Summer Saturdays Art in Bixby

Two-tone shibori-dyed scarves, plain weave and gauze ground fabric. Silk warp, polyester weft. The silk takes the dye, and the polyester is thermoplastic so it sets the folds permanently.

These and more of my work will be at Bixby Expo Art tomorrow. The theme this Saturday is "Weird Science". Aug 11, 2018, 3-6 p.m., 4321 Atlantic Ave. Long Beach, CA.

Leno Iridescence?

My summer project is to do some more experimentation with leno and gauze weaves.  One thing I wanted to try is to push the boundary of how light and airy I can go with this structure, so I am trying some very fine silk yarn.

I also thought that with all the different angles the yarn takes, it might be a candidate for iridescence.  The real proof will be when I get it off the loom, but I think it is happening: here are photos of the fabric on the loom from two different angles.  One angle is showing the reddish weft more, and the other the blues in the warp.  This fabric is plain gauze, with each pair of warps twisting the same direction at the same time.
 

Cool colors for a hot project

Painting a warp for some gauze scarves in fine silk.

Another Old Friend

Ha, ha - I just realized this is my first-ever post about spinning.  Oh, have I missed spinning - and I didn't even realize it.  I dusted off my spinning wheel the other day.  Literally dusted it off.  The poor thing was pretty filthy.

I had this "art batt" in a pretty green-based palette of mixed fibers (wool, bits of silk and viscose) that spins up into a textured yarn.  I'd spun a bit of it some years back.  I oiled up the wheel and finished up the batt.

I noticed that the batt had become matted in places.  Not too badly; I was able to coax it by opening it up sideways and then predrafting it lengthwise before spinning.  But that matting that occurred just from it being in the plastic bag and moved from one basket or box to another over the years gave me the idea it might felt well also.  So with some of it I made a piece of matching felt.