June weavings

Hello, dear readers. The summer solstice is nearly here. The Eastern Phoebes have been very reliable alarm clocks for us here in the Monadnock Region; they start chirping/buzzing at about 4:30 a.m. We’re on Eastern Phoebe time, which is okay.

I’ve been weaving some new work for the League of NH Craftsmen’s Fair, which is about 6 weeks away. I’ll share a few photos here:

I’ll have customer favorites in my booth, such as kitchen towels and some of the more traditional overshot designs:

My entry for the Art, Craft & Design exhibit is a very personal expression. If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you may recall that my father died in June 2021 after a second bout of cancer. Our lives are changed when we lose a loved one. I think about my Dad every day, and have spent a lot of time, often while weaving, thinking about the many things about him that have “stuck” with me. Memories are funny things. I have vivid memories of my Dad’s interest in jazz and the interesting album cover art that accompanied the LPs. Dave Brubeck’s album cover art for “Time Out,” which included his famous “Take Five” track, was something I looked at frequently as a child. Maybe you remember it:

I remember looking at “Time Out” and seeing circular designs which weren’t perfectly circular and the unexpected mix of colors. Is that a fish or an eyeball on the upper left, I wondered? And I remember that arc of color that looked like a an archway over the door (see my inserted red arrow pointing at it). Like the jazz compositions housed in the album, there was a sense that it was interesting and exciting when things were not “perfect” and perhaps a little bit “off.” (The 5/4 time signature of “Take Five,” one of Brubeck’s most recognizable compositions is definitely unexpected).

So the warp rep piece is an outgrowth of those memories. I used a lot of color and didn’t warp or treadle a repeated series of regularly sized square or rectangles. As I was weaving it, I thought it interesting that the cloth also reminded me of my Dad’s penchant for madras shorts and tartan trousers.

That’s about all for now. Stay tuned for an update on an exciting project I’m working on with William Thomas, a master furniture maker from Rindge, NH. Lots to share with this initiative, so I’ll save for a future post.

Happy weaving,

Kate K.

PS I’m thinking about putting together the pattern for the Tercel scarf in late August/early September. If this is something that interests you, please add a comment below!