“Hi-Tech Honeycomb”

Experiment

Technology

Traditional

This sample was handwoven on an ARM Touch60 Loom. The honeycomb weave was created using 24 shafts and a pointed draft, each block of the honeycomb weave has 48 ends each being the largest honeycomb possible on this loom. The warp of this weave is an ice blue, extra fine monofilament polyester (donated dead stock from Botony Weave). The weft of this sample is a combination of two yarns. The first is a soft puffy white polypropylene yarn. Carefully placed among the polypropylene yarn is a fine UV reactive yarn. This yarn emits a glowing green light in the dark after being charged with UV light. The UV yarns placed with the polypropylene exaggerate the woven honeycomb structure further when glowing in the dark.

Material

Experimental materials
Fiber

Craft

Textiles

General Technique

Combining
Constructing
Structural modifying

Specific Technique

Honeycomb weave across 24 shafts on an ARM Touch 60 loom. Hand-woven using an optic white 100% polypropylene and a UV reactive yarn (86% polyester transept & 14% polyamide). The width of the warp is 12” and the length is also 12”. A pointed draft was used to create the large honeycombs and the wrap yarn used is an ice-blue monofilament yarn from headstock yarn curtesy of Botony Weaving Mill.

Properties & Qualities

Application

Art Sample Making

Qualities

Textured

Colour

Blue White Violet

Sample Information

Date of creation

Designed April 2021, Framed Piece created July 2022.

Dimensions

8 x 10 x 1 inches

Weight

712g

Culture & Context

Bees have incredible vision, they have ability to see the world through ultra violet (UV) light. They are able to see hidden UV patterns on flowers and in other areas of nature. This inspired the material “Hi-Tech Honeycomb”. This material appears one way in day light and after being exposed and charged by UV it then emits a glowing green in the dark. Just like the flowers have hidden patterns, this material also has hidden patterns which can be exposed through UV light.

 

The honeycomb weave structure is also inspired by the bees honeycomb structure from their hives. This strong and thick structure is hollow and has many different
functions and qualities. The woven structures very similar to the bees structure which is why it was used. Mimicking the structure yet still being different.

Process & Production

The process of this material was hand weaving the honeycomb structure on a 24 shaft ARM Touch60 Loom using all 24 shafts. There is a lot of time spent on setting up and calculating the woven structure as well as the actual weaving of the sample.

When weaving this piece the main body of the weft consisted of a white polypropylene yarn and I carefully selected rows where the UV reactive yarn was placed in order to exaggerate the depth of the honeycomb structure. This allowed a further pattern to be exposed when glowing in the dark. The sample is finished with sewing after it has been removed from the loom.

Recipe Details

24 shafts using an ARM Touch 60 loom.

Pointed draft was used with a warp width of 12” and sample length of 12”.

There are 60 ends per inch (epi) for the warp and a weight of 150g.Warp yarn : ice-blue monofilament polyester yarn from dead-stock yarn from Botony  weaving mill.
A honeycomb structure across 24 shafts was the structure used, the largest  honeycomb structure possible with this set up.

Weft yarn : An optic white 100% polypropylene and a UV reactive yarn (86% polyester
transept & 14% polyamide).

Once weaving was complete, sample was removed form loom and edges were
stitched to secure before mounting to canvas to frame.

Credits

Craft Maker

Amy Kerr (AK Textiles)

Library Contributor

National College of Art & Design Ireland

Photographer

Colm Kerr Arc Studios Ltd. & Amy Kerr

Practitioner

Amy Kerr

Other materials from this practitioner

Mockleno BeeBums 3D Printed

The weft of this sample is a fine Tunisian silk that is a golden honey colour.

Fabric manipulation through 3D printing – coffee beans

Traditional fabric manipulation techniques through the use of technology

Striped manipulations with a double cloth weave.

Using the wool warp dyed with waste coffee

Double cloth weave with stripes with tubes filled with wool fibres as wadding.

This sample is a double cloth weave exploring the possibilities with tubes and wadding.

Double cloth weave with stripes using repurposed green bean coffee bags as yarn.

Series of woven samples inspired by the coffee industry

Double cloth weave with block colours and stripes to create pockets that are filled with
roasted coffee beans.

Woven samples inspired by the coffee industry

Other Materials

View random material
VIEW ALL