Saturday, May 21, 2011

The Aurora Scarf Project


I belong to the Weaving Indiana guild.   Every other year, we do something related to the theme  for the Midwest Weavers Conference.  This year, the conference theme is 'Northern Wefts'.    Our challenge was to choose a photo of the aurora borealis and weave a scarf to go with it.    The night sky meets weaving.

I have never done a weaving challenge before.   So, my challenge was to actually do the challenge. 

I did it.  Before the deadline, too.   Yes, I'm patting myself on the back.

Photo: geology.com © iStockphoto / Shawn Waite


Here's my first inspiration photo.










Photo: absenceofblackandwhite.blogspot.com





And here's my second one.   I wanted one with blue, too.   





Warp:  8/2 tencel, dyed.
Weft: 8/2 tencel, black.

Threading:  8 harness, straight draw
Weave structure:  Undulating twill

This weave structure was a challenge for me because I wanted to learn 'how it worked', not just repeat the same treadling over and over [and over and over and over....] 


The aurora in the sky isn't perfectly regular, it varies. 


I did a small sample to get the rhythm of the treadling, then I took off and syncopated it.    As Randy Darwall told me once, "The pattern repeats, except when it doesn't repeat."

Jazz meets weaving. 
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