Proof of Concept

This past weekend, I attended the Conference of Northern California Handweavers (CNCH), held every year in some form or another. This year was a "retreat" format, which meant a gathering, classes, no galleries of work, and usually no vendors. We did have a vendor, Village Spinning and Weaving, whom I managed to support! But mostly, it was all about the classes.

At Asilomar! The beach! A good-weather weekend at the beach! who could resist? We've had CNCH at Asilomar before, I always enjoy my time there. The food is excellent, the rooms generally have a sea view and a fireplace, so we listen to the sound of the waves all night long. I can drive, although it's about 4 hours, so a bit of a trek for me.



This year, I took a class in tablet (card) weaving from John Mullarkey. It was wonderful in many ways, not the least of which is that John himself is delightful, patient and kind, a good teacher, and full full full of information. His presentation, and documentation is superb: even I could understand it!

We did two bands, Egyptian Diagonals (top), and Coptic Diamonds (bottom):



I'd never done Coptic Diamonds and had great fun with it. You can see towards the end (left side in the photo) some of the designs I began to weave "off reservation" so to speak. It is a technique that lends itself easily to variation, designing, if you will, although it is so organic that I cannot believe everything I could "design" has not been done before. The very last motif, bottom band left, was an "S", which worked, indeed, but would be better centered with another row of cards.

So I came home and tried it out:



White background with black lines, this time, two "S" motifs, flipping and rotating them. Proof of concept! And...I was able to do it at home, with my tools and in my studio, alone. When I learn something new, I try to repeat it at home, under my conditions, without anyone to ask for help. It's the only way I know I will actually learn the technique....rather than relying on someone else to help me out of a tough spot.

White background and black lines: this just cries out for color! I will weave off the band (this being the sample) with the proper weft (leftover black used here, and you can see it peeking out occasionally). Then...paint? dye? colored pens? Such possibilities!

I do a lot of card weaving. Basic stuff, I know lots of things to do....but John understands what is going on, and can help us begin to understand it too. Card weaving is a complex weave structure, with convoluted thread paths not easily traced or unwoven! should a mistake be made. If you have a chance, take a class from him! You will learn a lot. And get to weave for a weekend, uninterrupted. Perhaps also surrounded by clean air, the beach, good friends, good food...What could be better?!