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Continue reading →: Diagrams, diagrams, diagramsHow many ways can I diagram the structure of tablet weaving? So far, three surface diagrams of different levels of abstraction: turning/structure diagram. warp and weft diagram. surface appearance. and two different views of the internal processes, one with curves for the top/bottom threads and one without. Those threads are…
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Continue reading →: ForayI just got back from the Central Pennsylvania Mushroom Club’s annual weekend-long foray. This might be the nerdiest thing I’ve ever done outside a work context, and I say this as someone whose main hobbies involve medieval recreation and science fiction conventions. I am delighted! After a too-hot and too-wet…
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Continue reading →: Thinking about thinking about tablet weavingI’ve been thinking about tablet weaving for a looooong time. I have a pretty good grasp of theory and practice, but if I’m going to write a book that makes sense, I have to have an extremely good grasp of same. Not only that, I have to have terminology that…
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Continue reading →: WarpedA friend is learning tablet weaving, and that makes me happy! He and a bunch of FB commenters were bemoaning how slow and tedious and frustrating warping is, and that makes me sad! People who really don’t enjoy the setup process won’t do the art. But warping doesn’t have to…
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Continue reading →: Digging into diagonalsTablet weaving is particularly suited for diagonal designs because of the way that turning the tablets twists the warp threads together. Two-color diagonal patterns are a great place to start. But what about three colors? And if you’ve got the hexagons out anyway, how about some double-face? Here’s the…
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Continue reading →: Retreat and RegroupI miss blogging. I stopped when everyone else did – Google axed Reader, other social media were more fun and engaging, and all that. But Twitter is a trashfire, AI has overrun Facebook, and neither Bluesky nor Mastodon have really taken off. The current internet landscape has made hosting my…
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Continue reading →: Fixing the past
One of the things about having had a website since 1996 (I wasn’t an early adopter; I waited a year or so to see if this whole web thing was going to stick around) is that technology changes. Mobile devices, actual navigation, all kinds of nifty things since last time…
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Continue reading →: Textile archaeology
I really want to go to this year’s Textilforum in Germany in November: the topics this time are right in my area. But I can’t. You could still go, though: the call for papers has been extended to August 7. Whether you can head off to Germany or not, I…
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Continue reading →: 2017 European Textile Forum
The 2017 European Textile Forum will be held in Mayen, Germany, November 6-12, 2017. The theme this year is silk use and manufacture. I wish I could attend again; I haven’t been to a Textile Forum since the first one in Eindhoven. But my personal travel time and funds are…
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Continue reading →: Hyperlocal holiday: VKR Day
On this day in 2013, the velocikittenraptors came home. World, meet Norathar and Cawti. Tiny, TINY velocikittenraptors! Cawti aspires to be a stuffed animal, and she is always ready for her close-up. Norathar is hard to photograph, because she is always in motion, and usually on top of anything she…
Welcome!
I’ve been doing stuff with string for quite some time, and describing it to others online since 1996 or so at Phiala’s String Page.
I also do some science and write some fiction.
I’m Phiala most places on the internet.