I’m back from the rug weaving workshop with Judith MacKenzie at the Rainforest Art Center in Forks, WA. I brought my little workshop loom, a 20″ Macomber “Baby Mac” (model CP). I wasn’t sure it was sturdy enough for the tight tension and strong beating for rugs, but it did OK, especially as we were just making samples.
The first thing we tried was flokati, a technique for making a rug that looks like a fleece without having to kill the sheep/goat to get it! You weave distinct locks from a longwool breed with curl (not crimp), or locks of mohair from a goat, into a background web. So we put the locks in every 4th shed, then wove 3 shots of plain weave between, with a warp and weft that were soft enough wool to felt (in this case, some of Judith’s 70% Rambouilet/30% mohair yarn). Then you full (partially felt) the piece to make sure the locks of wool/mohair can’t pull out.
Here’s my sample underway on the loom:
We had three fleeces to choose from: a Wensleydale sheep, a Lincoln sheep, and a mohair goat. I wound up using all three, randomly mixed in on each row.
You can see what a beautiful, light-filled room we had to work in. It was upstairs in what had originally been an Odd Fellows Hall. We had help (strong men) carrying the looms and all of our other stuff upstairs the first day, and back down when we left.
Here are some of the flokati samples laid out on the floor:
The next day we put on a 1-yard warp of Judith’s bison yarn. This is 50% bison hair (not the soft downy expensive undercoat) blended with wool. It is kind of rough feeling but very tough for a rug. The bison weft yarns had been dyed by Judith so we had a number of colors to work with. The technique was pick-and-pick, which means you come up with pattern bands that form by alternating colors in the 2 sheds of plain weave. The goal was to make a limited selection of colors (6-8) look complex by the way they were combined (optical blending) and the various patterns used.
Judith had 2 sample bison rugs, a small one hanging on the wall:
and a larger one she had on the floor at her house for several years. This one was a lot softer and she said that was just from being walked on, not from washing!
I had some trouble maintaining even tension on my sampler. I decided this was because my “shoestring method” of tieing on to the front apron rod just wasn’t holding under the tight tension and heavy beating needed to pack the weft down so it completely covers the warp. So my sample was all wonky towards the end – curved and angled. This can’t be fixed after the fact. But at least I got to try the pick-and-pick technique.
Here is a shot of everyone’s bison samplers laid out on the floor (mine is bottom right):
The last warp we put on was 2 yards of a white 4-ply wool warp. This time I tied on to the front apron rod the conventional way (no shoestrings), with a surgeon’s knot that could be tightened until the tension was even across, then a second square-knot type tie. It worked a lot better!
The idea was to try a number of techniques. The first one was clasped wefts, a way to get 2 colors in one shed by “clasping” one around the other and then pulling that point through to where you want the colors to meet in the piece. So you are beating a double shot of each color in each shed.
clasped wefts in a random pattern
Oh, we were weaving with the softer and less bulky Rambouillet/mohair blend yarn that Judith had dyed for us. Still pretty sturdy but softer feeling on the surface. I was enjoying this so much that I continued with some pick-and-pick patterns and will repeat the clasped weft pattern at the other end, making a square piece for a pillow top.
This is about as far as I got before we had to pack up and leave on Monday. I’ll finish it at home. Judith did demonstrate soumak and some knotted and pile techniques, and I may try them on the rest of this warp, but we’ll see.
On the way home I spent 2 nights with my friends at Lake Quinault (Lochaerie Resort, see sidebar). The weather was gorgeous and Chris and I went for a hike in the rainforest on the South Shore on Tuesday. On Wednesday I met Rick in Seattle and we spent the afternoon and evening with our dear friends who are currently living in Redlands. Then home again after 8 days and 1000 miles on Thursday, back to the Methow!
We were supposed to go camping up in British Columbia with my Dad, but his Rialta RV developed an engine problem when he took it into Anacortes to have the tires checked. So he had to have it towed to an RV service place and things were up in the air. But now he is coming over here tomorrow (in his Prius with the cat) and we will just have some good times in the Methow Valley and surrounding areas. So that’s my story for now!
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and you have to work fast! They only cook for about 30 seconds on each side, and the temperature has to be just right. Once you lift the cookie off the griddle, they cool fast so you have to roll them up right away, within seconds.
It was the maiden voyage for the Mixmaster, and she worked great! Well, there might have been just the slightest whiff of burning motor oil…
Twisp of Fate 