little fool...(a small business romance)

Seed to Scarf VI: Scrub-a-dub-dub...

2012-01-24T14:43:00.000-05:00

Yes, those bubbles are pink.

One fool and a tub. Painting sixteen yards of warp? Fun. Rinsing sixteen yards of warp for two whole days? Not so fun. But it must be done. I learned the hard way that weaving a dyed warp with the dried dye still on it means every single surface area, large to minuscule, of one's entire studio will inevitably be coated with an invisible layer of dye particles...and these particles will make themselves known as soon as you lay down anything with the tiniest amount of moisture in it. Not worth it! Therefore the warp must be cut from the loom (I haven't even woven anything yet) and the excess dye must be rinsed and rinsed and rinsed away. Meanwhile I am watching those sixteen yards tangle tighter and tighter every time I drain a pot full of pink water, wring out my threads (aka rat nest), and start again with a fresh pot. The upside: the work sink in my new studio is actually a bathtub. Wasn't making that first line up.

London Calling Little Fool

2012-01-19T16:27:00.000-05:00

Boticca.com. I'd rather wear a unique story.

It's true! London called me last week. More specifically, two of the style hunters from an online London-based marketplace called Boticca. Boticca currently features the work of around 200 of "the very best emerging designers..." Well, let me share their words:

Our team scours the world looking for the very best emerging designers and puts them all in one place, so that everyone can experience the joy of that rare find and discover the unique stories of these fascinating people and their pieces.

I caught Philippa's eye (aforementioned style hunter) through this blog, and just a week ago I chatted with her and Chiara (style hunter Italy) for over an hour about little fool, and how my scarves would fit so well with the curated aesthetic and "I'd rather wear a unique story" philosophy of Boticca. What does this mean for Little Fool Handwoven Textiles? International exposure and more direct focus toward the audience I hope to reach. Boticca works on the same premise as Etsy (but highly refined and more exclusive and high-end...ooh, that sounds bratty). I will have an online shop through their site, where I will tell the story of my scarves and hopefully see sales in return. I feel very honored and flattered that these ladies reached out to me. It is a small indication that I'm doing the right things, and I consider the complement as a payoff for all the work that goes into keeping up this blog. A good start to 2012, I think!

Seed to Scarf V: Painting Thread

2012-01-16T12:09:00.000-05:00

Dye, meet thread. And my elbow. And my left cheek. Oh, boy. Painting threads with my chosen dye color mixtures, I will follow the pattern laid out underneath my warp to transfer an image that started out as a small sketch, grew to a full-scale cartoon, and will end as a soft and supple textile with a life of its own. This process will happen six times as I complete one image, let it dry, pull out more warp, and start again.

A Winter Walk, Curated

2012-01-13T13:31:00.000-05:00

Please don't turn me in to the owners.

I went back for the one on the right later (needed some scissors).

Moving studios is a great big pain, but one benefit of the change of scene has been, well, the change of scenery. I have had the pleasure of getting to know three neighborhoods of Richmond beyond my home in Jackson Ward. First there was Church Hill and the Lab 307 studio, where a walk along steep cobbled alleys practically as old as the Civil War itself was performed with both eyes on the ground (for the lovely view of worn stones as much as watching one's step). Then there was Mayo Island, with its constant nature show unfolding outside my windows as the creatures of the river and its banks treated our vast neglected parking lot as an extension of their habitat. Now, deep in the Fan at Cary Studio, I find myself among human animals and historical houses squeezed tightly together onto leafy brick-lined blocks. Restaurants peek out from unexpected places and cultivated plant life replaces the wild weeds of my river studio. I am happy to be exploring this new neighborhood: just yesterday I discovered that everyone's well-tended hydrangeas and all sorts of bushes and trees I won't try to identify are in a great variety of wintertime states from hibernation and decay to early (optimistic) growth. Seed pods have dried and cracked, and with no leaves to hide them they stand out starkly on their branches. Flowers, stiff and crispy-tan, are revealing their forms without their distracting spring plumage. Walking along Floyd street, I realized that the more I looked, the more interesting shapes and arrangements I found. Luckily I had my camera: I took plenty of photos of what will most definitely become patterns and motifs for new scarves. And obviously I couldn't help snatching a physical sample or two or seven (it's for reference, OK?) Nobody chased me out of their yard, either (though they might be watching for me, come summer.)

Seed to Scarf IV: Mixing Dye, Staining Hands

2012-01-10T07:25:00.001-05:00

Note: no salsas, jellies, or jalapenos were harmed during this procedure.

This part is fun: for the first time I imagine what each individual scarf might look like. My pattern may be the same, but my color options are practically endless. How to narrow it down to six or less? Often I pick a few dark colors, thinking of more exciting shades to over-dye the woven pieces later, but with certain patterns (like the one I'm about to paint) the design itself seems to call for its own color personality. For the Seaweed Scarf, I'm painting two reds and one green (it is inspired by seaweed, after all), two dark blues, and one black. Once my dye colors are mixed and ready to go, it will be time to paint that warp. Stay tuned!

Forgetful New Year

2012-01-04T11:31:00.000-05:00

There has been a great amount of noise and activity coming from my corner of Cary Street Studios since Move-In Day (that was December 18, a local holiday according to me). Puffing, scraping, banging, clanging, sawing, sanding, hammering, hacking: you may notice that my usual loom sounds (think soft metal shimmer... a pleasant shhhh...shhhh...shhhh) are absent from the above list. I was surprised and pleased when the move itself took half the time I expected, and have been surprised again (and not so pleased) when the studio set up took about four times as long as expected! The looms are finally up and running, and each pencil, scissor, and T-pin are in their proper place. To work! Right...what was I working on? Just kidding, I remember. I'm working on a really great abstracted seaweed kind of scarf (hey, that's nice...maybe I'll call this one Seaweed Scarf) and most importantly, I'm supposed to be keeping track of the time I take to make them. I got half way through pulling my new warp onto the loom before I remembered that part, so now I'm leaving myself notes. "Say, what do you hope for in the New Year, Little Fool?" Oh, the usual...excitement, happiness, and (as always), accuracy.

Seed to Scarf III: Tying on the Warp

2011-12-29T11:40:00.000-05:00

You are witnessing weaver efficiency at its best here. Instead of feeding each of the 810 warp threads through the reed and then the corresponding 810 heddles, I merely tie 810 knots from the old warp (still threaded through the loom) to the new warp and pull through. Nothing to it!

Merry, Happy, and All That Good Stuff!

2011-12-25T12:37:00.000-05:00

Fool on the Move

2011-12-18T06:59:00.000-05:00

You may be surprised to hear that I'm moving again...today, in fact. I made the decision a few months ago, when a space that seemed to be made just for me and all my textile needs became available in my dream studio on Cary Street. This is a studio community that I have been salivating over ever since I moved to Richmond, and with my extra-large artwork and small business needs, I have come to a point where I can justify another move and a slightly steeper rent. The perks: a very clean building with better dyeing facilities...and let's not forget to mention the enormous, gloriously white wall on which to pin up and construct my large-scale weavings. I am so sad to leave my friends behind on Mayo Island, but I know they will always be just a short trip down the river. Sigh. But to work! It's time to move a couple of looms.

Seed to Scarf II: The Warp

2011-12-14T13:02:00.000-05:00

See everybody, middle school math DOES apply in the real world. Once I have decided on the design of my scarf series, it's time to plan out the warp. How many threads will be in each inch of the scarf width? How fine should those threads be? Do I want any vertical stripes added to the design, or will the whole scarf be a solid color? How long do I need to make the warp in order to make six scarves? Once these questions (and many more) are answered, it's time for some multiplication and division, and finally numbers on paper become 16-yard bundles of thread laid out on my warping board. A new scarf run begins to take shape...

Seed to Scarf I: Design

2011-12-08T08:52:00.000-05:00

Each scarf series begins in my sketchbook: random doodles converge into specific patterns, then one pattern is singled out and refined over and over again until it is perfect for a scarf. My initial ideas come from all sorts of places: the scenery I pass every day as I walk and bike around Richmond, patterns of light and shadow, and even from the technical process I use to make the scarves themselves. The design for my next scarf run, however, began with a memory. A portion of the scarves in this series is already spoken for: a lovely woman named Josie has requested a set of scarves with personal significance, meant as gifts for her sisters. She wanted something inspired by the memory of her father, who loved the ocean, had Irish-blue eyes, and wore a blue-and-white polka-dot necktie (this resulted in his children having a particular fondness for the color blue). What a lovely set of details to work with! I designed the motif on the left around those details, thinking both graphically and abstractly about the surface of water, the rhythm of waves, and seaweed in the surf, with polka-dots that also reference bubbles in water. I will make a set of six scarves from this design, but only two will come out the color of Irish-blue eyes.

"How long did THAT take?!"

2011-12-05T19:51:00.001-05:00

Ole' Stinky here thinks I weave real slow.

When I'm talking to someone about how I make my scarves (describing warp-painting, the rinsing and multiple attachings, unattachings and re-atachings of the warp to the loom, the weaving itself, the over-dyeing), the question "And how long did all that take you?" will inevitably follow my tiresomely technical soliloquy. To this day, I am still unable to answer this question with any real accuracy. I've guessed 15-20 hours on the most involved scarves, hoping to overestimate (because if I'm not, I might really be working in my own private sweatshop). Today, finally, I am ready to discover the truth, so that in the future I won't be guessing the quantity of labor invested in each scarf. Maybe I will be pleasantly surprised...but I'm rather nervous that my current guesstimate is either accurate (and I can live with that), or (gasp) too low. We shall see. But please stay tuned, because tracking labor means it's time for another exciting Process Series on the blog...chronicled from start to finish on my next batch of scarves...and I'll have the stopwatch out the whole time. Get ready for some brutal honesty.

Lf for True Love

2011-11-29T11:55:00.000-05:00

Hello! So sorry for a quiet week on the blog: I took some time off from the coffee shop to enjoy an extended Thanksgiving, and not entirely surprisingly my immune system decided it was a good time to take a break as well. Both of us are back to work now, and I am looking forward to a very busy, very productive December. So...what's the deal with the two lovely ladies pictured above? Well, they will be up for grabs at a one-night silent auction exhibition in Raleigh on Friday, Dec. 2 (along with many other beautiful works of art)...so my Raleigh folks, get there if you can! My friend Tracy Spencer curated this group show as "a fundraiser/silent auction to help Equality NC fight the anti-LGBT amendment that's up for a vote in the spring." I am donating half of my profits to this cause...so be at 133 South Wilmington Street from 6-10 pm to support art and true love!

The Craft Show

2011-11-20T19:18:00.000-05:00

I spent a good part of my day yesterday at the Craft and Design Show, where Quirk had a good-looking booth that included some Lf scarves. Ever since I took those last scarf photos for my new website, I have been thinking about how important it will be for potential buyers to be able to touch my scarves, to look at them from all angles, to feel their weight and drape across their shoulders. One solution to this is the high-end craft show, but I have been hesitant. From what I hear, the craft show circuit can be pretty brutal. How perfect, then, that Quirk has taken Lf to Richmond's big craft show: it is a no-risk opportunity to check out the scene. My conclusion from my experience yesterday is that I would be willing to do a high-end craft show as an independent vendor, but I've got some work to do first. Most importantly, I need to gather some major inventory...and variety, too (both in price point and color/design). I feel like each of my scarves is waiting for that specific person it's going to speak to, and with so few scarves at the Quirk booth that leaves me with a very narrow customer pool. Wouldn't it be lovely to have my own little booth in the future, with scarves spilling out of all kinds of nooks and crannies, just begging to be taken home? Packed with customers agonizing over which scarf to choose? I think I'm just remembering myself in the Istanbul textile market, but hey, it could happen. I just need to make more scarves...and find a population of textile nerds (like me) to sell them to.

New Scarves!

2011-11-11T17:20:00.000-05:00

Well, the photos turned out great...well worth the frustration. Pictured below are what remains in my possession of the three newest scarf runs: Clouds Dissolving, Color Field, and Zip Resist. Their brothers and sisters (4 other Clouds, 7 other Fields, and 1 other Zip) are either sold, at Quirk Gallery, or in storage at the Green Hill Art Center awaiting their debut at the Winter Show next month. Enjoy!


Clouds Dissolving Scarf #4. Silk and Cotton.

Color Field XL Wrap #2. Alpaca and Cotton.

Color Field Square Scarf #6. Silk and Cotton.

Double Zip Resist Scarf #1. Silk and Cotton.

Picture Day Anxieties

2011-11-09T20:26:00.000-05:00

Oh, if I could only leave this to the professionals!

I have discovered the one part of my process that I would happily entrust to someone else: photographing the finished goods. I've taken lots of these kind of pictures since my scarves began rolling off the loom over a year ago. So why am I having such a hissy fit today, as I attempt to document my inventory of scarves for the new website? Maybe that gorgeous photo in Belle Magazine is partly to blame...I wish I could make photographs like that...but there is a bigger reason for my recently developed anxiety behind the camera. I want to create a cleaner, more homogeneous style for the photos (this means no more brick walls and old window screens), because they will become the storefront of my online shop. It has therefore become even more important that my photographs represent the scarves accurately and in all their glorious detail. This second part feels impossible: how can I reveal all the features of a scarf in a few images? Yep, I'm feeling the pressure to look my best on this picture day...but it seems that I woke up today with gum in my bangs. One thing is certain: when I can afford it, I'm hiring a real photographer. As that is unlikely to happen anytime soon, I suppose I should quit the whining and get to snappin'.

RESISTance

2011-11-06T14:18:00.000-05:00

Ever since I began making scarves for this little business, I have insisted that one particular design element should be present in every scarf, and that element is the painted warp. It has certainly set my scarves apart, and in my opinion elevated them beyond any of the other handwoven stuff I have seen. But this week I decided to reevaluate my resistance to what I had deemed an inferior surface design technique: resist dyeing on already woven cloth. The dreaded "tie-dye" is an example of this process, and I think the mental image of psychedelic rainbow swirlies was keeping me from trying it out on my precious scarves. But I had a fully white warp on my loom that needed to be woven...so I thought I would weave some plain old scarves (Zzzzzz), then give resist dyeing a try...with little fool style, of course. Here's what happened:

Snoozefest 2011. I know they're pretty, but they were kind of boring to weave.

Apply the resistance!

Smushed silk scarf.

Rub-a-dub-dub, one scarf in the tub.

And...totally worth it. Say hello to Double and Triple Zip Resist Scarves!

Yes, this will be happening again. Hooray for trying new things!

Little Fool Featured in Belle Magazine This Month

2011-11-03T12:19:00.000-04:00

I am so proud of these babies...don't they look good? There's a little blurb about me on the next page, and don't get too excited when you see the prices they listed, because they are incorrect! (I'm a little bummed about that, but maybe it will get some folks in to see the scarves that might not bother if they knew the real prices.) So to clarify: the scarves pictured sell for $450, and my prices range from around $200 to $525.

Open publication - Free publishing - More fashion

Heart on Sleeve

2011-10-31T10:37:00.000-04:00

Lf on display with other wares at Quirk Gallery

I'm speaking to you today from the other side of the biggest hurdle of little fool's business life to date: the delivery of over 25 scarves to Quirk Gallery for my trunk show and accompanying artist talk this past Friday night. It was a lovely and successful event, and now I can finally slow down production a bit and get back to making artwork as well as scarves. The thing is, now that I have a chance to step back and look at what I've accomplished, the reality of this big step into retail has hit me hard: what happens if the scarves don't sell? In November and December, Lf scarves will be waiting for new homes at three different places: the Winter Show in Greensboro, NC, at Quirk Gallery in Richmond, and at the Craft and Design Show at the Virginia Science Museum (also Richmond.) Each scarf feels like a little handwritten note from me to the great wide world. (Do you like me? Check yes or no.) It won't take too many sales to make me happy, but what if a big box of "NO" comes back to the studio after this winter season? When I start to think this way, I try to remind myself that I fiercely believe in what I'm doing, and all I can do now is see what happens. Nothing good will come without sticking my neck out, after all. This is such an exciting time for me and my little business...and just a bit terrifying, too.

eLf

2011-10-28T13:55:00.000-04:00

Getting ready for cold weather! The Lf signature marks the completion of nine more scarves.

Artist Talk and Trunk Show Friday Night!

2011-10-27T08:37:00.000-04:00

the front shop at Quirk

Please join me tomorrow evening, from 5:30-7:30pm at Quirk Gallery: I will be sharing my entire collection of scarves and talking shop at 6pm. To be honest, I've been feeling slightly lost about how to approach this event: I have given plenty of artist talks, but those involved lots of images, talking about feelings...that whole thing. This is the first time it's been about little fool, though. I think I will try to think of it as a conversation among friends. That's how I view this blog, and I have certainly ran my mouth enough here. Yep, no lack of things to say on the little fool blog. Tomorrow night will be fun...and I hope to see you there!

Mystery Roll (Good News!)

2011-10-23T07:20:00.000-04:00

Guess who will be featured in the "Style and Substance" section of Richmond's Belle Magazine? This Fool! It's the November issue, so locals should look out for it sometime next week. I'll try to find an online version to post as well. Anyway, I did an interview and everything. Got my picture taken too. And by the way, if it turns out to be anything like my 6th grade yearbook photo experience, I'm leaving town. I also sent them four scarves to photograph at the beginning of the month. Which ones??? Grab a copy of Belle to find out! Or simply use your x-ray vision to determine the identities of the rolled up scarves below. I am looking forward to seeing the professional photographs...until now, the only person who has ever taken pictures of my scarves is me.

Warm Fuzzies and Electric Heat

2011-10-18T20:13:00.000-04:00

I've finally found the perfect warp to bring in some snowy-soft Alpaca yarn I've been sitting on.

And I'll take that summer sun with me this winter, thank you.

We're at Quirk Gallery!

2011-10-15T16:58:00.001-04:00

Yep. I walked them over from home to gallery earlier this afternoon. So nice to be in the same neighborhood...so I can visit them any time I want. You can visit, too...they're looking for good homes.

That Pesky Logo...AGAIN!

2011-10-12T20:58:00.000-04:00

Logo in dye.

I can't believe that after a year of painting script into the corners of countless scarves, I'm still not settled about the way I apply my Lf logo. No, I can...as a business one must always refine...always seek perfection. Right? The big question is whether I should paint the logo with pigment or dye. You may remember a recent post with a highly victorious tone in which I described how I would now be applying the logo with dye. The big advantage of this method: no texture change between the surface
of the scarf and the logo.

Logo in pigment.

I implemented the new method on a fresh batch of scarves and the results were good. But a few days later, during my open studio, I had a really helpful conversation with a former student of mine (from when I taught while in grad school at VCU), who got to see a wide selection of my scarves in person, said she preferred the bold contrast and substance of the pigment-based logo (which comes out darker and feels different from the cloth) to the slightly more subtle dye-based logo. That got me thinking...what's wrong with a little surface texture if it's only in one little corner? As Molly pointed out, I want my brand to stand out (it is a very beautiful piece of script, in my opinion.) I think I'm going back to pigment, but I'll keep the dye method in my back pocket...you never know when alternative techniques could be useful, after all. Thanks for that chat, Molly!

Made to Order

2011-10-07T07:57:00.000-04:00

Before.

Good morning from Melbourne, Florida! At this hour I would normally have already been at the coffee shop and a good three-quarters of the way through my shift, but instead I spent the 6:00 hour watching the sun rise over the ocean from a front row seat seven floors up in the air. I really understood this morning, waiting in the pre-dawn with a blanket and a terrible cup of hotel room coffee as the night clouds began to lose their inky depths and the sky gave me an thorough lesson in the meaning of Blue, why my Papa spent so much time looking at the stars. I'm here in Melbourne because my artwork is here, at the Ruth Funk Center for Textile Arts on the campus of Florida Institute of Technology. I gave a lecture last evening, but today is all mine. I've got the urge to sketch some scarf designs. I am thinking about ocean clouds and sunrise colors for some reason. But I digress terribly from the reason that I merged onto the blogosphere this morning: I sold another scarf just before I left home! I'm proud of this because the scarf was, in a sense, made-to-order.

After.

Now, how did I get a request for a purple scarf on Friday, and deliver that scarf to its new home on Monday? I started with a scarf I already had: one of the Ikat Shift scarves that I had left undyed and in its original colors of navy and white, with alternating bars of black and white weft. This scarf was perfect for a light purple overdye. And what a revelation for me! I can deliver on color requests by keeping a stock of "neutral" scarves on hand. This will mean resisting my natural urge to immediately dye every scarf as it comes off the loom, but this is business, and I think I can control myself. What a feeling: helping a friend deliver an incredibly thoughtful and unique birthday gift to his lady (in her favorite color, too) with a few day's notice. I can't wait to hear what she thinks. And now, dear friends, I must go for a walk on the beach. Catch ya later.

Before the Mobs Hit the Island...

2011-10-01T16:25:00.000-04:00

All is quiet in the studio at 6:45pm on Friday night. By 7:30, the place was packed! Lots of friends, colleagues, and cohorts until late in the evening. And these were the the first and last photos I took. Who has a hand for a camera? Right hand, wine. Left hand, Cheeze-its.

Open Studio Tonight!

2011-09-30T08:59:00.000-04:00

After occupying our little slice of land on the James River for nine whole months, the Mayo Island Studio crew are finally having an open studio! I've been preparing for weeks, mainly trying to get scarves off the looms and new and interesting things on the looms. Today I will be pinning final sketches to the walls and hanging scarves. Then tonight, me and my studio mates celebrate being in our beautiful (and very rugged) studio, and get to share it with friends and colleagues over wine and cheese, or PBR and Doritos (depending upon whose studio you happen to wander into.)

Pretty, Sweet.

2011-09-26T17:25:00.000-04:00

The painted stripes have made their way onto the loom, and in classic Little fool fashion my plan for this warp has changed between sketchbook and weaver's bench. Those simple stripes are out, and it's plaid, people...with that Lf attitude, of course. Here's a peek at the first color scheme (next up, greens and blues, and finally, yellows). I never considered myself a pink kind of lady, but this I am totally into: it's girly, with a smart and subtle twist.

Logo Gets Super-Tight

2011-09-22T06:23:00.000-04:00

Backside of logos drying.

Over one year of making Lf scarves, and I still feel that each new series is better than the one before it. With this most recent improvement, pigment is now completely gone from the scarves. The Lf logo is now also painted with dye (thickened). This means that after rinsing, it is as completely incorporated into the fibers of the scarf as the rest of the design and will have no texture other than the soft goodness of the silk and cotton.

Still Life

2011-09-20T07:47:00.000-04:00

With all the dyeing I'm doing these days, my apron is becoming a thing of beauty (and irrefutable proof of my clumsiness).

Clouds Dissolving

2011-09-16T13:29:00.000-04:00

Here is the same detail, transforming over five scarf lengths. Scarf #5: "Hey, clouds!" Scarf #1: "Um, is that supposed to look like something?" (Reply: "Not any more.")

Color Fields

2011-09-11T09:28:00.000-04:00

Inspired by the look of the warp-painted stripes on the new Cloudy scarves, I have decided to do a whole series of scarves based on their soft-edged effect. Oh, and I think it's time for some color.

Playin' In the Dirt: Website Construction Continues

2011-09-08T06:50:00.000-04:00

This blog has been a great way for me to tell the story of Little Fool. There is so much more to each scarf than the final product, and through images and the rambling musings of yours truly, I try to convey the back stories wrapped up in the very threads of my scarves. The goal has always been to bring awareness to all dimensions of what I do and how I do it, and to the great value of the handmade object (my handmade object, specifically). The purpose of the blog is also to help people understand why a Little fool scarf costs what it does, and why it is worth it. So the question becomes, how do I translate the sense of history and value I express in "little fool...(a small business romance)" to my new online storefront, which must be the professional face of this often goofy (yet oh-so-endearing) blog (visualize, please: Little fool Handwoven Textiles...and a mullet). I think I need a section in my website called "The Lf Scarf" or something of that nature, which must be a condensed version of all the stories I tell here, illuminating the most important parts of the processes that result in a handwoven Lf scarf. This is what I have so far...and it took forever...I had to do some ruthless editing, but I think I've covered the big stuff:

"The Lf Scarf"

Each Little fool handwoven scarf is made with great care in my Richmond, VA studio. Every scarf is an absolutely unique piece: a soft, luxurious work of art for the adornment of your neck and shoulders. Here are a few things you might like to know about the making of my scarves (handweaving is only part of the story):

Design
My love for the mechanics of weaving and the unique qualities of handwoven cloth is reflected in my designs. I explore shape, color, and pattern in my scarves to complement and enhance the beauty of their handwoven structure. During the design process, I consider the look of the cloth as a whole, and just as importantly, the different ways in which the piece will reveal itself when worn bunched around the neck, or draped over the body. When a design is translated from a drawing on paper to painted threads, it comes alive.

Materials
The look and the feel of my materials is a top priority. My hands are in constant contact with thread, and if a thread does not feel absolutely lovely to my touch, I don't use it. My scarves are made only from 100% natural fibers in very fine-gauge threads: lustrous mercerized and Perle cottons, shimmering silks, crisp linens, and soft, light wools. I purchase my threads in a "neutral" palette only: bleached white, natural, black, and navy-black. All colors are hand-dyed in my studio.

Warp Painting and Ikat

Warp: the long, vertical threads which are attached to and pass through the body of the loom.
Weft: the horizontal threads which are wound onto bobbins and passed back and forth perpendicularly through the warp threads, creating the grid structure of the cloth.

Warp painting and ikat are two techniques I use to apply dye to unwoven threads, which are then woven into a scarf. In the image to the left, warp threads are in the process of being painted with the motif seen underneath. They are not yet cloth: if the threads are disturbed, the whole pattern will disintegrate.

Ikat is a dyeing technique in which warp threads are bound in areas to resist color when the entire warp is dyed. In this image, you see a small portion of a much longer warp, after it has been dyed. I have just begun to remove the bindings from it, revealing the areas that have remained white after dying.

This is a detail of the warp above, after it has been woven.

By applying my motifs to the warp threads only, I am able to highlight the beauty of the woven structure itself. As I weave, the painted or dyed warp threads begin to take a life of their own on the loom. Though I may paint or bind enough warp to weave up to six scarves based on the same motif, each portion of the warp will change subtly in its own way. No scarf will ever look like any other.

Dyeing
I explore color with the passion of a painter: dyeing skeins of thread before weaving, crossing different colors of warp and weft on the loom, and dipping entire finished scarves into brilliantly-colored dyebaths. This adventurous approach to color is balanced with technical knowledge and a respect for proper dyeing procedures. The results are fresh, sophisticated, evenly-dyed colors that you will not find anywhere else.

The Signature
The finishing touch before a piece leaves the studio is a hand-painted Lf signature, front and back, in one corner of the scarf: a work of art, signed with love for my craft and pride in my product.

Good Bones

2011-09-01T15:15:00.000-04:00

No clouds? Who cares! This looks rad!

Yes, I mentally prepared myself to see those swirly cumulonimbus I spent six days painting onto thread dissolve into a blur of color. And it happened just as I expected. After carefully reattaching the new "Cloudy" warp to the loom and beginning to wind on with a perfectly recognizable cloud pattern, the threads began to shift, slowly breaking down the continuity of the image over the 17 yards of warp. From clouds on the back end, I found myself tying on a front end resembling the other half of that weather system: a rain-streaked sky. I like to think poetically about things like this, and to see the positive side, because I simply can't afford to lose all the work I've put in to this series. But I've realized that I never was in danger of losing it. Well, maybe losing clouds, but certainly not scarves. The cloud pattern may not be distinguishable throughout the entire length of warp, but the ebb and flow of color that my shifting threads left behind is, I think, just as beautiful and perhaps more intriguing. Perfectly lovely scarf material. How do I keep getting lucky like this? Sometimes I feel like the beauty or interest or excitement that reveals itself in my finished scarves happens in spite of all the dumb stuff I do along the way. Occasionally I get what I expect, but often what comes out of these highly involved dyeing, painting, warping, and weaving processes is a surprise. I can only conclude that the foundations of my ideas and processes are solid. When stuff goes wrong on the surface (e.g. clouds shifting into scattered lines), my underlying principles (a desire to highlight and celebrate the beauty of line, thread, and structure in weaving) hold up the rest. So whether or not my intended idea actually works, what I get is good in its own way. As I continue to build my business, it is comforting to find that Little fool does indeed have good strong bones. About the clouds, though...I might need to rename this series. And pretend I knew what I was doing all along.

Order and Chaos

2011-08-25T16:55:00.000-04:00

Cloud Pile.

Sigh. Cloud Tangle.

Ephemeral

2011-08-21T14:26:00.000-04:00

I was lucky to catch this moment...I had just used this bamboo stick to mix a blue dye solution, and when I was done I plunked it into water (and that's my favorite water jar, by the way). Because I stood there at the window for a few seconds, admiring the way the light was hitting the glass and the water, I was treated to this little lovely and liquid ballet. I thought you might enjoy it too, so I snapped a photo. A reminder to pause for admiration.

Soft Beat Ikat Scarves #5 and #6: Jewel Tones

2011-08-18T07:11:00.000-04:00

What happens when you take the turquoise dye solution you mixed to dye one scarf, dilute it by 2/3, and use it to dye a second scarf? You get a lovely green scarf, too. Who knew? Soft Beat #5 (turquoise) is my standard cotton warp with a silk weft, and Soft Beat #6 (jewel green) is 100% cotton, with big sections of black weft to offset the green weft. And that's all of the Soft Beat Ikat series, folks!

Soft Beat Ikat Scarf #4: Dark Fuchsia and Black Wool

2011-08-15T15:25:00.000-04:00

Behold the first of the three dyed scarves in the Soft Beat Ikat Series! Cotton warp and a wool/angora weft. Soft. Fluffy. Warm, but surprisingly light-weight for its luxurious proportions. Rather like Chloe, my Maine coon kitty, who is stretched out over half of my keyboard at the moment...too bad she doesn't come in fuchsia.

Hard Hat Area: Construction Begins.

2011-08-09T18:29:00.000-04:00

I'm starting to flesh out my website, which must include all kinds of things like an "about" page, my online shop, and of course a link to this blog. Below is what I am envisioning for a page called "Meet Little Fool"... I have to look legitimate, you know. So... do I look legitimate?

Meet Little Fool

Hi there! I'm Andrea, the brains and brute strength behind Little Fool Handwoven Textiles. Originally from Raleigh, North Carolina, I did my undergraduate work in the Art and Design program at NC State University's College of Design. It was there, in the spring of 2004 and a Beginning Textiles studio, that I met my first loom. Sparks flew! I fell deeply in love, watching my first handwoven cloth emerge slowly before my eyes as I learned how to work with the elegant machine that is a loom. I've been weaving like crazy ever since. After college, I spent a couple of years working, traveling, and weaving on the Nilus Leclerc loom I acquired during my last year of school. This loom, at the size of a full bed, threatened to take over my little apartment, and the textile paraphernalia of a fiber artist at work was constantly expanding over any available wall or work surface. Weaving away in my studio/home, I fell into a mildly troubling habit of wearing pajamas all the time. When I began sorting my favorite clothes into "day" pj's and "night" pj's, I knew it was time for a change: a new city, and the next phase of my fiber education. In 2008 I moved up to Richmond, Virginia to wrestle a Master of Fine Arts degree from Virginia Commonwealth University, where I studied under the wonderful professors of the Craft Department in the School of the Arts. Graduate school was, of course, a very serious business, and every minute of my weaving time was dedicated to my artwork, not wearable textiles (visit www.andreadonnelly.com to see what my artwork is all about.) I received my MFA in Fibers in the summer of 2010. VCU may have sent me on my way, but sweet little Richmond just won't let me go, and the love story continues here in the River City. I found a studio, got a second loom, and officially launched my small business. Little Fool Handwoven Textiles and the accompanying blog, "little fool...(a small business romance)" is a labor of my love for the act of weaving and the touch of exquisite materials, of exploration and experimentation with color, texture, pattern and design. I still spend a lot of time using my looms for my artwork. Yet making textiles that are meant to be worn, that have an intimate relationship (perhaps forever) bringing joy, comfort, or delight to the person that owns them, is an incredibly fulfilling part of my studio practice. I hope that you can feel the love, too.

Ikat Scarves Take a Dip

2011-08-02T07:25:00.000-04:00

You've seen the first three ikat scarves, but what has become of the other half of this group? Elusive scarves spotted: enjoying a dye bath on my lovely but eternally grimy concrete studio floor...

Little Fool, Life, Lemons, and Lemon Squares

2011-07-30T19:35:00.000-04:00

Altering the original "Cloudy" pattern a bit.

I must say, my title for today's post is a perfect summary of what's coming below. No need, really, to read further.

Kidding! Don't go! Have I mentioned lately how much I appreciate you reading my silly blog? Well, I do. It's one of the things that keeps me going when the day gets a bit rough...at least I know I can share my troubles. Reflecting upon them helps me find the upside. But enough rambling...as I mentioned above, life has recently gifted little fool with a big sour lemon. I started a new set of "Cloudy with a Chance" scarves yesterday (I think this pattern is cursed...remember the dye disaster that happened with the first set?) After winding enough warp onto my loom to make six scarves, I pulled out about 90" to begin painting the pattern. It's a process I've done many times before, though of course this is only my second time using dye instead of pigment. Either the day was too hot or the thinner threads I am using in this warp just don't like me, but as soon as I started to paint, the dye took off running! I could tell after a few minutes that my first scarf was practically ruined, which really bummed me out because I actually need to be amassing some inventory now. The stakes feel higher somehow. I sat and stared at my ruined warp for a while, not sure what to do next. And then inspiration struck! So, life gave me lemons yesterday? Today, I made little fool lemon squares:

Dye on the run!!! Dye on the run!!! Those clouds would have been nothing but mud puddles if I had kept this strategy up.

Forced into problem solving mode, I reach into my bag of fiber tricks and pull out the sodium alginate, a thickening agent that will prevent the dye from spreading beyond where I place it on the threads. This alters the viscosity of the dye...it's like the difference between watercolor paint and acrylic paint.

Determined not to waste the length of warp that would be the first scarf, I find that two small square scarves will fit where one big one will not. Little fool squares! Now, would I have arrived at this point without my previous frustrations? I doubt it.

Moving beyond the offending area, here's a glimpse at the new and slightly altered "Cloudy" pattern freshly painted on the warp. I'm excited about it, but there's a part of me that is really apprehensive at the same time. I'm going to have to remove this entire warp from the loom, rinse the dye out, and then put it back before I can weave the scarves, and this makes me nervous. There's more opportunity for movement in the pattern this way, so I might end up with mud puddles after all. It's a risk I have to take...who knows what will happen? I just have to tell myself that I might end up with something awesome, even if it wasn't what I expected. I do love a good lemon square.

Ikat Scarves: Soft Beat Scarf #3

2011-07-24T17:04:00.000-04:00

Here is the last of the non-overdyed ikat scarves in the Soft Beat Series, featuring thick alternating bands of black and white weft through the dark-blue and white warp. Silk and cotton, yep, you bet!

Preparing for Takeoff

2011-07-22T18:07:00.000-04:00

Quirk and its sweet red door.

I've been taking a yoga class for the last month. At the start of each class we take a few minutes to breathe in and out, slowly and deeply. It's a wonderful exercise, and I'm glad I found this class, because for the next few months I think I'm going to need that reminder to breathe. You see, two days ago I had a meeting with Quirk Gallery, a local place about six blocks from my home, but one with a radius of influence and community presence infinitely larger than my own little blog and brand. I was so excited (and a bit nervous), because little fool would be right at home amid the one-of-a-kind jewelery, home things, and art in this approachable and totally refreshing gallery. Sitting in their back office, I piled scarves onto a desk cluttered with newly unpacked candy-toned jewelery and the rather exotic minutiae of a busy and thriving gallery. Business was discussed. Scarves were petted. By the time I walked out the bright red front door, I had agreed to (1) assemble a set of around five scarves to leave for sale at Quirk, (2) give a trunk show and gallery talk in October, and (3) represent for handwoven textiles in Quirk's booth at the Craft and Design Show at the Virginia Science Museum in November. Ummm...did I forget that I'm also sending eight scarves to the Winter Show in Greensboro at exactly the same time that all these exciting events are going down? Well, no. But did I, perhaps, when agreeing most joyfully to these amazing opportunities for little fool, forget that other habitual actions besides the beat-beat-beating of weaver at work must also take place between now and November...eating and sleeping, for example? That's a big yes. But who needs dinner? Reinstate the old M&Ms and Coke Diet from grad school, I say! No, I'm exaggerating. I'm taking yoga class, remember? I have learned a bit about balance. And breathing. So bring on the weaving marathon, and hooray for having concrete deadlines and big opportunities! If anyone is looking for me over the next few months, I'm in my studio.

Administrative Assistance

2011-07-20T11:53:00.000-04:00

Layer Cake

You may have noticed that I haven't put any of my newest scarves up for sale on Etsy. That is because I have decided to build a real website for Little Fool! Well, I'm not building it: I've hired Thread Studio Web Design to do it for me. It's a big and rather costly step for me. A well-designed plot of my own in the great virtually rolling pastures is not cheap, but it's an important investment in my business. I can't wait to have an online storefront, but it will be a few more months before www.littlefooltextiles.com (yay!) is up and running. I found my designer while strolling over the hills of the above-mentioned pasture: there I came upon an online retailer (a small textile business like myself) called Helen Sharp Knitwear, whose site was designed by Thread Studio, and I really liked the way her product was presented. Check it out: www.helensharpknitwear.com/. I think my layout will be similar, of course with my own Lf-style fonts and colors and all that stuff. There is so much to consider, even when I'm not the one doing the majority of the work! It does seem appropriate that I am getting a big-girl website for little fool now, as the business reaches its first birthday. I don't usually make a big deal out of birthdays, but I had some fun today looking back at my first blog posts from July 2010 (talk about bright-eyed and bushy-tailed!) Anyway, a website is a big gift for a one year-old, but it's been a year of growth upon growth. I'm not even talking specifically about sales, though they have been steady and very encouraging. I think the scarves themselves are the true markers of how far I've come in a year. Onward and upward, little fool! www dot!!!

Ikat Scarves: Soft Beat Scarf #2

2011-07-15T07:51:00.000-04:00

Are pinstripes still considered pinstripes if they don't run vertically? I think I need to brush up on my technical stripe lingo...but never-mind. Please enjoy the second Soft Beat scarf (featuring sleek horizontal pinstripes, cotton warp, and silk weft):

SOLD! Flight Pattern in Turquoise and Rusty Reds

2011-07-12T13:37:00.000-04:00

It's always a happy day in the studio when I get to tie a bow around a scarf and send it on its way. Safe flight to this lovely scarf!

Ikat Scarves: the Soft Beat Series

2011-07-07T07:36:00.000-04:00

I decided to name this set of scarves after the white bars embedded in their dark blue warp. They seem to have rhythm and a pulse. Over the ikat pattern of the warp, I have added to each scarf in this series a different weft pattern: stripes and bars of varying thicknesses, or solid color. The first off the line (there are six in total) features thick alternating blocks of white and vivid yellow-green. (To see that green on its own, visit my love letter post). The warp is 100% cotton, and the weft is 100% silky silky silk!

Soft Beat Scarf #1:

Flight Pattern #4: Gold and Fire Red-Orange

2011-06-29T08:55:00.000-04:00

The final scarf of this series is hot to the touch!

About the Flight Pattern Scarves: their proportions are luxuriously oversized, around 26" wide and 78" long (plus fringe.) This means they can be worn draped around the body like a shawl, but they are soft, supple, and light enough to wear around the neck and head.

Flight Pattern Scarf #4:
The two colors of this scarf are a golden yellow-orange, hinting toward mustard, in combination with a pattern of fire red-orange. Black grid lines highlight the pattern. The warp is 100% cotton with a mercerized sheen. The black weft is also cotton, and rest of the weft (98% of it) is gorgeous, shining silk.

Flight Pattern Scarf #3: Lemon-Lime, Pine Green, and Pearl Grey

2011-06-27T12:00:00.000-04:00

The unveiling continues with Flight Pattern #3! About the Flight Pattern Scarves: their proportions are luxuriously oversized, around 26" wide and 78" long (plus fringe.) This means they can be worn draped around the body like a shawl, but they are soft, supple, and light enough to wear around the neck and head.

Flight Pattern Scarf #3:
The two colors of this pattern are a deep forest green and a warm light grey. Its overall color is a bright citrus yellow-green, with black grid lines that highlight the pattern. The warp is 100% cotton with a mercerized sheen. The black weft is also cotton, and rest of the weft (98% of it) is gorgeous, shining silk.

Flight Pattern Scarf #2: Turquoise and Rusty Reds

2011-06-23T09:19:00.000-04:00

Today I would like to proudly unveil the second of three scarves called Flight Pattern. (The first, if you remember, was the Purple Commission.) About the Flight Pattern Scarves: their proportions are luxuriously oversized, around 26" wide and 78" long (plus fringe.) This means they can be worn draped around the body like a shawl, but they are soft, supple, and light enough to wear around the neck and head.

Flight Pattern Scarf #2:
The pattern itself is comprised of two rusty reds: one darker burgundy, the other a deep brick red. Its overall color is a deep turquoise, with black weft and bright turquoise bands. The warp is 100% cotton with a mercerized sheen. The black weft is a wool/angora blend, and the light bands are silk.

Please enjoy...

Love Letter

2011-06-16T10:21:00.002-04:00

Dear Silk,

I know we just met, but I think I love you.

-little fool

Freshly dyed silk glows. I wish the computer had a "touch" button...you'd be in love too.

Ikaaaaaaaat Yaaaaaaaaaaaardage

2011-06-07T13:35:00.000-04:00

This image may look like an exaggerated bookmark, but it is actually one Super-Scarf: around forty feet of woven ikat, containing in its continuous length six new scarves. Before I cut it up, I wanted to see what the entire thing looked like, so I photographed it in two-foot sections and put it back together in Photoshop. But it's been a long time since I've been sentimental about cutting up handwoven yardage. Time to extract the scarves!

keep scrolling...

keep scrolling...

almost there...

Whew!

Getting Undressed

2011-06-06T14:40:00.000-04:00

Purple-Tinted Nosehair and other Technical Musings

2011-05-27T12:46:00.000-04:00

Dye on the run.

The Flight Pattern scarves are off the loom, and I've been rinsing the excess dye out of their fibers all morning. Now that this final step is complete, I'm ready to evaluate my first experiment of warp painting with dye.
Plus Side: I'm able to cover big areas of warp with color, without effecting the feel of the fabric. This opens up the scope of my design possibilities immensely. I'm also learning a lot about mixing color in dye form, which is really engaging, and as my beloved fiber professor from grad school says, a bit like magic. But through this dye experiment, I have discovered a few draw backs...
Minus: Once the dye dried on my warp it turned into a fine powder again. As I tugged the threads back through the body of the loom, and beat them as I wove, nearly invisible puffs of dye powder were disengaging themselves from the fibers and floating away from the loom onto all sorts of surfaces. These surfaces included my studio table. The window sill. The coffee pot. Storage bins. My shoes. My nostrils. I can best describe my feelings about this with another quote from my professor: EEEEEK! I was so relieved to get the finished scarves into water, finally halting the dry dye assault on my studio and nasal passages. But I made another discover while rinsing: it is nearly impossible to keep the dye from staining the undyed fibers as it rinses away from the dyed areas. In this case its not a big deal because I plan to overdye these scarves anyway. However, if I need bright whites, this method will not work. My conclusion is that warp painting with dye is worth it for the design possibilities, but I really can't have any more red dye floating around my space anymore. My solution is to add yet another step into my process, rinsing the warp after painting and BEFORE weaving. I think it will be worth the extra effort. First things first: a major studio cleaning is in order.

Over Twenty Yards of Scarves

2011-05-24T13:38:00.000-04:00

There's lots on the looms right now, and it's all about to come off...

Flight Pattern Scarves on the Little Loom

...and Ikat on the Big Girl

Dueling Looms

2011-05-19T06:49:00.000-04:00

For the first time, I have two scarf warps going at the same time. I'm not sure how I feel about that: on one hand, if I get bored with weaving the Flight Pattern, I can scoot over and look at some ikat for a while. On the other hand, I never seem to be getting anywhere on either! I know my sense of moving at half speed is the wrong way to look at this: I should be thinking that I will have twice as much to show for my efforts when these are finally off the loom. In general, I am very good at focusing in on one task, working like Charles D. to finish, then moving on to the next. This juggling of projects is new to me. But I have so many things going on (in my head and in the studio) that I feel I need to start developing more than one at a time. Very exciting, a little nerve wracking. But it is certainly nice to see both looms all dressed up together...

This might get messy

2011-05-16T13:52:00.000-04:00

My approach to this first big ikat project is a bit...shall I say...carefree. Fast and loose. I am binding by the seat of my pants here, going on a bit of technical knowledge and making the rest up as I go. But I'm not worried. My design is, I think, little fool proof. Simple bars of white resist on gorgeous deep blue. If it shifts around a lot once I move it to the loom, so be it. I don't think it could possibly look bad. The only thing is, winding it on is looking a little daunting right now. Think untangled thoughts for me.

I'm thinking there was probably a better way to go about this.

Ikat is Happening!

2011-05-10T07:29:00.001-04:00

Bundles of resisted white warp threads after dyeing.

If you remember, I received a little grant from the Surface Design Association to experiment with ikat at the beginning of the year, and though I had to put off starting ikat projects for a few months because things were so busy at the start of 2011, I have been quietly ikatting in my studio for about a month now. Want to guess what my first exploration is? Some scarves! I'm not going to get way into process with ikat in this blog...I started an extra fiber-geeky blog called "Girl Binding Clouds" to talk about that (another part of my grant)...so if you want to see more, please visit! http://girlbindingclouds.blogspot.com/

Fancy Pants

2011-05-05T16:52:00.000-04:00

Left and back: $200 of silk. Right and front: $200 of cotton.

No, I am not expanding my business to handwoven trousers, but yes, I am getting fancy. Since I began this adventure, I have tried to continually step up my game on the technical side of weaving, dyeing, and painting scarves. This effort, I believe, has resulted most recently in my invitation to participate in the Winter Show. This exciting opportunity has in turn necessitated a price increase to account for retail commissions. Therefore, the time has come for little fool to step up on materials as well as technique. Now, I love cotton. Cotton is perfectly respectable. The stuff I use is gorgeous, soft, lusterly and snuggable. But if I'm charging over $400 for a scarf, maybe 100% cotton is not enough anymore? My experimental solution: a cotton warp (for dyeing, warp painting and general strength and backbone) plus....silk...as the weft. I ordered a few pounds last week. When I unwrapped the box and ran my hands over the cone...all I can say is yum. But this luxurious and exotic protein is expensive! And yet, it makes sense with the new higher price point. Hopefully the new scarves, with their happy marriage of cotton with silk, will sell. So I can pay my tab at the Yarn Barn.

Something BIG for little fool?

2011-05-03T07:51:00.001-04:00

Systems Meditation #7, 7" x 5"

I always appreciate a good healthy deadline. It's something to fix my sights upon, way beyond that space a foot-and-a-half from my nose, where I measure progress line-by-line and inch-by-inch as a scarf takes shape at my loom. Today I have been asked to exhibit 8 scarves and 6 of my Systems Meditations Series, which are small scratchboard drawings, in Green Hill Center for NC Art's Winter Show 2011. The Green Hill Center is located in Greensboro, NC. Its annual Winter Show takes place in December, features about 140 North Carolina artists, and is known for attracting hundreds of collectors (not visitors, mind you, collectors.) Is little fool seeing stars? Oh yes, big opportunity-shaped stars.

So what does this mean to little fool? It means that this small business is finally venturing into the territory of boutique retail...and boutique commissions. The Green Hill Center takes 40%, which is actually not the highest I've seen, but yikes! In turn, the time has come for a big price jump on my part, because up to this point my prices have been at rock bottom for the amount of time and materials I put into each Lf scarf. I have been hesitant up to now to explore selling my scarves through a third party, because of that ever-lurking commission and what it must do to my price point, but after weaving scarves like a crazy woman for about eight months now, I am confident that what I'm making these days is worth the...gulp...$425 price tag that must now accompany it. Well, I said it. Four Hundred and Twenty-Five Dollars. And you know what? Worth ever penny, and then some. So! Time to weave some irresistible scarves for this new deadline of mine.

The Purple Commission

2011-04-29T17:26:00.000-04:00

Flight Pattern Scarf #1. Not for sale, already sold! (I could get used to saying that.)

With a contrasting black weft, the purple warp threads shimmer, and the black stripes become extra bold.

Birds in Flight

2011-04-22T12:42:00.000-04:00

Please allow me to introduce the first off the loom of the newest scarf series: I'm calling it "Flight Pattern." My studio looks out onto the James, and as spring has crept over our tiny island with the river's rising waters, I've been watching herons and hawks riding air currents back and forth across my field of vision for the last few weeks. Maybe this is why the new scarf reminds me so much of abstracted birds in flight. When I painted this warp, my intentions were different, but in that magical collaborative space between my hands and the mechanics of my loom, the pattern shifted out of its graphic grid, and into this lovely flowing motif. Now, I don't usually remove a single scarf from the loom before I weave my entire warp, and I haven't finished the others yet, but this particular scarf already has a home and I'm anxious to get it there. Yes! A commission! And the best kind of commission too: this scarf is a gift, and my parameters from the giver were simply "Her favorite color is purple." So, off to the dye bath with Flight Pattern Scarf #1...

A graphic design to birds in flight

Can't Resist the Risky Business

2011-04-16T08:40:00.000-04:00

It's so gratifying to see a design come to life, at its intended scale. In my new studio on the Island, I have plenty of foot traffic through my space, and I've been enjoying the response to this design by my Maties (is this the appropriate term for studio mates if your studio is, in fact, surrounded by water? I think so.) It is always a good sign if they are interested in what I'm doing. This design is evoking things like African Adinkra cloth and the Bauhaus for them. Lovely!

However, everything is not as it seems here. I am trying something new, and jumping headlong into it with this series of four scarves. That warp is no ordinary warp...it has been painted with dye instead of pigment. Pigment has certain advantages over dye, but it has one major disadvantage: I have to keep the painted areas small, because pigment will change the "hand" or softness of the fabric if I use too much. Picture a screen-printed tee-shirt: the printed areas are crunchy compared to the rest of the fabric. This is an absolute no-no with my scarves, so I have kept lines thin, color diluted, and lots of open spaces on my scarf designs so far. But I am tired of this limit, so for this design, I am painting my warp with a liquid dye solution. Dye bonds with the fibers, integrating with the cloth, and will leave no crunchiness when the excess is rinsed away. The biggest disadvantage is that color is always a bit of an adventure: the color you see is often not indicative of its final value, or sometimes even its hue (we are looking at a green and a gray in the image below.) I am willing to take this risk, after my last happy foray into dye. Plus, check out the gorgeous bleeding at the edges of the pattern...I can't wait to weave this.

Twenty-two Sketches

2011-04-11T21:22:00.000-04:00

Last week I unveiled my newest warp. I designed it with the stained glass scarf in mind, but as I started winding it through the loom, I had a change of heart. As with the Pixel and Graph Paper scarf, the warp has spoken...in complete opposition to my original plans. No problem! Back to the drawing board I go. Twenty-two sketches later, and I am thoroughly excited about the new design:

#1-4
Trying to work within the lines I have created with this warp. It wasn't going so well: I find even numbers somewhat boring, and those four large bars in the center were causing me to snooze a bit over my sketchbook. That herringbone (or corn plant?) pattern could be interesting in another form, though.

#5-12
What on earth can I do with this warp spacing? Moving back and forth between organic and geometric, and thinking about the role of the weft in the design as well.

#13-20
Starting to get somewhere...getting somewhere...YES! This design will highlight the gorgeous qualities of the irregular edges in my painted warp.

#21
Making it official: the to-scale draft of the scarf on graph paper. Then taped into my special special Lf design notebook. No going back once scotch tape is involved.

But wait!
#22
Going back. Or, going over. With a slick layer of velum. This design is even better if I break up that pattern. Don't fill it all in. Now it's time to make some new scarves!

The Warp from Above...featuring my orange sneaks.

2011-04-05T08:16:00.000-04:00

Patience, Little Fool.

2011-03-27T14:15:00.000-04:00

Can you see my thumbs twiddling? I'm writing this entry as I wait for images of the narrow scarves to download onto my Little Fool Etsy site. Perhaps it's the sudden return to temperatures that demand I wear two pairs of pants while biking to work that's responsible for my downswing of spirits, but today I cannot help admitting that Etsy makes absolutely no business sense for me. True, it gives me some visibility...but I'm not even sure about that some days. There are over 300,000 sellers on Etsy. And of course, my work is way above the typical price point. I know I need a regular website: even this blog cannot satisfactorily hold, catalog, and display my wares. Etsy was never meant to be the final landing place for the Lf scarf. But for now, Etsy it is, and who knows how it might pay off? On this gloomy Sunday I must remind myself that right now, it's OK not to make sense. Or a profit. Or even to break even. That's what the coffee shop job is for. So on with research! On with indulgent time consuming investigations and facebook page updates! In the meantime, and on a thoroughly upbeat end note, I hope you are enjoying this peek of the next scarf series in its most spaghetti-like form.

Finished Scarves: Dyed and Narrow

2011-03-20T16:42:00.000-04:00

Feather and Flora Narrow Scarf in Electric Spring Green and Black Bars

Feather and Flora Narrow Scarf in Maraschino Cherry and Black

Polka Dot Splatter Narrow Scarf in Electric Spring Green

Feather and Flora Narrow Scarf in Maraschino Cherry

The Signature

2011-03-16T08:04:00.000-04:00

The painted signatures, drying.

When I went down to Raleigh in February for the opening of my show, I took along all of my Lf scarves that I had not yet sold, including six of the narrow pieces that weren't even finished. On the day of the opening, I stood in my parent's kitchen ironing scarves in my jammies as my aunt Renee, who had come into town for my big night, sat at the table clipping thread ends for me. There was a lot to do, and I wondered aloud if I should skip painting the Lf logo on the narrow scarves...I wasn't sure I had time. But Renee insisted that I make time: the logo is an integral element of each scarf and the brand I am trying to establish. Well, I listened to my aunt. I believe she has some authority in this matter, as it seems she has purchased about half of what I've made! (love you, Renee!) I was thinking about that moment yesterday morning, as I painted the Lf logo onto the four narrow scarves I kept in my studio to dye. I realize now important that final action is: drawing the brush across my work to mark it... not just with my logo, but with my signature as little fool. Because like a signature, each Lf mark is subtly unique. No scarf will ever be complete without it.

Hello, Lovelies.

2011-03-06T18:42:00.000-05:00

Well, the dye baths were a big success! I think I'm hooked on color.

The Dangerous Dyebath...Again

2011-03-04T09:04:00.000-05:00

You may remember that after spending countless hours weaving four lovely Cloudy scarves, I decided to over-dye half of them. What happened next? My First Heartbreak, of course. I should have seen it coming. What did I expect to happen, adding a dash of this color and a sprinkle of that color to my dye bath? Really, the resulting colors were quite lovely. The problem was, they almost completely overwhelmed that pretty design I spent so much time painting before the scarves were even woven! Well, I'm at it again. I've chosen four narrow scarves for the sacrifice. But I'm approaching this round just a bit more scientifically: precise measurements, reference books, careful notes, and even an additional small square of white cotton in the dye bath, so I can keep track of my results. Repeatable color...what an idea, little fool! Of course, there is always a certain amount of variance when you dye things by hand, but if I happen to make my New Most Favorite Color Ever (or yours), I should be able to recreate it for future scarves. Maybe I shouldn't get ahead of myself, though...I don't yet know how these scarves will turn out. Hold your breath, they're going in!

Invigorating Asheville

2011-02-25T11:38:00.000-05:00

Well. The last few months have been a little too hectic for my liking.

1) Making work for three shows (if weavers had speed classes I would call what I just did a marathon...at a sprint.) Thoughts: Good! Excellent! May the luck continue!
2) Moving studios. Thoughts: Necessary! Beneficial!
3) Making another artist's work (stay tuned for Xu Bing's exhibition at the Virginia Museum of Fine Art, following Picasso.) Thoughts: A priceless learning experience! Extra cash!
4) 30 hours a week at the coffee shop. Thoughts: Eh. Pays the bills. I'm a bit tired of smiling, though.
5) A mild neglect of my dear little fool. I'll admit it: in survival mode, it was this that dropped off. Thoughts: No good! Unacceptable! I must figure out how to balance these things better.

But no matter, I'm back with fresh energy and two good night's sleep under my belt. I feel a bit like a rumpled grizzly emerging from a winter den: my head's been down so long that I've forgotten what it's like to feel the sun on my grumpy snout. But here it is! What, little fool, has finally got you up and stretching? Asheville! Just two days ago I traveled to the mountains to give an artist lecture at UNC Asheville. Me and another Windgate Fellowship recipient spoke about our work and our Fellowships to a room of artist-craftspeople, educators, sympathizers, philanthropists, and one trouble-maker (that was Brent Skidmore of UNCA, the force behind the Meet the Maker lecture series.) For me, that evening lecture marked a stopping-point to my insane last few months. It went so well! Now, I did not mention Lf in my talk...I believe that little fool is a very different thing from my artwork...but I did leave a hearty stack of business cards that were gone by the end of the night...and I must say there has been an unusual amount of activity on this little blog since then. But about the lecture: my fellow speaker, Dustin Farnsworth, young print maker and sculptor of wood and other things too, started the evening off with a very funny and thoroughly engaging lecture, and then I tried to keep up by not forgetting to breathe when I talked. We got some really rewarding feedback and compliments after the show, and then ended the evening with a big, indulgent dinner at Table, complete with wine, desert served in champagne glasses, and extra-sassy waiter. Oh, Asheville! Good food, excellent company, and a town that oozes with love for the concentrated population of artists and craftspeople that it supports. I felt it too, as I walked around downtown searching for morning coffee. It stayed with me all through the rainy drive back to Richmond, my ears popping all the way down the mountain. I can't wait to get back to business.

p.s. Unending thanks to:
The Windgate Foundation
The wonderful folks at the Center for Craft, Creativity and Design
Brent Skidmore
Dustin Farnsworth
I hope to see you again soon!

Big Night in Raleigh, NC

2011-02-05T12:12:00.000-05:00

Yesterday marked the end of a three-month work fest, which included making new pieces for three shows, weaving ten scarves, and moving my 400 square feet of studio stuff from Lab 307 to our new studio spaces next to the James River. Whew! And while I was preparing for the Big Night, the opening of my solo show Mindbody in Raleigh, NC, little fool was getting ready as well:

Rub-a-dub-dub... the narrow scarves get a final rinse to smarten themselves up before their trip to Raleigh and Artspace Visual Art Center. In conjunction with my solo show, I was invited to sell my scarves in Artspace's Upfront Gift Shop. This marks little fool's first foray into retail: an experimental step, but an exciting event all the same...certainly worthy of a long and luxurious soak in the tub before showtime.

Artspace's Gallery 2, where I got to show my stuff (on so many levels.) On the pedestal under my name sits a cute little sign informing the art viewing public that in addition to giant weavings, I also happen to make scarves, and directing them to the gift gallery on the floor below.

Little fool in public, in the flesh, in 3D! Touchable! Try-on-able! We'll see what happens, but one thing is certain: these scarves will do more for my little business on this fancy glass counter top than they will in a plastic tub in my studio.

Little Fool, are you being lazy?

2011-01-15T22:09:00.000-05:00

NO, NO, NO! But one might notice how quiet the blog has been lately. Since finishing the piece Comfort for the Multiple Personalities show in St. Louis (it opened last night, as a matter of fact,) I have taken on two new works that must be completed for two shows that both open on February 4! This is a wonderful thing, but it leaves Little Fool in the background until those pieces are done. I'm finding it hard to balance my three jobs right now, yet I'm hopeful that things will mellow out a bit next month. If not, maybe I will learn how to function without sleep (and despite working at a coffee shop, this is improbable...I love to sleep!) I was able to get the narrow scarves off my loom before the big studio move at the start of the new year, and brought them home to tie up the fringe. I haven't made much progress. See what use they are being put to right now? At least, finished or not, they have Chloe's approval!

Happy New Studio!

2011-01-06T21:25:00.000-05:00

Monday, 10 am

Tuesday, 10 pm

Ten New Scarves

2010-12-19T19:45:00.000-05:00

The narrow scarves are off the loom! I've been weaving like crazy to finish them before the big move to our new studio, as my looms can only travel in their broken-down forms. They seemed to take forever to weave: I think it took more than twice as long to weave two 13"-wide scarves as it did to weave one 27"-wide scarf. I'm not sure I'll be employing that strategy again, but this time it was worth it: no two are alike!

New Studio!!!

2010-12-13T07:35:00.000-05:00

The top floor...that's us!

Blank Canvas

Did anyone hear that? That enormous sigh of relief? I feel like I've been holding my breath ever since I got the news that the artists of Lab 307 were getting evicted in the name of real estate development. But the wind is back in my sails: we have a new home! I am so proud of my studio mates. We really came together and worked hard and fast on this: yesterday we signed a two year lease on a new studio space, and it's another beautiful warehouse. I didn't think it would be possible, but the new space is even better than our current one! Cleaner, brighter, with views of the James River on all sides (the building is on a tiny island called Mayo) and here's the kicker...climate control! I've spent the last month in the Lab looking like the Michelin Man, with all the layers I'm wearing to keep warm, but come January 1, no more. So now, in preparation for the move, I am weaving like mad to get those narrow scarves off my loom (I feel like they've been on there forever,) then it's time to pack up and head down the James. These images of the new space show it as it is right now...by move-in, the carpet and drop ceiling will be gone, and I will be hard at work at one of my favorite activities: organizing my studio space.

Getting paid to make art?

2010-12-06T20:46:00.000-05:00

Ikat sketches from the Textile Museum conference

Wonderful news! I have been awarded a $1,500 Personal Development Grant through the Surface Design Association, to use toward research and a body of work based on...can you guess? Ikat! What does this mean for little fool? The grant money will pay for the materials I use every day, and help me purchase equipment that I desperately need in my studio. The technical research and experimentation I will undertake, though directed first toward my artwork, will certainly translate into techniques that I will use in my scarves...just as my warp painting process started with artwork. Here's a snippet of what I sent the SDA in my grant application:

My work combines process with imagery to create metaphors of psychological spaces and mental landscapes. Weaving has been the most significant element of my work: the actions of weaving and painting on thread are conceptually important, translating time and presence. Since my second year of grad school I have been examining the act of weaving even closer, creating woven inkblots through a circular act of weaving, staining, unweaving, and reweaving cloth. The process of making ikat: of binding, dyeing, and unraveling thread to weave into cloth, is a fertile place for my continued exploration of the nature of process in my work. Additionally, I wish to explore the combination of the unique process of creating imagery through ikat with imagery created through my warp painting process.

I sent a cheeky wink and a couple of batting eyelashes as well, but those didn't upload here. I'm pretty sure it was that little extra something that closed the deal for me.

Almost forgot to look:

2010-11-30T09:03:00.000-05:00

400 little fabric puckers...

135 square feet of quilter's flannel...

100 square feet of handwoven cloth...

3 Harry Potter books on tape...

12 straight hours with my face 5" from the piece...

I paused to eat a plate of Thanksgiving leftovers that Jordan so kindly delivered to my studio, and in stepping away I noticed this elegant moment in my process.

Ahhh, textiles.

Bad News and High Hopes

2010-11-23T08:03:00.001-05:00

I found out yesterday that I and my fellow artists in Lab 307 will be losing our beloved studio in two months. The landlord has decided that the time is right to build condos in our space. I am heartbroken. I was expecting to get at least a few years out of my corner of the Lab, because quite apart from moving being such a drag, it is not easy nor is it good fiber karma to move a loom around. But I'm trying really hard to see this as an opportunity for something better. My amazing studio mates are all for starting this artist collective over again: there are, after all, a lot of empty warehouse spaces in Richmond. Right now, the prospect of having no studio is terrifying me. How will I keep little fool going? What about my art practice? I feel like the best part of me would disappear along with my looms into some unfriendly and offensively orange storage unit. I know, I'm being a bit irrational in my panic...pull yourself together, little fool! This is a speed bump only, a challenge and the opportunity to make it better than it was before. So I suppose it's time to start scoping out real estate with my studio mates. You know, this will be alright. It might be great.

The newest Lady in my life (little fool is sooo jealous)

2010-11-17T15:22:00.000-05:00

Today I am back in the studio and weaving scarves, after two weeks of intense weaving on a much larger scale. Funny, but though I was still working away on a loom, I missed making scarves. What makes those two kinds of weaving feel so different, I wonder? Weaving scarves is just plain fun (most of the time, that is. A poorly timed neck cramp will occasionally force me to reconsider the former statement.) On the other hand, a lot of worry and analysis goes into my artworks...things have to be just right when you are weaving something at 10 square feet. It's a big investment. Anyway, I would like to share the piece that's been keeping me away from little fool, now that it's off the loom: the other part of my studio practice...

And here she is: the three panels containing the graphic black and white image are the woven part...the weaving is currently folded up, and underneath I am painting the figure with warm tones onto white flanel...when the image falls over this it will give a subtle coloration to the body.

Well, the subtlety is visible in better light, but here's the weaving in it's proper place. Exciting! Now I'm dividing my time between finishing this work and finishing those narrow scarves you see peeking out of the left side of this photo. Progress is slow and steady...

SOLD! Pixels and Graph Paper in 6" Bars

2010-11-07T16:50:00.000-05:00

That's it. Sold out. No more Pixel scarves! Excellent. I'm already thinking about new pixel color combinations for the next round of this scarf.

Fall Bouquet

2010-11-03T10:05:00.000-04:00

November's flowers, from little fool...Happy Fall!!!

SOLD! Pixels and Graph Paper in White Graph with Half-Inch Stripes

2010-10-31T17:01:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, I stopped by Reynolds Gallery to pick up a piece of my artwork that's been hanging there since the summer, and I brought along my scarves to show Bev, the owner of the gallery. Can you guess what happened next?!

Yay! Sold!

View from the other side of the studio

2010-10-28T20:47:00.000-04:00

There's a loom at work, but alas, it isn't working on scarves. I've been spending all my studio time at the Big Loom lately, weaving marathon-style to finish a multilayer 9.5' x 9.5' woven piece for an upcoming show I'm part of in St.Louis. I stop every now and then and look wistfully at Baby Loom, sitting quiet and lonely across the room with only half of the first two narrow scarves completed. So sad. I've looked into this situation, and have discovered my problem: there are only a total of 24 hours in a day (little fool, what a lesson to learn!) But this weaving backlog is bound to arise as I balance barista-dom with making artwork, scarves, and this blog. The challenge becomes, how do I keep my business rolling along when I can't be constantly finishing new scarf runs? Maybe it's time to delve into some other aspects of the business: I've been meaning to research craft shows...and look into a business license...and of course there's always the second-most (nearly tied for first) exciting part of this adventure, creating new designs. One can never have too many sketches and doodles. The loom may be resting, but have no fear: little fool will not!

Alternatives to Insulation

2010-10-26T07:52:00.000-04:00

A rainy and thoroughly cozy day today: I am reminded that cold weather is fast approaching RVA and Lab 307, home of the little fool studio. I'm beginning to look with a mild but steadily increasing apprehension at my industrial window and the beautiful old bay doors, neither of which contain an ounce of insulation. In fact, might I call the 2" gap between the bottom of those doors and the concrete floor anti-insulation? Patrick, one of my studio mates who has been at Lab 307 for a few years, told me yesterday that we'll kick on the heat when it starts getting a bit too chilly...kick it on to a luxurious and toasty 50 degrees...you know, just to keep things from freezing. I think it's time for me to make a little list of why my studio is so awesome and how lucky I am to have my space: reminders for the coldest months, my own little store of winter acorns. I suppose I just need to read back through my blog posts for that. But if you notice that all of my scarves have disappeared from the little fool Etsy shop this winter, and that my inventory seems suddenly depleted, it may not be because everyone's wearing Lf this Christmas. It may be because I am wearing Lf this Christmas. All of it. At the same time.

Narrow Scarves Get Shifted

2010-10-23T09:20:00.000-04:00

After painting the warp for the Polka Dot Splatter scarf and the Feather+Flora scarf, I decided to add a little more shift to the threads. Maybe it was the influence of my Ikat weekend...

The polka-splatters during warp painting (l), and again once they are back on the loom. They have shifted out of their perfect grid, which I like. Part of me feels like my job is to keep subtle and unexpected details in my work...the kind of thing that is only possible to do when making something by hand. To further highlight the shift off the grid, I have added small black dots that actually follow it. Sometimes they line up with the splatter dots, and other times the two drift apart. This keeps me visually engaged as I weave...always a good thing!

The lovely peacock feathers/flower pods, during warp-painting and on the loom. I have painted each of these 5 scarves differently: some have the little "seed clouds" around them, some are plain, and all are different in color. I think these will be great for dyeing once woven. The image has really changed in shifting...it was raining in the studio as I was weaving this, and this design got me thinking about reflections in water, and images viewed through a rain-washed window.

This is how these beauties look on the loom: I am weaving them simultaneously. It takes a bit longer to make any forward progress, but I try to remember that I am weaving 10 scarves instead of 5 this way.

Ten Highlights of the Ikat Symposium Weekend

2010-10-19T15:56:00.000-04:00

I am always amazed at how much...stuff...one collects in one's brain at a weekend symposium. I've been to a few now, and after each one, when the crowds have dispersed, the cheese plates are thoroughly picked over, and I'm back home with the "commemorative mug" I "got" from my hotel room, I'm still absorbing the weekend's events. And so, today, I am backlogged with inspiration and information. But here are ten highlights that have revealed themselves through the wonderful fog of this newly acquired experience:

1. THE EXHIBITION. I was treated to a stunning collection of ikat robes and panels on my first night at the Textile Museum. Midnight blue walls and soft Central Asian music created a separate and quietly exotic space in which over 50 pieces of 19th-century ikat glowed and glittered like jewels. I was totally in awe: of the pieces themselves, of the craftsmanship behind them, of each little transition of color and shifting of silk thread. I spent a lot of time with my nose mere inches away from these magnificent textiles. I think I made a guard or two nervous.

2. A nonstop show of living ikat. From the moment I arrived at the Textile Museum for the Friday eventing festivities, all the way through the ikat show-and-tell on Sunday morning, I was surrounded by enthusiasts bedecked in a seemingly endless variety of ikat finery! There were ties, bags, hats, skirts, dresses, scarves, antique traditional robes, and even contemporary high fashion (see Oscar de la Renta's ikat line).

3. Gettin' Schooled. I didn't think it was possible, but my appreciation for Central Asian ikat has grown ever greater, thanks to six amazing lectures covering a variety of approaches to the study of ikat: history and culture, the making process and economics, aesthetics and fashion. I learned so much this weekend!

4. Different folks, common interest. I thought this crowd would be extra high in fibers, but that was not the case! I met world travelers, scholars, historians, curators, collectors, and conservationists...even a scientist analyzing the dye makeup of antique ikats, and a student writing her dissertation on China's influence on western clothing. The artists and weavers were certainly represented, but the diverse crowd reminded me that endless variety can live within shared interests.

Gathering at the Sunday morning Show-and-Tell, where participants shared their own ikat collections with each other and a panel of experts.

5. Making friends with Museum and Friends. As an artist and weaver, I feel like meeting the Textile Museum for the first time this weekend was like finding my new Old Friend. And behind the place itself is an amazing staff of specialists, educators, and people who really care about textiles. I was so lucky to meet and chat with many of them this weekend. They have not seen the last of me!

Tom Goehner (TM Curator of Education), Me and my Gold Star name tag, and Hattie Lehman (TM Assistant to the Curator of Education) in one of the tents covering the Textile Museum's gardens.

6. Exploring the museum shop. I did some serious Lf reconnaissance work among the scarves and other handmade textiles for sale there. One day I'll be there too...I think I was among my future sales market this weekend. I certainly gave out a few business cards, and you better believe I was wearing Lf every day, loud and proud!

7. Pages and pages of notes and sketches from Saturday's lectures.

8. Being a scholarship recipient. Most embarrassingly, the eight of us young scholars were recognized at the symposium, and a lot of folks were interested in what we were all up to. Like the big group, there was a lot of diversity in my little peer group: I was the only artist, but I met students from fashion design, museum studies, and more. It was great to talk to people at similar points in life to me, but with different exciting paths ahead of them.

9. A beautiful weekend in DC. Sunny and cool, the weather was perfect for the trek from my hotel to the museum, past embassies and opulent homes along the hilly streets of the District.

The Textile Museum, Washington, DC

10. The exhibition, again. It must be said again. I spent a lot of time in there.

And now...back to the studio for me. As for you, see this exhibition! It's up through March 13, 2011.

Ikat and Istanbul

2010-10-14T08:43:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow I leave for Washington, DC and the Ikat Symposium at the Textile Museum. Before I go, I want to share my own little collection of ikat textiles with you...but be warned, you may fall desperately in love. I brought these six cloths back from my summer trip to Istanbul, Turkey. I was there for an international student exhibition with Marmara University, and in my down time I explored the local markets, where rugs, printed cloth, handwoven cloth, and antique textiles were piled floor to ceiling in tiny stalls, tucked into nooks and crannies and spilling out into the streets. It was heaven. The shop I patronized is called Cocoon: it is a highly reputable seller and a wondrous place to pass a few hours. Though the footprint of the store was probably less than 200 square feet, it felt massive: a tiny staircase wound up and up through five (or was it six? I lost count...) floors of textiles, ending on an open rooftop balcony with an unobstructed 360 degree view of Istanbul and the Sea of Marmara. The image above is taken from Cocoon's little observation tower, with a view of Sultan Ahmet leading down to the water. If you ever go to Istanbul, visit this shop.

Inside the shop:

The ground floor (r) and an upper floor (l), where I spent some serious time picking out my own ikat yardage.

And now, my ikats!

For more detail, click on the image and you will get a big old eye-full of ikat. I brought home about two yards of each of these cloths...the pattern is more extensive than is shown here.

This white line marks the end of a repeat pattern...see how the design is mirrored on either side? When dyeing the pattern, the warp is folded over and over on itself...usually after two yards for these babies...this saves some time, because many repeat patterns can be tied into a single bundle. (OK, this probably makes no sense. Hopefully I will be able to explain a bit more clearly after my big weekend at the symposium.)

Sigh. I am such a sucker for simple, clean, beautiful design. This particular cloth spoke to my love of the Japanese aesthetic.

This amount of detail is plain crazy. I hope to learn how highly complex patterns like this one are created.

Little fool hearts ikat, and ikat hearts little fool!

Tulips...very big in Turkey.

So I am bringing these six textiles with me to the museum this weekend. There is an ikat show-and-tell on Sunday, and I'm hoping to learn a little more about the significance of and process behind these six designs. And needless to say, I am dying to introduce a bit of ikat into my own Lf designs. It might just be research for a while, but I am head-over-heels in love...I must have ikat around my neck! (Hopefully I'm not the only one!)

SOLD: Pixels and Graph Paper, #2 and #3

2010-10-12T20:23:00.000-04:00

Hooray! I am so thrilled right now!

Pixels and Graph Paper #2: Small Stripes, Big Graph

Pixels and Graph Paper #3: 1" Bars

Studio Visit with a Fairy Godmother

2010-10-11T10:11:00.000-04:00

In the Lf Studio: Eric, Andrea, and Janet, with Norma behind the camera.

Little fool got a big old treat this weekend. Three dear fiber friends came into Richmond for a lightning-fast catch-up: some great Cuban food for dinner, and the best studio visit ever. Eric Chavez and I met in 2005, when he came to NC State with his father to give a lecture and workshop on tapestry weaving and natural dyeing techniques they were using in their village of Teotitlan del Valle, in Oaxaca, Mexico. This was a very significant moment for me: a year later I found myself living for a month in Teotitlan, studying with Eric and taken in by his amazing family. It was in Teotitlan that I also met Norma Hawthorne: a Pittsboro, NC native, a champion of Oaxaca art and culture, a great friend of the Chavez family, and the impetus behind that first trip of Eric's to the United States in 2005. A solid 5 years later, and see how much has happened in all of our lives. Grad school and a business-baby for me. Eric marching into the one-and-only textile museum in Mexico when it first opened in 2008 and not only asking for a job, but proposing his own Educational Services position! And Norma, through her connection to Eric's family, her love for Oaxaca, and her passion for education, starting a business as a Cultural Navigator to Oaxaca. She brings small groups of tourists into the Valle for socially and culturally conscious experiences and creative workshops in Oaxaca...which benefit the local artists and communities most directly.

Sorry for so much background...it's overwhelming sometimes to look back on the path I've been walking and see how truly significant certain crossings and overlappings have been! I just can't express how lucky I feel to know these folks.

So Eric, his sweet sister Janet, and Norma came to Richmond this Saturday, and I had my first studio visit in the Lf studio. Not only did I get to talk technical fiber-geekery with them, but we had a whole little fool fashion show:

Norma pulled out all of my stock (she even found the scarves I wasn't planning to sell...one of the first I ever made, which turned out way too short, and the Cloudy dye bath mishaps) and pretty soon we were all wearing them and I was telling stories about the ideas behind them, and a good time was had by all. Possibly, I had the most fun...I think I was feeling the way parents must when a group of their peers are praising their children.

My boo, Jordan, wearing a Cloudy scarf.

Soon we were all getting hungry, but before we headed out for Kuba Kuba, Norma announced that she had not come to window shop, but to buy...and boy, did she...three scarves! Here's the funny part: two of the scarves were ones I didn't think I would ever sell...Too Short Scarf, and Dye Mishap Scarf. But they were just perfect for Norma! It's almost like they were waiting for her. I think there's a lesson for me somewhere in this transaction. What a visit, and what an unexpected business day for little fool!

The keeper of the shop, wrapping the goods.

Some great links related to this post:

Norma's Website: Oaxaca Cultural Navigator (see what Norma's all about, and read her post about visiting my studio)
Museo Textil de Oaxaca (Eric's museum in Oaxaca City)
Andrea's Windgate Fellowship Journal (scroll down to the bottom to read all about my adventures in Teotitlan with Eric and his family...lots of great images, too)

Details, Details

2010-10-08T08:45:00.000-04:00

Things are getting complex in the Lf studio. The warp I've set up for my thin scarves is quite sophisticated...yet understated (insert roguish wink here). I figured I would add some interest to the warp itself on this round of weaving: why, I asked myself, should the warp painting be the only exciting part of my process? No reason! Notice the alternating thickness of threads in this image (and that's the feather+flora cartoon beneath them). Because this round of scarves are half as wide as what I normally weave, I want to make sure they retain substance somehow...meaning they hold their own on the wearer, instead of looking flimsy or disappearing into clothes. So I decided to add a bit of body to the thin scarves with a splash of thicker thread, but not enough to change their lightness, transparency, or delicacy. I can't wait to see how this new structure will look when I weave it.

Finished Scarves: Pixels and Graph Paper

2010-10-05T07:21:00.000-04:00

Blue, green, and yellow pixels popping out from black and white in stripes and graph grids. These scarves will be appearing on Etsy over the next week: to see all 5 images of each scarf, visit little fool's facebook page now, or stop into the Etsy shop in a few days.

Pixels and Graph Paper 1: 6" Bars

Pixels and Graph Paper 2: Small Stripes, Big Graph

Pixels and Graph Paper 3: 1" Bars

Pixels and Graph Paper 4: Big Graph with 1/2" Stripes

Lf Lite: Thin Scarves

2010-10-02T10:26:00.000-04:00

Don't worry, stained glass scarves are still coming (I think that was my most popular post to date, actually.) I have decided that the stained glass series should be of a different weight and thread density than the set up I'm working with now, so before I completely re-thread the loom I have one more scarf run to make. One of my lovely readers (Hi Geni!) brought a very important point to my attention a few months ago: she reminded me that not everyone can wear big luscious scarves...some folks actually prefer to wear little luscious scarves. So I'm cutting my warp width in half, and weaving 2 different sets of scarves simultaneously...this little fiber-juggling feat will yield 10 skinny beauties in 2 unique patterns. Lf Lite! After designing within a 27" x 78" frame since I began little fool, I'm really looking forward to this small but significant deviation...and I'm SO excited about the patterns I've developed for both of the thin scarves. Take a look:

On the left, we have the Polka Dot Splatter Scarf. You may recognize the big grid pattern from a certain black and white Ikat Shift scarf: I loved that look, so I've decided to incorporate it into a thin scarf.

And on the right...A while ago I was thinking that I'd like to do something with peacock feathers. The stylized feather-flowers in this scarf were inspired by them. They look even better in the full-scale pattern!

SOLD!

2010-09-30T07:01:00.002-04:00

Cloudy w/a Chance in Night Storm Blue and Silver Gray

Isn't this one pretty? Because of my dyeing mishap, I only have one Cloudy scarf left. I think I want to make more of these...

Inspiration: IKAT

2010-09-27T09:19:00.000-04:00

I know I keep mentioning this weird term, "ikat," as a process which greatly influences my work (both the scarves and my artwork.) Ikat is a technique of binding and dyeing threads to create colorful and graphic patterns when the threads are finally woven into cloth. My description of this amazing process is very simplified: it's actually quite complex, and though my warp painting technique references the effect of ikat, it's not the same. Here's a snippet about ikat from The Textile Museum in DC:

Nineteenth-century Central Asian ikats are distinguished by bold, original designs using vibrant colors and are prized for their great beauty. These textiles derive their name from the technique used to create them, wherein bundled warps—and sometimes also the wefts—are bound and dyed several times before weaving, resulting in eye-catching designs in dazzling colors. Today the influence of ikat designs can be seen in contemporary fashion and home décor.

I've been dreaming of incorporating true ikat into my work, in conjunction with warp painting. I think I might hit on some really interesting stuff there. But before I start that, I've got some technical and cultural research to do...and...guess what? I will have the opportunity to do just that next month. I just found out some great news: I've won a scholarship to attend the Fall Symposium and corresponding exhibition at The Textile Museum in Washington, DC! This year, the theme of the symposium is Tying the Rainbow: Reexamining Central Asian Ikats, and I will be there, geeking out over ikat with all my fellow fiber folks. I'm looking forward to a much deeper understanding of the process and significance of this technique, and I can't wait to apply what I learn to my scarves!

First Heartbreak

2010-09-22T20:49:00.000-04:00

Rest in peace, Cloudy #3 and Cloudy #4

Oh misery! Oh regret! I've lost my other two Cloudy scarves, and have no one to blame but myself. Today I learned a costly lesson: my color mixing skills, of which I have always been quite proud, do not translate into dye color mixing skills. I made the mistake of intuitively whipping up two dye colors with which to over-dye the two Cloudy scarves I have yet to post on Etsy or the blog...I thought I was creating a pale blue and a nice coral...and what did I end up with when the scarves emerged from their dye baths?

The offending dye baths...who knew?

Dark blue and purple mud! The worst part: the lovely clouds that I so carefully painted onto each of my scarves have completely receded behind their respective too-dark dye jobs. OK, the blue scarf isn't bad. It's actually quite beautiful. But with nearly invisible clouds, it looks like a regular old blue and black striped scarf. I am not going for regular. I am going for special and unique. The purple mud scarf, unfortunately, is beyond help and will never leave the studio. I'm so sorry, scarves!!! This is a bit painful for me right now...I almost didn't write about it, but I'm sharing the entire journey of little fool in this blog, not just the successes. SO. Enough crying...lesson learned. I think I'll go buy a pint of ice cream, and a copy of The Dyer's Dictionary. And I'll start again tomorrow. :)

Stained Glass Scarf

2010-09-20T06:33:00.000-04:00

The theme for my next project came from a conversation I had with my hair stylist last month: she requested a birthday scarf for someone who used to make stained glass. What a great idea...a stained glass scarf! So I've decided to make a full run out of this, instead of just one scarf for my super-great hair girl. (Hey Richmond folks, her place is called Bangs Salon...just ask for Aleen). Making five of these stained glass scarves will serve two purposes. First, it will give my customer a variety of color and stripe patterns from which to choose a favorite. Secondly, and perhaps most importantly from the side of this little business, it spreads out all the hours I devote to designing and developing a new motif over four or five scarves instead of one. The pattern I've developed for the stained glass theme comes from a combination of imagery and influences: the tiles and painted ceilings I encountered on my recent trip to Istanbul, images of pattern-based stained glass I found online, and a set of Moroccan lamps that hang in a window at my house. The design is simple: I'm thinking about the graphic impact of how it's worn...whether the scarf is draped loosely around the body or bunched up around the neck, I want it to be intriguing and beautiful. I'm starting with this particular color palette as a base, and once the scarves are woven each will be over-dyed a different color. I'm seeing a golden yellow, a pale green, a deep red...I think these will be lovely. The idea, of course, is to make them glow like stained glass.

SOLD!

2010-09-17T08:00:00.000-04:00

Lil' Runny Polka in Dusty Cranberry

My first real Etsy transaction...and what a great feeling! I opened my little fool email account first thing yesterday morning to find that one of my scarves had sold. It made my entire day.

What's Weaving

2010-09-14T08:36:00.000-04:00

Here's a peek at what's on the loom: a varied stripey selection on the Pixels and Graph Paper warp. I'm having fun creating the different stripe patterns...my guiding rule for this series is that each scarf must have the graph paper reference within its white areas.

This scarf series has a real geeky-cool feel...like A-honor roll and a vintage tin lunchbox. Know what I mean?