a pamphlet

Been recouping from a cold and chewing on some of the latest on line conversations and exchanges, while slowly stitching what has turned out as a statement. It was not intentional,i was trying to keep busy and not feel miserable while a warp hangs around waiting for its turn to be converted into reality.
As i said on line - this is not elegant, quoting myself :( -i do not care what i'm called whether be it artist, fiber artist or gift to the world. i don't even care what i call myself.
But it's fibers that i enjoy working with, that make me want to go into the studio every day, that encompass the lens through which i make literal and figurative connections, see, understand and express many things.
It dawned on me -excuse me if you already knew this- that while it's interesting ,because it's eccentric and could be even cute, that men endeavor in fiber related pursuits, the minute a woman takes a needle in her hand she starts losing IQ points. So we become apologetic. And develop cover ups and linguistic cop outs.
Therefore for those of you who are old enough to remember Marshall McLuhan
here you have in book form my take on him . Sorry Marshall!

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the killing of the cream colored weft

Don't tell me this doesn't look better than this? Perhaps it has to do with envisioning something.The silk weft has a beautiful luster and is a good complement to the matte dark blue wool warp.And the color has the right amount of red.
Anyhow i think you have noticed there's a tendency towards aubergine color in this blog, haven't you?

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design principle#27

Soft ideas,soft lines;hard ideas, hard lines.

Matthew Frederic

101 Things I Learned in Architecture School

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the excitement has worn out

Over a year and a half ago, well before the crisis, i was reading all i could about the indie movement. It was a vibrant, intellectually stimulating and challenging time.There were dissertations on the political and social implications of the movement. There were talks and symposiums on cultural studies. People were blogging about the cutting edge of crafts, what it meant to be indie and embracing slow crafting.They were creating well crafted, witty and aesthetically pleasing items.In plain words it was an exciting time.

What has happened?Where has the collective momentum gone?
Whereas before crafters were creating their items at the sound of their own individual drums now everyone seems to be following the market's dictum competing with it in a lose lose situation. If it's February it means hearts and red, and let's not talk about Halloween.
This situation has brought out the uglies; cut throat competition amongst crafters, knock offs, rip offs of other people's images ,undercutting fellow crafters. Need i continue to make the point clear?
Everyone seems to have turned into a self appointed marketing guru flashing directly from the oracle countless tips and tricks while looking down on those who do not posses the buzz word to the oracle.

There has also been a relevant diminution of ideas and worse, of quality in items.It seems that the same article gets produced over and over and you see the same things everywhere. Items get hashed and re-hashed until they become unbearably banal, as if mass produced, becoming the antithesis of handmade and the indie movement.The whole scene has become predictable and boring.
Crafting had a strong base on self satisfaction, on the pride of creating an original well crafted item.In other words an item with soul. (Read what Red Thread Studio has to say on this ).It was a community strongly rooted in in sharing ,educating and supporting. Very little of that is left.

The other day as Ruth and i were talking about this she pointed out the economy as the culprit.But i believe there's more than that. Can the economy be blamed for the sloppiness of items, the aggressive behavior of some crafters? Can it be blamed for the no questioning herd like behavior?
i believe that perhaps selling venues have their share in the outcome.i believe that many venues and crafters as well have succumbed to the siren songs of growth. I also believe that a general call to order needs to be issued.Or else...

Perhaps i just fell for the idealistic part and the intellectually stimulating component without noticing the rest. But then again were it about marketing i'd be in Wall Street, or perhaps The City which is more cosmopolitan.

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design principle#23

Reality may be engaged subjectively, by which one presumes a oneness with the objects of his concern, or objectively, by which a detachment is presumed.

Matthew Frederic

101 Things I Learned in Architecture School

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on a one person mission

to save the world economy. Between last Friday and today i've done more than most secretaries of treasury to help the economy.Last Friday i ordered the yarns above. Gorgeous 2/48 merino from Colourmart. This is the second time i order from them and they always amaze me with their fast delivery. A dark blue, a tad darker than the photo, a black , a brown /charcoal melange and a dark charcoal cone will be woven into a very restrained Oelsner crepe cloth for a top.difficult to create a new crepe bcause Oelsner mapped them all out.

On Saturday i ordered 4 books from Amazon.Don't think they qualify for the mission as i used a gift cert i had.But still they fall within the shop till you drop scheme.
On Monday i ordered a new Elna sewing machine. i wanted the 5100 which is relatively simple in bells and whistles, but it has what i need-want.And price wise i do not have to rent out husband-san by the hour in order to buy it.
i also bought some embroidery threads while at the shop.When i go back to pick the machine up i'm contemplating getting some accessories such as embroidery feet and twin needles.
And this coming Friday i'm checking out a tailor dummy with Ruth.

All this shopping activity is very unusual to me because i'm not into shopping and shopping is not my idea of a fun pastime. So this definitely is a mission.
Can't wait to chill out and start weaving

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tadaaaaa!done

Remember this? Already finished fringe twisted, wet finished and pressed.Twisting fringes is even more boring than doing hems. And i have a battery operated twister and i also go to the park or my terrace to give myself some amusement time.
The photo shows both front and back but the off white is going to be killed. Color has not been decided yet. Perhaps a dark aubergine? Ideas?

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results

Skein after two days soaking in walnut hulls liquor.No mordant.No heat. Just a daily stir. It's not what you call instant, but it could be filed under the automatic category :).The silk skein will be cured for at least three weeks and then rinsed.
Came out looking like your most gorgeous Clairol(TM) or L'Oreal(TM) or whatever present hair color fashion.
Found out that hulls can be kept for as long as a year yielding color provided they are covered with water. Sustainability anyone?


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not a beauty photoshoot

More like the horror. Yesterday the walnut hulls were tackled.They had been sitting, floating to be more precise, in water for two weeks but i have a feeling they could have stayed in water longer given the color of the water. But now or never. i'm ready to call the natural dyeing year over.
i had to improvise a filter because i had not foreseen the sludge that forms at the bottom.DUH!
My drying rack turned upside down came to rescue. Love it when one can get multiple uses from objects .

And now a beauty before closing. This silk skein was dunked in the dyeing liquor and will stay there until it gets a nice color.It was not scoured. Ana Lisa Hedstrom dyes unscoured silk fabric obtaining interesting results, so i've taken the lead. It has worked on this particular silk with both natural and synthetic dyes.
Slow dyeing again, before ending the season. Although i'm thinking about overdyeing one of the akane dyed skeins.And then wrapping up.

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Taking care of other projects have kept me away from the loom. Not a complain because it has been lots of fun. And as a fringe benefit i was able to use my Chinese calligraphy brush for the first time in over 15 years! Estrenar: such a wonderful word in Spanish! Somehow use for the first time does not convey all the excitement and anticipation of the act itself. Too many labial sounds.

Going back to the loom and getting to the much anticipated 846th pick where the treadling mirrors. Sixty six centimeters woven with a soft silk bourette on a wool warp. My friend Ruth winced when i told her about using hairspray to control the stickiness of the wool. She told me to pump up the tension and and was absolutely right. Of course she's a real weaver who holds a weaving degree, not an impostor like me.
That extra bit of tension adds a minute space to the shed and helps the wool pop down when the shuttle is introduced.
i think my only complain about my magic dobby loom is the small shed. And after years hesitating i recently had husband-san design an extension for it. With a couple of centimeters gained for the shed life will be good and the loom will finally deserve its first name.

Turning a page i still have the walnut hulls in water. Not overly concerned because the weather is chilly, but chilly or not two weeks is a lot of time. Will have to look into that over the weekend.
These gloriously crisp and clear fall mornings with that beautiful mellow light are more conductive to long walks and reflecting rather than working.

Have a great weekend!

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