Weaving Documentation – Jackie Chou

My Intention:
My initial approach was to create something graphic and very unlike my sample weaving and the weavings we had seen in class. Because I have a background as a communications designer, my approach can basically be summarized as “What if I made a poster by weaving it?”

Because I didn’t have anything specific to say in this piece, it was mostly an exploration of form and color. I was a little nervous about starting it because it was so different from what I had done before. I also approached this project differently in that I had sketched it out and had a very prepared plan going into it.

My Process
I began by sketching two ideas (the comp but different colors) on my iPad.

As you can see, my final weaving didn’t quite turn out the way I had hoped, especially since I wanted to originally create two of them. I bought some yarn from Creative Reuse and started weaving, using mostly plain weave and double interlocking wefts. As I weaved, I wasn’t quite happy with the fineness of the weft, so I asked for some help, and Lucian and Olivia were able to show me a few things, so I transitioned to single interlocking wefts. I also used rya knots for the green part of my weaving, and I had to interlock the white/black to the green, so I outlined the semi-circle first with the rya knots, and then filled it in, which took a very long time. I didn’t want a hole in the weaving like I did in my sample, because I didn’t want it to become part of the composition or for it to distract.

My Learning
I learned a lot doing this project, mostly about technique, including single interlocking weft, as well as interlocking rya knots to plain weave. I think I also learned a lot about using subtle contrasts and going with the flow, because many of the interesting aspects of my weaving (according to my classmates) were the more subtle qualities of my weaving, many of which weren’t exactly planned, but rather happened naturally. If I were to continue, I’d definitely maybe redo my first one, and make one with different colors using my improved technique. Also, I’d want to leno in my original idea to come to fruition. I also wish I did samples and practice with techniques before I just started weaving, and I understand why making samples is considered common practice now. I went into the thing a bit overconfident, thinking that the technique would be simple, but I’m still an amateur so it was more difficult than imagined.