanced finger weaving class’, the follow-up to a previous session. Participants explored some of the variety of patterns possible. The following day was a sprang class. Pauline brought a sprang cap that she had made after the sprang class last year. By then it was time for a rest. My friend Karin took me home. I sat in her backyard and worked on other sprang projects. Accepting an invitation to visit a very talented bobbin-lace weaver (this sister of a Winnipeg friend) I travelled to Braunschweig. Between discussions on the subject of bobbin-lace, finger weaving and sprang, we toured through downtown Braunschweig, and made a visit to the top of the newly rebuilt ‘Schloss’ and the Quadriega. On to the Netherlands. Braid Society member and friend, Ria toured me around the Netherlands. We had been invited to the island of Terschelling. Resident of Terschelling, Marianne, is a very talented textile artist. She also has an amazing collection of textiles. She introduced us to the neighbourhood chickens. While on Terschelling, I visited the local yarn store, Tante Lies. Come to find out, I’d been volunteered to give a talk on the subject of sprang at the Tante Lies yarn store. I brought along a frame, and people were invited to give it a try. While in the Netherlands I was privileged with a visit to another Ria. On Nov 1, I taught a sprang class in The Hague at the textile studio known as DeSpinners. Thanks to Dineke and Katia, this was a follow-up to a finger weaving class I taught last year. What a pleasure to spread the good word about these amazing techniques to individuals interested in learning. On to the final destination, Lyon, France. The Greco-Roman museum is built into the Fourviere hillside, right beside the remains of two Roman amphitheatres. If you’re in Lyon, you really should stop in, it’s a ‘must see’. The theme of the month at the Fourviere Gallo-Roman Museum in Lyon was textiles. I had been invited to give a lecture on the subject of sprang bonnets. This is the reason I’d been working on that sprang turban. Wednesday I presented a workshop for children (and their parents, grandparents) on diverse braiding techniques. Thursday I presented my lecture and workshop on the subject of sprang. I brought along several replica sprang bonnets that I have made. Sprang frames were available and seven women took the opportunity to explore the basic sprang technique. The Gallo-Roman museum had a lovely little sprang bonnet, on loan from the Textile museum. Back at home, I’m now trying to map out the pattern.
I’m working on a series of sprang patterns. Some people have commented that they need a bit more information than what is in my book. Maybe what people need is something like what has already been done for knitting and crochet, books of patterns for hats, vests, scarves and the like. I’ve gone back to the hats in my book as a starting point, describing the ‘how-to’ of these hats in greater detail. Now, just how much detail do people need? That’s the question. Here are three basic shapes of hats. I’m starting with a rather detailed step-by-step describing the making of these three. Once I’ve written out the basic instructions for these three hats, then there can be variations. For example, working a lace pattern on the tam, you get a lacy tam. OK, so I’m needing to write something about how you get the lace pattern, and then how to work the lace pattern onto that tam. I’m needing to do a similar thing for S and Z patterns. That’s this green hat. I’m open to suggestions for patterns.
My computer has been getting full, making it difficult to download more photos to share with you. OK, I’ve learned that there are solutions. It was a couple of trips back and forth to the computer store, and that excuse for not blogging is now gone. I’ve been busy since April. Let’s see. I made a series of shako braids for Norwegian re-enactors. I then worked on lace patterns for gloves for my daughter to wear at her wedding this Summer. Follow-up to that conference in Barcelona last March, my colleagues and I are working to produce a print version of our presentation to publish in the Proceedings. We decided that we needed better photos, so I made yet another replica of that bonnet in order to photograph the process. I finished off a couple of special-order sashes, among them a finger woven sash. Back in April, one of the vendors at Fibers Through Time, the woman behind Mary Gavin yarns, gave me two skeins to ‘sprang up’ into something. I created a shawl with this lovely yarn. Instead of shipping it right off to Mary Gavin, I kept it long enough to wear it to Handweaver’s Guild of America Convergence in Providence, Rhode Island. The yarn (linen and rayon) has lots of sheen, so the shawl looks spectacular. It was nice and slippery to work with. OK, now I’ll mail the shawl off to Mary Gavin. While at Convergence I taught two classes, on on finger weaving and one on sprang, and then a PowerPoint presentation on that George Washington sash replica. The students were great, taking on to the techniques like ducks to water. It was also great to meet former students, who showed me what they had done since we last met. And then there was the fashion show. Two of my vests made it through the jury to the runway. What I had not anticipated is that my vests would be worn by a male model. I’m thinking that the cheers were for his great body more than for my vests. I’m going to have to get a copy of the video. Most recently I’ve created a pair of sprang gloves to wear at my daughter’s wedding. This pattern was inspired by my visit to the Petrie Museum in London. Gloves are really a tube. You make a rectangle, wide enough for your hand and arm, long enough to satisfy you for the length. Because you’re working in sprang, you get two rectangles for the work of creating one. Then there’s the sewing up … leaving a hole for the thumb. I threaded a silk drawstring through the loops at the fingers. An elastic cord runs through a row near the elbow … that’s where I cut the two gloves apart, making knots to ‘seal off’ the stitches and prevent unravelling. A certain length of thread is required to tie those knots. Guess I need to trim the fringes a bit before the wedding.
My project for this holiday season is a bit of ‘clear out the stash before the new year’. I’ve selected a project that was planned in the Summer of 2012. I had access (thanks to Glenna) to industrial amounts of white sock yarn. Planning a garment of a size to fit me, I measured out rather long hanks (3 ft diameter). Glenna helped me to a rainbow dye job for this yarn. At the beginning of the holiday season, to keep me from overdoing it on the cookie-baking, I set up a warp. I tied a red thread around the centre of the warp to mark the neck opening, more about this later. For this to work properly, you have to use the circular warp technique. This means that the first rows of work are on either side of the centre of the piece. The first rows of work here are the shoulders. Inspired by the work of a Dutch sprang expert, Coby, I decided to double up the threads at the shoulder, switch to single threads below the yoke of the sweater. The secret to being able to push the false weave around is adequate width. I found that long shed sticks, spreading out the warp, moving the threads in sections was the key. Weaving progressed, here I am getting near the finish: the two ends approach. When only 5 inches was left between the two ends of cloth, it was time to cut the threads. I cut them 3 at a time, and tied an overhand knot, pushing the knot up to the cloth, working my way across the warp. Now I have to decide which side is front:
Looking through my stash for something else, I came upon a ball of fine singles handspun wool. Just the thing for a Bronze Age – inspired cap. Examining photos I took last Summer of items in collections in Copenhagen, many appeared to be constructed of a very tightly spun singles. Now, I have a theory. A very tightly spun singles might be just the thing for sprang. The amount of twist you add (or remove in the mirror-half) is insignificant with respect the the amount of twist-per-inch in the yarn. It has been my experience that, if I leave a ball of singles set for a year or more, that yarn is no longer fit for plying. It has lost much of it’s need to be plied … and is just fine to use ‘as is’. When I came upon that ball of my attempt at fine spinning, forgotten for over two years, I was delighted, just the thing to explore making a cap. Working with this ball of singles, I realized that my spinning was indeed rather inferior in quality. It was inconsistent in diameter and amount of twist. I held my breath that the thread would hold, no breaks while ‘spranging’. Indeed my yarn did hold. Some of the caps exhibited ‘interlinking’ stitches. Other caps, those that looked much more dense, were constructed with an mix of ‘interlinking’ and ‘interlacing’ stitch. I opted to explore the latter. The finished cap had much diminished tendency to curl. The cap laid flatter than caps I have made using commercial sock yarn.
Once again, hand spun yarn can be superior to commercial yarn. |
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