2.04.2008

I love weaving!! ( I say it loudly, really!!)_to answer your questions in comments.......

Shiri Me asked me if weaving is difficult to learn! I am not sure it's " difficult" but I want to say it's a bit " complicated". The main thing is to set up the loom, there are several steps and every of them needs to be taken care carefully. Usually it takes me an hour to finish the setup. Sometimes it takes even longer.

I did struggle a lot ( trust me!!) First, the class is not cheap, and you need time to do it. Once I enrolled the class, I made myself to go to the studio almost everyday (but not weekend), and I tried to stay there as long as I can. Simply I don't want to waste my money.

Right after the class finished, I immediately decided to buy a loom from studio. I think at that time I was losing my mind, I was so afraid that I would forget whatever I've learned from the class if I don't have loom at home. I threw my last bit of saving on the loom. ( It was right after our wedding and a trip back to Taiwan) Also I got a smaller loom. It was a 8 harness table loom had been converted into a floor loom. It' s smaller but still take a lot of space and It only fits in the front door so I can't move it into my studio. The interior doors were slightly smaller. We knew we probably could reassemble them but we gave up. It's ending up sitting in our living room now.

Of course this is not the happy ending yet! I did found some little problems ( I want to say little because I don't want to scare you). It's a 8 harness loom but the one I learned in studio is 4 harness. I definitely need a 8 harness book, but I missed a bid on Ebay. After that I didn't see any more 8 harness weaving book. So I decided to solve this problem by myself. I did learn how to do the drafting in the class. So from the tie-up patterns of this 8 harness loom I figured the way to do twill or diamond pattern (see the picture above). That means I can do any patterns now. It was at least 2 hours looking at the numbers and I kept telling myself to be calm........

The first time working with this loom was NOT so easy neither. When I learned setting up loom in studio, Babajam was always there. We always chatted and did it so naturally but I found it so much different to set it up all by myself. I had to squeeze my brain to remember every steps!! It took me forever to finish the setting up for the first try.

CL reminded me a very important thing when he was helping me to set up the loom. He said " come on, can you make it more workable?? can you do something with this crappy loom???" I was a bit mad with him. I said " it's a old old machine, you can't do anything with it!!" And then he answered back to me, " NO NO NO, you definitely can do something with it, you have to adjust it to become YOUR machine.... thousands thousands years ago people invented the loom, it just made of wood pieces with very straightforwards mechanics...."
I totally agree with him now. I did make some little adjustments and I know I will do more later on.

Of course this is not the end of the story yet... b

I hope you won't get bored with my weaving story or scarves.


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Two new scarves I made last week before I got sick. They are super super soft . I used alpaca for warp and played with different textures and mixed a lot of colors.



16 comments:

bugheart said...

i LOVE
to hear
about
your process
of learning
(and seeing
your scarves)...
i hope to take
a class soon!
thanks for
sharing!
xo

the daily purl said...

I enjoyed reading every bit of this post - the story of your weaving and the beautiful textures and colors you create are inspiring.

Erin Curry said...

I love hearing about your adventures in weaving, and these latest scarves are beautiful. Don't stop!

marie said...

i want to learn weaving desperately too!
your story was very inspirational for me! merci.. and do write more!

Nidhi said...

the experience seems tedious but wonderful and your scarves are prettier each time. I love them.

shari said...

your scarves are beautiful. thanks for sharing a bit about the process.

Anonymous said...

these are so beautiful!! i loved reading how you started weaving. you must really love doing it!

Kim said...

a weaving class - sounds like so much fun!

Lyn said...

your scarves really are SO lovely and inspiring. i have thought about taking weaving classes and appreciate your sharing your experience here. keep sharing, please!

j said...

you took on an 8 harness loom by yourself. there must be some award for that. a medal. something.

well, congratulations!!! (seems so inadequate!)

your work is beautiful.

love the story :)

Unknown said...

the scarves look utterly fantastic - I want them all.

http://www.theshinysquirrel.com

thisisnaive said...

I think every bit of investment is worth it. The results are so pretty. And the sketches have an unfinished beauty too.

Anonymous said...

This is so interesting, and your work is so lovely. I love these 2 new scarves, especially the turquoise.

neki desu said...

hi
try to get hold of Carol Strickler's
a weaver's book of 8 shaft patterns. you won't need anything more. For a while:) ask me how i know.
best,

neki desu

Anonymous said...

I love your inspirational story, it's one of determination to learn and experiment. The end results are fabulous, hope you never give up.

Anonymous said...

I like your story-)
I am learning bookbinding by myself,and I met many difficulties
thank you for your inspiring story

I have seen the loom when I was travelling in a small village in yunnan,China.the loom was made by the local people.