FO Friday: project diaries

Updated: Jun 13, 2021

after [redacted] hours, the lame unveiling

It's been, what? 7 HitFilm files titled 'final', an audio file actually called 'intro_tag_TAG', multiple phone cameras procured from family members for more storage space, a few broken nails, over a dozen export attempts... yeah. On the bright side, there was not blood, sweat, and tears shed this time. (A small potential flare-up, sure, but! No blood. And also nothing really happened, let's be clear. [insert defensive health rant])

The wonderful (/sarcasm) thing about being a reasonably traditional textile artist is that my idea of what is 'interesting' is not always... how to put this delicately... interesting. This is not meant to be an 'I am a genius so what interests me bores others' or 'not like other girls' kind of declaration. This is simply an 'I literally decided that what might interest the modern human being is drop spindling for tensile strength', by which I mean, something that is relevant to pretty much no one ever. Maybe you're interested in DIY or material strength, sure. But even if -- and that's a huge if -- you happen to be not just a DIY enthusiast, but deeply immersed enough that you have taken up handspinning, you're probably not really into industrial production (especially if you're drop spindling, not even using a spinning wheel). A main focus of fabric is typically adding elastic modulus (i.e. drape), not tensile strength, so unless you're using this to apply to other engineering issues -- by which I mean things more technologically advanced than a stick with a circle on it -- that part's probably not super relevant to you. The closest thing I can think of to a somewhat relevant application of this knowledge is, like, spinning for socks. Or supporting things with your shirt. Mayhaps you wish to tie up buckets for a children's birthday party with pieces of yarn.

Well. Probably not.

But.

But.

That doesn't mean that it's not important, or that there are no ways this knowledge can benefit you. Because it is not just my job to be curious -- that is your job, too, when you consume my work. Ask questions, even those you won't find answers to here. Make logical deductions. Find other sources. Do some experimenting of your own.

Maybe you don't even ever have to apply this knowledge; you just wonder about how others might apply it. Maybe you just want to learn for learning's sake. Maybe you simply seek to be fascinated by the world around you, by the way things function so seamlessly (okay, that's a lie, everything has vaguely functional seams, because if they weren't functional... it would be back to being seamless).

Maybe you've wondered, once or twice, about the textures of the ropes that hold up everything from children's swings to tourist-y suspension bridges. Maybe you're not sure why your sweater has pilled or shed or felted, or maybe you've got your literal panties in a literal twist, and you're not sure why (that one might be a bit of a stretch, although elasticity is also somewhat addressed by my project, so).

Maybe you've just vaguely questioned how materials go from sheep to sweater. Maybe you've heard about people who use the hair their cat sheds to make mittens. Maybe you've found that some of your clothes are more prone to getting holes -- and that some of those holes run, while others don't.

I'm not going to answer those questions, at least not completely or directly. The beginnings of those answers, though? Those are all actually there. Pinky swear. There are so many things to be fascinated by, if only you choose to look.

And now... friendly reminder that the kind of content I watch is 30-60 minute videos about infuriatingly slow handcrafting processes. (Because I'm a boring person.)

So.

Here's my 30-minute project diary (there would be no point in just throwing away all this work) for your viewing pleasure. (Or agony. Your choice, really.)

~~~

...so, funny story, I did not do any studying of tortuosity, but I have far too many things already named and published to back out now. Plus, naming with 'plies' just is not as fun. Come-ply with me? Ply-able yield? Sup-ply physics teacher?

I know 'a tortuosity study' isn't great (it's not even good), but... I've gotta say that I prefer it over a project themed around ballet pliés and plied yarn. (In hindsight... maybe I could've made pointe shoe ribbon replacements. Actually, that could be an application of textile tensile strength, although it would require an additional weaving component.)

Anyways, this is an overview of all aspects of my project. More details for specific sections and all that jazz will be uploaded separately. (Read: do not come at me about how there's little to no science in this video.)

(Also -- if you don't know, I got sick halfway through this project. That's why there are constant references to that.)

ADS // it's not all royalty-free music, so here be ads; sorry

ERRATA // should be 'valse pour le premier jour du printemps' instead of 'de'; excuse my french

LINKS // there aren't links to everything, because there aren't links for everything in the first place, but here are a few relevant links; I will update this as things get uploaded

timestamps:

0:00 // intro

1:07 // planning

1:37 // supply prep

3:32 // experiment vlog

5:33 // actual testing

16:55 // mid-experiment reflections

19:39 // experiment montage

20:49 // (brief) calculations

22:10 // reflections

29:28 // outro + bloopers

project socials: