Counterbalance to Countermarche
Jean Williams | Hand Weaver
by jeanweaves
3y ago
It’s been a little over three years since The Shipment came – the boxes that held my new Myrehed Combination Shaft and Single Unit Drawloom and loom extension. Three years since I inaugurated the set-up with dragon placemats, followed by seasons wall hangings, barns, and most recently orchid bookmarks. All this time, the ground shafts operated as a counterbalance set-up because the existing countermarche did not fit within the drawloom frame. I was okay with counterbalance, but I really missed the stability and flexibility of countermarche weaving. I dreamed of adapting the countermarche to fi ..read more
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Samples
Jean Williams | Hand Weaver
by jeanweaves
3y ago
Near the end of a project, with the final throws of the shuttle, while I’m quietly stitching the hem, there’s a hint for the next warp. It teases its way into my brain. It’s the “what if…” that carries weavers to rethread the loom time and again. What if I change the treadling from a straight sequence to a pointed sequence? What happens if I use a finer yarn? What if I focus on block A instead of block C? What if I weave overshot as if it were honeycomb? Can it even work? The only way to find out is to try it. Samples. I have to confess I’m a “let’s just get it done” type of person. I’m thrift ..read more
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Left, Right, Left, Right
Jean Williams | Hand Weaver
by jeanweaves
4y ago
My left hand doesn’t know what my right hand is doing. Seriously. My right hand can do things my left hand can’t even pretend to do. I know this is common, but my directional challenges became very clear during my on-going exploration of unfamiliar weaving skills. Some techniques are very directional. To make a ridge slant right or left, the yarn has to follow the right path. How I pull it around a warp thread can change the slant of the knot. Soumak is one of those methods. Soumak is a decorative, hand-manipulated technique often used in rugs but I’ve heard of it used in wall hangings and oth ..read more
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Trying Something Different
Jean Williams | Hand Weaver
by jeanweaves
4y ago
Somewhere, at a dinner table, a parent cajoles a reluctant child— “Come on, just try it. You might even like it.” Could be peas. Could be curry. Could be papaya. I resisted winter squash when I was young, but at some point, Mom won and – what do you know? I do like it! Rug-weaving is like that too. I wove a few rag rugs because I had rags and I had a loom. I didn’t spend much time thinking about color schemes and I didn’t weave more than what we needed around the house. I never learned any other rug technique either, like looped pile, knotted pile, soumak, or the like because those just didn’t ..read more
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Natural Inspiration
Jean Williams | Hand Weaver
by jeanweaves
5y ago
I have a habit of taking pictures of unusual things. There’s something fascinating in the shapes and color combinations that occur naturally, about the variety of small fungi and mosses that grow on rocks and trees, about the way a tree heals from an injury. Humans have been awed by nature since the beginning of time. In one way or another, we try to express our fascination, our fear, our wonder of the world around us in whatever medium is at hand. It’s instinctive—nature inspires. Nature is awesome, and when we are awed, we reach for what is close at hand to capture and communicate that ..read more
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Color Perception
Jean Williams | Hand Weaver
by jeanweaves
5y ago
Most of us have a favorite color. Mine is green. Or maybe blue. Some will say fire engine red or tangerine orange. I know some little girls who have to have everything purple. Funny thing is, what I call purple may not match what they think of as purple. Purple to one person may look like red-violet to another. My favorite green comes from a northern woods in early summer, before the heat dusts all the leaves. An intense green with blue and yellow overtones. Can you see it? Just picture a woody stream with the sunlight streaming through the branches. For every hue, there are shades, tints, to ..read more
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Look It Up!
Jean Williams | Hand Weaver
by jeanweaves
5y ago
“I don’t think that means what you think that means.” Like Inigo Montoya, (“The Princess Bride”) I’ve found myself muttering that phrase lately. And it reminds me of my Mother’s answer whenever we asked what something meant—look it up! We use a lot of words that are specific to our interests, but do they really mean what we think they mean?  If we have to explain a term, can we do it without Google? I’ve come across some design terms lately that I thought I knew – until I tried to define them. For example, what is the Golden Proportion? What I learned when I looked it up (Mom would be so proud ..read more
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Prerequisites
Jean Williams | Hand Weaver
by jeanweaves
5y ago
I’ve often done things the hard way, mostly because of impatience. In high school, most students took Literature before they took Creative Writing. Except me. I insisted on taking Creative Writing first, then had to go back and take Literature the next year anyway. Would’ve done better in the proper order. As a college freshman, I thought Prehistoric Archeology looking interesting, but Anthropology 101 was a prerequisite. When they removed the prerequisite, I jumped right to the course I thought I wanted without any real understanding of what prehistoric archeology was. There’s a reason for p ..read more
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