Demystifying the Floor Loom

My first mini-workshop, Demystifying the Floor Loom, was a success.

Using my rainbow dyed cotton yarn, participants had the opportunity to try their hand at each step from making the warp chain to throwing the shuttle and weaving a piece of cloth discovering how easy and fun weaving can be.

For those who want to learn more, I am available for private lessons and I'll be offering a rigid heddle class in the spring.

A Good Year for Fiber Arts!

We're barely into the new year and already it feels like this is going to be a good year for fiber!  2011 was a great year for me after I finally got moved into my new studio.

I added fused glass shawl pins to my offerings and they sold well along with my fringy scarves.

I had tons of fun playing with new ways to dye fabric. You might remember this scarf from my last post. I decided to keep this one for my own.

The small fibercraft group I discovered after moving here last year is growing by leaps and bounds. Now, instead of one, we have two meetings a month-- one morning and one evening to accommodate as many as possible.

I've had many questions from possible wannabe weavers about how this all works and how does one set up a loom to weave. So I designed a workshop called Demystifying the Floor Loom. Hopefully I can demonstrate how easy and fun the process can be and also win over a whole new crop of weavers.

And then there's spinning and felting and dyeing and knitting and crocheting. All these are fiber related crafts and I'm hoping this group inspires me to learn new stuff in some or all of these areas as well. I'm just not sure there are enough hours in the day or months in the year to accomplish everything I want to do.

Just For Fun

The Potter's Guild Show is behind me and with a little more time on my hands, I couldn't help myself, I had to play a little bit. Here are some pieces from my dye pot this week. They remind me a bit of ink blot pictures.

New Jacket in An Afternoon

I started out the week working on this warp. Bor-ing! Even though I know the final fabric will be dyed to make more of the Boho jackets, I still was totally bored.

So for a break, I let my eyes wander to my yarn shelf and impulsively grabbed cones that spoke me. Then I did a bit of wrapping and laying yarns together. I used thin and chunky chenille yarns along with two ribbon yarns and some thick and thin gold rayon. I liked it so much, I couldn't wait so I pulled out my warping mill.

How quickly I distracted myself but what fun. Here are the warp chains ready to set up the small loom for my next wide scarves. So I did just that, set up the loom. . .
. . . and this morning I started weaving it. I got about a half a scarf done when I got bored again. So what do I do, you might ask? Well, I saw some shibori dyed flax fabric from last year that I had stuck on my shelf because I didn't have a clue what to do with it. And my Ah-ha moment. Earlier this summer I designed new a jacket in chenille. I knew I wanted to tweek. Well, below is my next version of this jacket. I love it! And I also love it when the creative juices are flowing like this. This is my new favorite. And it all came together in an afternoon! Now if I could just get the weaving elves to come in tonight and weave off the boring stuff, I could make more fun garments to wear!

Front View Side View

Detail of fabric

At Summer's End

Summer has come to an end and even though it's taken me away from my studio, I've had a blast traveling back and forth across the country. I always return inspired.

And again we embark on a road trip - this time to San Diego. While Carl attends a conference, I have the luxury of exploring the city. And it also just happens to coincide with the San Diego Quilt Expo at the Convention Center. I'm excited that I'll be able to attend this quality textile event. What quilters are doing these days is so inspiring to me. I'll be packing my inspiration notebook in my bag for sure.
And just so you know I really have been working in my studio too - here's a photo of one of the pieces I've recently done. This is very similar to my large poncho. It's not as wide over the shoulders and has a seam under the arms to create more of a garment although very loose. I added a shibori dyed and fringed border for the sleeve effect. For a cool evening, this one would substitute nicely for a sweater.

Boho Jacket

Here's my newest -- introducing the Boho Jacket! I started with a warp of flax blend and wove the weft with rayon chenille. I used light colors of yarn which just about drove me crazy since I get extremely bored weaving light colors.

I decided to play with folding and wrapping to resist the dyes. Okay, it's really tie-dye but I think it works with this style. Here are the cocoon-like pieces just before I placed them in the dye bath.

For the sleeves, I used office clips. I really like the little lines they created on fabric. I dyed that piece in black dye but with the yellowish undertones of the base fabric, it looks more brownish-black.

Dye pots processing.

Vacation Projects Finished

Vacation has ended and thanks to this project, my hours in the car flew by quickly. After almost 15 years of carrying these little balls of yarn around with with me, they have finally become something I can use. As I always do, though, I'm second guessing myself on the placement of color. If I could unravel it and start over again, I'd use a different approach. But I really think it works just fine the way it is.

For variety, I packed my drop spindle and practiced my spinning. Here's a picture of the balls I spun from the sample pack of Merino wool roving I bought at Fiber Fiesta. The ball on the front left is Merino and silk. I have much to learn before my spinning is perfected but I had fun doing it.

And now it's back to studio work. I'm dressing the loom and preparing my plan for the month ahead.