Hey guys, I have a great desire to broaden the imagery in my weavings, but for the life of my I can not find a motif for a bear! lol I love bears, its my spirit animal, and I'd love to honor it by creating some weavings with bears or their paw prints on it. If anyone has one, or knows where I can find one please link / message me.

Comments

Thu, 03/10/2011 - 05:00

AutumnSun (not verified)

I'm wanting a realic bear not cartoony.. but also if you know how to make motifs, I'd like to try my hand at creating the bear one myself. Any tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated, thanks.
Thu, 03/10/2011 - 22:24

rose Goldielocks (not verified)

Try typing "bear" and "cross stich" in google images, Then "Bear" and "bead" or "bear" and "embroidery"... Often cross stich images and other charted images can be adapted to loom use. Best thing is to save the image, then save the image as "bearJunk" . Using anykind of image manipulation program, (Microsoft paint works great); Streach "bearJunk" by 150% vertically (if warpfaced) or horizontally (if weft faced). the streached imagage will give a decent idea of how the image will look on the loom. It is best to stick with 1-2 color images, rather than a "photographic cross-stich"

 

Sat, 03/12/2011 - 22:24

Evelyn (not verified)

on the subject of motifs I would like to ask how everyone does their pattern drafting? Paper and pencil or is there a computer program that is better than another? I like to follow patterns with numbers for counting the pick-ups. So far I print out a motif/design and then overwrite numbers as necessary. I was wondering if there was a computer program that might be simpler.
Thu, 03/24/2011 - 00:28

bolivian warmi

I am a paper and pencil kind of person charting sprawled on the floor with colored pencils and stuff. I don't use numbers on my charts. Depending on the structure I am weaving sometimes I have charts that have bold lines for every 5 blocks so that at a glance I can count squares by 5s but I usually only have to physically count the first "row" and then I pick every other row relative to that first one. Rose Goldilocks is the queen of computer charting!

Wed, 03/23/2011 - 16:01

Bonnie Datta (not verified)

Here are a couple of bears that you might like to use.  I graphed these from photos using CorelDraw.  I weave tapestries row-by-row with all weft bundles entering the shed from the same side, so I follow a charted pattern like this rather than using a cartoon in the traditional sense.  These are designed for my tessellation tapestries, so some irregularities exist (like the polar bear's legs) that can be changed for a more realistic look.

Wed, 03/23/2011 - 22:21

Robweaves (not verified)

The books The Tapdancing Lizard and Enchanted Knitting have quite a few graphed images, and they would be the first place I would look for graphed images of bears.  I also use Dover Books, which often now come with cd-roms, for copyright free images.

Thu, 03/24/2011 - 16:03

Evelyn (not verified)

I keep trying to follow the motif and not "count", but so far I am having to correct errors so often I go back to counting!  Also it is the ease of creating designs - pen and paper are great, but I love the way a computer program can move stuff around.

http://www.guntram.co.za/tabletweaving/index.htm

This site has a tablet weaving program which is fairly simple to use.  There are copy and rotate and move functions  to  design and move the motifs around.   I made a pebble weave template to use as a starting point.  It does have a grid and overgrid of 4 squares as well as a row counter.  It doesn't do everything I would like, but it is close.

Wed, 05/11/2011 - 16:20

AutumnSun (not verified)

Wow thanks so much for all the help guys!!
Thu, 06/09/2011 - 20:49

WeaverDave (not verified)

I actually came up with this drawing myself.  It's a scan of a sketch I made, so the quality isn't all that great.  It's supposed to be a goat.  I blended some "ideas" from American Indian and African motifs I have seen.  I wonder if this could be used in pebble weaving?

At one time I had a very strong desire to open my own coffee shop.  History of coffee always begins with the Ethopian Goathearder.  So, I though about goats and a logo for the shop.  I'm still not sure about the name.  I was going to specialize in African coffees . . .

Thu, 06/09/2011 - 21:47

bolivian warmi

That is so cool, Dave. It wouldn't work in pebble weave...how I wish it would! 

Thu, 06/09/2011 - 22:00

WeaverDave (not verified)

I guess it's more of the type of design you see painted on pottery.  Oh well . . .

Fri, 06/10/2011 - 00:41

Karren K. Brito

You could make your jumping goat in another technique such as tapestry, brocade or double weave pick up.

Fri, 06/10/2011 - 04:25

WeaverDave (not verified)

If I could just fit a Jacquard head on my backstrap loom . . .

Fri, 06/10/2011 - 12:42

Karren K. Brito

Actually your head is much more flexible and capable than any jacquard head...  And a backstrap loom-- no limit to just 32H, you can pick up each thread individually....

Fri, 06/10/2011 - 14:39

bolivian warmi

LOVE this! I have visions of zillions of punch cards inside my head. 

Fri, 06/10/2011 - 16:02

willow weaves (not verified)

GRIN! Don't you just LOVE that this simple "primitive" loom (the backstrap) - is so flexible????
Fri, 06/10/2011 - 16:31

WeaverDave (not verified)

I'll have to give that a try.  I just have to put myself in the right frame of mind - like in the Matrix.  "There is no Jacquard." 

Sat, 06/11/2011 - 15:27

WeaverDave (not verified)

I'd love to see a list of the authentic pebble weave motifs that have been used.  Hmmmm, if we only knew some backstrap weaving author who could put one together. 

Sat, 06/11/2011 - 17:08

bolivian warmi

Ha Ha! There are many books and articles out there on the designs of Chinchero in particular by people like the Franquemonts, Rowe and Cahlander. Of course, pebble weave is all over the place in Peru and Bolivia and many areas have been overlooked in books. There is very little on the Peruvian area where I learned pebble weave, for example, and the designs from there are very distinctive - perhap not as pleasing to our non-Andean eyes as the well-known Chinchero ones.  Even the Guarani weavers here in lowland Bolivia where I live weave pebble weave and their designs are nothing like those in the Andes.

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Navajo Weaving Techniques