Dark Side of the Moon – Blog Post
Hear the softly spoken magic spells.
Creative play is a necessary part of our creative lives. Sometimes it comes while we are working on other projects, during unexpected down times, and sometimes it is scheduled into our days. How ever that play time is structured, it often leads to wonderful projects that we didn’t anticipate at the beginning of the process. Perhaps it gives us a chance to listen to those softly spoken magic spells.
This summer Michele had a moment of serendipity when her samples for a workshop led to the Dark of the Moon wall hanging. She’d like to share that experience with you.
It Begin with a Class…
In 2023, the Association of Northwest Weaver’s Guilds (ANWG) asked me to teach a Rigid Heddle class, and I thought of that lovely Zephyr Cowl. I planned for the students to weave 2 warps on the rigid heddle loom, always a plus in my mind to reinforce new techniques and teach a plethora of hand manipulated techniques.
Students would make one practice warp using sturdy 10/2 mercerized cotton, and then they would plan their own cowl using the luscious Zephyr Wool and Silk yarn. Throw in a bit of color theory, some interesting techniques and it would be a fun class. What wasn’t to love?
As I worked on the samples for the class, I fell down a bit of a rabbit hole. I had so much fun doing the cotton wall hangings. Instead of the one or two I thought I needed, I made half a dozen. And the idea of The Dark of the Moon hanging emerged.
The Moon’s Emergence
Moving to a wider warp and thicker 3/2 Tubular Spectrum™ Mercerized Cotton yarn in Black and Cobalt with the addition of beads and some sparkly Etelo Opalaescent yarn from our GevolveYarns collection, I wove the wall hanging.
With the help of Syne Mitchell’s book: Inventive Weaving on a Little Loom, Jane Patrick’s book: The Weaver’s Idea Book, Robyn Spady's wonderful article from Weavezine about Weaver-Manipulated Lace Weaves, and some general inspiration from Peggy Osterkamp, I sampled dozens of hand manipulated techniques and worked many of them into my wall hanging as the moon moved through her cycle.
Hang it up!
In all my 30+ years of weaving, I have never woven anything to hang on the wall. Occasionally blankets, and color gamps have ended up hanging on the wall, like the Tints, Tones, Brights and Gray banners. But I am a useful products kind of weaver: towels, placemats, Mug Rugs, and yardage are more my style.
What fun to weave something just for the joy of looking at it. And I do enjoy looking at it on the wall. Plus, my daughter has asked for a version for her own wall. A perfect project for a LUNAtic!
