Weaving while recuperating

As part of the yearly activities of one of the weaving guilds I belong to, we do a yearly study project. This years project was on "color and weave", basically those weaving stitches and technique in which the use of the weave structure affects and changes how the color is perceived and vice versa. Previous years study projects have included "double weave", "scarves," and the last years project from hell, ""weave and weave structure while working with 8/2 cotton."

I'll do a rant on how I feel about cotton in another blog.

This years project defined itself to me as a particular technique in Navajo Weaving which I had been reading about and studying called "Coal Mine" or "New Lands". It is a variant of traditional Navajo Technique which works only with a particular arrangement of colors and use of diagonal lines.

In the normal routine of Navajo Tapestry Weaving, there are two sheds, and all colors travel alternately back and forth,right to left followed by left to right, through alternate sheds, thus creating a traditional twill or plain weave/ linen weave texture of threads alternating over and under , exactly like cloth but without leaving the slits so often seen in other tapestry weaving techniques.

In Navajo Coal Mine, there are basically two groups of threads, the leaders or colored threads, and the followers or neutralcolors. The leaders travel from left to right in one shed, while the followers travel from left to right in the second shed. This means that two rows are worked in each direction in different sheds, before the direction changes to right to left. The end result is that although the leaders travel diagonally across the weaving, the followers remain present as vertical columns of color.

I am finding the technique very satisfying for a number of reasons. It does require a certain amount of concentration to keep track of the direction of the passes. I am so used to weaving right, left, right, left that to change to right, right, left, left requires a mind shift and analysis each time I start again to make sure I have the right shed holding the right set of threads. It is faster than the traditional tapestry techniques using multiple individual colors but takes more thinking than just working stripes and bands.

Below is my first attempt of Navajo Coal Mine technique in process on my large "Cactus Flower" loom.

As with most weavings, it started out and worked fast up until the last bit in the middle. Since by the time I reach that portion, the packing is incredibly tight, the threading of the leaders and the followers becomes a process of hand feeding the threads over and under one warp thread at a time. The last couple of inches on a weaving in traditional Navajo style can often take as long as the rest of the weaving put together. And of course, since the tension is so tight, the edges show a tendancy to draw in. This is another one of those elusive finishing skills that take continual work and improvement.

As you can see from the finished product below, the weaving draws in a bit in the middle, but at least at last it is finished. The exchange is next week, so there will be no burning of the midnight oil the night before, this year at least.

This will be my project to be gifted to someone else in the West Side Weavers as part of the study exchange.

Below is Coal Mine 2 which I started while in Albuquerque taking care of my sister, recuperating from surgery, (have loom will travel), and continued this last month while I continue to recuperate from the recent biking accident. I am hoping with increasing realization that it is probably a false hope, that I can finish this one before Christmas. I have finished the first half and am building up the second half to the dread last 2 inches and finishing while trying to keep it from drawing in. If I don't finish it by Christmas, I will consider it as a head start for next year!

We'll see.

overall view

close up showing the colored columns and diagonally moving colors.