Today's blog post:
New-to-me ikat book
A continuation of the previous week around here–doing a lot of reading, thinking, and not much else. However, I did get a new ikat book, which I like very much, so far. There are a lot of Japanese words, only a few of which I have ever heard of before, but the instructions are very clear.
Ikat knot diagram
There are many diagrams, including how-to and traditional designs. They show clear steps and are easily understood. One thing in particular I could have used before: the one below is a diagram about enlarging a circle for ikat.
Enlarging circle diagram
One thing I have noticed with all ikat books, when talking about weft ikat, they match up the pattern by letting any excess of weft hang off the selvage. Of course, that will not work for weft-faced tapestries. Those selvages have to be near perfect, the warp must be adjusted before weaving. Another method included in this book is to tie a section, but to to adjust the weft so that the section becomes a diamond or some other shape. That means that there are huge amounts of weft hanging off the right and left sides of the selvages. That’s just not going to work for weft-faced work. If you were going to sew the fabric, say a light weight cotton, would you want those weft sections hanging off the sides? Maybe I just don’t understand yet and need to read some more. Always possible.
There is also dyeing information, which I don’t think I need, but maybe at some point I’ll want to read about traditional and synthetic indigo dyeing.
I do like this book, though, better than others that I have. Definitely worth a thorough read.
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