A Soleri Bell Hangs in My Japanese Maple Tree...

And inspired me to weave a scarf in autumn hues. I dyed the warp -- in bouts of 60/2 silk, 24 ends each -- in shades of russet, olive, gold, and copper, along with the patina of the bell, a kind of turquoise-verdigris. Although the colors came out a bit too light for my taste, here's what the fabric looked like on the loom.


The weft is a very fine over twist wool, hand dyed in a spice-red color, and the weave structure is an 8 harness twill, in blocks of 3/1 and 1/3. Here's a closer look.


The sett is 44 ends per inch, which sounds a bit daunting, but the weaving went really fast! I'm very partial to this structure, because it's a collapse weave which, encouraged by the over twist weft, crinkles and scrunches in very interesting ways. Like this:



It's for sale in my Etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/denisekovnat

And what's a Soleri bell? It's a beautiful bronze piece, weathered to a turquoise color, designed by the visionary architect Paolo Soleri. Here's a link to his site: http://www.cosanti.com








Comments

Anonymous said…
I am not a weaver but have known several over the years. The process is so interesting and your results, including the colors, in this piece are beautiful. My Best, joni
October 6, 2011 at 1:53 AM
Denise Kovnat said…
joni, thanks! If you're a spinner or a knitter, you can get similar effects. Let me know if you'd like to learn more!

Denise
October 6, 2011 at 5:53 PM
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