Four Selvedge Conquered

Well not really. I guess I should have said, " 4 selvedge finished".

That alone is something for me to be proud of.

four selvedge warping set-up on a Sara Swett inspired loom

As you may remember, I went off to see my friends Traudi and Jeanne for the 4 selvedge fun this past October. I learned that there is some skill involved in the warping, particularly in maintaining even warp tension from side to side.
I'm glad I followed advice to make a narrow piece. This is part of my ongoing series of questions: Who ?

ah, the telltale unevenness of a 4 selvedge warp amateur...that funky edge at the top.

One interesting thing I noticed involved values, as my Who suddenly turned into Whop. I couldn't get that out of my mind so I rewove that shape this morning to a lighter value.

Always something to learn.

The Red Stripe

I'm always interested in the development of an idea and where that germ begins. The piece I am weaving now began with a tree down the street last autumn . The colors were incredible, the warm reds and greens of the sugar maple. Near the end of my dyeing season I had just enough stock to do a few complementary runs and fiddled with the formula for the actual red and green. In particular, I wanted a warmer red.

I over-dyed greys and charcoal along with my usual white and cream and did 3 different depth of shades to get lights and darks. What else to do with the results but work on a portrait.

laying in the initial blues for the t-shirt

As you can see from my photos I have started the face next to my last tiny t, it's about 6" wide and I'm not sure how tall it will become before it ends.

had to block out that gal on the left so I could see properly...

All the yarns for the skin tones are dyed from this sugar maple mixture. The dyed hair stripe gives credit to the great advances in such things since my mother told me never bother dyeing my hair - it's bleach blonde or jet black you have to choose from. Now, so many marvelous choices.

notice I re-wove the shadows of the nostrils...a touch too dark

The eyes will appear soon. This girl means business.