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Ye Olde Portfolio

Christmas, and all that. Season's greetings, and so on

That's that out of the way.

Now, here's my prospectus. At the risk of sounding cocky, i should say that they sent me a letter saying they're giving me an offer. but it hasn't turned up in UCAS yet, and till it's there it's not official. So here's hoping for the efficient functioning of the higher education application process in the new year.

The back is made of rag rug, the pages are made of a plainweave check. i had to work very hard to get it full up in time and i was sitting in my room on the night before the interview sewing. but i got it done, and they seemed to like it. so here you go, i apologise for my poor photography. I am to the digital camera what Al Quaeda is to the middle-east peace process





















Comments

Anonymous said…
I hope I'm not jumping the gun by saying, Hooray! What a great Christmas present. A letter sounds pretty official...

That is an amazing piece of work. Your plaids and stripes glow. I especially love the moss green and pink, and the red white and grey one underneath! I think the idea of a fabric book combines two things that go together really well; a person interacts with cloth by looking and feeling and with the pages of a book the same way--the action of turning pages has the motion of getting a feel for the weight and drape of a cloth built in. Much more personal than mounting little squares of cloth on card or something. Bravo!
Jane said…
Sending the best of wishes to you HB! Can't wait for the 'official' official good news!

Your book is outstanding. When did you sleep??!! I'm thinking the Beck's helped, but there had to be caffiene in there somewhere. . .

Brightest 2009, and I'll be awaiting the fireworks!

Well done!

Jane
Andrew Kieran said…
oh yes, the beer. classic compositional error that innit?

i've actually had to go on the wagon cause i was developing an unhealthy habit, and i'm actually getting a lot done.

i discovered the right chair for the medium sized loom and ain't getting serious knee agony when weaving on it. that's nice.

i'm still having really serious pain-in-the-arse warp winding issues on the big loom though. i wish i knew why. it's just not coming together very smoothly. i need a better warping plan or something

i think next time i'm going to make the warp in segments of 50 or 100 or something like that and then wind them onto pencils and weight them individually. i might be able to keep them at more even tension that way.

you know, it's that way that the warp is sticking at the cross and you're always having to comb irregularities out? i put a 1000 end warp on the big loom last night and it took almost 3 hours to wind it. i suppose i've been spoilt recently because i've got so used to the little table loom that warping it up is just a matter of routine and presents no problems whatsoever and i'd forgotten that warping used to be a complete and utter nightmare every single time. now i'm back in the oh-my-god-warping-the-loom-is-a-nightmare zone and i'm not enjooying it.

of course, i could get a spool rack and make up spools of yarn and warp sectionally. i suppose i could use the money-otherwise-spent-on-beer on that i suppose

who loves Ashford? I love Ashford, they make lovely things
Anonymous said…
Sending warping empathy your way. I did a whole post about my anxieties about beaming on some time back. Even though my last two warps have beamed okay now that I am back to pre-sleying my reed and beaming through that, I am afraid it was due to a forgiving yarn and a short warp respectively.

It's hard for me to find the motivation to try out new methods with this part of weaving because it always feels like a case of, "Well, it was bad last time, but this could make it even worse. . ."

Based on what I see in blogs, I don't think many hobby weavers are putting on 1000-end warps. Or if they are, they are such old hands they aren't bothering to writing about how they beam them on. Someone did tell me they wind their warps in fairly small bouts: a not-quite-so-drastic version of your pencil idea. I hate the thought of messing with that many bundles of thread, but I am pretty sure the tension differential built my reel is part of my problem with beaming, so I am going to try to do at least one bout for every 9" of width from now on, and use s-hooks and weights (coffee mugs). I've also heard people say using a lot of cinch ties helps keep the warp from getting caught up at the cross; more than you think you need.

Yeah, sectional warping looks really good sometimes.

I've never seen Ashford equipment in person, but it looks good in the catalogs, and I figure anything from NZ has to be okay. My favorite professor in college was a Kiwi.
Anonymous said…
What lovely Ashford thing were you thinking of?
Andrew Kieran said…
the ashford joy spinning wheel, and the ashford warping frame.

mind you, i do need to disassemble and reassemble with glue i think, due to a slight tension difference, but that can be avoided generally by laying the warp on quite gently.

i think the possible reason behind the ease of warping on my table loom is that the warp is kept at tension while being wound, more than anything else. i generally wind 200 end warps on the table loom (almost everything in the portfolio is 200 ends) and hold it taut with my left hand while winding the beam with my right.

i am going to try 5 warp weighted 200 end sections first. if that doesn't work i'll try 10 100 end sections. i should be able to get a wider warp actually, as i have a bunch of spare heddles somewhere, maybe as much as 200. but i'm buggered if i can find them.

i think warping is generally supposed to be done by two people, 1 winding, 1 holding. i am also hampered by a lack of physical space in which to stretch and comb a warp. i would like to be able to stretch a warp out for 2 or 3 metres past the back beam and comb the snaggles out of it before winding, but it's just impossible. one of these days i'll have a workshop, then all my dreams will come true, just you see.

on the other hand, the answer may just be to sectionally warp, as i do have the ability. i'll maybe test out my idea for how to do it effectively first with some waste yarn i've got. if that goes well i'll try with the sticky troublesome wool, and if that works i'll try linen, which is of course a nightmare, but which i have managed to successfully weave on the table loom.

if i can weave a 1000 end linen warp successfully i will be a very happy man. next up would be kilt tartan, for which i would need to spend a fair wee whack of cash on expensive wool. but that's the way
Jane said…
::::raises hand:::: I do, I do -- love Ashford products. My table loom is an 8 shaft Ashford, and it's beautiful, travels easily, and is a joy to use.

HB, if you have the doodads to make for sectional warping -- go for it. Not having ever done so myself, you see, I want you to boldly go where I've not so that you can tell all.

1000 ends -- it would be nice to have a partner in beaming for sure. Good luck with that. I'm thinkin' those Becks bottles could be used for weights -- great way to repurpose them. . . ha!

In any case -- weave weave weavity weave!

Jane

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