ione

I'm always interested in trying new dye techniques. For this project, inspired by the sea, I wanted to investigate the role of water in dyeing and how it's use - in quantities greater and smaller - might affect the outcome. My prior silk warp dyeing - for Conservation of Matter and Energy - involved the direct application of dye to fiber. The method I chose for this project utilizes the presence of water to create gentle gradations of shifting color.

The Warp

The warp includes Mulberry silk dyed in small batches in my very large crock pot. To each batch I added slightly different shades of blues, greens and purples and I experimented with the water levels. When more was added to the pot, the dye was more likely to mix with a neighboring color, yielding surprising color combinations. The water diluted the dye, creating gentle gradations of color within each skein. The hot, acidic water prepared the fibers to take the dye. Each batch was kept at a simmer until all dye had bonded to the fiber and the water was clear. This is a very satisfying moment - when the murk has cleared and you're left with beautiful variegated yarn floating in water!

summertime experiments with cooking silk

testing the clarity of water after washing and rinsing each silk skein

some silk: dyed, washed, rinsed and ready for the loom

I dyed enough silk to allow each skein to fill one section on the loom. While beaming the silk, I grouped together skeins that were dyed in the same batch to create a of progression in color from light to dark. Each individual strand has within it all the colors of the yarn in that section. These colors shift down the length of the warp, which appears more or less striped as like colors gather and disperse. This is met with an occasional pop of a bright green or purple.

The warp wasn't yet finished. Last Spring, when I was working on Weave 2 Together - which combined a similarly variegated warp on one beam with a smooth gradation on the other - I really liked the effect that was created when the two were combined as I was weaving a plain weave header in setting up the loom. (The rest of the project was woven in an echo weave which distinguished the two warps rather than combining them. You can read more about that here.) I found that the second warp added a wash of color, much the same way a weft will do. It also added interest in it's gradation - slightly shifting the balance of color from one rail to the other. With this project, I wanted to pursue this earlier thread. I chose to combine the subtle transitions of color in the silk with a clear gradation of color in a separate warp on the other beam. A smooth gradation of blue-greens in cottolin is thus combined with the kettle-dyed silk. I love silk paired with linen and cotton!

The Weave

The warp was threaded in a balanced sequence - with each thread from the silk warp followed by one thread from the cottolin warp. I used a 12-shaft twill draft derived from the pattern I used for Agave and Annabelle Learns How to Weave. I chose this draft for it's subtle pattern and tweaked it slightly to create an even simpler look. For this project, I didn't want the weave pattern to compete too much with the color work. The weave adds a bit of interest but isn't too distracting. It has a dense interlacement that provides a cushy feel. It is a characteristic that pairs very nicely with my favorite fluffy cottolin.

The weave -shown here with the Tsumugi silk weft.

The weave - shown here with the first Mulberry silk weft

The wefts

A number of wefts were employed in varying shades of blue. Weft fibers include Organic pima cotton, Mulberry silk, Tsumugi silk and superwash Merino wool. All but the Tsumugi silk are hand-dyed - some by me and for this specific project. Some I had on hand. One I had left over from a previous project. This one I over-dyed to better suit the colors of this warp.

As mentioned above, I'm always interested in trying new dye techniques. In many recent attempts I have been working on methods for dyeing cellulose fibers (cotton, linen, hemp, for example) that will yield the same soft transitions of variegated color that can be achieved in acid-dyeing silk. The process is completely different and I've found that for cotton dyed with fiber reactive dye, the removal of most water from the process - a sort of low-water immersion variation - yields similar results. With practice, I've found ways to allow each skein dyed within a batch to be very similar to the next such that weft changes are much less noticeable. Some of the wefts employed in this project are not quite there yet and I've indicated which pieces have weft transitions that are more noticeable. I don't know if it's something that bothers anybody but me. But it does bother me enough to try to avoid it and to disclose it when it's present.

three hand-dyed wefts. at left is Organic pima cotton and is an early attempt at smoothly variegated color. center is the same technique after some more practice. at right is an acid-dyed silk weft.

The Wraps

from top: Organic pima cotton v.1, mulberry silk v.1, Organic pima cotton v.2, Organic pima cotton v.3, superwash merino wool, Tsumugi silk, mulberry silk v2

ione Organic Pima cotton v.1 wrap features hand-dyed Organic pima cotton. The weft is the most recently dyed skeins of Pima. When this weft was dyed, my technique was well-practiced and there is little variation from one to another - making weft changes very subtle. The weft was dyed with a mix of blues and purples. It leans toward a periwinkle or dark sky blue overall with added dimension in lighter blues and purples. This wrap is a bit more densely woven than the other pima weft wraps and a bit less soft.

ione Organic Pima cotton v.1 4.4 meters and 28" wide $572 approximately 285 g/m^2

ione Organic Pima cotton v.1 4.4 meters

ione Organic Pima cotton v.1 4.4 meters

ione Mulberry silk v.1 wrap features a Mulberry silk weft kettle-dyed in a manner similar to the silk in the warp. It is slightly variegated, predominantly dark blue. The overall color leans toward dark blue-green. It should be noted that the silk weft used for this wrap is not as soft as that used for v.2 but I think it will soften nicely with use. There is also a portion of the lighter rail's selvedge with a longer float (interlaced every 3 threads instead of 2). I have reduced the price to account for this minor cosmetic flaw, which occurred during weaving.

ione Mulberry silk v. 1 3.7 meters and 27" wide $408 approximately 300 grams/m^2

ione Mulberry silk v. 1 3.7 meters

ione Mulberry silk v. 1 3.7 meters

ione Organic Pima cotton v.2 wrap features hand-dyed Organic pima cotton. For this weft, I took some skeins I had previously dyed a light wash of sea glass. I over-dyed these with my variegated technique using blues and purples. It has a lot of variation in color within the skein. The skeins do not vary much from one to another so transitions are not very noticeable. The overall color leans toward a muted turquoise. Along with the pima weft v.3, this is the airiest, fluffiest wrap of the bunch. There is one area with some skipped threads that are not very noticeable and do not affect the integrity of the wrap. I believe one of the harness must have gotten stuck and loosened itself before I noticed there was a problem. The price has been reduced to account for this minor cosmetic flaw.

ione Organic Pima cotton v.2 4.9 meters and 28" wide $605 approximately 285 g/m^2

ione Organic Pima cotton v.2 4.9 meters

ione Organic Pima cotton v.2 4.9 meters

ione Organic pima cotton v.3 remnant features hand-dyed Organic pima cotton. The weft has been dyed with a variegated technique in deep purples, blues and light blues. This was an early attempt at the technique and, while the colors are the same from one skein to another, the distribution of the colors vary, making weft changes very noticeable. I considered scrapping this piece and making pillows but it is one of the airiest, fluffiest of the bunch and will make a divine ring sling (or shawl)! I hemmed the end with the most even skeins to make the weft changes less noticeable when this is worn. The price has been adjusted to reflect the poorly matching weft yarn.

ione Organic Pima cotton v.3 2.25 meters and 28" wide $263.25 approximately 285 grams/m^2

ione Organic Pima cotton v.3 2.25 meter remnant

ione Organic Pima cotton v.3 2.25 meter remnant

ione superwash merino wool wrap features madeline tosh lace-weight superwash merino wool in the colorway Clematis. It is a deep, moody blue with a subtle sheen that leans toward purple and provides a beautiful contrast with the warp. It does have some variation between skeins and will show weft changes a bit more than some of the other wraps. This is the most dense of the wraps at 320 g/m^2 and also the softest.

ione superwash merino wool weft 3.3 meters and 28" wide $429 approximately 320 grams/m^2

ione superwash merino wool weft 3.3 meters

ione superwash merino wool weft 3.3 meters

ione Tsumugi silk wrap features Tsumugi silk in a dark blue-green with characteristic flecks of white throughout like sea foam. It is the thickest of the wefts and shows the weave structure very well. It has a rustic, matte finish. 

ione tsumugi silk weft 4.4 meters and 27" $572 approximately 290 grams/m^2

ione tsumugi silk weft 4.4 meters

ione tsumugi silk weft 4.4 meters

ione Mulberry silk v.2 wrap features Madeline Tosh Pure Silk Lace in the colorway Blue Nile. It is the brightest and lightest of all the pieces.. The weft color blends well with the cottolin portion of the warp - allowing the variations of color in the kettle-dyed silk portion of the warp to read clearly. 

ione mulberry silk v. 2 weft 3.2 meters and 27" wide $416 approximately 280 grams/m^2

ione mulberry silk v. 2 weft 3.2 meters

ione mulberry silk v. 2 weft 3.2 meters

All wraps are ready to ship and will be available for purchase in my shop on Tuesday, October 25th at 12:30 PM Pacific. You may click on the photo for a link to the listing page. However, the page will remain closed to traffic until password access is removed at the time that the listing goes live. Before then, you may contact me with any questions you may have through the business page on Facebook or tag me in the Facebook Chatter page, Wonder Woven Love. Thanks for reading!!!

Indigo v.1

I have a fascination with indigo. The long history of this plant-based dye and the deep, rich shades of blue drew me in. But the mysterious process by which it is fixed to fiber without the use of a mordant intimidated me. My love for the color was not enough for me to take the deep dive into learning how to create a vat. Until I had some motivation!

For the last several years I've enjoyed working with the students in my daughters' classes each spring on a project to be auctioned in support of the school. The classrooms are named for colors and I like to use the color as a starting off point for the project. When my older daughter learned she would be joining the Indigo room, I knew I had the inspiration for her class auction project and I set out to learn how this dye process works.

We began by taking a workshop with the talented L.A.-based artist, Graham Keegan, on block printing with indigo. The year prior, we had really enjoyed his workshop on Shirbori dye methods using indigo. This one promised a new resist technique and discussion on how to build and maintain an organic indigo vat.

I took what we learned in the workshop and ran some experiments of my own over the Christmas break. I wanted to find a recipe that would yield good results and be easy to create with 23 3rd- and 4th-graders. I made the cold iron vat that we used in his workshop but I also tested three other vats - each with a different reducing agent: henna, fructose crystals and madder root. As suspected, the colors varied in each and I ended up with skeins of yarn dyed in a variety of blues. Happy with the results, and clear on my recipe, I set this yarn aside and continued preparations for the school project.

the indigo vat - you can see the coppery film that forms on the top.

skeins of yarn dyeing after their initial dip

I dipped some several times to get a full range of colors

The School Project

The class auction project was a big success! Each student measured their own skein of yarn. A small group worked with me to create the vats we would use. Each day we would attend to their temperature and check their pH, making adjustments as needed. I worked with groups of 6 children at a time to tie their skeins and dye them such that each would be unique.

measuring the yarn

dying the yarn

the vats we used

The yarn was arranged on the loom in a striped pattern so each child could identify their work. With this warp, I created a throw blanket and set of pillows in a pointed twill weave. The weft I used was a natural cotton yarn.

The wraps

I still had 3 lbs of indigo-dyed yarn at home to play around with. It remained in a bin until a sweet mama contacted me with a custom she had in mind. She mentioned loving blues, special hand-dyed fibers and images of splattered paints. I wondered if this might be the warp for her and she agreed!

all the blues

Along the way, she sent me this inspiration image. To create something with the same level of delicate detail, we chose to work with an 8-shaft crackle draft.

The skeins were wound and sorted by color. We wanted to create a gradation of blues from one rail to the other. 

the concept for the warp

I set about beaming the loom.

The warp!!!

We knew it would be a short warp - just 15 yards - and we hoped it would yield two wraps and possibly a ring sling piece. She chose a sister for the second long piece and we looked at wefts, including a number of natural yarns and one dark blue tsumugi silk. In the end, Egyptian cotton and seacell/silk were chosen - in addition to the tsumugi for the third piece.

the natural yarns

the tsumugi silk

Egyptian cotton weft

seacell/silk weft

Tsumugi silk weft

So 15 yards did not get us as far as we had hoped. But we did end up with one 4.8 meter wrap with Egyptian cotton weft, one 3.6 meter wrap with seacell/silk weft and one lovely shawl with Tsumugi silk weft to add to my collection!

indigo v.1: three little birds ec weft 4.8 meters approx 250 grams/m^2

indigo v.1: three little birds seacell/silk weft 3.6 meters approx 230 grams/m^2

indigo v.1: three little birds tsumugi silk weft shawl approx 225 grams/m^2

I find it so crazy that such beauty is derived from the muck in these jars!

the lovely vats <3

I'm calling this one version 1 as I know I'll be doing this again. It is slow, slow work. The indigo vat is like a living thing. It needs to be crafted with care and attended to. It must rest between use and requires patience to maintain. But it's a very rewarding process. I'm hoping to be diving back in again soon.

Weave 2 Together

silk sea cell weft

THE CHALLENGE

For The Great Competition of Weavers - Special Edition - IBC 2016, we were asked to design a wrap based on the theme Wear Together, Grow Together. It was required to have a monochrome or ombre component and we were provided with the following inspiration image:

THE CONCEPT

The concept for my competition entry is to represent visually the purpose of a wrap- which is to bring together a mother and child and to restore the unity experienced in pregnancy. Toward this end, I chose to work with two warps - each hand-dyed and beamed separately- interleaved in two separate sequences of advancing twill. The two warps are woven together in an echo weave, which allows each warp to be perceived as separate and as half of a whole. The variegated portion of the warp represents the mother, who is consistent but complex. Her character is revealed through an interplay of color that sometimes yields surprises. The child is ever-changing, growing. Change and growth are represented in the monochrome portion of the warp through a gradation of color from left to right. 

Above, the variegated warp. Below, the monochrome gradation

THE PROCESS

Both warps are made from sustainably grown Acala cotton, grown and spun in the U.S. I chose the yarn for it's soft and squishy feel - which I thought would complement the fluffiness of the weave. For the multi-color warp, I created four separate colorways with varying shades of blues/purples/plums and turquoise. Because I wanted this portion of the warp to be consistent and complex, I beamed all the yarn together in each section. This allows the variegated portion of the warp to read as a single element and for the gradation of the second warp to read more clearly.

hand-dyed cotton warp #1

The second warp was dyed in a manner similar to the first, but with one single blue-green color that varied in concentration for each of 10 skeins. In beaming the second warp, the varying values were mixed to ease the transition between light and dark and to provide an additional layer of complexity.

hand-dyed cotton warp #2

THE WEAVE

The two warps were brought together in a structure that employs each in an alternating sequence across the width. It is treadled in a manner that advances and reverses, pivoting on advancing intervals to form the shape of curves that resemble the curving elements in the inspiration image. The advancing and reversing is a process that is experienced in the weaving as a literal reversal of the dobby bars and is analogous to the development of a child, which often brings advances and regressions. The overall pattern develops in absolute symmetry where the exchange between the two warps is reciprocal - much as the process of wrapping is soothing both to the mother and to the child. The wrap restores wholeness to two separate individuals and the weaving creates a whole from two separate warps.

I used as my inspiration for the weave a pattern by Bonnie Inouye found in the January/February 2008 issue of Handwoven called Two Patterns for Two Scarves. Adjustments were made in the threading, sett, yarns and treadling to adapt it to the purpose and make the project uniquely my own. I had tested the weave structure on a shorter, separate warp of two colorways of hand-dyed merino/silk. This is currently being made into a pair of cowls and pillows. The two cowls will be made available as giveaways - one at the IBC booth and one in the Facebook chatter group, Wonder Woven Love.

One tube cowl packaged for gifting at IBC!

The wefts

Three pieces were created using three different hand-dyed wefts in superwash wool, silk/sea cell blend and mulberry silk. All wefts play on the blues of the first warp, each highlighting a different tone.

The Superwash wool weft wrap

The weft for this wrap is Madeline Tosh Lace - a 2-ply, lace-weight superwash merino yarn. The darker color of the weft yarn sets off the pattern very nicely and the wool adds a lot of texture. It is a bit thicker than the others at approximately 365 grams/m^2. The length is 3.3 meters. I think this piece is going to stay with me. 

Madeline Tosh superwash wool weft

Madeline Tosh superwash wool weft

Madeline Tosh superwash wool weft

The Sea Silk lace weft wrap

The weft for this piece is hand-dyed 70% silk/30% seacell 2-ply lace weight yarn. In terms of density, it's in the middle of the three pieces, at approximately 330 grams/m^2. The length is 5 meters. It has a beautiful softness and is wonderfully supple. The color is a bit more soft and subdued than the others. This piece will be available through my Facebook chatter group.

silk seacell weft

silk se cell weft

silk seacell weft

the Mulberry silk weft wrap

I hand-painted the weft for this piece in brighter shades of blue with highlights of iris, violet, green and turquoise. The weft has a lovely sheen and lends a lightness to the finished wrap, which weighs in at approximately 315 grams/m^2. The length is 5.2 meters. This is the piece I have submitted to the competition. It will be available for purchase in person by silent auction.

mulberry silk weft

mulberry silk weft

mulberry silk weft

mulberry silk weft

mulberry silk weft

Both wraps together...

silk seacell weft above, mulberry silk below

Hyacinth

I've been wanting to create a warp with Venne organic cotton for some time now. When I saw the new colors available, I could no longer resist! The colors call to mind spring-flowering perennials and include sherbet orange, magenta, cloud, the mysteriously-named Anemoon, green-turquoise, raspberry and apple. These are sprinkled with other Venne colors and a bit of Egyptian cotton, as well. To maximize the floral effect, I chose to weave this in an intricate 8-shaft crackle structure.

The warp

The Wefts

Two pieces were made with cottolin wefts (Neptune and Greenish-Grey) and two were made with cotton wefts (hand-dyed pima cotton and silver). The Pima cotton was dyed by me in tonal variations of Sea Glass.

Neptune organic cottolin weft

greenish-grey cottolin weft

Sea Glass Pima cotton weft

detail of Sea Glass Pima cotton weft

silver cotton weft

The Wraps

Weights for the wraps range from approximately 280 - 330 grams/m^2, depending on weft. They have a textured feel, are nice and grippy with a good amount of cushioning. 

Hyacinth with Neptune organic cottolin weft - SOLD

Hyacinth with greenish-grey cottolin weft - SOLD

Hyacinth with Sea Glass Pima cotton weft - SOLD

Hyacinth with silver cotton weft - 4.5 meters approximately 330 grams/m^2 $513

Plus a cowl!

There was one section that ran out of yarn before the rest, reducing the weaving width for the final meter. An error in beaming yields this lovely cowl! It features selvedges along the top and bottom rails. It stands 16" high and is sewn to form a loop 32" around.

Hyacinth with silver cotton weft cowl $120

Conservation of Matter and Energy

The Spring 2016 Competition of Babywearing Weavers brought us the theme "Under the Microscope". This was my fifth competition and by far the most fun for me! In this competition, I discovered the world of photomicrography - a world rich with imagery and color. I also found a love for painting silk - a technique I had not previously tried. And I finally used all 16 shafts on my loom - something that took quite a bit of tinkering! 

The Inspiration

My inspiration for this wrap was a polarized light micrograph of the rhizome of the cup fern, created by Dr. Stephen Lowry for the Nikon Small World photomicrography competition. Some qualities I tried to capture in the image - along with the colors - were the sheen and the intricate, linear texture of the plant structure. 

The Process

To best represent the sheen, I chose to create a hand-painted silk warp. 

The silk skeins

My set-up - this was a fun day!!!

I painted 10 individual skeins - each with one dominant color (at full concentration and diluted to produce a tonal effect) and highlights in contrasting and complementary colors.

The skeins were then steamed to set the dye. This part was messy and caused my husband many headaches trying to fix the stovetop that I broke in the process. 

drying yarn

Ready for the loom!

The skeins were organized on the loom as a gradation from primarily purple tones through blue, turquoise and green. The effect is one of a smooth gradation across the width of the wrap with subtle variegation along the length that offers up the occasional unexpected change in color.

beaming the warp

The full warp on the loom

A 16-shaft draft was chosen for the linear quality produced by the subtle diamond pattern in the cloth. The draft can be found in the book 2500 Armature - Intreccio Per Tessuti Di Lana, Cotone, Rayon, Seta by Eugenio Poma.

Eep! Almost ready to weave!

One last thing to do before weaving - dyeing of the weft. I chose to dye Pima cotton in a brilliant Sapphire blue. Immersion-dyeing is not my favorite thing in the world (more on that below) and this one took 2 tries to get the depth of color I was after!

After the dyeing and rinsing and washing (and rinsing, rinsing, rinsing) and tinkering with the loom...the weaving begins. This is about the time I named the wrap - it's meant to be ironic considering all the work that went into this one single wrap!

The weaving at the fell

The weaving at the cloth storage beam

The Wrap

It is important to note that all the photos above were taken pre-wash. The wrap required more washing to completely discharge the dye than I would expect from a wrap woven with commercially dyed yarn. The type of dye I used on the silk is highly wash fast and light fast and the heat-setting method worked really well to affix it permanently to the fiber. It was the weft (dyed with fiber reactive dye) that caused me more trouble when I was wet-finishing the wrap. The result of the washing that was required to discharge the dye is a loss of sheen on the silk yarn. The weft also has more of a washed appearance than in the pre-finished photos. It is still quite lovely (and oh, so soft!) but be aware that it has the look of cozy cotton with little sheen on the silk. I think the weave structure still reads very nicely in the finished piece. It is a flat weave that has a nice amount of cushioning. The selvedges are un-hemmed  as I prefer this simpler finish. As one might expect of a more experimental weave, there are a few missteps that may be noticed on close inspection. These are minor, cosmetic in nature, and do not affect the integrity of the wrap.

This is representative of the colors of the wrap.

Shown here with a sample of the painted silk to show the difference in sheen

The wrap is 5.1 meters long, 70.5 cm wide - it is approximately 280 grams/m^2. There will be information on how to purchase the wrap in my chatter group - wonder woven love - on Facebook.