Rachel Beckman » Weaver & Textile Designer

Color Blanket

Approximately 24″ x 24″ in cotton. Three hours of weaving. My weaving class this semester is Color and Pattern, so this piece of cloth was a begining technical exercise in dyeing and manipulating pattern (see my related post on dyeing and documenting skeins). I’m extremely pleased with my colors and the gradiation of the value scale, as well as the finishing of the ends and the overall weight and quality of the cloth. The pattern frustrated me somewhat, because the reverse of the cloth is more telling of the original draft (though I did pretty much making up the treadling sequence, there are still elements of the twill I began with) and is thus more weft faced, therefore not being as true of a representation of the value scale. This side, though technically the back of the cloth, clearly shows the blocks of color in a much more satisfactory manner.

Next is a project similar to my Ikat project from first semester. I will be painting my warp, but the weft entries are more open in regard to how we acquire the color. The assignment is to track a color over a month, and instead of taking pictures, write about it in this blog. I’m ordering my bamboo today (yes, I simply must work in bamboo) and I will start blogging my color tonight. I plan on tracking my Ikat process more closely this time, so look forward to photographs and simple explanations, as well my blog posts regarding the color I choose and other miscellaneous posts from my non-weaving related work.

On dyeing, documenting, and delicious looking yarn

So far this semester my major accomplishments include breaking my loom, not passing out from the strain of eighteen credits, an internship, and my job at the library, and making an entire carton of juice last for two whole weeks. Juice – is expensive. And weaving classes have begun once again; I spent a solid block of time Sunday evening winding and dyeing sixteen skeins of cotton to produce a somewhat effective value scale of colors.

Hanging to dry, before I wound the skeins into balls (and as much as I engourage the use of  do-it-yourself tools and improvisational techniques and proccesses, it feels good to have access to professional tools- like ballwinders- once more) my yarn looked quite a bit like a scrumocious garden, carrots, lettuce, spinach, and more. I’m not particularly used to working with these kinds of colors, specifically the pastels that came out of the lighter values, but I stuck to my color pallette this time around; maybe the next proejct will see some brighter colors out of me.

What I’m liking most about this project so far (basically a simple color blanket of increasing color values of different hues both vertically and horizontally- warp and weft) is the amount of precision involved. I know what you’re going to say! I go on and on about using weaving to create impercisions, I am a warrior for forcing irregularities! However, in this case I am intrigued. I think it has something to do with the fact that I am absolutely afraid of working in the dye kitchen; handling all of the chemicals, mixing and weighing and stirring, none of that is for me. But to really break it all down, to take notes, and really see what comes of it all, that is a strangely satisfying process for me. I have uncovered the mysteries of color! I still don’t really like dyeing all that much, in part because unless you have secure facilities it creates a hazardous environment, but I’m at least more comfortable with it and can talk about dyeing with some sort of new found authority.

When it comes to dyeing your own yarn, especially when you are mixing colors (usually guaranteed to yield  more sophisticated colors than what you get straight out of the bottle) it is important to document your recipe. Another reason why weaving is just like any other medium, painting, drawing, sculpture, there are formulas to begin with, but the more you change them and make them your own, the more your art transcends the medium. Above is a picture of cards I made for each individual skein, including the weight of the skein, the amount of dye bath, the concentrate of the individual dyes, the amount of each dye per dye bath, and the weight of salt and soda ash.

These dye baths were based on 2g of dye per 100mL water and .6L dye baths. The amount of salt is equal to the weight of the skein, and the amount of soda ash is equal to 10% of that weight.  Each dye solution was created using a mixture of the same three colors, all drawn from their own 2g per 100mL water solution using a syringe, at different concentrations in the .6L bath to create the value scale.

For example, the first color on the left was created using 1mL Olive Green*, 2mL Burnt Orange, and 2mL Pearl Grey. As the colors move up in value, the dye baths become more concentrated. It’s tedious work, but the syringes make me feel like I’m playing scientist. So gear up, get into your laboratory, and make some colors!

*Procion MX Fiber Reactive Dyes