This piece is my first attempt at ikat, even though it is only a simple random ikat. I saw a short film on Japanese Kasuri, and wanted to try working with ikat, posted in Knotty. But natural dyeing to me is tricksome, particularly dying cellulose fibers like cotton and linen, and particularly indigo which works in an alkaline solution, which cellulose fibers require. To add, alkalinity is the enemy of wool, which is the only fiber I have significant experience with and possibly the most desire to work colors into. Dying cellulose fibers, such as commercial weaving yarns, involve scouring extremely well, mordanting properly, dying, then neutralizing and rinsing till the cows come home … requiring many chemical ingredients and meticulous measured steps which are very complicated and a lot of work. And if scouring is not done properly a thing happens called “crocking”, where instead of the dye imbedding fully into the yarn, some of it hangs out on the surface ready to rub off on things and ruin them … on to your favorite weaving equipment, on to the clothes worn while weaving, and after being washed the dye gets into the other colors in the weaving itself, which happened to this piece regretfully.

I wish I knew this about the pH issues and limitations before jumping in, and think at this point I need to put the dyes away for while and release myself from self-imposed expectations of dye mastery! I have learned that both commercial dyes and natural dyes have their pros and cons, and I will likely go back to my old favorite reliable powdered Jacquard dye with wools, which are protein fibers, for it needs only a splash of vinegar in the dye bath, a quick scalding, and the dyebath exhausts beautifully if done correctly. Maybe I will again try ikat weaving with wool and Jacquard dyes next.

Going forward, and I have asked myself this: Why spend so much time, money, and resources on the things I am a rank beginner at, while falling behind and not bringing to fruition the things I have a bit of and skill (dare I say talent) with, and really should aspire to become better at? There are a lot of things I want to do, but at this point in my life, I must narrow down the possibilities, eliminating distractions is essential.

♣   Weaving Notes  ♣

There are no technical weaving notes in this post, but I want to document something remarkable I discovered for rigid heddle weaving ! When I was more than halfway through the weaving, and the front cloth beam was getting pretty packed with woven fabric and cardboard I found the cloth beam to have a certain amount of “squish”, the selvedges conforming to the curve of the cloth winding on irregularly, and not really producing a perfectly flat weave. This I assume is one of the things about rigid heddle weaving, the cloth beam builds cloth and as it does the woven cloth distorts in shape, as well as effects the stability of the tension.

I had an idea of propping a piece of wood against the wound cloth on the cloth beam, right at the edge, creating a sort of breast beam setting on top of the wound cloth. I found a piece of board which I had used it for separating the shed wider in backstrap weaving, so I positioned it on the cloth beam so that when I tightened the warp, the tension held it in place, creating a very stabilized and firm straight edge for the weaving, and I found I gained quite a bit of extra space on the weaving too, especially for the temple. The more cloth on the beam, the further back the stabilizing board it sits, creating a longer weaving area in front of the reed! I am going to explore this idea in the future, for I am very excited!

Note to self, recipient was eventually Rosanna.