Weaving – Day Two

The weaving experience continues at the Barefoot Weaver’s Studio…just in time for day 2 – warping the loom.

Here’s the “raw warp” – bundled nicely and ready to be put on the loom.  Looks like a bit of a tangled mess, but it’s actually very organized and ready to lay out on the loom

 

We warped from front to back – it was relatively painless….just a bit time consuming.   I had no miss-threads – hurrah!   As a result, I was able to start weaving right away. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ready to weave….the warp is tight, and I have the “guiding clamps” on the opposite side to help keep my scarf the same size throughout the weaving process.

 

 

 

 

 

I didn’t get much accomplished as it took me until 4 pm to get the loom warped!  Luckily, Beth is very flexible….and we all were able to schedule time during the week or next weekend to finish our projects. I’ll finish up next weekend…..

Weaving - Day One…

 

Wahoo!   It’s finally time for my first official weaving class!   It was held at Beth’s studio in Round Hill.  

 

 

 

Check out the close-up shots of the finished valances that I helped weave way back in April.   They’ve been finished and hung and now adorn the windows of Beth’s studio.  Don’t they look great?   It definitely took a “village” – several very experienced weavers, inexperienced but enthusiastic weavers (like me), a fabulous seamstress (Chantal) from the finishing and a wonderfully organized and talented weaver (Sandy) to pull it all together!

Here’s a peak at Beth’s (The Barefoot Weaver) studio.   It’s a wonderful space.   It’s a pleasant ride out to Round Hill…and you can just feel your creative juices start to come alive as you look around the studio!  There were three of us taking the two-day class…and we couldn’t wait to begin!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beth had a little booklet with the information about our projects and some weaving basics and references.   She had pre-warped the looms for the first project.    Thank goodness!   The first project was a towel….and there were so many warp threads!   If I had to warp it myself for this project, it would have taken several weekends…just to get to the part where I’d weave!  

I started by practicing before starting on the actual towel by weaving in plain weave.   Just when I started to feel confident, I had to change bobbins….and I forgot to change the treadle when I started the new one. (You can see two threads following the same path in the middle of the picture on the right – click on the photo for a closer view.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, it was time to start the towel.   I Wove a border in plain weave, and then started on the pattern.  This was sooo exciting!   I made my first plaid!   I never knew how plaid was made, so this was especially thrilling!  It was like magic!

 

 

Well, I’m finally finished with the towel and ended the last plaid rows.   I then finished off with some more plain weave for the hem of the towel.   Wahoo!   I’ll have a finished object in no time!

 

Before I cut the towel off the loom, I did some more “practice weaving”.  Beth taught us how to do twill.   You can see may experiments on the left.   I’d always wondered what twill was vs. plain weave.   This too was an “aha moment” for me!   The diagonals and v’s are all twill patterns.   Hmmmm…I’d always thought that “twill pants” were a “style” of pants….little did I know it’s actually a weave pattern!  My towel “off the loom” is on the right. 

Next step will be to wash and hem my towel.    Washing will help make the weave even tighter.   Notice how once off the loom, the weave has already tightened up quite a bit.

Tomorrow….day two.

Western Loudoun Artist Studio Tour

Once again, Blue Ridge Spinners and Weaver’s participated in the Western Loudoun Studio tour.  There were lots of GORGEOUS hand crafted item to purchase – from yarns to finished shawls, scarves, an other goodies.    I spent most of the day on Sunday demonstrating spinning with some of my fellow guild members.  

The big bonus of the day was that I actually won the drawing for the hand woven coverlet!   I was both astonished and absolutely thrilled beyond belief.  (Can you see the absolute joy in my eyes????) This coverlet is incredible – definitely a work of art!   Each square was made by a member of the guild…and Chantal, with her expertise as a seamstress, stitched it all together into this fabulous “Objet d’Art!”  (I felt like I had just won the Miss America contest….tears came to my eyes and everything!!!

Of course, I’m still fascinated with looms….and will be taking a class on how to weave soon!   Check out these cuties that filled the room….and the cute little tape loom as well!

Spinning at the Mannings

It’s hard to believe that a full year has passed and it’s time once again for the annual “Spinning Seminar” at the Mannings in East Berlin, PA!   What a fabulous day it was – the weather was absolutely perfect.   It was warm (not hot!) AND there was relatively low humidity.   There was also a gentle breeze blowing across the yard.    (When I arrived back home in VA, I definitely figured out where the humidity had gone – it was AWFUL!!!!    I just about turned around and headed back north!)

 

There were sheep shearing demos – check out the before and afters of some of Roclans’ sheep!   They look so naked after they’ve been sheered!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I saw some awesome spinning wheels – like this Journey Wheel (left).   What a sweet and compact wheel!    And check out the spinning wheel on the right – it has TWO wheels!!

 

 

I started spinning what I’m calling my “ice cream roving”.  It’s pink, brown, and white….just like Neopolitan Ice Cream!   Mmmmmm!

    

 

 

 

 

 

This woman made spinning cotton on a Lendrum look so easy, that I purchased a pound of cotton with the intention of spinning and then weaving it into a blouse…like the one she’s wearing.   

I learned that the natural colored cotton she’s spinning and wearing gradually fades throughout the day…but once it’s washed, the color becomes more prominent again. 

 

  In addition to the wide variety of spinning wheels, one of the demos showed off a very primitive type of loom using various interesting items as the weights for the warp.   It was fascinating!!!

 

The fabric woven isn’t very dense – it produces a very light open weave. 

 

 

 

These weights look like  doughnuts!   How wild is that!?!?

 

 

 

The weight on the right are actually some little bags full of aquarium gravel.   What a creative way to recycle!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There was also a Nuno felting demo.   I just love this process!  Using silk, you artfully lay some fibers on top  and using just some water, soap, and friction, you force the fibers through the silk to produce a very warm, colorful, and lightweight scarf.

There was a felting demo as well.   My favorite part of that was the line of felted skulls….LOVE IT!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There was even a group there demonstrating the art of “Sprang”.  I became fascinated by this craft a few years ago…it seems to have had a recent resurgence in popularity.   There’s even a Yahoo Sprang group!

 

 

 

As always, there’s an enormous variety of looms and wheels for sale within the shop at the Mannings.  

   

As always, I took to way too many photos!   So, I’ve added this photo album that’s featuring a few of them that I didn’t have room to include in the main post!

View Full Album

The final photos are of this absolutely fascinating TeePee – it’s crafted out of knitted and crocheted pieces.   What a remarkable piece of art!