Fulford Mist Linen & Silk Scarves
Here on Salt Spring Island, we are so lucky to live near both the ocean and the mountains. At Fulford Harbour you can admire the two at once, especially as you approach the island on the ferry. Lovely deep ocean views complemented by misty mountain tops – so West Coast, so subtle and inspiring.
These elegant scarves are made with two colours of our 30/2 silk woven on our 40/2 linen in a timeless 2/2 twill. The combination of crisp linen and shimmering silk is exquisite, and is also a wonderful project for summer weaving and wearing 😉
Level of Difficulty: Advanced Beginner
Weave structure: 2/2 Twill Weave
Material: 30/2 Bombyx Silk & 40/2 linen
Each kit makes: 2 Scarves
Fibonacci and Division of Space
In my Colour and Design workshops, we always look to the world around us to gain our initial source of inspiration. Photographs, gardening, travel, and fashion magazines can provide you with images that make your heart sing. I had a huge stash of magazines for students to thumb through, and once they found the right one we got started on the second step of the design process.
It starts with division of space.
The weaver has a canvas in my mind—perhaps a tea towel, blanket, or a scarf. They have already decided what yarns they want to use, what the EPI/PPI is, and the overall size of the canvas. Then they divide up the space on paper.
You can divide a canvas anyway you want, but I usually start with a division of two and build from there.
I draw vertical lines first that represent the warp and then I play with horizontal division of space which represents the weft. You can add a frame, you can imagine a darker line or zinger. It’s playtime!
Sketching should be fun, fast, quick. Leave your rulers in the drawer; this isn’t about straight lines.
Our guiding light for division of space is the Fibonacci numeric sequence. Basically, it works like this: Start by counting 1, 2.
1, 2
Now add those together. The sum is your next number: 3.
1, 2, 3
Now just keep going: add the last two numbers in the sequence to get the next number.
1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21
…until you want to stop. Sounds a bit contrived, but this sequence underlies some of the most stunning designs in nature—including your own DNA, the spiral formed by the hairs on your head, the leaves of a lettuce, the seeds of a sunflower, and the shell of the nautilus snail.
Now that’s magic in design. And we can leverage that magic to help us make decisions in weaving.
Next time I’ll go into more detail about how I use the power of Fibonnaci in my design process. It can be as simple as 1, 2, 3 😉
Both kits offered in this newsletter are great examples of division of space. The Fulford Mist Scarf is a perfect example of a division of space in 2 “canvas” to explore. The Spring & Easter tea towels give you an asymmetrical “canvas” of stripes to which you can add layers of design in the weft and create your own unique cloth.
A Must Watch Video!
Nature by Number
Organic Spring & Easter Stripes Tea Towel Kit
This kit is made entirely of organic cotton. Using organic cotton is a great way to begin supporting yarns that are respectful of the earth and the farmers that grow them. We know it is more expensive, but even if you use regular cotton for your warp and organic cotton for the weft you will still be making an important contribution. Our organic cotton is GOTS certified (Global Organic Textile Standard)
This kit comes in 2 colour ways; Spring Stripes & Easter Stripes
Level of Difficulty: Beginner
Weave structure: Plain Weave
Material: 8/2 Organic Cotton
Each kit makes: 4 Towels
