Needlejuice, Needlejuice, Needlejuice
04.21.2025
They're multiplying!!! I'm loving the intersection between functional objects/craft/vampire stakes that's beginning to happen
So far I've made some in walnut, redheart, aromatic cedar, and maple(?). Most of it is scrap from the woodshop, tho I did buy a few turning blanks.
These are some simple, quick tools but there is an immense satisfaction in making something that I can use. And the fact that these have been made for how many thousands of years makes me feel like I'm participating in something bigger than myself.
also they're just fun to make teehee
xoxo gospel girl
More Carved Needles
04.13.2025
I rapid fired these darning needles. They were so fun to carve, especially the wool needles!! I used my own handspun cotton as the loop, and set it in place with a sterling silver rivet. Much better than those aluminum needles that are just crimped down onto a nylon cord.
I tested them all out and the smaller needles + the wool needles work quite well with some DK weight fabric I knit up and some of my handwoven fabrics. The larger ones are prob best for nalbinding or looser/bulkier fabrics.
I learned a looooot about wood grain carving these. I tried carving some with the grain perpendicular to the shape of the needle and it was soooo awful. I'm sure them being parallel increases its strength, tho I know they're still brittle.
Def gonna keep making these in different woods (these are walnut) and mayhaps sell a few if there's interest.
also happy homestuck day
xoxo gospel girl
Nalbinding Needles
04.11.2025
I was interested in giving nalbinding a try so I carved a couple needles out of walnut. I spent all last night trying to get the foundation going, but I don't think this craft is for me. I don't even like the fabric it creates that much. I think I'll stick with knitting as it became instantly clear it was much faster and forgiving.
Regardless, they're so charming and I'll be using them for my miscellaneous sewing needs. It was fun to carve and I want to make sooo many more in different shapes and sizes.
xoxo gospel girl
TC2: Handweaving on a Digital Loom
04.09.2025
I finally got around to using Cranbrook's TC2 loom last week. Despite my current aversion to modern technology, this was a great opportunity for me to examine my own practice in colleting physical media.
My pitch for the loom was weaving a textile that served as digital storage, an external hard drive of sorts. Weaving and computers share history as the jacquard loom was kind of the first computer. Lifting warp threads was binary, up or down.
Using this principle, I decided to take all of my favorite media and archive it onto a piece of fabric. I converted the text of scripts, lyrics, and book passages into binary using UTF-8 encoding. Every 8 warp threads would be 1 character!
Usually TC2 files are .tiffs made on Photoshop or something, converting an image into something readable by the loom. To translate the binary directly into an image file I first had to make a .pbm file in some fancy notepad app and open it in Gimp to see it visually. From there I could convert that into a .tiff and weave away.
It was quite easy determining what favorite media of mine was worth making more "permanent", as this will probably outlive any USB. That being said, I started to realize all the ways this fabric will get corrupted. Snags, stains, tears, moths, tension issues while weaving. It ended up being a lot more similar to digital storage than I thought.
The TC2 loom itself being 44" weaving width was a bit of an adjustment, given I've only woven 25" width at this point. I had to stand most of the time because my wingspan wasn't big enough to sit comfortably. There was also this pedal to press when advancing the warp that was a bit fussy. I would have to stop and feel around for it while working. I never wanted to leave my foot resting on it because I was afraid I'd advance the warp while the shuttle was inside the warp. It was still exciting to work in a new way and build up a more detailed fabric much more quickly than I could on my own loom. And I didn't have to set up a 90 EPI warp.
What I ended up with was this marled fabric that looked a lot like TV static. It's an illegible mess that would be incredibly tedious to actually convert back into something readable. Within that mess though are many things I love, waiting to be decrypted.
robbie@Loom:~/media$ ls
ReadMe theCatInTheHat FabulousMuscles MemnochTheDevil TheVampireLestat WharfHorse WorldWharfII TheEsteemsters
Also the file extensions in my made up fabric computer are .txtiles which I think is hilarious
xoxo gospel girl
Yet Another Blog Reset
04.09.2025
Every time I read anything on my blog I cringe and delete it all. I should add a counter honestly.
My second semester is almost over and I decided to update some pages on my site so I can visualize how much I've actually accomplished this year.
Grad school is tough, and it has yet to be revealed to me what I am gaining by being here (except monthly loan repayments), but I am trying to keep it together and continue making things that spark joy.
I would like to be uploading more consistently on here, so my goal is to make all of my research coherent & post it, maybe make a separate page or incorporate some navigational tools on this page. tbd.