You're looking at the cover of my soon-to-be-published book on texture in weaving! I've been working on it for, lo, these past five years and it's almost ready for publication.
I plan to begin offering it on Lulu on December 1. And after that, I might celebrate with a good brew or two ;o)
Why did it take so long? Mainly because it includes 12 projects for 4, 8, 6, and 16 shafts, which meant I had to weave them all and document every single detail. And check and double check -- 80 versions and revisions to date, which isn't all that surprising. Plus, with some of the projects, there was much sampling involved, meaning lots of warps and dressing of looms until I got it right.
The title, "Weaving Outside the Box," has two meanings: first, I'm referring to creativity in design and process, "thinking out of the box" about what and how we weave. Second, I'm referring to the rectilinear, two-dimensional plane of weaving -- "the box" that we are typically confined to in our craft -- and how we can begin to break those boundaries. Textural weaving is all about ripples and pleats and buckles and poufs, about bends in the road and reflections on the organic curves of nature herself. Take, for instance, this image of lateral curves of fungi on a tree trunk:
I see a reflection of these lines in a double-weave sample I wove on four shafts, in the style of Liz Williamson:
Different colors, of course, and less nuanced, but the two images share flowing horizontal lines, staggered randomly. I love the unpredictability of how the patterns shift and bend -- much of which takes place in the finishing. After washing these fabrics, the results are always surprising, which makes it so rewarding to me.
The book is about 120 pages long, with 90 full-color photos and diagrams that aid in understanding the hows and whys of dimensional weaving. It includes a long bibliography to aid in further study, an index (to me that's a big deal, for some reason), and three beginning chapters on the theory of texture in weaving, its history, and some of the overriding techniques involved.
Here is a peek at some of the projects in the book.
Antelope Canyon Shawl in point twill on 4 shafts,
16/2 bamboo gradient warp, silk/stainless-steel weft
Detail of 'Puzzle Shawl' in deflected double weave
on 6 shafts, 18/2 merino in warp and weft
60/2 silk striped scarf in plain weave and turned twill
on 8 shafts, with soft pleats in the middle
Deflected-double-weave infinity scarf on 16 shafts,
using hand-painted warps and wefts in 18/2 merino and 10/2 cotton
Right now, the final draft of the book is with a group of first readers, in alphabetical order, Marianne Antczak, Leslie Mendelson, Ann Richards, Joyce Robards, Sarah Saulson, and Linda Schultz. All of them are wonderful weavers who have generously agreed to serve as fact-checkers and goalies, you might say, to keep any errors from appearing in print. It's good to have smart friends!
As I mentioned, I will offer the book on Lulu, a print-on-demand site used by several folks I know. I will also offer an e-version at a slightly lower cost (and no shipping charges, of course).
If you're interested in pre-ordering, please click on the "Downloads for Purchase" section of this site, where you'll find a link. I will be in touch as soon as it ships on December 1.
Let me know if you have any questions, of course. My email address is in the "Contact Information" page on this blog.
Thanks for reading!
Front and back covers, ready for printing
