Carnival Boa

I created the Art Yarn with pre-dyed wool fleece and curly parts called locks. I wanted to weave chunky textured yarn. Thanks to the MNG I purchased the spinning wheel which has a bigger orifice and it allowed me to spin and make extremely textured yarn. I have learned how to set the handspun yarn well by steaming and washing. Since I wanted to feature the yarn as much as possible in the work, I used the yarn for both warp and weft and created wild fringes. It was very challenging to use the extremely textured yarn on a loom because I have to thread them in a reed and harness. I sewed three panels together to make the long boa, which has the joyful, playful, and rich perspective of wool. It is a practical and wearable item.

Indigo Poncho

My interest in indigo dye grew over a decade. I have been growing indigo plants in a community garden for dyeing my yarn for several years. To get darker colors I used pre-reduced indigo pigments that I purchase because it is difficult to make the proper dye bath from fresh leaves. I have dyed my handspun yarn with indigo along with mill spun yarn. I embrace all shades of blues that indigo dye creates in variety of wool, alpaca, mohair, and cotton. Lighter colors were created with dye from fresh leaves. I wove all those yarns together. My weaving style is improvising. Sometimes I created loops and used my handspun yarn to make it textured. Sometimes I wove spaced dye yarn which has white undyed spots. I wanted to show the warmth and the subtle changes of color well which came to a poncho. Adding the loopy collar with my handspun Art Yarn makes it unique and special.

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I simply wanted to show the beauty of my hand spun chunky yarn which were hand dyed in two tones of blue. The warp was mill spun yarn which was hand dyed with indigo fresh leaves. If they were woven tightly, I cannot show the look of yarn. That’s why I pulled the yarn to a long stretch between panels. I could not control which part of yarn to weave in a specific place and the appearance of them. It took a while to think the composition as a decorative art. I feel I succeeded in showing the gentle colors and shapes in the movement. The plain panels and the hanging textured yarn show a contrast and create depth as one piece.