Some of my summer students from Callanwolde came over for dye day. This was really the blind leading the blind as I had not done acid dyeing on my own – until now. My friend, Colleen, is a dye mistress and gave me some advice. Thanks Colleen.
The students dyed silk for a scarf and wool for a double width blanket. We stumbled our way through the process from dye application to steaming, rinsing and steaming. Here it is hanging to dry. All of this yarn is beamed on in the studio and it looks promising.
I was too busy getting covered in dye and helping to dye my own warp – especially since I had not wound it yet! So my dye day was the next day. I decided to paint a 9.1/2 Silk warp for a warp faced experiment. I put the yarn through a reed and took it outside with the mosquitoes to see what would happen. My mom sent me a photo that I used for the inspiration.
I clamped the reed onto my table and stretched the warp rod and lease sticks to the other end of the table over the top of some brown paper – finally a good use for the packing material that comes in every package.
That silk looks pretty coiled up there. I mixed up 3 colors – fuchsia, orange, and green, and got started using foam paint brushes. I sprayed the silk with diluted vinegar water first to help the dye soak in. I was in a watercolor mood so that seemed right and it seemed to work out so I will probably do that next time also. Here is the first 2 yards or so. I was trying to make the flowers and pots flow down the length of the fabric. I had a squirt bottle of left over turquoise so I dropped a little of that in here and there as the whim directed. It is abstract but do you see the orange pot rims?
After painting the first stretch I covered it in plastic wrap and wrapped the whole thing, lease sticks and all, jelly roll style. The brown paper is on the left and the plastic covered warp is on the right in the picture below.
I replaced the paper and stretched the warp out along the table for the next 2 yards, painted the warp, covered it with plastic and rolled it up.
Here is the last bit – it had started to thunder and a deluge was threatening so I scooped up the rest of the dye with my hands and finished up in a hurry.
The whole thing went into my massive steamer for about an hour. 6 yards of silk make a pretty big jelly roll and I wanted to be sure it got fully cooked. More may not be better but it seemed like a good idea.
I let it cool and rinsed it in the sink. There were no ties, only lease sticks and a and a pair of rods at the end. I was expecting one hell of a mess but, unbelievably, I hung it on my drying rack and used the lease sticks to “comb” out the tangles. Honestly, it worked like a dream – so much so that when my back was turned the cross dropped off the end. Oh no.
I was able to replace the cross after it had dried after a fashion. I tied the warp on my Delta (Little Sister) and with a liberal application of Cowboy magic, was able to beam it on. I used the raddle I made for my TC2 – came in very handy.
I broke my threading record with this really easy straight draw threading for plain weave – 256 threads per hour up from 220.
I decided I would use 60/2 silk as a weft in plain weave since I wanted the warp dye to take the focus. I almost never weave plain weave and after this I will probably do it more. It was a little hypnotic throwing that shuttle, watching the colors roll by and advancing the warp. It was very satisfying and calming. In no time I had woven all 6 yards. I’m used to using a Dobby loom (Megado, Big Sister) and my TC2. Those have a rhythm of their own that is decidedly slower than stepping on Little Sister’s treadles. I definitely get why production weavers are not huge fans of dobby looms.
Anyway, here’s how it turned out. I can see some of the original intent in there and some surprises. The colors shifted magenta and the orange lost out to magenta and green but it is still cool. Also, notice the 4 thread shift in the colors. I think this is due to warping 4 in hand on a really big stick. I will probably measure it but I think the diameter of the stick made that yarn coming over the top just a bit longer than the yarn coming off the bottom directly onto the table top. Anyway, I like it and think I might experiment with different sticks and numbers of yarn in each “loop”.
Also, while weaving away, I began to see other images in the colors as they rolled by – a rainy night in the city, waterfalls, etc. I have been weaving using my watercolors as the inspiration. I think I may round trip that idea and do some paintings that are inspired by the color vignettes I see in this cloth. Who knows?