more weaving - more goats

Oops – It has been pointed out to me by one of my fans (who knew I’d ever have fans) that I haven’t posted anything in over a month. Sorry about that. I neglected to realize when I embarked upon this blogity road that I would actually need to commit some time to writing something and taking photos of other things. So, to an update…
Success! I finished the taxes with plenty of time to spare and I completed my weaving homework by the skin of my teeth. Here are some photos of a couple of the weaving exercises that I completed. The first one shows doubleweave pickup. Two layers are woven at the same time, one above the other, and certain threads from the bottom layer are brought up to the top (I used a knitting needle to do this) and woven. I could have stuffed the two layers to give the design more definition, but in this case I decided not to do so. The second photo shows a doubleweave leno (pronounced lē′-nō). The bottom layer is just woven as usual, but the top layer is interrupted into two sides and part way up the window a weft thread is woven through twisted warp threads. This is a very simple rendition, but this technique can produce some very fancy lacework and the contrasting bottom layer enhances it. Leno can be woven on a single layer as well. Finally – here is the final result of about a yard and a half of various weaving samples – my homework, ready to turn in. It is a little 2” X 2” tube of cloth to illustrate doubleweave, along with a description of the technique.
I’m very glad I took the class; I learned a lot and can see various ways in which I’m looking forward to using doubleweave. I think the pickup technique would be put to interesting use in clergy stoles. I completely my first clergy stole a couple of months ago. It was an overshot threading in which I wove the overshot pattern of crosses in gold thread on the border and then the rest of the stole was green linen plain weave. It was my first attempt at overshot and came out OK, but I can see what I’d change for next time. It led me to think about doing liturgical weaving. There are some, but not a lot of handweavers doing liturgical weaving, so it seems like a niche that I could get into. Liturgical weaving would also lend itself to a lot of experimentation in weaving which is what I really love to do. Production work is just not my thing. Additionally, my husband has been experimenting with liturgical woodworking, having constructed a handcarved communion table and several crosses. Once again, we seem to be moving along the same creative path. Stay tuned for the next weaving adventures in inkle pickup and Moorman inlay technique.
In the continuing saga of goats… Shearing day was April 26th. Jerry Yeager brought his trusty clippers and wrestled their hair off them while his wife Cindy kept me occupied so I wouldn’t gasp at the sight of those clippers near delicate goat parts. Here are some before and after shots of hairy and naked goats. The tee-shirts were to protect them from the sun after, which was strong for a few days – Bill and Peanut got pink ones and Wilbur got school bus yellow. The yellow on Wilbur helped Peanut and Bill to see him soon enough to stay out of his way – Wilbur usually gets a little wild after shearing and this time was no exception. Here he is doing the shove-dance with Peanut and then doing one of his “mountain goat” leaps preparatory to head-butting Peanut. The first night he managed to get a large hole in his shirt and so we gave up and took it off and a naked Wilbur was at the fence in the morning.
My next post will include more weaving thoughts, gardening in reality and in dreams, and the usual collection of goat photos.