July

01.07.25

 

And the start of another new month - still going strong with these weaves. Although strong may be too much! A nice easy bit of twill for this evening in front of the TV.

02.07.25

 

Experimenting with inserting a shape into the weave - reasonably successful with a fairly wide sett warp. I would be able to construct a more circular shape with a denser warp, I think.

03.07.25

 

Just a weave on this one - fulfilling the challenge when I am very busy at the moment. Aware that I don’t have the head space to think of too many things - one of the drawbacks of getting older!

04.07.25

 

A more peaceful day so a bit of space to think more about what I want to weave. 

 

• Wondering what I am going to do with all of these weaves at the end of the year? Exhibit them? I follow Jessie Mordine who did this in 2023, and see that she has had an exhibition, and has also sold many of the weaves that she did. I don’t think I want to try and sell them (should anyone want them!). She has also had a book produced reflecting on the work that she has been doing - another idea - or maybe just a chapter in my PhD.

05.07.25

 

Going through a ‘chore’ phase with these weaves at the moment - chaos in my house as the kitchen is being replaced (definitely a first world problem) but my studio has been taken over and although I can get in there to work I can’t focus my mind. Too many decisions to be made to be able to make more decisions about weaving! My brain is getting old and tired!

06.07.25

 

This purple colour evokes a similar response to the acid yellow I have used - I can’t find a way of liking this colour at the moment! Using up the yarns in my ‘bits’ box.

07.07.25

 

Another bit of fun - the neutral colour of the warp and the insert wefts tone down the brightness of the blue weave.

08.07.25

 

Some hand embellishment on this weave - the gap in the middle is almost completely obliterated by the stitching in the middle. A combination of knitting stitch, weaving and sewing.

09.07.25

 

Lots of gaps and windows - good colour contrast with the two yarns.

10.07.25

 

Another split weave - these are quite fun to do, with the contrast in the colours. Hard to keep them straight as the twists in the connecting yarn pull the two sides in together.

11.07.25

 

Even though this is just a very plain weave, using the double yarn as the weft almost gives a basket weave and provides a bit more texture.

12.07.25

A bit of fun with some rya knots - a real shaggy pile carpet!

13.07.25

• A day at the beach - and my friend Tilly offered me some ‘spaghetti’  seaweed to weave with. 

• The image on the left  is the initial weave - on the right as the seaweed is drying out and creating gaps in the weave. 

• Very slimy to weave with, I rinsed it in fresh water and dried it out slightly but I didn’t want to lose the flexibility of the seaweed. 

• And the smell lingers longer!

14.07.25

And another version with seaweed I collected myself. 

• I do like the loose messiness of these weaves. 

• Interesting textures created with the different seaweeds - could I do something like this with wool yarns, using the shrinkage factor to create bumps and waves in the work?

15.07.25

 

A bit of a throwback to work I have done in the past with metal. And back with my paper yarn which I so enjoy working with. I almost feel a sigh of relief when I start warping up with it. 

 

• These small pieces are a pleasure to do - the lengths are not long enough to get in a tangle, but still give the challenge of the extra twist.

16.07.25

 

And so back on the loom, sampling for the big project  that I am about to start. 

 

• I have spent a few days trying to work out what I need to do - it is going to be a multilayered weave, so the number of ends has been a challenge. This weave has 6 epc. 

• I want a reasonably dense layer here - without adding a whole load more warp threads as the multiple layers will add further warps to go through the reed. So the weft has to give the density.

• I also want to get away from the regularity of a plain or twill weave (whilst keeping it as simple as I can) so the threading is a syncopated one - see Anne Dixon’s book, The handweavers pattern book, page 216.

• This weave is no 3 on that page - not as dense as I hoped.

17.07.25

 

• The same threading plan but this time using a plain weave instead - surprisingly these is slightly more dense than the previous weave. Did I just beat harder. 

• In sleying the reed I needed a ‘2-1’ repeat which has shown in the plain weave giving an interesting design feature -however this isn’t what I am looking for.

18.07.25

 

This uses the second  lift pattern on page 216 - and this is the one that is most successful. Decision made!

 

• It has certainly come out as the most dense (and I don’t think it is just the beating. 

• It consists of a plain weave in between a normal 2/2 twill pattern - so will be simple to weave in the multi layered design on my big loom. Or that is my hope!

19.07.25

 

Tried the same design again with a much thicker flax - this gives a really heavy, dense weave with a lot of rigidity. 

 

• The contrast of the white warp with the hessian is really interesting - very subtle but the pattern of the weave is more evident than the paper weave.

20.07.25

 

And again with a finer flax yarn. I think I prefer the previous weave - not only is the colour contrast more obvious but the contrast between the thick weft and the finer warp is more interesting.

21.07.25

 

Enjoyed this weave - I like the pop of colour that the red brings to the hessian. 

 

• Makes me wonder whether I should be putting a pop of red in the big weave that I am doing.

• Also wondering whether I need to make a length of paper chenille that I can add - I really like the effect that it offers.

24.07.25

 

A lovely hand spun cotton mix for this one - lots of lumps and bumps making for a beautifully textured weave. When I have the off fragment of yarn like this I think again about learning to spin - to develop the ability to make my own yarns. I like the different thicknesses, and the sometimes dense, sometimes sparse intertwining of the blue yarn. And there is the occasional injection of a bit of tan coloured yarn - randomly as if a thread was just picked up in the spinning. The randomness is good, it’s not perfect but definitely adds something to the yarn.

22.07.25

 

And again - the fine red thread is not as dominant as the yarn that I used yesterday - provides a softer contrast to the hessian. 

 

• I think I would like to explore this colour palette a bit more.

23.07.25

 

A bit of sparkle in this one, which hasn’t come out in the photo at all. Not my usual weave material but delving into my stash to find some yarn/ribbon that I would normally not weave with. 

 

• This one felt like fun to weave - a bit grey outside at the moment so this bought a bit of lightness into the room. Am I really going to start weaving with this kind of yarn? Surprisingly likeable.

27.07.25

 

Climbing steps? Or just a fun bit of weave to do. I am pleased that I managed to get it ‘right’ - the steps are all the same height/same number of picks and fit the frame perfectly. It took a couple of attempts, but I got there in the end.

25.07.25

 

Samples for the ends of my poster weave - for a conference

about paper. I love what this paper yarn does when it gets wet, so want to demonstrate this in the weave. 

• The bits of weft that keep the warp in place are removed once the yarn is dry - the the number of ‘kinks’ increase in the warp.

• I might try it with a bit of extra loose warp to see how that changes things.

26.07.25

 

The extra length is good and allows for more movement.

30.07.25

 

And another piece inspired by Alice Fox. I attended a workshop to learn how to make nettle cordage - this thread was what I produced, with the other sample being some of the nettle fibre that I did not cord. 

 

Alice’s work feels so rooted - both literally and figuratively - I wonder if that is some of what I have tried to achieve with the work that I have done with metal, and maybe the paper. The paper yarn feels much more connected to the trees and plants than cotton does, for me - even though I know it has been through so much processing.

28.07.25

 

A bit of a follow on from yesterday's weave - adding a stronger contrast yarn. These weaves are fine - some of them I even quite like, but how can I fall in love with this kind of weaving? I guess that most of these have little thought or reference behind them - it’s a ‘what can I weave today’, spur of the moment decision, so there isn’t much of me invested into them.

29.07.25

 

This piece inspired by the exhibition of Alice Fox’s work - Flaxen. Alice uses predominantly natural materials in her work and this exhibition at Kestle Barton.

 

This was made using a piece of brittle twig that I picked up on a walk. The little seed pods were so interesting, and I loved the shapes that they made. However this twig has been so brittle and hard to work with - I need to catch this material when it is a bit greener, or is a bit sturdier. 

 

I would like to work with this a bit more I think - or find my own way of working with natural materials - or maybe cast off, discarded materials - but no plastic! At the moment anyway!

31.07.25

 

The final weave of a lovely excursion a couple of days ago  to look at the exhibition by Alice Fox at Kestle Barton gallery and also discovering the Terence Coventry sculpture park near Coverack - both amazing venues in their own rights, with incredible artwork.

 

Punctuated by a glorious swim at Coverack - beautiful sandy beach, turquoise clear water and sunny/cloudy skies. A great day. So good for the soul all of these things!