I’m continuing to weave yardage on the 10/2 cotton warp, this time to explore patterning in dye applications. There are so many surface design techniques available that it’s hard to know where to start, but I’m going to start with a modest experiment: white on white except in places where simple figures are stenciled in, using thickened dye. This will produce a “white” scarf with areas of pattern. I’m looking at the balance between size of figure and size of pattern, so I will start by screen printing small circles, then larger ones, and meanwhile varying the size of the woven pattern. I think I could produce some interesting effects by going with small circles with a small-size pattern, then larger circles with a larger-size pattern. So that is what I’m trying next.
Also on the plate is the possibility of doing a “tie-dye” in multiple colors, showing the pattern clearly throughout. Here the pattern becomes more of an overall pattern and the focus is on the interplay of color in the “background”.
I’m also experimenting with different fibers for the weft. I don’t like combining cellulose and protein fibers generally, because the care requirements are so wildly different. Cellulose likes alkaline environments and a hot iron, protein fibers like acid environments and a cool iron. Up until recently there really wasn’t much choice if you wanted to do cross-dyeing. However, there’s a new product out, EZ Dye Cotton, which has been pretreated to accept dyes where normal cotton won’t. I’ve bought a cone of that and will be experimenting with it as weft.
So many things to try! I’m really excited about this, I think it has a lot of potential.
House-wise, the flooring has arrived at the installer’s warehouse and is being delivered to the new house today. They expect to be done installing by the end of next week, at which point we can actually MOVE IN!! So I have started scheduling things. It’s time to start packing: our move-in date will be June 23.