braceletstea

[braceletstea]

craft fair today went well! however the wind kept blowing things over-- right after I took this photo the tent next to me blew over onto someone.

[braceletstea]

working on the last Leo bracelet for my most recent batch of cat-approved mystery bags. I'm hoping to finish this one today so I can take a break tomorrow.

#robin's art

[braceletstea]

praise me, I have completed so many bracelets in the last few weeks and have spent so much time prepping for upcoming craft fairs and events

#alas I have no photos to show for it #because again I have been busy and I hate product photography so much

[braceletstea]

Capstone Fiber Arts Survey

Hey guys, a friend of a friend is doing a Fiber Arts survey for her capstone, and it would be a huge help if those of you who do any kind of fiber/textile art could take this survey and also spread it to anybody you know who is currently or was previously involved with textile arts, from your sister who makes subversive cross stitch to your great grandpa who took up knitting when he served in the Marines.

The capstone project is on the Importance of Fiber Arts to Female Socialization in Patriarchal Societies. She is looking to gather the data on the 21st century fiber artists to see how current fiber artists are viewed and view themselves.

Thanks! 💚

[braceletstea]

young artist posting your work online, heed my warning. im holding your face so gently in my hands, you have to stop caring about numbers right now and start caring about making the weirdest and most self-indulgent art you possibly can

[braceletstea]

Just a lil reminder of what’s in the shop at the moment

Plus plenty more!

[braceletstea]

I'm warping my baby inkle loom and Leo is helping. perhaps the warping diagram is on the laptop, and he's obscuring it, but whatever. he's helping.

[braceletstea]

I had to go digging to find the pattern! The designer says it's a motif from Birka band B12. I use patterns like this a lot, in my weaving and in my bracelets, because the geometry of them is just really fun for me.

Designer's blog:

PDF for this specific pattern (and variations):

I recently found this out in a deep dive of historical dig sites we've found tablet weaving bands at (I may have hyperfixated a bit, but I do find it very cool to be doing a craft that people did over 1000 years ago) and it looks like the celtic knot pattern you did may actually be based on Birka 6! I thought you would find that cool.

Here's a picture of the original band found in Birka, which would have been done in brocade but has been recreated with threaded in patterns:

that's so cool! I've certainly done a few Birka/Birka-inspired patterns while tablet weaving, though I'm not entirely sure which pattern you're referring to. But yeah, it's kind of hard to avoid historically based patterns when tablet weaving has been around so long.

I also eventually want to learn to do brocade but it looks like it takes at least as much effort as the weaving itself lol.

#they have some incredibly cool designs #the thing about tablet weaving is that many of the cool patterns are only available on blogs that haven't been updated in literally 15 year #frankly I am so scared some of them are just going to disappear one day

[braceletstea]

like I said, I'm having trouble keeping everything even, but it takes practice. this is only my second rigid heddle project. I'm getting there.

#rigid heddle loom #rigid heddle weaving #robin's art #I seem to be drawing the weft in too much which is annoying #especially since somehow there are loops on the selvedge like wtf

[braceletstea]

I spent a good 5 or 6 hours today warping my loom and weaving the first few inches of a new scarf

the yarn is much thinner this time around (fingering weight as opposed to the worsted and bulky yarns last time) and I'm definitely having more trouble keeping everything even but I am pleased with it so far

#also I did a lot of warp stripes and then ran out of one color at the very end #it looks fine but like you can tell one stripe is too narrow #also yesterday I marked my heddles every 5 or 10 units and it's helping with counting warps and stuff #makes it easier to not have to stop and count every ten seconds for stripes #the downside of spending the whole day on this is that I feel guilt for not doing my weekend chores #I needed a day off anyhow. it's fine if the bathrooms don't get a deep clean.

[braceletstea]

my grandma was a quilter and she said that there were a couple rules about making art which sounded …suspicious lol

but these were her rules:

whenever you can, take a class.

whenever you can, make art with other people. not collaborating necessarily, just spending time together making art

and that was it.

she was a very practiced and talented quilter, and she took classes and went to quilt groups often

she taught both me and my mom to sew (despite her being my paternal grandma) and my mom is also a talented quilter

I can’t count the amount of times I’ve learned something new when sharing the studio with someone (plus it’s a good way to spend time with friends)

#GOD these are so COOL #god really went off when she gave us the stuff to make cloth and thread

[braceletstea]

so I'm looking for cheap, sturdy alternatives to branded warp separating sticks and the best options I've seen are heavy-duty vinyl blinds and narrow lumber, both of which would probably have to be cut to size.

I see a lot of people who use butcher paper or the cheap cardboard sticks, but those aren't as permanently reusable as I'd like. I've been using towels and pillow cases, which work fine, but they don't get the tension as even as I'd like and the width is all over the place.

#the blinds idea is really calling to me since you can get so many for relatively cheap #like I could get 24 official warp sticks for $50 OR 100+ lighter ones that don't need sanding

[braceletstea]

I recently found this out in a deep dive of historical dig sites we've found tablet weaving bands at (I may have hyperfixated a bit, but I do find it very cool to be doing a craft that people did over 1000 years ago) and it looks like the celtic knot pattern you did may actually be based on Birka 6! I thought you would find that cool.

Here's a picture of the original band found in Birka, which would have been done in brocade but has been recreated with threaded in patterns:

that's so cool! I've certainly done a few Birka/Birka-inspired patterns while tablet weaving, though I'm not entirely sure which pattern you're referring to. But yeah, it's kind of hard to avoid historically based patterns when tablet weaving has been around so long.

I also eventually want to learn to do brocade but it looks like it takes at least as much effort as the weaving itself lol.

[braceletstea]

Humblebundle has a knitting ebooks bundle right now. There's books of all skill levels, including books for teaching you how to knit and books for beginners that teach you knitting pattern terminology. One of the coolest books, imo is Knitting for Peace which has the patterns and missions of various knitting charities all gathered in one book! There's also Knit Like a Latvian and Knit Like a Latvian Socks Edition included, which I would say are a bit more advanced. Some of the money goes to Bread Cancer Research Foundation. I got $500+ worth of knitting ebooks for $18. And most of them are DRM free epubs.

[braceletstea]

I repaired the parts that Chloe chewed on and trimmed the fringes with a new and exciting rotary cutter and now it's well and truly finished.

I made cloth! I took a bunch of string and did magic with it! this is very exciting for me-- I've never attempted such a large weaving project before, and for a first I think it came out really well.

I'm especially pleased with the selvedges (selvedge edges?). Many years ago, when I had a tiny frame loom, I consistently pulled the weft too tight. All my projects bowed in towards the center. Even though it looks messy, I kept the edges even, and I'm proud of that.

I discovered partway through that the orange/brown yarn and the dark purple yarn had different amounts of stretch to them, and I was worried the meant it would warp after I cut it off the loom. There is a little warping, and the orange stripe doesn't drape like the rest, but overall it's fine, and now I know to compare stretch if I use multiple yarns.

Overall I'm really proud of this. now that I've finished one weaving project, I can start planning others and keep learning.

[braceletstea]

ok. the damage isn't bad, and I think it can be fixed. the bulky off-white yarn was joined in that area, so all she did was undo the knot. the big problem is the orange/brown yarn-- she actually chewed through it. I'm not 100% sure how to fix this yet but I will figure it out.

I FINISHED IT

it's hem-stitched and released from the loom and all that's left is trimming the tassels and frankly I do not have the tools so that's gonna wait a bit

[braceletstea]

and now Chloe has chewed on parts of it

I FINISHED IT

it's hem-stitched and released from the loom and all that's left is trimming the tassels and frankly I do not have the tools so that's gonna wait a bit