I'm strongly attracted to pattern and love looking through books like
The Weaver's Book of 8 Shaft Patterns by Carol Strickler, and seeing something in there I just have to try. For quite awhile I would have given anything to have the money and space for a 16 shaft computerized loom. To be honest, I would still love to have one but in the meantime, I certainly have many, many options and room to experiment with 8 shafts!
A few months ago I found
saoriworcester.com and read about Saori founder Misao Jo and was excited to find out all I could about her improvisational weaving technique and ordered her
book. It's a wonderful read with a good bit of info about Misao Jo's life and how and why she developed this technique. I felt immediately connected to her.
I think it will take me a bit to get the hang of just letting go after spending years weaving traditional patterns, but I thought I'd give it a try:
Attempt #1 in Cotton:
Attempt #2 in wool/silk:
I probably should have waited until the wool/silk was off the loom to post photos of this project but then this blog is about what's happening in the studio! The second photo is shot from under the loom. I'll post more when I'm further along. I have a bit of warp left on the loom...for experimenting!
A great way to use up little bits of yarn and colors that you don't have enough of for a complete project!
