Sunday, December 22, 2013

Eccentricity

"Cranks live by theory, not by pure desire. They want votes, peace, nuts, liberty, and spinning-looms not because they love these things, as a child loves jam, but because they think they ought to have them. That is one element which makes the crank."
 — Dame Emilie Rose Macaulay

eccentricity:
1. an oddity or peculiarity, as of conduct deviating from the recognized or customary character
2. a measure of the noncircularity of an elliptical orbit, the distance between the foci divided by the length of the major axis

I've been thinking about eccentricity as in #1 above lately, finding myself putting aside tasks on my should-do list to eke out time to repeat more and more versions of my weave/sprang structures.  I like the quote about cranks (eccentric people) from Rose Macaulay, not just for the sentiment but because it has the words "spinning" and "looms" in it.  I'm not quite sure what a spinning-loom is, but I'm sure I ought to have one.

Since eccentricity means also the non-round-ness of a curve as in #2, the term also fits this project.  Most of my fabrics so far have featured sprang areas each of whose width equals its height, the sprang therefore fitting within a square.  I've been wanting for some time now to experiment with sprang motifs where the aspect ratio of the height to width varies within a project, yielding various rectangles instead of just squares... so the shape of the curve formed by the edge of the sprang also varies.  This piece, in doubleweave/sprang, explores the resulting different eccentricites, as well as the effect of different sizes, textures and spacing of yarn.  I think my choice of varying textures in the light neutral scheme was influenced by Rosalie's scarf that she did in all-white with the different textures.

The photo shows the breadth of variation: from the skinniest 4-thread braid (in the foreground) to a sprang section wider than its height (in the background).  The warp is composed of various odds and ends from my yarn stash, all in neutral whites, off-whites, beige and silvery gray.  It has wool, rayon, cotton, silk and various blends.  It has sett (ends of warp per inch) varying from 12 to 32.  Surprisingly, it was fairly well-behaved to weave; I thought I'd have a lot of trouble with sticky sheds and varying take-up, but it was forgiving enough to get through well over a yard of weaving, a length long enough for me to be satisfied that I had explored the concept enough to call the piece done.

10 comments:

  1. Deanna I absolutely love your fabric. I am exploring Sprang as well but I am having a difficult time locating any drafts for doubleweave sprang. Can you point me in a direction or can you share your draft. Or how you designed your piece. I LOVE IT!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much for the compliments. Unfortunately there's nothing that I know of published on this exact structure. I got the idea out of a 1970s book on sprang and sort of evolved into it on my own. I guess I should work on publishing a book... or at least a downloadable draft!

      Delete
  2. Please, please, please start with a downloadable draft followed by a book!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I should point out that if your loom has fewer than 10 shafts, the doubleweave/sprang is not an option. But you can do the version based on a twill base fabric with very similar results. See photo in post http://fiberartisan.blogspot.com/2017/01/upcoming-workshop-on-sprang-and-weaving.html

      The draft for this twill version *has* been published in Handwoven magazine, Mar/Apr 2016 issue, available at http://www.interweave.com/store/handwoven-magazine-march-april-2016-digital-edition

      Delete
  3. I have done the twill version and enjoyed it but I want more!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh! I saw your creative piece in the Small Expressions exhibit at Convergence last summer. Loved it! My companion and I spent some time looking at it while I tried to get that it was sprang on those little bridges!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's great! I love it when I find something that makes me wonder how was that done?!

      Delete