The Kindness of Strangers

Venne-Colcoton Unikat has advertisements for their GOTS cotton weaving yarn in both the weaving magazines I subscribe to - Vav Magasinet and Handwoven.  GOTS is the acronym for Global Organic Textile Standard.  But it's not a term or standard that's well known in the US. 

I wasn't sure how to compare organic yarn and GOTS yarn.  I looked at the website for GOTS (http://www.global-standard.org) to see if it addressed my question.  I tried various links and found myself viewing the member list of the Ecological and Toxicological Association of Dyes and Organic Pigments Manufacturers.  I didn't recognize any US yarn company names as members of their association.  I sent the followiing email via their contact option: 

I am the sole proprietor of a small weaving business and am very concerned about the safety of the yarn I use. I often weave with naturally colored organic cotton and would like my other products to be as environmentally safe. How do I appraise various yarns? For instance, Venne Colcoton has GOTS certification; I don't know what the standards are for US-produced cotton (which may vary by state).

 I know I'm asking a complex question, especially considering I am not scientifically oriented. I would greatly appreciate any assistance you can provide -

And I received such a nice response from Dr Pier Francesco Fois.  He provided an explanation of the regulations that this English major could understand, a link to the USDA document certifying that GOTS yarn may be termed organic but not be called USDA-certified organic.  And a link to a NYC yarn store! 

So I ordered a sample card for colors and some of Venn's GOTS yarn.  The cart feature did not ask for credit card, and I realized how little I know about doing business in foreign countries.  I thought they might send the yarn and bill me or maybe send me an e-mail with necessary information.  I waited for 2 or 3 weeks - surprisingly patient!  Then I asked on Weavolution if anyone had experience with Venne.

I heard from two weavers:  one saying that a US company sells Venne organic, and another who lives in Denmark and had visited Venne's booth at a fiber show in Scandinavia.  After several exchanges, she offered to contact a weaver in the Netherlands to check on my order.  Then the Dutch weaver called Venne!  And I received a re-sent e-mail from Venne with the order details and payment options. 

I am very moved by two aspects:  one, that these kind people were not only willing to help but to go to great lengths to do so.  The second is the willingness of people to share their time, talents, knowledge, and time. 

I'm reminded of learning to make sausage in a meat-eating phase.  I went to the butcher at the local grocery store - back when there were actually butchers in stores (I also had a milk man then).  It was as though the butcher had been waiting forever to share all that he'd learned with a receptive audience. 

As the cliche goes, a stranger is only a friend you haven't met yet. 

Greencraft and criteria

The CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) group that I've belonged to is very clear that local produce trumps organic produce in what farms are part of the CSA.  It's got me thinking about what trumps in my yarn hand.  And I promise not to continue the card metaphor.

I felt so good about weaving with yarn from Vermont Organic Fiber Company.  It was a 50-50% blend of organic Merino wool and organic cotton yarn.  It was soft and warm for baby blankets and mufflers.  Sustainability determined their price structure:  their goal was for participants at every stage of production - from shepherds to the spinning mill - to receive what they need to stay in business, which meant that organic did not cost more.  Unfortunately, they sold their O-Wool knitting yarn line and went out of business.


In Norte Chico (currently Peru) in 3000 - 1800 BCE, the Andeans were growing cotton in naturally colored pink, blue, and yellow.  I dream of yellow towels and baby blankets in traditional baby colors.  We now have organic naturally colored cotton in shades of brown and green. 

I understand that rayon is made from recycled bast fibers, so I like weaving with it.  Well, I'd probably like it even if it weren't recycled.  I'm neither a textile engineer or a chemist, but the processing the cotton, hemp, linen, jute, and such go through to become rayon must be amazing.  Rayon sparkles brilliantly, and none of the source fibers do. 

Bamboo also goes through chemical processes to transform the trees' pulp into the silky yarn with a marvelous sheen and hand.  Some producers use a more environmentally safe process than others.  The good news is that bamboo grows so fast that it's sustainable, but it's not organic or necessarily ecologically safe.

I live in North Carolina, and textiles are a major concern in our identity and our economy.  Maybe were is more accurate in our economy.  I like that I have a source for yarns that are still produced in North Carolina.  I've heard rumors that alpaca farmers in the Asheville area produce a fine weaving yarn, but I haven't been able to get any details or contact information. 

I just found out about silk that is harvested after the silkworms mature and leave their cocoons.  One producer is Ahimsa Silks (http://www.ahimsasilks.com); ahimsa means non-violent in Hindi .  They spin and weave the silk.  I'll have to look for a source for yarn so I can weave with a clear conscience! 

It'd probably be easier if I had one criteria that trumped all others.  Maybe Kermit is correct when he says "It's not easy being green." 

Sheila Hick's exhibit at the Mint Museum of Craft + Design

One of The Mint Museum of Craft + Design's current exhibitions is Sheila Hicks:  50 Years http://www.sheilahicks.com.  She gave a talk as part of the opening program, and I could have listened for hours more.  During Q&A time, she was asked when her craft moved into the art world.  "Oh, you think like an American."  And went on to say that the greats of the art world painted portraits of people in their finest garb - textiles - and even the nudes were reclining on divans of the most sumptuous upholstery - more textiles.  I wish I had told her how much I appreciated that comment.  Instead, I made some inane comment about her Nebraska roots showing after all this time living in Mexico and Paris.  "The frontier!" she responded as she signed my book.

To complement this textile exhibit, the Mint Uptown http://www.mintmuseum.org increased the number of textiles in the gift shop.  I had sent in samples because I thought that more handwoven items would reflect the role of textiles in North Carolina's history, economy, and identity.  The timing must have been providential.  The shop ordered ten scarves, shown below (the eight remaining - the yellow bamboo and one of the rayon boucles sold already).  

Mint's textile offerings now

my scarves:  bamboo and rayon boucle

A scarf shown with a lovely crafted coat.

Weaving pattern names

I think that even non-weavers know what a herringbone twill looks like, and maybe even Goose-eye twill.  Bluejeans are such common attire that the Jean pattern is well know.  Overshot patterns have names that might be known:  Wheel and Rose, Whig Rose, Snail's Trail and Cat's Paw.  Some of the overshot patterns are really weave structures - I just love the names.

I've been weaving Huck scarves recently for an order, and I realized Huck patterns don't seem to have names.  To remedy this anonymity, I've started naming some patterns.

One pattern I call Venus' Mirror - it's the aqua image. 

Venus' Mirror

Another is Greek Cross - it's the natural/white image. 

Greek Cross

 

Lauren in her wedding shawl

Know of names for Huck Weave patterns?  I'd love to learn the names and maybe even the tie-up and treadling.  Or maybe others will start using these names and add others as they find them.  Think of the possibilities!

creating new weave structures

my first twill design!

Well, I'm not sure they are brand new weave structures.  I do know that I've not seen them before and that they are not designs I'd want to weave or wear.  What's neat is that they are mine.

I've been learning about designing weave structures with Bonnie Inouye's  Exploring Multishaft Design. I put on a 5-yard warp and designed within the parameters she suggested.  I was afraid it was

second, with area of plain weave in twill fashion

going to be like workshops where you're handed a clump of clay or stack of paper and told to create whatever you want, and then your spiritual state is assessed through others' interpretation of your creation - that I balked at creating in the first place.   Oh, joy!  It wasn't like that at all! 

curved lines

Bonnie has a 16-shaft loom, and I have an 8-shaft loom.  I did grow frustrated that I wasn't able to explore all the avenues that were opening up to me.  I'm not sure that I designed a plait weave - the twill diagonals interrupt each other and go over and under each other, like braids,

does the design look plaited?

After the samples, I was very ready to weave something more than 6" x 6" and have a usable item afterward.  So I've got towels in a lofty and thick naturally colored (brown) organic cotton in waffle weave on the loom now.  No, not an original.  Sigh. 

nice selvedges

With unwoven warp ends

Over the years, I've picked up a few hints from other weavers about selvedges. Those edges that sewers use to determine straight-of-grain and then cut off. Those selvedges. For handweavers, they are troublesome. The woven piece (called a web while it is still on the loom) can narrow as it lengthens. There are tools for that, and there are techniques. Interesting bit of trivia: left-handed weavers usually have better right selvedges, and right-handed weavers, left. Wonder if ambidextrous weavers have equally pleasing selvedges on both sides?

I guess I want prospective buyers to know that when they purchase an item I've woven, the top of the towel or baby blanket or scarf or shawl will be about the same width as the bottom. Or maybe I just wanted to show off the nice and even selvedges on these cotton chenille towels ...



From the selvedges, can you tell which is my dominant hand ?

Color

On-line yarn stores always caution that the actual color may vary depending on one's computer.  My non-technical understanding is that number of dots per inch (pixels?) affects color quality.  I know I've bought yarns that weren't the color I thought they were going to be. 

As I post my pieces on etsy.com, I have difficulty getting the color portrayed accurately.  I scanned a scarf so that I could import the image into Paint and use the color edit function to determine the red-green-blue values.  I think it does saturation levels as well.   I thought I could then use those values to hone the images before I upload them to etsy.  Only the photo editor I have doesn't use the same scale. 

I uploaded the scanned image to my etsy shop and removed the camera images I had.  Then I finally removed the scarf from the printer/scanner and found the scanned color is far too blue.  Lovely color, but not the correct color. 


I re-uploaded the camera images which are more accurate.  At least on my computer they're more accurate.  So I am very conscientious about describing the colors in the description of the item.  We each may have different perceptions of teal and fuchsia or the color of flax seeds, but that's the best I can do.  Maybe I should offer samples of the yarn for a small fee...