Another crazy idea

This past weekend, Jeane and I were talking about sampling. Both why it's important and why I, personally, have such trouble doing it.

When working on the shirt last year, the benefit of sampling was absolutely clear. I'd never have come up with the final fabric had I skipped that step, and I ended up with a garment that pleases me to no end. Keeping that in mind, why do I still struggle with sampling? After thinking hard about it, I settled on the fact that it's really, really time consuming. And it means a lot of time and effort to get, well, a scrap of cloth. That's a tiny bit less appealing than going straight to a project - or minimizing the amount of sampling that I do.

That realization hatched another Crazy Idea for this coming year. Lynn, you are also a bit responsible for this. Your thought of working toward, and building, a sample book got me to wonder if we can't all work together on this sampling thing. As each of us works on a garment, or project, I'd like to toss out the idea that we *all* sample for it and then exchange what we've got. For example, if I want to do something in wool, but don't know about sett, I could hand off two sample setts while I do the third. I'd even be willing to wind/send a warp if that'd make the process go more quickly. Then we'd each weave off our portion, cut and finish and send to the other two. That way, we'd get a wide variety of samples, at different setts, and help to build out our respective sample books. Jeane even said that she'd be up for joining in.

So there's my next crazy idea. And, I'm totally in for helping you two with sampling as well.

Thoughts?

As time allows

I'm going to continue to take advantage of the few days I have down here with Jeane to write a bit more about what we've accomplished and how it's continuing to refine the plans for next year.

Yesterday, we did a quick draft/muslin for what will, hopefully, become the basis for the four vests. It's drafted from my sloper and it's deceptively simple. As is so often true, the devil will be in the details. We talked about construction, finishing and the other small steps that will make a big difference in the final result. And, between now and month-end, I'll set aside the equivalent of a day to make a full vest from commercial fabric. JoAnn will be more than happy to sell me something and that'll give me a much better idea of whether or not the pattern will work as I'd like. And, if not, I know how to make it better. Learning is happening!

Best of all, I gave notice yesterday. It was time and more than time for me to go. I had no interest in going back full time, and unless I did so, I wasn't going to be able to drive the change I think is sorely needed. So, I am doing so in an amicable way. Boss is sad but understanding. Colleagues don't know yet, but that'll happen next week. And, with that burden lifted, I feel ready to take on this challenge and really make things happen. Solstice is coming. The year is turning. I can feel it.

Prep and more prep

Every day I get more comfortable with the notion of being focused next year - and my plan of four vests still feels good. This weekend, I'm spending time with Jeane again (and she's going to come and play with us here, too!) and we talked about The Plan, The Vests and ways to narrow it down even more.

I'm now thinking about a single pattern. Each vest will be cut and constructed in the same manner and that allows for another bit of learning - experiencing how each fabric has it's own requirements when becoming a garment. Ease, finishing, etc. are all driven in some part by the fabric; these four vests will help me to get my head around that part of the process.

Tomorrow morning we'll draft the vest pattern and my homework between now and January 1 will be to cut and sew the toile, and possibly a finished piece from commercial fabric, so that I have my "control". It will be a simple waistcoat - fronts lined, the back either the lining fabric or something else (I could do otherwise, if I chose), v-neck. A perfect canvas for experimenting.

We're also talking a bit about starting to narrow the experiment further and I think that I'll start with one that is wool, one that is linen. The first one because it's comfortable and I feel confident about being able to sort it and the second because I'm nervous and it's almost totally new. That should bracket things nicely. It's also an excuse to get out the dyes.

It feels like the plan is coming together nicely. And thinking about this focused, directed weaving was so wonderful that I ran an extra mile today. Because I missed my turn. Because I was happy at the thought of doing the work.

Thanks for the kick in the butt, Lynn.

Because Reasons

Well, I wish I had sold more scarves at the craft sale yesterday, but I didn't.  So, I've been dissecting my reaction to that fact today, and therefore thinking about why I weave.

So do I weave to sell?  Well, no.  I don't really need the money, although it feels like "free" money that I can spend on more weaving toys.  I didn't like the pressure this year to produce salable scarves, so I don't really want to weave the same commercially acceptable things over and over.  I don't really want to bother with an Etsy shop or anything like that, because it's a lot of non-weaving bother.  On the other hand, do I really want bins and bins of stuff I've woven cluttering up the house (did you see the video of the Dutch woman who had knit 500 sweaters in the past 65 years - 500 sweaters that had never been worn?)?

OK, so do I weave for the recognition?  You know - oh, Lynn, you weave beautiful scarves! and all that.  Well...yeah, that's part of it.  I'm always a little starved for attention, alas, a result, I think, of being one of five kids (in nine years, yikes).

So, why weave, when I could do something else that's more likely to bring attention?  Well, I've always liked the interaction between color and pattern, particularly small bits of each.  And fabric/fiber/yarn.  So of course, I've finally found my way to weaving.  I love plotting out a project.  I love dressing the loom.  I love taking a finished piece of cloth off the loom and dancing around with it - and then you get to wash it and gasp in amazement at how much better it is than when it came off the loom.  I love putting cones of yarn together and squinting to imagine how they'd weave up together.  I love reading weaving books and books about ethnic textiles.  I love the interaction between the intellectually challenging parts of weaving - grasping how a weave structure works, calculating the yardage, sett, etc. - and the tactile and visual parts of making cloth.

There are no doubt more aspects to why I weave, but this gets to the heart of it, I think, and thus I think I can fairly quickly move past the disappointment of not selling more scarves.

However, this mental exercise makes me think that in 2013, I ought to weave mostly for the sake of exploration.  Just wander through sample after sample, trying out color interactions, different yarns, loom-controlled weave structures along with handwork, and so on.  Play, in other words.

But grown-up play, to a certain extent.  One of the books I bought recently is Virginia West's Swatch Book.  It's a spiral-bound book with 20 swatches of actual fabric, woven by Ms. West, plus instructions for weaving and comments on possible uses.  Here are a couple of photos, to give you an idea:

 

 

 I'm thinking it would be a useful exercise to make a swatch book for myself this coming year, with copies for you all, if you want.  Making such a notebook will help discipline my explorations.  Whether I make nine projects a quarter or only one, keeping organized samples seems like a good idea for many reasons.

What do you think?

Running On a Bit

I find that I do some of my best thinking when I'm doing something else. In this case, running is absolutely a time when my mind starts to wander toward problem solving. The problems to be solved seem endless - How do I get colleagues/customers to do what I need them to do? Where should I start cleaning the house (hint: the upstairs bathroom)? how much more is that guest house going to cost? You get the drift. Fortunately, today I let my mind start trying to solve the "What to do in 2013" problem that we've been discussing. I managed to get a good hour of contemplation in while jumping over fallen trees, avoiding mud puddles and spying a bobcat. I didn't even trip/fall. Win!

So, Lynn - you talked about scarves. I thought a lot about scarves, but I also know that I rarely wear them. I like the idea of them. I like making them. But, I don't wear them, so they're not really a finished product for me. I could talk myself into them being samples, but that's still not going to be satisfying. I also thought about bags - but I have *one* bag that I love and use all the time. Those lovely friends that have multiple purses and change the purse with the outfit? Unfathomable. And not going to happen. They'd be pieces that would sit around and not get used. Though, I could see them as repurposed scarves! :-)

I finally landed on vests. I *like* vests. I have two three handknit vests - one handspun - and I wear them often. And the fabric commitment is small enough that I could easily make sufficient fabric for a vest within a short period of time. Also, vests are supposed to be "eclectic", right? Like a jacket but not something you put on/take off all day. Plus? Buttons. What more can I say?

Next weekend is another Palm Springs weekend - but this time just Jeane and me. It's too close to the holidays for Suzanne (she'll be there *this* weekend to get "caught up") and Barbara's out of vacation days so it's just the two of us. Slopers, muslins and maybe starting a joint article for Handwoven. I'm going to bring up this idea when I'm down there and see what she thinks. If I decided to go that route, then we can start making a pattern for a vest. I like the idea of having a "Control" - which would be the pattern - and using that to decide how I like fabrics, colors, etc. And it'd also tell me where I need to be in terms of cloth width, yardage, etc. There's also opportunity for embellishment with embroidery, inkle- or tablet-woven bands, the whole nine yards. Lots of cloth structures would be fun - Monk's Belt, Overshot, Twill. Lots of fabrics - wool, silk, linen, cotton. I don't think that one a month is reasonable (and that'd be a LOT of vests!) but one a quarter, I think, would be doable. And that would mean a drawing, then a sample, then a finished garment.

Separately, there are specific home-front projects that I want to do and that includes a rug for the studio, curtains for same, and some blankets. The Big Bag of Columbia/Mohair worsted 2-ply may become blanket and rug yarn, we'll see.

So - what do you all think about vests? Also, the fabric and sewing learning from the cloth should help be step left-ward to a jacket, right-ward to a shirt/tunic. Or even to a coat/skirt/etc.

Yup, it already feels good. Maybe I can get one done before the holidays ...

Another Thought

Here's another thought I want to record, brought to the surface by buying a bonanza of used weaving books today:

• Sift through the weaving books and magazines I have, and select a few drafts/projects/inspirations that I'd like to follow up.  I often re-read all of my old Handwoven magazines every winter, so this would be way to choose the patterns I like and then prioritize among them to choose the three most appealing ones to try in January, February, and March.  Then I'd repeat the exercise for the next three months.  I'm thinking I could use the printed pattern as something to sample and then to build on.

A Few Thoughts, to Begin

It's December 1st.  I'm rarin' to go to plan out some projects for 2013, but I hab a code that is affecting mostly my brain power, so I'm just going to jot down some notes today, and I'll flesh them out later.

There are several general ideas running around in my head as for what I'd like to do in the first few months of 2013.  I don't really want to commit to specific goals beyond March just yet, because I'd like to leave room for responding to the first things I weave and quite possibly going off in new directions, following my interests.  So, here are three possible paths I'd like to consider following, on the continuum from Should to Want:

1. I have a lot of yarn and fiber.  I'd like to use up what I've got.  This is clearly on the Should end of the scale, and so may very well be too confining, if virtuous.  On the other hand, I've often found that setting some outside parameters at the beginning of a project can be freeing, in the sense that some decisions are already made and I can use my brain to push harder on other parts of a project.
2. I have some weaving projects planned out that I haven't gotten around it, and I'd like to weave them off in 2013.  Some examples:  A) I wove Jesh a really lovely shawl of silver Icelandic two-ply and medium-gray alpaca; I have enough yarn left to weave a similar shawl for myself.  B) After working with Sara back in July, I wove a two-yard sample of red silk, cotton, and rayon.  The sample turned out great, so I'd like to weave 6 or more yards of it and make myself a jacket.  C)  I spun 3 pounds or so of Rovings Polwarth, Briar Rose BFL, etc., to weave jacket fabric from.  And so on - there's a rug warp already wound, the warps I painted with Sara, who knows what else tucked away in various bins.  There aren't all that many such projects planned out, but I'd really like to weave them.
3. On the Want end of the continuum, there's the idea I keep coming back to of working in a series.  Start with samples - maybe a gamp? - weave a scarf or jacket or runner or whatever, look at it hard, and do it again, better.  And then better again.  By better, I don't mean just technically better, but more better-conveyance-of-idea, instead.  If the colors of a blue jay against white snow and dark green spruce boughs inspires me to weave a shawl, I suspect the first such shawl I weave won't quite measure up to what I see in my head, probably because I am lazy and I won't put enough time into the kind of complexity I want to see in such a shawl.  I know I need to practice keeping up enthusiasm and momentum over long, complex projects.

Three ideas, not mutually exclusive.  What do you think? Could I do one from each path in each month, January through March.  That would be nine projects altogether, which seems reasonably do-able.