I attended the Textile Society of America Symposium Sept 19-22 in Washington, DC. The title was ‘Textiles and Politics’. Papers were presented on all manner of topics, textile work and the economy, textile work in emerging economies, dyestuffs, self-expression. My paper was on the subject of sprang and military sashes. I met textile experts from around the world.
While in the DC area I had arranged to visit George Washington’s Mount Vernon. Staff there allowed me to inspect the Braddock Sash. Of note, the beginning- and end-threads of the circular warp were tied to a neighboring thread at the middle meeting line, just like Peter Collingwood suggests (Techniques of Sprang, pg 259-261). And here I’ve been advocating that you remove that edge thread.
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I made a silk sprang sash earlier this year for a military re-enactor. Officer of higher ranks had sashes were made of silk, a very strong fiber. Now there are stories out there about people being carried on sashes. It seems that a person injured on the field could be carried back to camp on the sash. A client earlier this year requested a sash wide enough and long enough to try this out. So I made this sash, and then encouraged him to try it out, and send me photos. I even promised to replace the sash, should it not hold up to the claim. He has now sent me photos of the event: I was assured that the sash was not at all damaged by this test. The sash was seven feet long, and eight inches wide lying on the ground. When the sash was stretched laterally to support the full width of the body, it shortened a bit. I was told that another two feet of length (and probably a bit more width) would be desireable. I hear that the Braddock sash is 24 inches wide and 12 feet long, a very nice size for a litter.
Getting ready to travel to Sunny Southern California. I’ll be teaching classes on sprang and fingerweaving at HGA’s Convergence® 2012 Long Beach conference, July 15-21. There are still a couple of openings in my classes at http://www.weavespindye.org/? loc=8-00-00 The sprang class will take you through basic interlinking, as well as work with a figure-8 warp, resulting in a cap or bag. There’s a half-day fingerweaving class that introduces the basic method. I’m also teaching a two-day workshop on fingerweaving. Participants in the 2-day workshop can expect to weave a small bag. I’ll also be available for booksigning on Thursday, July 19, 7-8:30 at the HGA booth. In other news, I’ve completed another silk sprang officer’s sash. This one is extra wide. I’m also busy on my loom weaving a couple dozen yards worth of sash (3 inch wide tape) for use on the back side of some mighty fine hooked rugs. Rachelle LeBlanc of hookedrugstudio.com. contacted me earlier this year concerning her project, and now’s the time for me to deliver.
Attended the University of Winnipeg’s Centre for Rupertsland Studies, presenting a paper on sprang. Met some amazing researchers, learned lots more about the Fur Trade. All that sitting and demonstrating, I made several sprang purses. I’ve also been working on another silk military sash.
Starting with a 13 ft warp, I now have an 11 ft sash. Two feet of ‘shrink’ on this one. Inspired by Franco Rios, as well as a former student, I’ve made a hat. The method used means the project can easily be stowed in a commuter bag, and worked on the bus. I cut pieces of handspun into 17 pieces, each 36 inches long: eight pink, one white, eight pink. So, I was working with 17 x 2, that is to say 34 threads. I decided I like this pattern. I can count rows by the number of white hatches that appear, one set of hatches for every two rows. Decrease by tying threads together in pairs. I tied off two pairs every second row, and cut the ends short. Six sets of decreases were worked, that is removing 24 threads, and ten were left. I worked those ten for two rows, and then set the piece aside. I worked nine such pieces, and then sewed them together. To match the white-stripe pattern, I used another strand of the same white thread. I sewed up one side of the strip before joining.
Be careful to keep the knots of the decreases all on the same side (inside) of the hat. I set up my 4-harness loom for this year’s Festival. We’re commemorating the 200th anniversary of the arrival of the Selkirk Settlers. They attempted to build an income spinning the hair of bison and weaving it into cloth. The local weavers guild agreed to help me weave brown cloth. I set up my loom. Meanwhile outside they were preparing the snow sculptures. This woman came to see me. She learned fingerweaving from my book. She’s also made herself a sprang hat. She said she made it in strips, and sewed them together. She wove the strips for about 4 inches, then began tying the strings off in pairs, hiding the knots inside the hat. This created the ‘decrease’. Remaining strings formed the tassel. She was very pleased with the way you can make a perfectly invisible seam.
I find her work ingenius, and really like this hat! A re-enactor friend, artillery enthusiast, wanted a silk officer’s sash. He challenged me to create a cannon design. I drew up a cannon and mapped it out on graph paper. Have a look at the results.
The delivery man from Friesens Printing phoned this morning. My books were ready for delivery! Luckily I had help to assist in moving 2000 books from the truck to my living room. This afternoon I’ll be busy taking packages to the post office, all you who pre-ordered! Keeping my fingers crossed that you’ll like what you see in Sprang Unsprung. I should add some photos from my adventures in Grand Portage, Minnesota. We were greeted by a rainbow as we set up camp. I was impressed by the number of people wearing fingerwoven sashes. Michelle Delorme was proud to show me the sash made by her Québec mentor. I always learn new things. Another participant showed me her method for securing the weaving while riding in a car. She uses a pillow. Her weaving was very nice and tight. Kudos. Amazing stories of how sashes call out to people to become weavers. And they have been able to create amazing pieces. She told me the story of the first time she saw a fingerwoven sash, how it moved her, how fingerweaving has helped her re-connect with her French Quebecois heritage. There were lots of other activities, lacross and twoball The setting was really beautiful. I did take an evening to do a bit of hiking. The view was spectacular. Back home, back at work, I’ve set to re-creating those little coin purses, such as the one found among Lord Nelsons things, and featured on the front cover of the book by Martyn Downer: And for the ladies, pockets. This one is based on an image I found on-line from the Williamsburg site.
Today’s challenge: some simple color patterns. I started with a vertical stripe, and then recorded how to get the colors to move sideways, get them to mix at the middle, and then how to get them to ‘un-mix’.
I’ve been working these past several months researching the subject of sprang, looking for North American examples, and have found plenty. More recently I’ve put nose to the grindstone, and have been working on a how-to book. My goal is to produce something similar to Fingerweaving Untangled. That is to say, I’m creating the step-by-step drawings, and taking detailed photos. Every time a thread is moved, another image is required. I’m working on the book that I wish I had when I was trying to figure out how to ‘sprang’.
I’ve heard tell of many examples of sprang from coptic excavations, from danish bogs, eastern Europe, and the like. I’d like to firmly root my book in the North American experience. Things like the ‘no frame’ method will definitely be covered. There is evidence that this is the method used by early North American residents. Simple frames will also be featured. I’ll cover a basic list of patterns, monochrome, stripes, how to get the colors to move diagonally. I’ll also include patterns made on the surface by playing with S and Z (of course and explanation of S and Z themselves), patterns made by creating holes, and the like. Any special requests out there? Well on the way with a set of basic drawings and instructions already done, I’m hoping to have this book off the press and ready for distribution by April 2011. |
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