Ta-Dah! Clean Loom

It's now finally all clean and stacked on the dining room table. All, that is, except for the reed, which is still awaiting some work with a spare toothbrush.

The next step is to figure out how to shorten the jacks and lamms so that they still function correctly and provide an adequate shed. DH plans to make a mock-up with scrap wood and test its operation before he begins to shorten any real (maple) parts.

I've been doing a web search for the jack-and-lamm setup on any 22-24-inch jack looms, but haven't found any that use a similar system. For example, the Schacht Baby Wolf and the Leclerc Compact appear to have lams that stay parallel to the floor, and pull down on the outer ends of the jacks which makes the inner ends push up. The Artisat, on the other hand, has lamms hinged on one side, and they pull down on the inner ends of the jacks which makes the outer ends push up. The resulting action on the shafts is the same - they rise - but the direction of push vs pull differs.

If anybody out there knows of a small jack loom whose lamms and jacks operate like the Artisat, could you point me to photos, please?

Still Scrubbing

There's at least one more day of scrubbing to go - the main body of the loom, the rectangle consisting of the castle pieces and the box that holds the jacks, which will be done tomorrow.

In the meantime, the dining room is filled with loom parts drying and waiting to be shortened and/or reassembled. The hardware for each assembly is stored in plastic containers next to the assembly's wood pieces.

It's a good thing I have an abundant supply of rags - you would not believe how filthy the loom was. There are no signs of years of actual weaving use, just many signs of rough handling and abuse (cigarette burns, dog pee, fur balls, grime, water damage, insect cocoons, etc.). I'm delighted I can give this almost-40-year-old loom a bright, shiny future. Francois Bressard at Leclerc confirmed via email that it was built in 1975, based on the serial number; even though the office is closed for the Christmas and New Years holidays he's answering emails.

They made good looms back in 1975 - the wood is all fine-grained maple, and much of it is tiger maple, as you can see in the piece 2nd from left in the photo immediately above. All solid wood, no laminates or plywood, just good honest solid hardwood. DH is drooling: the 12 inches he cuts off the horizontal pieces may yield some wood for turning into small items like bottle stoppers or needle cases or ...?...

A New Loom

I've just acquired a new-to-me (but nowhere near new) loom. $200USD - how could I resist?

The loom is a 36-inch Leclerc Artisat, built in 1975, if I'm interpreting the serial number format accurately. What I wanted was a small (in the 22-24-inch range) loom with either 4 or 8 shafts. Mostly I want one because I have quite a bit of handspun yarn that I need to use up during my lifetime, and the loom waste on the dobby or the jacquard is 24 to 36 inches, which means too much handspun down the drain. And for $200, plus some time investment, I'll get what I need.

All the heddles are the thin wire kind, and rusted to hell and back, so they need to be replaced with some inserted-eye heddles, and some small plastic parts are suffering from material fatigue and just shatter if  you touch them. I've ordered replacements from Leclerc. Thankfully, the included 8-dent/inch reed is stainless steel, so I should be able to clean it up and then shorten it a bit to match the new loom width.

So, after I spend a few more days cleaning this baby up (I can't believe how filthy somebody let this loom get - it really needed a new, loving home!), and DH provides some labor to shorten all the horizontal pieces, I'll have a [cleaner, smaller] loom to use for my handspun, or any other 4-shaft project.

Here's the before shot, with the shafts and treadles already removed:

Merry Christmas

Here in Los Angeles, the camellias are in bloom (at home, they aren't quite ready yet).

It Must Be Christmas!

We have Phalaenopsis orchids and Amaryllis lilies in bloom at the same time. It's got to be Christmas.

Happy holidays to you all, whichever flavor  of holiday you celebrate - have a wonderful time with family and friends, good food and wine, and good textiles too!

Woven Portrait Finished and Mounted

It still needs the floater frame, though, which is currently drying in the garage/woodshop.

Here it is, posing with my grandmother's pincushion and a matching red lamp to show scale.

Progress in the Studio

I apologize for being silent for so long - it's been busy around here. First there was the show in San Francisco last weekend, then a mad rush to complete the loom prep so I can weave a commission that's due before Christmas.

The new 30-yard warp on the jacquard loom is finally tied onto the remains of the old warp, pulled through the heddles, cut just past the knots, lashed to the cloth apron rod, and ready to weave.

Here's the view looking toward the back of the modules:

The image I'm working with is this one. My client is an electrician who does a lot of work for a property services company, whose staff are pictured. This will be his Christmas gift to them.

First, I wove a one-inch test strip - located at about face level in the image - to verify aspect ratio and to make sure the faces would have enough contrast to be recognizable. After tweaking both aspect ratio and contrast a bit, I felt confident to begin the real weaving.

I particularly like the way the checkered dress worn by the woman on the left is coming out.

By dinnertime, I had woven 200 picks (monochrome images go fairly quickly) and will be able to finish weaving tomorrow so DH can measure and cut the wood for the canvas stretcher and frame. I hope to deliver the finished work on Sunday or Monday.

My Workspace

For a few days, anyway:

KPFA Crafts Fair

Coming up this weekend:

If you're in the greater Bay Area, I hope you can attend - it's a good show! We'll be in booth #165 at the Concourse Center, Eighth and Brannan Streets, San Francisco. See the KPFA site for somewhat more legible details.

All Cotton Socks Are Not Created Equal

Yesterday's dyepot contents have now been washed and dried. It was a black direct dye (RIT type) which normally dyes cellulose and protein both in one pot, so when I want to dye socks with Lycra in the ribbing, it usually colors both fibers. Not this time. Or, maybe the sock labels lied when they listed fiber content. Always a possibility, especially given the difference in the colors I got out of the pot.

The pair on the far right is much darker in the ribbing, lighter in the foot. The pair on the left I knew wouldn't take the dye in the creases of the ribbing - it's a plaited knit with an undyeable elastic only in the back side of the ribbing. Same with the shorter socks next to them. I knew the "gold toe" socks would still have a gold toe - that's probably acrylic. But the difference in the degree to which the socks absorbed the dye is surprising. Must be some synthetic in there somewhere. It's a good thing I needed some grey socks, isn't it?

Speaking of black, while the socks were dyeing, washing, and drying, I managed to finish winding the jacquard warp. Hooray! Now, on to the knotting.............

Still Chugging

I had no studio time yesterday, and not much today, but the jacquard warp winding process is moving forward.

I'm hoping that one more day will see the end of it, then I can start tying on to the old warp. Thank heavens for the iPod and a big music library!

Brrrr!

The temperature dropped to 16(F) last night. Thankfully, no snow like the Midwest and Eastern States are getting. Just crystal clear skies and ice in the courtyard fountain.

The persimmon tree has finally dropped all its leaves, and the birds are feasting on the fruit left on the tree. I didn't pick the ones that had marks where the birds had already tested them for ripeness. (No problem, I still got two big boxes of persimmons that the birds hadn't gotten to yet, which will get washed, peeled, quartered, and frozen to use throughout the year.) The birds manage to peck a hole in the fruit and then hollow it out, leaving the skin almost intact. The tree looks like it's got holiday decorations hanging on the branches!

Chugging Along

Winding a warp onto the jacquard loom isn't a quick process. Thirty sections, 48 warp ends per section...

My right foot has been bothering me (probably plantar fasciitis), so standing for long periods is off the agenda.  So, between winding sections on the loom, I've been stirring a dyepot. Remember the wood dyes I demonstrated during Open Studios? Well, I saved the Wenge dye liquor, and today I added some dissolved ferrous sulfate to deepen the color, and tossed in a few pairs of socks that were a blah beige I didn't really like. Bingo! Nice deep brown, a color I'm more likely to wear.

The problem with dyeing socks with fiber reactive dyes is that the lycra or nylon in the blend with cotton doesn't take the dye, so the ribbed legs of the socks get a very strange stripy look - the cotton on the "outer" ribs takes the dye, but the lycra on the "inner" ribs doesn't. Using a natural dye solves this problem - both fibers accept the dye. The fact that the dye is essentially free of charge makes it all the more appealing.

I periodically turned on the gas under the pot, being careful not to exceed 140(F), and now the pot is resting overnight, wrapped in towels to keep in the heat as much as is possible in a studio with windows on 4 sides of the room. Tonight's temperature will be well below freezing, and all that glass cools the studio down very effectively, even with shades and curtains drawn!

Studios on the Park

The Handcrafted for the Holidays show and sale begins on Thursday, December 5, and runs through Christmas.

Hours:
Thursday 12 pm - 6 pm
Friday 12 pm - 9 pm
Saturday 12 pm - 9 pm
Sunday 12 pm - 6 pm

Location:
Studios on the Park, 1130 Pine Street, Paso Robles, California

Today's task was to take my work to the Studios and set up my 8-foot table.  The Studios provided tables and table covers for those exhibiting for the event, and along with my table came a generous amount of wall space, some of it adjacent to the table, and some around the corner to the left. Here is one shot of the table:

The show occupies the central gallery space running through the middle of the building from front to back, with individual artists' studios on both sides. The "window" behind my table looks into one of the artist studio spaces; I was instructed not to obstruct the window too much, so I was careful about placement of framed pieces, trying to obey the rules as much as possible and still display a range of artwork.

The Christmas ornaments should sell well:

These two are among the group of pieces on the wall around the corner to the left of the table.

If you are in the Paso Robles area, drop by -- you might discover some great one-of-a-kind holiday shopping!

Next on the Agenda

Whew! This is turning out to be a very busy pre-holiday season!

The Paso Robles Art Association (of which I am a member) is sponsoring a Christmas event at Studios on the Park in Paso Robles. Handcrafted for the Holidays will be on exhibit at the Studios, 1130 Pine Street in Paso Robles, CA. Hours are Thursdays from noon to 6pm, Fridays and Saturdays, noon to 9pm, and Sundays, noon to 6pm, from December 6 through 30, 2013.

The opening reception is on Saturday, December 7, from 5pm to 8pm. Please join us to celebrate the start of the holiday season!

This piece will be there; I hope you will be there, too!

Don't Forget!

This afternoon, from 1:00pm to 4:00pm, Barr Estate Wines, Union Road, Paso Robles.

This one will be there... Hope you will too!