New Technique Triage
Heading into my 18th month of retirement, I’m surprised how often I’m asked if I’m bored. I admit there have been days when I felt a little untethered since retiring, but I’ve never been bored. In fact, I feel like retiring from teaching has opened up a new channel of creativity in me. I’m spending a lot of time in the brain storming part of the creative process, which is very exciting. But it can be exhausting and a little overwhelming, too. So many ideas. Which do I do first?
In my last post (Spreading My Wings) I shared information on two new techniques: One was fusing plastic together and the other was a way to weave coffee bags. This past week I stumbled across yet another technique called locker hooking. I could almost feel the gears spinning in my head! It was time to put on the breaks on some projects and dive into this new possibility.
What’s Old is New Again
Last weekend I had the pleasure of being on the Olympic Peninsula with friends who recently moved to Port Angeles. My friend is into wool making and weaving. A fiber festival was in a small town nearby and we headed over to check it out. I’ve never been into fiber art (typically this includes knitting, crocheting, felting and weaving) but am always up for a new experience. Besides with my recent forays with weaving with plastic I figured I would learn something from the event.
I was blown away by the amount of content and information tucked into this lovely, small park and historic site. I was amazed at how much I didn’t know and how much I could learn in such a short time period. Much of the content didn’t really apply too what I’m doing with plastic but that didn’t matter! One of the highlights was getting to watch a demonstration of wool waulking – a traditional activity that binds the fibers of a finished woven work in order to make it soft and waterproof. That demonstration was so rich I may do an entire post on it!
But the biggest epiphany came at one small booth where a vender was demonstrating locker hooking. I immediately thought, “I could do that with plastic!”
Locker hooking is considered a “vintage craft” – meaning its been around for a long time! It is a technique of rug making that involves three parts – a mesh backing, a piece of yarn or fabric scrap that is “hooked” or looped through the mesh, and another piece of yarn or string that “locks” the hooks in place. You need a special tool to do it, a locker hook, and I purchased one on the spot.
A Break from Basket Production
Generally I don’t like to have too many projects going at once. I get satisfaction from seeing completed work and if I am working on too many things I don’t feel like I’m making progress on anything. I thought “I will finish my current basket, then I will do some experimentation with locker hooking.” But my mind couldn’t let go of the idea. I had the hook and I wondered if I could use some of the various plastic mesh bags I have to make this work. Would the plastic “plarn” work? Would the knots in the plarn get caught up in the hooking? What were the possibilities for patterns?
Finally I thought, “This is ridiculous. The only person who cares about completing the current basket is you. Give yourself a break and do some exploration!” So I gave myself a “day of discovery” and decided to dig into both the plastic fusing (which I hadn’t played with yet) and locker hooking. What a fun day it was!
Plastic Fusing
I started by rewatching the video from Brothers Make featured in my last post. I had lots of scraps so it didn’t take much to get started. Like all new things, there was a bit of a learning curve. Some plastics shrunk more than others. Getting the iron temp right and the correct amount of pressure took a few attempts. But all in all this was a fairly straight forward process. I created three sheets of laminated plastic and could definitely see the potential of how the different colors could be worked together. I especially liked the translucent quality of the finished product. The sample at right is how it looks when put up to a window.
I enjoyed the process, liked the product and see potential for design. I’m not exactly sure what I would make from the laminated sheets though. Maybe placemats? But my curiosity was sated and now that I have done some experimentation with the technique I can be thinking of the next steps in the creative process.
Locker Hooking
You need mesh to serve as the foundation for locker hooking and the vender had given information on where to get it. But I had mesh from plastic bags for lemons and potatoes, so I thought I could use it instead. I had the supplies and had a basic idea of how to do it, but did some digging around to find a tutorial online. There were several, but I thought these two (part one and part two) were the best and most complete. I was ready to try.
My initial attempt was surprisingly successful! I found the process easy to do and my hands seemed to fall into the rhythm fairly easily. The plastic slid along nicely and I could easily use plastic for both the hooks and the lock. However the more I worked, the more I realized that that mesh was not holding up to the pressure I was subjecting it to. It was just too flimsy.
Based on my success I ordered some “official” locker hooking mesh. Obviously I would prefer if the entire project could be made with repurposed materials. But I can see so much potential with this new technique. It is quick. It uses a lot of plastic – the sample above is one complete newspaper bag. And the ability to make designs is easy. I wouldn’t have made the investment in the mesh before knowing that the process was viable with plastic, so my proof of concept was well worth the time and materials. After all, I seem to have a limitless amount of plastic! Investing one newspaper bag in the experiment was a small sacrifice.
Clearing the Deck for a New Adventure
While I’m waiting for the mesh to arrive, I’m frantically trying to finish up my current work. I know when the mesh shows up I will want to use it immediately! I can hardly wait to post photos of locker hooking examples.
Which brings me back to my initial observation: I am not at all bored now that I am retired. Oh, and by the way, I’ve gotten deeply involved with arts advocacy for elementary students in my former school district. Boredom is not part of my life!