Patterns Where You Live

Surely you have heard me say that I love Patterns! While our houses commonly have patterns on the interior (think carpets, wallpaper, tilework) for the most part, they tend to be plain on the outside. These creative folks have courageously patterned their spaces on the outside.

In the town of Tiebele in Burkina Faso, a country in west Africa the Gurunsi people live in lively patterned  houses.  In this society the men are in charge of building, while the women are in charge of painting and decorating the home. The women create their beautiful "frescoes" using natural colours: red, white and black on an okra background.  Photo from Evy's Inspirations on Tumblr

Painted patterns on a house in Čičmany, Zilinsky, Slovakia. Photo by eva on Flickr

Little Moreton Hall is a moated 15th-century half-timbered manor house near Congleton, Cheshire, England. It is one of the finest examples of timber-framed domestic architecture in England.  Photo by Shertila Tony on Flickr.

                              In  Garnet Hill Park in Glasgow, Scotland    photo by LiseMac on Flickr

      

A colorful house of a colorful artist. Katwise designs and makes inspired coats by recycling sweaters.

Her Etsy shop can be found here.  Photo from The Flying Tortise blog.

                                         

The Rainbow Family Village in Taichung, Taiwan. An older resident, Huang Yung-fu transformed this area of dull concrete buildings with his bright paintings. More photos here on Flickr by Steven Barringer.

On the Road With My Inkle Looms

I was greeted in Columbia by this fabulous sunset.

Thanks to a regular blog reader, Kathy of Columbia, California, I got invited to give a program for the Mother Lode Weavers and Spinners Guild. They meet in a church in the small historic town of Columbia which is about a 3 1/2 hour drive from my home. It is in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and was one of the "Gold Rush" towns. The central part of California was lovely to drive through with rolling hills, orchards, clouds and mountains ever changing in my view. What a treat!

The guild members were a friendly and eclectic group of fiber artists. It was interesting to note that many of them keep fiber-producing animals (goats, llamas, and goats) as their area is more rural than mine.

Here are 4 of the 5 looms that I took along. Each has a different type of yarn on it for a different purpose. 

From left to right they are: fine silk ribbon, a bamboo and rayon scarf, a cotton and cassette tape guitar strap, a linen and hemp powder horn strap.

A closeup of the silk ribbon on my Ashford Inklette

Detail of the cotton/cassette tape guitar strap on one of my Schacht looms. Shiny cassette tape!

The scarf is now off the loom, it's ends twisted and ready to be listed in my Etsy shop. 

The powder horn strap in hemp and linen. Since I suspected that the dark brown/maroon color of the hemp might bleed, I rinsed and soaked it. Yep, it bled all over and the natural hemp took on some of it's color, making that portion look rather pink. Oops!

When I round up samples of my work and completed projects and put them all together it makes a pretty impressive display, if I do say so myself. There is just so much stuff that I have collected through my years of weaving!  It answers the question of what can you make with an inkle loom. 

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Finger Loop Braiding

 These photos represent a weekend of finger loop braiding with the expert, Ingrid Crickmore. 

This was the collection of work that I produced and was willing to show. Some of them didn't make the photo. And I do wish that I would have taken photos of some of the stuff that others made. 

There were 11 willing students in a home in Redwood City, CA for two days learning 

multiple variations on this most amazing ancient technique. 

Some braids were done with 5 or 7 loops, some with even numbers of 6, 8, or 10. 

Lots of fancy hand switching was going on, each one of us working to her ability. I got stuck on the 5 loop braids and didn't want to go farther. Ingrid patiently coaxed me into further experiments with 7 loops. I liked the way the patterns got more interesting with this number of strands and eventually caught on.

My brain twisted up somehow on the even numbers. Others, however, got amazing and intricate patterns going in these braids.  The finger movements were interesting to me; I enjoyed how it felt.

What a great way to travel with fiber and produce useful and colorful small bands.

It's even more convenient than an inkle loom. No equipment necessary. Just fingers.

The loop braiding method makes it super easy to hold onto your strands. Much different than the 3 strand "pigtail braids" that we all know how to do

On Ingrid's website she offers great instruction with diagrams and video here on the tutorials page.

This page offers some possible patterns and the way to plan your colors for different results. 

Thank you, Ingrid!

Pinterest, Anyone?

Who out there has discovered Pinterest?  I did only recently because my niece invited me to join.
I had no idea what I was getting into although I was warned that it's addicting. It is the fastest growing social network out there today.

Handwoven dish towel by Marilyn Webster 

Woven bacon sandwich

So, what is Pinterest?  Blogger, Katie Kavulla summed it up well on She Knows.
"You know when you're browsing online and see something you love and don't want to forget? What do you do -- email it to yourself? Print it out and put it in a binder? Bookmark it on your computer? Now there's a simple way to compile all of the great things you find online -- from clothes to DIY home ideas to inspiration for your bathroom remodel -- on Pinterest!"  Follow this link if you would like to read her full explanation. 

Woven photograph by D. Walters 

And this post by RandomCreative suggests great ways to use Pinterest constructively including research, brainstorming, bookmarking, collaboration, sharing, inspiration, networking, promoting work of those you admire. So how do I use it? At this point I am still bouncing around the site discovering things that others have "pinned" and hoarding beautiful images and inspirations from all over the web. If done properly, one can click on the pinned photo and be taken to the original website from which the image came. This has led me to some very unusual finds. I am impressed by the creativity of artists and have a new interest in unusual use of materials and installation art pieces. Check out a few of these amazing finds!

Woven Glass "Winter Twilight Kimono" by Eric Markow & Thom Norris

Woven fabric by Choi Jeong-Hwa decorates the Los Angeles County Museum of Art

"Penelope", a recent exhibition by Tatiana Blass, is a storied installation.

This sculpture by  Janet Echelman  is suspended in downtown Phoenix, AZ.

The photos you see here are all part of my pin board entitled "Handwoven Things That I Admire".  Check it out to see more traditional, ethnic, beautiful, absurd and interesting woven objects.  Or view all sorts of things with patterns or colors that I find inspiring. And the collections have just begun!
Pinterest is still in the beta testing stages and it requires that you have an invitation to participate. If you would like me to invite you into this crazy world, please send me your e-mail address.  But, be warned that it is addicting. And fun!