One of my favourite sights is the far off view of misty clouds clinging to the high hill tops of the Angus Glens.
I can see them from my house. As soon as I see the tendrils creeping along the rugged outlines of the Glens I feel drawn towards them. Even when driving through the Cairngorm National Park or into the Highlands I feel my heart lift as I see a misty outlook! There is something other worldly about Scotland and mist. I don’t think I am alone in enjoying this aspect of the wild landscape.
Creating the design – the Mist Story Plaids
I chose soft grey colours for this set of Story Plaids Shawls but with the addition of stronger colours in the narrow lines of the pattern. The three main bands are my favourite silver, plus a band of earthy grey and a very light tweedy light blue-grey – these represent the soft enveloping mist. The narrow bands for the earth brown and blue grey of the landscape. The Mist is the focus so it was important that the lighter colours dominated.
The embellishments – a story of swirling, shifting & enveloping mist
I often work in contrast to the rigid lines of the hand woven plaid design. The story telling embellishments add flowing lines of narration and fluidity to each shawl. The very nature of a criss cross plaid pattern provides a framework of opposites to highlight the swirling, intangible moving weather phenomenon that is mist. The focus for this set is to create movement, the feeling of waxing and waning and something other worldly.
Shawl Two – The Mist Story Plaids
This shawl starts with dark grey stitching on the edge of the shawl. The lines begin close together, moving and flowing like mist as the stretch across the width. The colours fade towards a lighter blue-grey, finishing in a natural Tencel yarn that offers a delicate sheen. The shapes end in a circles that flow into themselves. I am really looking forward to getting this piece off the loom to see the whole effect. Unfortunately when working on a loom the woven fabric is tightly wound around the front beam whilst weaving – only to be revealed when cut off, when the warp is finished.
The other Shawls
There will be four finished shawls in this set. The first is plain, for those that the plaid’s colours is enough of a story alone. The second is the shawl above and the third and fourth (still to be woven as of mid March 2023) will be a needle felted embellishment and a mix of hand stitching and needle felting. All will focus on the aspect of movement and graduating grey colours. The overall feeling is other something other-worldly, a feeling of being just out of sight. Check back for more photos of shawls three and four!
All pieces should be available at the end of March/beginning of April 2023.