The wonder of Ikat

The MAFA workshop was total immersion for both yarn and me

Ikat warp on the loom and mini-skeins
ready for the indigo bath

I am deadline-oriented. If it's important, give me a deadline. I'll meet it. 

With my transition to full-time fiber earlier this year, I set two concrete deadlines for for myself. Each addressed a specific goal. The first, which was Stephen&Steven MixTape Tour at my LYS, Woolbearers, was to expand my thinking and approach to knitwear. It did.

The second was to sign up for the MidAtlantic Fiber Association's (MAFA) biennial weekend retreat, also known as MAFA. This goal imposed a deadline for re-immersion into weaving.(Coverage of the event here.) 

Since weaving was my goal, my workshop had to be one that required a loom. I have always loved Ikat, which involves dyeing and weaving, so settled on "Expand Your Design Repertoire with Ikat" with Polly Barton as instructor. It was a good choice.

I hadn't warped my loom in...ahem...years...so I did a trial run on my Schacht eight-harness table loom. I forgot to tie the yarn cross properly, but otherwise, the how-to memories were there. The loom is portable, but just barely. It's mostly bulky. It took me three trips to get all my paraphernalia to the workshop room, but if getting me back on the loom was the goal, the weekend was an unqualified success. 

Planning and preparation

The process of making Ikat is not quick. In addition to standard prep for warping, there is dyeing, tying, and overdyeing. Often the processes are repeated. Double that if you plan a complex Ikat weave that involves both warp and weft. 

A design and tying plan for an Ikat warp

There were nine people in my workshop. Each of us brought a warp. Mine was white 5/2 perle cotton purchased from Yarn Barn of Kansas and did not require scouring so one step was  eliminated. As my first project, I chose a straightforward design, tying off the warp at regular intervals as opposed to a  more complex design such as the one shown at left.

Dyed warp

After mordanting the warp yarn with alum, I dyed it first with Shibuki dye. The dye stuff--from wild peach bark--produced a rich yellow gold that you can see at right. Then, after learning the proper tying technique, I tied off the warp at 8 inch increments with Poly Ikat tape, covering about half an inch sections to protect them  from the next dye.

Then it was into the indigo dye bath. This was a new hands-on experience for me. Three separate dips, opening up the fibers between each dip to allow the color to develop, dyed the yarn with rich colors that transitioned from deep green to blue to yellow. I love the resulting warp. 

The bloom of color after each removal of the yarn from the dye bath and exposure to oxygen entranced me. If you are a 'how?' person, J.L. Liles provides straightforward details of the oxidation process in his book, The Art and Craft of Natural Dyeing: Traditional Recipes for Modern Use. 

Next step: Get it on the loom. I warped back to front using a 12-dent reed with a tabby threading on two harnesses. Threads are double-sleyed on the outer two inches and single-sleyed in the center section, which you can see in the photo below.

Ikat warp and weft on the loom

There is a lot less love with my overdyed  weft threads. Time was running short and I shortcut the processes (Do note the plural.) I didn't dye the whole mini-skeins first, so my ties produced a white contrast, rather than a yellow. Second, and even more disappointing, the indigo bath was spent by the time I got to it and even after three immersions, the color was pale blue. But, as Polly noted, the result is very 'Monet-like.' Indeed, it is.

Deadlines met...for now

Now, little more than a week later, my mind is still entranced with the colors and the potential--and filled with 'what if's' and 'how can I do...?' It is a good mindset for me, even if I do wake in the night with ideas!

It has now been six months since my focus on fiber was set in motion. As I tick off projects--and meet self-imposed deadlines--I find that I continue to add projects to my to-do list. Reluctantly, I must conclude that there will never be enough time to do all the things I want 

A fiber bash

MAFA scores 10 out of 10 for instruction and inspiration 

Rainforest evening bag
Charlene Marietti

It was a fiber extravaganza! The MidAtlantic Fiber Association (MAFA) represents nearly 60 guilds in eight states and the District of Columbia. Its regional biennial event, also known as MAFA, is organized and managed solely by volunteers. The workshop weekend, which was held July 16 to 19 at Millersville University (Millersville, Pa.), drew 306 attendees.

Keynoter Jennifer Moore set the tone for the two-and-a-half day event with an inspiring retrospective, "Weaving my way through life." Like many fiber artists, she was 'called' to weaving. Trained as a medical illustrator with a minor in pipe organ, she sees her loom as another string instrument--but one that allows her to create color and design instead of  sound. And she excels in the space.

When Moore hears music, she visualizes colors and images. Look at a musical score, she urges, then compare it to a weaving draft. She is an expert in the ancient technique of doubleweave pick-up, which she often works on hand-dyed fibers. 

To understand see why I'm so awed and inspired, look at her wall pieces, silk scarves and shawls, and her Chromatic Fantasy series inspired by Johann Sebastian Bach's 'Chromatic Fantasy' for the harpsichord.

Learning, doing, networking

Internationally-known fiber artists led 34 workshops that focused on broad categories of dyeing, felting, spinning, weaving, learning garment construction, ply-splitting, tablet weaving, tapestry, or temari. I say 'broad' because some of the workshops combined techniques. Mine did.

My Ikat warp

My workshop focused on Ikat as a design tool and involved both dyeing and weaving. Polly Barton, a silk weaver from Santa Fe, N.M., was the instructor. My warp was first dyed with shibuki (wild peach bark), which gave a yellow-gold color, then over-dyed with indigo. I came home with a gorgeous green/blue/yellow warp on my loom--a warp that is purely experimental. I dyed some mini-skeins with different patterns, but the indigo bath was spent and the effect is muted. I'll weave them up any way. Although I have long vowed that I was not interested in maintaining an indigo pot, I've changed  my mind. Now I just need to find a place for it. 

Two not-to-be-missed scheduled events 

A beautiful shawl at the MAFA Fashion Show

Friday evening was called a "Fashion Show," but it's really a show-and-tell. Anybody can participate and--I'm estimating here--40 to 50 people did. It was great fun and some fabulous work was displayed. I shared my 'Rainforest' evening bag (above) and was pleased with the reception.

Saturday evening was 'Open Studio.' This was a chance to see what all the other classes had been doing for two days and talk to the instructors. It took us nearly three hours to do the rounds. IMHO this is a 'not to be missed' part of the event. Workshop highlights included Amy Tyler's spinning and plying; Inge Dam's tablet weaving on a loom; and Anita Luvera Mayer's dyeing and embellishments. Oh, and I drooled over the groups that learned fabric marbling and shibori and.....and many others. Below are three examples of works in progress plus a tapestry by instructor Kathe Todd-Hooker.

And I would be remiss not to mention a very important part of the weekend--and that is meeting and talking to other fiber people. Dorm life is far behind most of the attendees, including me, but staying and eating onsite is a very valuable part of the experience. 

Oh! And I nearly forgot another valuable resource: The vendor hall! Nearly three dozen vendors offered yarn, tools, and equipment.

And last, but not least: Thank you to the MAFA volunteers!

MAFA volunteers did an amazing job and I am grateful to each and every one of them. 

Fabric marbling

Tablet weaving on the loom

Tapestry by Kathe Todd-Hooker

Color work for iridescence