The Next Thing
I feel a new series coming on. I know they are imminent when I'm making something very fun, and have lots of ideas I can't incorporate into the existing project.
Here's the first:
A silk cut pile hat. Looking down at the top:
Cool, huh? It has been fun to weave, despite fear and trepidation. At several points in the process of weaving this, I had doubts. It was, as you may have guessed, math related. First. how do you find the diameter of a circle to which you know the circumference (I have an in-house consultant who helped here)? Then, how do you make pieces fit that area, especially with something as fluid and variable as weaving? Will the weaving depth remain constant as the number of knots decreases (the answer turned out to be: no)? To reassure myself, I stopped and made mockups:
A small paper hat top, a larger paper hat top, with details of the patterning, a full real size paper hat, and a full size fabric hat (rough sewn). I kept getting the reassurance I needed, so I forged onward.
The inspiration for this hat came from my friend Kathryn. She knits hats, inspired by Peruvian pile hats (on her website, click on *teaching schedule* and you'll see a picture of her, wearing one of her hats!). A few summers ago, she asked me to teach her knotted pile, so she could weave a pile hat. I have thought about just how to do that ever since.
Her hats are inspired by ones like this:
This photo is from the book Peruvian Textiles:
But Kathryn saw the Real Things (tm) in the DeYoung Museum in San Francisco, many years ago. I have not seen them, just photos in books, and Kathryn's interpretations.
The Peruvian hats have a square aspect, and I have thought about how to weave that. I think it would be slightly easier than the star-shaped top I eventually wove, but then, I haven't tried it yet. It will probably show up as part of the series-to-come.
My direct inspiration came from this book:
which I saw at Convergence in Denver. The Afghani hats have round tops, some divided into sections, four or five or even six. I chose five sections, and then fussed my way through the weaving.
The tops of the five sections do not *quite* meet: so there is a bit of knotless netting to bring the top closed. Fitting, that knotless netting: the original Peruvian hats are not knitted or woven: they are netting, with pile inserted into the loops (this information I gleaned from Raoul d'Harcourt).
So this hat comes full circle (a pun! and unintentional!), from the Peruvian inspiration, through Kathryn's fertile executions in knitting, to my first fumblings in pile weaving, and then the circle closes with netting.
Fitting I think. Except the hat. It doesn't fit. (It's a teensy tiny bit too small). So, on to the next hat.
Here's the first:
A silk cut pile hat. Looking down at the top:
Cool, huh? It has been fun to weave, despite fear and trepidation. At several points in the process of weaving this, I had doubts. It was, as you may have guessed, math related. First. how do you find the diameter of a circle to which you know the circumference (I have an in-house consultant who helped here)? Then, how do you make pieces fit that area, especially with something as fluid and variable as weaving? Will the weaving depth remain constant as the number of knots decreases (the answer turned out to be: no)? To reassure myself, I stopped and made mockups:
A small paper hat top, a larger paper hat top, with details of the patterning, a full real size paper hat, and a full size fabric hat (rough sewn). I kept getting the reassurance I needed, so I forged onward.
The inspiration for this hat came from my friend Kathryn. She knits hats, inspired by Peruvian pile hats (on her website, click on *teaching schedule* and you'll see a picture of her, wearing one of her hats!). A few summers ago, she asked me to teach her knotted pile, so she could weave a pile hat. I have thought about just how to do that ever since.
Her hats are inspired by ones like this:
This photo is from the book Peruvian Textiles:
But Kathryn saw the Real Things (tm) in the DeYoung Museum in San Francisco, many years ago. I have not seen them, just photos in books, and Kathryn's interpretations.
The Peruvian hats have a square aspect, and I have thought about how to weave that. I think it would be slightly easier than the star-shaped top I eventually wove, but then, I haven't tried it yet. It will probably show up as part of the series-to-come.
My direct inspiration came from this book:
which I saw at Convergence in Denver. The Afghani hats have round tops, some divided into sections, four or five or even six. I chose five sections, and then fussed my way through the weaving.
The tops of the five sections do not *quite* meet: so there is a bit of knotless netting to bring the top closed. Fitting, that knotless netting: the original Peruvian hats are not knitted or woven: they are netting, with pile inserted into the loops (this information I gleaned from Raoul d'Harcourt).
So this hat comes full circle (a pun! and unintentional!), from the Peruvian inspiration, through Kathryn's fertile executions in knitting, to my first fumblings in pile weaving, and then the circle closes with netting.
Fitting I think. Except the hat. It doesn't fit. (It's a teensy tiny bit too small). So, on to the next hat.
posted by Sara at 8:23 AM
5 Comments:
I have a very small head and I will volunteer to take that hat off your hands!
Your weaving is just amazing. That's one beautiful hat!
Your colors and weaving are so beautiful. I can only imagine what it looks like in person....
That is gorgeous! without anything for scale, I at first thought it was a pouffe, which would also be gorgeous but a lot more work. Still, if the next hat turns out to be too big.......
Truly gorgeous, and I would think massively saleable, which could be a comfort when you have too many ideas. I can't wait to see them.
Nor should you omit the matching hat-and-bag set, if it wouldn't get too boring.
By the way, I am enjoying the Marla Mallett book. You and that arm-twisting!
Except now I want to make a rug.
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