Renee Weaves!

Road Block

2012-01-30T16:54:00.000-08:00

Nope, not a flashy image, nor an image of lovely textiles in progress. The image above is a temporary weaving road block. Actually it is a texsolv tie-up cord for my loom. As you can see, they are wearing out and actually have been for some time. I do not have enough good tie-up cords to weave my current warp so, I put in an order for more texsolv cords and will have to wait until they arrive to continue.
When I got the loom warped and ready to throw the shuttle, I hadn't done the tie-up as it usually takes a few minutes and off I go. Looks like I posted a bit too soon on the actual shuttle launch time. : )
On a rather more interesting note, I recently read and article that showed a very interesting linen fabric used for painting canvas. It was woven in an undulating twill. Guess what my next warp will be?! I will see if I can find a picture of it and a reference link for the article for the next post.
Hopefully the tie-up cord will arrive fast so I can get on with the weaving. I am anxious to get this warp off the loom and try out the linen.
Until next post, -Renee

"And Warp Well the Long Threads"

2012-01-22T19:25:00.000-08:00

"And warp well the long threads,
The bright threads, the strong threads;
Woof well the cross threads,
To make the colours shine."

-from The Weaving of the Tartan by Alice Macdonell of Keppoch

This is just a snippet from a very serious poem published in 1894 by the above Scottish poet, but I really liked these particular lines. My current warp is all cream colored and certainly not a Tartan but the threading is done! I just have to wind some bobbins, take a deep breath and throw the first shuttle I have thrown in about 4 years.

It felt good to thread the loom. My hands haven't forgotten a thing and my brain remembered how to double check and balance out the pattern. I am pleased. We shall see how things proceed. I have been very busy setting a lot of things up so that I can start selling my artwork as soon as I am ready, which will be very soon. I worked a little bit each day getting the loom threaded and am quite pleased I selected a fairly easy warp to put on.

I didn't think a current picture would be too exciting so I will wait to post a picture of the weaving in progress until next week. Instead, I leave you with my sweet canine companion, Twill, who found a patch of winter sun to enjoy.

Until next week, -Renee

She's Warped and Ready to Thread!

2012-01-15T14:59:00.000-08:00

Well, with a little nudge from Cindie I decided what to put on Phoenix for my welcome-back-to weaving warp. If you recall from the previous post that giant cone of cotton that gave me a bit of a pause when I unpacked it. I was trying to figure out the best project to use it up. Cindie mentioned placemats and runners. Hello! Of course! Well, it has been a while. So, I got out my Best of Weaver's: Guide to Huck Lace, love to weave huck lace, and started browsing. In the past I have also enjoyed making my own drafts and experimenting but at this place and time in my life I decided to use ready-made drafts to start with. I put on 10 yards of the cotton (sadly, there was no noticeable difference in the amount on the cone afterwards) so that I can start out with several samples. Yes, I use the "s" word quite frequently so you have been warned!. From there I will decide which pattern I want to use for placemats and runners. I WILL use up that cone. I am going to leave the yarn natural for now. I will be able to thread during breaks from my painting, which is how I plan to weave too.
So thank you Cindie! Click on her name to go to her blog. She is getting an even more serious loom than mine up and running at the moment which always make for interesting reading.
Until next week.
-Renee

What to Weave?

2012-01-07T21:38:00.000-08:00

Progress is being made in getting my hybrid weaving and painting studio up to full speed. I am painting again and that part can be found on my "Art = Life" blog. I have been getting things put away in the weaving part of the studio and re-configuring my spool rack to work in the new space. It is a bit of a tight squeeze but it is working so far. I also need to find my electric bobbin winder!
In the meantime, I have unpacked my two bins of yarn. I hadn't seen the contents for a few years and I groaned when I saw this huge, and I mean huge, cone of cotton yarn. I vaguely remember getting it at one of those weaver's yarn stash sales thinking that it would be good rug warp or something. Don't laugh when you read the next part...I don't weave rugs! Oh, I thought I would try to but never could get into it in spite of how much I admired the rugs woven by my weaving friends. Here is what I mean:

The cone is about 16" tall and probably weighs 2 or 3 pounds. The cotton looks to be about a 5/2 weight. The two cones in front are some of Jane Stafford's lovely 8/2 cotton. I have a few cones of some odd colors of that in my stash too.
So, I have been debating what to put on for my first welcome-back-to-weaving warp. Common sense says I should put on something easy to get reacquainted with my loom and the weaving process. However, what I really would love to put on is a linen warp to try to weave my own painting canvas! So do I play it safe and sensible or do I throw caution to the winds? I have to think about it, and what in the heck am I going to do with that huge cone of cotton yarn?
Oh yeah, the weaving the painting canvas part. I am sure there are some who cringe to think that I would weave this gorgeous linen fabric and then...paint on it. So, I will explain a teeny bit. One of my favorite old master painters is Diego Velazquez. Rob Liberace, an artist I took a painting workshop from this summer, is teaching a workshop next summer on the painting techniques and materials that Velazquez used in his work. I did a little online research of my own and the canvas he used is mentioned. It is different from what you can buy today and well, as a weaver, you can probably see the attraction of the idea of weaving something like what is described. Apparently some of his canvas had a weave that had little crosses. Not only that but thinking on it, there was a time when all painting canvas was handwoven! There are some rather intriguing possibilities here.
Back to my relaunching warp, I have been thinking that I would start with simple tea towels. I have the 8/2 cotton which I have used for tea towels in the past. I also found these samples from a Jane Stafford color workshop:

They will be a big help when trying to figure out how to use the odd colors of the 8/2 cotton I have.
What am I going to do with that huge cone of yarn? One idea I had were to weave cloth for rugged shopping bags to sell. Honestly, I like to weave with much finer yarns. Perhaps I will experiment and sample since I have plenty of yarn. I might even have to get out the dye pots. Sigh. I do want to use up as much of my stash as possible before ordering any more yarn. Fortunately it isn't a large stash, just challenging. I have some very nice linen yarns for some fine table linens and a painting canvas or two (oh yes, I will weave a canvas and paint on it, just watch!).
Well, I will have to decide this week or as soon as I find that errant bobbin winder. I would love to hear any ideas for using that huge cone of cotton out there. Perhaps a contest? The winning idea gets a something woven from it? Will think about that too!

Phoenix Rising

2012-01-01T20:25:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! Guess what has been added back into my life for 2012? Give up? Nah, you probably guessed. I am bringing back weaving into my life after a few years off. I took a couple of weeks off to think about what direction I needed my life to go. We have had such a roller coaster ride the past few years and settling here on the Oregon coast has allowed me to catch my breath and re-evaluate. My loom has been in pieces and has been in storage and then stored in places here and there in the house. I came to the conclusion that I needed to either sell it (try to sell it, again that is) or use it. The problem is, the loom is not exactly...um...compact. Before I share the pictures, I have to break off a minute and give a shout out to the weaver's spouse everywhere. I have found that in general they are wonderfully supportive of their weavers and put up with tripping over a lot of large equipment and fiber. My spouse is definitely one of these. The only way I could set my big loom up was for us to move out of the lovely large upstairs bedroom and into what was previously the painting studio and a wee bit smaller. He didn't even blink, in fact, he was the one who suggested it. A weaver's hero! I have spent the last week packing, scrubbing carpets and walls, moving it all upstairs, setting up our bedroom downstairs and rebuilding the loom. Our "new" bedroom is cozy and clean and the loom is built. I still have stuff to put away but I will be able to paint tomorrow. Here are a couple of photos:

Oh yeah, for those who don't know, the loom is a 60" AVL modular production loom with 8 harnesses and a single box fly shuttle. The loom grows up to be a 16 harness dobby loom with the addition of some rather expensive parts. I hope to eventually acquire those parts but that is a future post.
Up until now, she never had a name but now it is obvious, her name is Phoenix.
The loom was in even smaller pieces than what was originally shipped to me. I am the one who has built it, deconstructed and packed it, and then rebuilt it. I believe it is important to know how my loom works. The re-building went faster as I knew how it was supposed to go and I did a careful job when I took it apart. Everything was labeled, hardware was bagged and labeled and not a piece was missing. Nothing was broken, dented, or scratched, which was rather amazing. I have a couple thousand texsolve heddles that I had carefully removed and tied. They went on fairly easy but, there are a lot of them so it took a bit of time. I am pleased to say my hands remembered exactly how to handle them fast and efficiently. The feet of the loom are cushioned with layers of non-slip padding and area rugs protect the exposed wood floor.
So, I had hoped to be able to get the warp on tomorrow but I still have a few things to put away and I have to rebuild the spool rack and find my bobbin winder. To start with, I have two 18 gallon bins of yarn, all of it cotton, linen, or rayon. I am going to be focusing on plant fibers and some of the human constructed fibers such as rayon and bamboo.
I still have a lot to say but I will save that for future posts. Renee Weaves! is back in addition to continuing my art blog (click on the "paint" link above). The weaving blog has a new look and will have a slightly different focus and direction. It is a new year after all! I have removed the glossary and a few other things and will be adding different things along the way. Most of all, I will be posting about weaving and selling handwoven items.
Thanks to those who hung in there, and to those who are returning or are new. Please feel free to leave comments and stay tuned!
Until next week,
-Renee

Colors of August

2010-08-18T20:47:00.000-07:00

This is the first time I have participated in Sue's Colors of the month on Life Looms Large. I hope to be able to participate more in the future as I enjoy this feature (amongst many) on her blog. August has been quite a contrast for me. From everything gold, brown, and dusty to everything cool, gray, and misty as I bounce back and forth from one end of the state to the other. I decided to feature our future home as we will be there soon.
Here goes!

Twill burns bright in sunset colors by the sea. She wears them well!

A glorious ocean sunset. But then, aren't they all?

A quick update. I still have my AVL loom. Alas, I will not have room to set it up. I think the universe is telling me that now is not the time to sell it. My heart tells me that too so it is no longer on the market. My Jane loom will be set up and re=warped once I get settled in. Post for this blog and my Art = Life blog will be a bit spotty as I am transitioning, yet again. Now, I really must go catch up on my blog reading!
-Renee

Moving Sale

2010-07-11T21:27:00.000-07:00

I had a moving sale here this weekend! I am pleased to say that most of the stuff I put out is sold. I would like to thank those weavers and fiber people who came out and bought! Thanks to Cindie K. as well for spreading the news for me. If you haven't read her blog yet check it out here or go to my fiber links column.
To all my fiber friends up north, I am pleased to say that my yarn stash has finally been reduced to two bins of yarn and one bin of spinning fiber. I think I am good there.
I also made enough money from the sale to give a nice chunk to my young (25 years old) cousin who is fighting an aggressive form of breast cancer. The rest will go to buying the tools I need to study on my own next year.
I do still have a few things for sale. I am down to one alpaca scarf. I still have the AVL loom for sale. I also have the yarns I listed in last post. I will have just a few more things to post for sale over the next couple of weeks but that is basically it!
I know I haven't done any weaving, and very little spinning over the past year. It has been a crazy year. Once we get settled on the coast, I plan to get back to weaving. I want to focus on linen, cotton, bamboo, and other such fibers. It shall be a lot of fun.
I don't really have an appropriate picture to post here so I will leave you with this, the main street of our future hometown. You can see straight down to the sea.

Renee

Ongoing Fiber Sale

2010-07-03T21:59:00.000-07:00

Hi again, I have a few updates. Some of the items have sold and I am adding a few more things. I will put the new stuff first. Before I get to that, I want to mention to those in the Ashland area that I am having a moving sale on July 10th and 11th from 9-5 at my house. I will have a lot of fiber, fiber magazines, yarns, a couple of looms (three including the AVL), and assorted tools in addition to general household items. I will post the sale sign on the blog this week as well as around town.
Now a couple of new items:

These are handwoven 100% alpaca scarves. I made a lot of them and these three are all I had left. Actually, they were the ones that weren't perfect but they are still lovely. There are two black and white ones and one dye painted one. The dyed one is a grey/blue/pinkish. The dyed one is 56" long and 7" wide with a 4" fringe. The black and white ones are 60" long and 7" wide with a 2" fringe. The price of each on is $12 which includes shipping by first class mail in the US. Outside US would be more.
I am putting clearance prices on everything as I really don't want to have to move all this stuff again! We cleaned out a lot as my weaving friends up north will remember but I still have way too much.
Here we have:

To wonderful imported Japanese books on handmade felt. The top picture is of the book fronts and the bottom is the back covers. Each book is 8 1/2 x 7 1/2 and about 78 pgs long. The text is in Japanese but there are step by step pictures for every wonderful project, which is one of the reasons I purchased them. The projects are unusual but not way out there. The pictures pretty much explain it all. I would say these are for intermediate felters. Each book cost about $20 (I paid sales tax too). I am selling both books at 2 for $20, so half price, plus shipping. These books are not easily found so that is a really good deal!
Ok, I still have the AVL loom for sale:
8-H, 60" wide, AVL modular production loom. I will have to sell this locally as shipping would be far to challenging in the time I have.
Here is a picture of it set up in our old house:

It is currently dis-assembled and well wrapped. I will help reassemble the loom for one day and will be here to consult. So the price? $2500.00. It comes with 2-60" reeds (10 and 12 dpi), has a single box flyshuttle with flyshuttles, and other basic accessories. I have more pictures if interested.
I also still have the drumcarder for sale:

A Strauch Petite with basic accessories and free wool fiber. The drumcarder
is equipped with the #05 (128 psi) fine carding cloth on the large drum and their unique "Slicker-Licker" cloth on the small drum. Designed to handle ALL fibers.including Merino, Llama, Alpaca, Cashmere blend, dog hair and other exotics. Strauch now sells the drumcarder with the brush attachment for $460. This one is gently used and does not include a brush attachment (can be purchased from Strauch for $75). I am asking $225.00 plus shipping (UPS starts at $11.27 depending on where you live). I had the drumcarder packaged in a double box at the UPS store so it is secure.
I will take a personal check or can send a Paypal link.
Finally, I still have a bit of fiber left:

Above is Henry's Attic Carrerra Yarn. It is 51% silk 50% merino. There are 2 lbs with about 1/2 pound being in 1 oz plus skeins. The yarn is 2000ypp. $85.00 for the lot.

Here is Henry's Attic Nantucket II. This bucle yarn is exquisite. It is 50% Mohair, 23% silk, 18% wool, and 5% nylon. 1 lb. $36.00

Above is Henry's Attic Australian 54's wool roving. Smooth and lovely. I have 8 lbs of it and am selling it in 1 lb balls for $12.00/ lb.

So, I have gone through the bins in the studio room and have lots, including weaving books and magazines, for the moving sale here in town. Next room will be the spare bedroom which is really a storage room for us. That contains my AVL, a huge warping mill (not for sale at the moment), a 56" Hammet 2 harness tapestry rug loom which will be for sale next weekend, and a cute little metal table loom. Of course, there are plenty of bins to go through again. I think I have another bin of good wool and silk yarns in there too so keep checking back!
-Renee

FIBER MOVING SALE!!!!

2010-06-30T17:01:00.000-07:00

Well, hello again. We are moving yet again in September to a new house. My fiber stuff has been in storage for over a year now and the new place just won't have the room. I don't know when I will have room so I am having a sale. Most of the fibers are just above wholesale cost. This is just the beginning!
For anyone local to the Ashland Oregon area, I will be having two 1-day yard sales in July. The first on is scheduled for the 10th. I will post a reminder here and in my art blog.
First, I will be trying to sell my 8-H, 60" wide, AVL modular production loom. I will have to sell this locally as shipping would be far to challenging in the time I have.
Here is a picture of it set up in our old house:

Above is Henry's Attic Carrerra Yarn. It is 51% silk 50% merino. There are 2 lbs with about 1/2 pound being in 1 oz plus skeins. The yarn is 2000ypp. $85.00 for the lot.

This is a fine, textured Bombyx silk yarn I got from Robin n Russ. I payed $52 and am asking $25.00. There are 13oz on the cone. (SOLD TO MARIE)

Here is Henry's Attic Kona 100% superwash Merino wool at 1120 yyp. 1 lb for $20.00. (SOLD TO MARIE)

Above is Henry's Attic Monty's 3/9's. 100% Merino woo. 1 lb. $20.00 (SOLD TO MARIE)

Here is Henry's Attic Nantucket II. This bucle yarn is exquisite. It is 50% Mohair, 23% silk, 18% wool, and 5% nylon. 1 lb. $36.00

Above is Henry's Attic Australian 54's wool roving. Smooth and lovely. I have 8 lbs of it and am selling it in 1 lb balls for $12.00/ lb.

(SOLD TO SARA) Finally I have a Cheryl Samuels Ravenstail Celtic Firebag kit and book. This is a $110 value for $35.00. Here is what her website says about the kit:

This Kit is a new way of using twining techniques. With bright teals and purples, the project produces a bag with a Celtic style knot as the central pattern. Here is an inspirational project that broadens horizons. Fire Bags, once used to carry embers from hearth to hearth, now carry the spark of Celtic creativity. To complete the Fire Bag, learn a special beading technique called tracking. The Kit includes pre-cut thigh spun warp, weft yarns, templates, tin cones, seam tape, melton cloth, leather, beads, thread, lining abalone buttons, needles and lacing twine.

Phew! That is it for now. I have a lot to let go of here. For my weaving friends, yes, I will still be weaving and will still have plenty of materials left to weave with!

Please contact me at ispyaweaver@yahoo.com if interested and we can work out the shipping and all.

Thanks!

-Renee
P.S. One last thing I forgot to mention. A portion of the proceeds will be going to a fund for a young cousin of mine, she is 25, who is struggling with a rather aggressive from of breast cancer. The remaining funds will be used to continue my art education. -Renee

An old story and a new story

2009-09-28T21:51:00.000-07:00

Ah me, this is a bit harder than I thought it would be. I have an ending to post and a beginning. I am afraid the time has come to put my weaving blog in mothballs for a while. I have not done much weaving and spinning this summer due to our move and transition to a new life. I am not giving it up all together though. I will need to weave and spin occasionally to keep my sanity!
I have created another blog. This one is about my journey through art school, which is the reason I will not be doing a lot of work with fiber or blogging about it. My blog is called Art=Life and can also be found in my Personal Links list.
I wish to thank the Whidbey Weavers Guild for getting me started with this blog and my weaving friends at WWG, Skagit Valley Weavers Guild, Seattle Weavers Guild, and Whatcom Weavers Guild for your friendship, mentorship, and tremendous support.
I wish to give a special thank you to my fiber blogging friends. You are all awesome and I have been so inspired by reading your blogs. I will still be reading!
I start art school next week. I can't believe we finally made it to this point!
Thank you everyone. I hope you get a chance to enjoy my new blog. -Renee

Balls, Buttons, and Bounty

2009-08-18T18:04:00.001-07:00

I couldn't resist posting the juggling balls my husband crocheted for me. I have taken up learning to juggle for my own amusement. It also enhances creativity believe it or not. It is nice to take a juggling break now and then.
There is a little town down the coast from where we are staying called Manzanita. It is not quite as tourist clogged as Cannon Beach. There is a lovely cafe where we like to sip hemp milk mochas. They sell all kinds of interesting bumperstickers, magazines, and of course, buttons. I couldn't resist these two.

We have a wonderful farmer's market that meets just a short five minute walk from our RV. I have been enjoying the local bounty. I picked up all this yummy stuff this afternoon and am off to cook us up some dinner.
We have been enjoying long walks on the beach and poking around. Not much time for weaving these summer days but I hope to get another project on my loom before I start school...

Beach Idyll

2009-08-13T13:00:00.000-07:00

I see from my blog list that so many of you have been busy weaving and dyeing this summer. Alas I have not! It has been a while since I posted mainly because I have been enjoying the coast and exploring many other things besides fiber.
We spent a month near Astoria, Oregon. It is an interesting town. The people who live there must be very hardy. The elements get pretty rough there, particularly in the winter. They have a wonderful maritime museum that I would highly recommend to anyone visiting the area. Then, there is the whole Lewis and Clark saga since they ended their epic trek on the coast there. I could probably make several posts about the rich history of the area.
We have relocated back to Cannon Beach. This morning while walking on the beach I came across this gentleman creating a labyrinth in the sand. It has been wonderful to rest and explore and get set for our next adventure.
Next month we do our final relocation down to Ashland where I have new fiber friends to meet. I will have a month before I start art school. I plan to start another blog dedicated to that journey. I expect my weaving blog will dwindle to a trickle but I hope to be able to keep my hand in. I certainly plan to incorporate fiber into my drawings. I will share those here too when they happen.
In the meantime, I am enjoying peeking at everyone's projects. They are wonderful to see and keep me going. Thanks! -Renee

Cormorants, Puffins, and Yarn Shops. Oh My!

2009-06-25T20:41:00.001-07:00

OK, so there aren't exactly any Puffins in this picture but I did see some earlier, honest! There is a large variety of sea birds nesting here. They come to nest in spring and summer. In this picture the black bird is a Brandt's Cormorant. The cute black and white ones are Common Murres. There may be a Western Gull tucked in there as well. There are literally thousands of sea birds nesting on the rocks. I was able to get this close to one of the large rocks they are nesting on because there was a minus tide. Usually the rock is surrounded by a very cold Pacific Ocean. I also had to use the zoom feature on my camera.

I continue to be fascinated with the marine life and all the wonderful moods of weather and ocean here. I grew up by the sea and I don't think I will ever lose my love and respect of it. The picture on the right was taken on the same morning. Again, this area is usually submerged in water except at very low tides. In addition to the birds there are huge, fat, purple and orange starfish, urchins, mussels, various seaweeds, barnacles....and much more. There are broken sand dollars sprinkled all over the place. I did find two large whole ones and threw them back into the ocean.
Twill and I have been enjoying long walks on the beach. Twill has a propensity to roll in the dried seaweed and heaven-only-knows-what-else that is a bit disconcerting. I have to watch her. She usually picks a moment when I am busy photographing something!
Before I get to the local yarn stores, some of the sea birds to be found in this area during the summer are the following; Common Murre, several varieties of Cormorants, Tufted Puffins, a few varieties of Auklet, Leach's Storm Petrel, Western Gull, Pigeon Guillemot, Black Oystercatcher, Pelicans (I think Brown but am not sure), and various shorebirds too. The birds go elsewhere for the chilly dark winters.
Cannon Beach has a lovely yarn store called Coastal Yarns located on the north end of the main street of Hemlock. They are well stocked with knitting yarns and supplies. They had a few very small bags of wool fiber for needle felting and other small projects but not much else outside of knitting.
My favorite LYS is one we found in the little coastal town of Manzanita, about 15 miles south of Cannon Beach. We spent the afternoon browsing the town as we were, ahem, celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary relaxing and enjoying the moment. I wasn't looking for a yarn store or anything but this one caught my eye. It is called T-Spot, Yarn, Teas, and Chocolates. The store lived up to its name with a lovely variety of yarn, tea, and chocolate. Hard to go wrong with that combination. They had a bit of dyed roving as well. I plan to go back and get some Soy Silk yarn and a bar of pure chocolate and sugar. Two ingredients, nothing else added. The owner had the cutest little needle felting kits and the store was set up beautifully. The website for T-Spot is here an in my fiber links.
I really like Manzanita. It isn't as touristy as Cannon Beach. We actually stayed there on a past Thanksgiving with some friends. We are making plans to meet our friends there one day again.
Finally, we are about to move for the month of July to a spot east of Astoria, Oregon. The disadvantage of not having several months notice to make reservations is that every RV place worth staying at on the coast is full. We will be coming back for the month of August though before heading to Ashland in September. We are not used to hot weather and wanted to ease into a warmer climate. It is cool and wet here on the coast.
More to come! -Renee

Greetings from Cannon Beach Oregon

2009-06-18T20:36:00.000-07:00

Hello from beautiful Cannon Beach. I didn't get a chance to post a few pictures of the beach last time because I wanted to get to the post on the skeinwinder that I had promised a while back. Here I have my husband and our dog Twill posed in front of Haystack Rock. The picture is very deceiving because we are actually quite a ways down the beach from the rock. It stands about 200 feet high and is home to many sea birds. I haven't had a chance to stop by the mobile interpretive display on the beach but hope to soon so I can post a little bit more information on the flora and fauna.
I have been taking nice long walks on the beach with Twill in the mornings and exploring the little coastal town bit by bit in the afternoons. It is one of these towns that survive on the tourist trade but is still charming none the less. It is also one of the art towns listed in the 100 Best Art Towns in America by John Villani.
I must also mention here that Ashland, Oregon, the town we are moving to, is also listed and is in fact number two in the top ten list.
Cannon Beach does have a yarn store. I popped in for a bit of a browse. The store has quite a nice selection on yarns that cater to the knitter or crocheter. Alas nothing for the weaver or spinner although I have used knitting yarns in my weaving on occasion.
This picture on the right is a bit goofy I know. It is essentially a self-portrait. I set my camera up on a driftwood log and set the timer then ran out in front. The problem is Twill thought is was a really fun game and kept trying to grab my drop spindle. I am leaning away from her while trying to spin and get it all in motion before the timer goes off! It took a few tries and some of the pictures look pretty funny. It was a lovely sunny day but still quite cool. We have a storm moving in at the moment but I hope to break out my spinning wheel and loom soon. It has been too long and I am itching to get back to it before I get bogged down in school.
I have been enjoying the art galleries and the farmer's market as well. There are a few art events coming up which will be lovely to see. We are still catching up on sleep but the area is beautiful and peaceful. Just what we needed to restore the color and sparkle in our faces.
It is starting to sink in that I have a bit more time at the moment to catch up on the blogs I am following and post a few tidbits myself. I shall return soon! -Renee

An Epic Move and a Skeinwinder

2009-06-14T21:18:00.000-07:00

WE DID IT!!! Our house sold and we are now drinking champagne as I post in Cannon Beach, Oregon. OK, I need to back up a bit. I personally know that there have been folks that have had a far more epic move than we have but moving after living in one spot for 22 years is always a huge undertaking. We have been paring down and packing for quite a while but when the sale looked like it was going to actually go through this time, the packing got serious. The house closed on Thursday and we signed the papers on Tuesday. We managed to pack what was left from the purge into one big Penske rental truck and a U-Haul trailer. We ended up loading a bit later into the night than we thought so we left for Ashland, Oregon later than we planned on Wednesday morning. We drove for 12 hours in tandem with me driving our pickup with a U-Haul trailer and my husband driving the big Penske. We spent Wednesday night in Grants Pass, Oregon about 30 miles north of Ashland and drove to a storage place on Thursday. The manager was out doing errands so we didn't get to start unloading until late in the afternoon. We finished unloading our worldly goods about 7 pm and left off the rental trailer and truck. Needless to say it was quite late when we finally headed back to our trailer 500 miles away in Washington State. We ended up driving through the whole night.
Now, when we were younger we could do that and shake it off but, alas, we are middle age at the moment and the body doesn't recover quite as fast! After a week of being short on sleep, it has been pretty hard to recover from the hard physical work of loading and unloading, a long drive, and the mental strength that has been required. We put off moving our trailer for a day but yesterday, after another very long drive, we arrived at Cannon Beach for the first stop over on our way to Ashland. We will be spending the summer before school starts resting up along the Oregon coast. It is beautiful. I will be taking pictures tomorrow to post really soon.
In the meantime, we sleep a lot. I have absolutely nothing planned for the week except to eat, sleep, walk the beach, and, ahem, enjoy time with my husband.
I think I can tell you now that all the stress and exhausting work will be well worth it.
Now, to change the topic a bit, I promised last post that I would show the homemade skeinwinder my husband made for me several years ago.
These pictures were taken after the winder had been packed, but I was able to haul it out to take a couple of hasty pictures. The picture on the left shows the full winder. I clamp the bottom of the winder to a table. The metal plate is attached to two arms that have dowels with knobs on the ends to wind the yarn on. I can unscrew the dowels and move them to the holes you can see toward the middle and I will get a one yard skein. The two yard skein works best for most of my purposes and I can get that with the dowels placed at the end of the arms.
I have a dowel with a screw in the end which I insert in the notches in the metal plate to turn the winder which ever way I wish. I can get that baby really humming too! One of the knobs on the end of the dowels unscrews so I can pop the finished skein off.

The picture on the right is a closeup of the turning mechanism in back. There is a pulley with a ball bearing insert that is screwed onto the back mount and the metal plate is bolted through the center of the winder arms so that they turn freely.
I hope this makes sense. It can be a bit challenging to describe. I guess the best I can do is to perhaps give everyone a general idea so that if they wish to make one themselves they can have a good starting point. I will admit, I love tinkering and building tools to use in my studio.
I keep count of the number of turns by simply marking one arm of the winder with a red "X" and counting every time it flashes by. I sometimes use a tie to tie up every 50 or so threads when making larger skeins of fine threads. Low tech yes, but sometimes that works the best.
So, Priscilla, I hope this helps a bit if you haven't already solved your winding needs. I find it helpful when I need to make my own tools to look at similar ones online. That reminds me, I need to make a shuttle bobbin winder. I have always used my AVL electric pirn winder but that won't work in our trailer (no room!) and I don't need that much power for winding bobbins for the Jane loom. I am thinking of a simple attachment for a small power drill...
More from Cannon Beach soon! -Renee

Spinning on the Skagit and a Skeinwinder

2009-05-30T22:57:00.001-07:00

I am taking a breather from packing and cleaning to post a quick post. My spinning wheel is living nicely in its new home and the repair I did to it seems to be holding up too.
Our Pacific Northwest weather has suddenly turned glorious. "Sucker weather" is the term that is often used. Many people that happen to be visiting when the weather smiles as it has been suddenly feel compelled to move to the area, not realizing the stunning emerald green of the land is due to many wet grey days. The land is breathtakingly beautiful in the sunshine though.
We can see two significant volcanoes along the chain, Mt. Baker and Mt. Rainier. The San Juan Islands which stretch out to the west and north of us are crystal clear too and the Olympic peninsula rears up to the south. Is it any wonder that people want to move here if they happen to be visiting when all of this is at its most beguiling?
I celebrated the lovely weather by spinning on the bank of the Skagit river (the "g" in Skagit is pronounced like a "j" so it sounds like Ska-jit) which is about 25 feet from our trailer door.
Our house sale reels from one potential catastrophe to another but is still going forward (knock on wood). I am still braiding my fingers and trying not to hold my breath. We have 8 more days before closing and anything can happen. Yikes! So much to do still.
I had a new comment from Priscilla on my old post about my dream skeinwinder I built. She was asking about my homemade manual skeinwinder! I hadn't really thought about posting pictures of that with an explanation about how my husband built it until she asked. I want to do it justice so I won't be posting about it in this post. I have found it in the studio (I thought it was packed! It is now.) and took some pictures so I will be posting the details soon. It is nothing fancy but it does the job nicely.
I have been reading everybody's recent posts but haven't had a chance to leave a comment or two. As soon as we move time will ease up and I will be able to catch up. I can hardly wait!
Skeinwinder post coming soon Priscilla!
-Renee

Up and Spinning Again!

2009-05-16T19:21:00.000-07:00

Well, I managed to get my spinning wheel repaired and working again. A big thank you to Ellen H. who left a comment about a fix she did on my last post. I didn't need to replace the actual bearing but I got a neoprene washer that held the bearing nut in. I haven't had my camera and my wheel in the same place to take a picture yet but will soon.
We are now camped by the Skagit River out in the farmland. It is quite picturesque but the Whidbey Island Navel Station has fighter jets flying quite a bit and at times they come right over us. It often sounds like they are about to land right on top of us!
Today was warm enough that I finally got to do what I had envisioned. We put the awning up and I sat outside our trailer with my husband and dog and spun for about an hour. I am spinning a three ply sock yarn. I am not using the fibers pictured to the left yet. I pulled up an old photo to post today until I can get a new picture. At the moment I am spinning a 54's Australian wool roving. Not as fine as a merino wool but almost as soft.
We have been quite busy since the last post. Our house has an offer on it! There are a few complications but so far the buyer has stuck with us. If all goes well (knock on wood, fingers not only crossed but braided) we can be rolling out of here by the middle of next month.
Our trailer has undergone a few modifications and now has a special place for my spinning wheel and the Jane loom. I haven't brought Jane to the trailer yet but soon. Little by little the shakedown continues and we are settling in.
I hope to have triumphant news in my next post. Now to go catch up with what the other weavers are up to out there. -Renee

Roving Weaver

2009-04-25T18:31:00.001-07:00

I haven't exactly been on the road but I, along with my husband and dog, have been living at an RV park beside a lake in our travel trailer. It is on the left. This is the first time we have lived in it for any length of time. We figured since we plan to live in it for quite a while, now is a good time to give it a shake down trial. We aren't too far from where our house and property is. That is convenient since some of the things we thought we needed we brought back to the house and various items we actually did need were brought to the trailer after we had been there a few days. My husband has been busy modifying the interior to fit our needs, for example, room for his trumpet and my Jane weaving loom. I haven't actually brought it out to the trailer yet as I have visions of weaving on it during a warm spring day underneath the awning. So far, we have only had one really warm spring day. That is, warm for here. It actually got into the 70's! We spent the day being tourists in a near by town as it actually fell on my birthday (and a lovely present the sunny day was too).
I wish I could say I have the warp off the Jane loom. Unfortunately I have only had about 5 minutes here and there to weave. It is getting there but oh so slowly. At the moment I am traveling between our trailer and our house to keep it maintained and ready to view by potential buyers. I will be one excited weaver when the house is sold and we are on our way at last. In the meantime, we endure.
Spinning has come to a screeching halt for me as well as my spinning wheel has mysteriously lost a little tiny part that holds the bearing where the flyer is inserted. My wheel is a Schacht Matchless double treadle. It is about 12 years old now and has been a wonderful wheel for me. I contacted Schacht to see if I could get a replacement part. It is a little tiny metal clip. Unfortunately so far they have quoted me a price to replace the whole assembly. I will have to call them directly and see if I can get the part. I might see what I can do on my own as I like to repair my own appliances and things.
So, all of the above is part of the reason for the lack of posts. I hope to make up for the long silence soon. In the meantime, I have some weaving blogs to catch up on. I look forward to seeing what my weaving friends have been up to!
-Renee

A Reflecting Interlude

2009-03-18T21:10:00.000-07:00

I have to beg indulgence from one and all. This is such a strange time in my life. It is definitely a time of transition. I have been away from the blog for a time. My meager online time has been devoted to researching some of the choices my husband and I have on where to go from here.
As I have mentioned from time to time, our house is for sale. This is a house that my husband and I designed in our mid-late 20's then built in our 30's. The house is now 16 years old and it sits on our 5 acre property that is becoming increasingly surrounded by the encroaching city of Stanwood.
It is time for us to move on and make a mid-life transition. It has been a long wait from the time we first put the house on the market until now. A lot has happened in this time period such as the economy and housing markets crashing, and a new U.S. president being elected. It hasn't been always easy to wait in limbo but when looking at the pain that other folks are going through, we feel we have been fortunate so far.
The silver lining has been the time to really think things through and take a look around. After a lot of reflective work, journaling, and digging through the layers of oneself, I have decided to take a rather huge leap...
I have drawn and sketched pretty much most of my life. I can't help myself it seems. I have sketch journals and sometimes when looking through my weaving folders I find odd sketches here and there. I once sketched my water bottle when sitting through a particularly long (and, yes, boring) business meeting at the Seattle Weavers Guild! Deep down inside was always the thought of "what if?" What if I were to pursue this?
I don't think I need to tell any weaver, artist, or fiber artist what happens when you pursue a higher calling. The obstacles, the nay-sayers, the wet-blankets, the cold, icy water flingers, all come out of the woodwork. As if your own feet didn't get in the way!
I drew the above drawing a few years ago. It was donated to one of my weaving guilds for a fund raising auction for the guild (Marie take note, you have one of my early works!). I recently started another weaving related still life drawing and it was as if I were coming home. A lot of things fell into place that just felt right. The result of all of this preamble that you have kindly read through (5 gold stars for making it this far!) is that I am going back to art school. I am going to seriously train in the fine arts.
There, I have said it! I am older, stronger, and hopefully a little more wise enough now to stand fast when the waves of Resistance* come flooding in.
I am still a weaver. I love fiber. It will have to find its place in my life. It might take a few years to settle in its place but it will still be part of my past, present, and future. Thank goodness!
I have been focusing on getting our house sold and getting resettled. The potential buyers are starting to come out of hiding and we have actually had a few stop by recently. I have been getting drawings put together for a school application but will be getting back to the warp on my loom soon. The story will continue...
-Renee
* The idea of Resistance is from Steven Pressfield's book, The War of Art. I highly recommend reading it to everyone. I have read it many many times. I will warn folks, it contains very blunt language. I enjoy that sort of thing but not everyone does.

There's That "S" Word Again!

2009-02-23T17:25:00.000-08:00

I debated whether or not to take the time to sample this warp. I just put the warp on to get to know my new Jane loom. I don't really have a particular end use in mind. I finally decided that there was no sense in weaving four yards off on a table loom unless I have the sett just right. As I have done in the past, I cut off the bit I wove and divided it into thirds. One of the thirds I kept as is right off the loom and it is the sample on the left. The sample in the center I washed in the sink with a bit of detergent and warm water and swishing it around.
The third sample, on the right, I threw in the washing machine and dryer with a load of towels!
I have mentioned this technique before after Daryl Lancaster mentioned it on the Sew Your Weaving Weavecast episode. On the right is a close-up picture of the three samples. You can see the third sample looks fuzzy and the stars are smaller than the others.
I am using an unknown wool yarn in the warp. Even more reason to sample. My sett was pretty close, I sett it at 15 epi.* After the samples were dried and given a quick steam press, I decided that I am going to nudge the sett together to 16 epi. It doesn't seem like a huge change but I know from experience that it will make a big difference in the final fabric. So now I need to change the reed and re-sley. It shouldn't take me very long on a small table loom. If this were an expensive fiber or a very special fabric, I would sample again but I think I am going to just re-sley and go on from there. It will be close enough.
On a different topic, I have to give a shout out to the magazine Wild Fibers. This is its fifth anniversary year. I got my current copy in the mail the other day and stayed up late reading it from cover to cover. If you have never read this magazine and have any interest in fiber or fiber animals, I highly recommend it. It isn't full of projects but Linda Cortright, the editor and publisher is, compared to me, an incredible adventurer. She takes her readers around the world and to remote places in pursuit of fiber stories. I have a link to the magazine in my Fiber Links or you can take a look at the website here.
I will be back soon with the results of another project I am working on. In the meantime, is that a whiff of spring I smell in the air?
-Renee
*see glossary

A Humble Color and Weave

2009-02-15T13:28:00.000-08:00

A color-and-weave effect on a twill weave structure can be a lot of fun. One can take a simple weave structure such as twill or plain weave and make it look a lot more complex with just two colors of yarn. Of course, twill can get complex, specially for those lucky weavers who have 32 shaft Megado looms! This is a simple 8 shaft, straight-draw* twill. The picture to the left is the beginning of the warp. I am still getting used to a table loom. I must say, the weaving action is quite nice on the Jane. I chose not to do a detailed posting on the warping process since Susan at Thrums did such a lovely post on that earlier. She has some pretty amazing posts at the moment so be prepared to spend a bit of time reading and then dig back a bit to find her post on warping the Jane loom.
I am about to cut this bit off and wash it to see how the sett is. Judging from the little bit of weaving I just did on it, I am guessing I need to tighten the sett* a bit.

Here is a close-up picture of the weave. This particular draft can be found in various weaving books. I pretty much had this in mind to put on for the first warp and I used the draft from pg 55 of Color-and-Weave II by Margaret B. Windeknecht. It is one of my favorite color-and-weave resource books.
She defines color-and-weave as a
"...pattern effect produced by combining a standard weave structure with a dark/light color sequence in both warp and weft. The color-and-weave effect is a pattern on the surface that is quite different in appearance from either the original weave structure (as seen with solid color warp and weft) or the dark/light sequence."
(Color-and-Weave II, pg. 2)
For those who may not be familiar with how color-and-weave works, the loom is threaded using a standard weave structure with two or more colors in a particular sequence. If L stands for a light colored yarn and D stand for a dark colored yarn, a few examples of color threading sequences would look like this; DDLLL, or DDDLDLD, or simply LDLD. In this particular warp I threaded 8 dark threads followed by 8 light threads and continued the sequence across the warp. The color sequence looks like this: DDDDDDDDLLLLLLLL. Where it really becomes interesting is you then can cross the warp with many different color sequence wefts to get different effects. Color-and-weave gamps can be very educational to make.
To get this spinning star effect, I simply used the same color sequence I warped with in the weft. I throw 8 picks of the dark yarn and the 8 picks of the light yarn.
The tie-up or lift plan on a floor loom or, in my case, the lifting sequence on the table loom adds another dimension. When you start getting into color-and-weave effects you start to see how fascinating and complex it can really be.
I like to use a black and white yarn combination because I can then go back and paint dyes on the fabric to make things even more interesting.
I will be cutting this off and washing it and will post the results of the sample.
-Renee
*see glossary

Inventive Warping

2009-02-09T21:01:00.000-08:00

Phew! I know, it has been a while. I seemed to hit a streak of computer glitches, server glitches, and general time glitches. Somewhere in there we had a couple of house viewings we had to stage the house for. We are a bit out of practice since the housing market has been at a standstill around here.
I do have the Jane loom warped with a 8-harness twill color-and-weave in black and white wool. I picked the wool up at the Christmas guild sale for a couple of dollars. I will have fun overdyeing it after it is woven.
Now, for the past eleven plus years, I have warped sectionally (and love it by the way). Now that the AVL is dismantled and crated and Jane is here, I have to change my warping ways.
I do not own a warping board at the moment. I do have a huge warping mill which is made for those mega-long warps without a sectional beam (another long story for another time). It too is packed and definitely would not be appropriate for the petite Jane. So, how to warp?
We will eventually be moving to a 24 ft. travel trailer for a while so I am limited in the number of objects I can have on hand. With that in mind, my dear darling (not to mention very cute and sweet) husband made a nifty portable warping system for me. It is not a deluxe warping system by any stretch of the imagination but it works! That is really all that is needed. The picture above shows it in action. It consists of several "platforms" that can be clamped to, well, clampable surfaces. One inch dowels are inserted and away you go. There are several pieces so one could make the classic warping board zigzags if one wished. I clamped them to the loft railing which was the perfect length for a four yard warp. Note, I put enough dowels up to make a cross.
Once the warp is finished and moved to the loom all the pieces store in this handy little box shown here. I stuck one of the dowels in to hopefully make it easier to see what I am talking about. The box is about 8"x 12" and about 4" deep. Quite compact and it works beautifully. I suspect I would have a bit more of a challenge if I needed to do a warp wider than 16 inches but I could work around it and do it in "sections" if need be. I could always cut longer dowels too.
Jane is indeed warped and the first weaving has been started. I will take a picture as soon as I get the beat and sett right. A new loom always takes a bit of getting used to, specially when one goes from a huge 60" wide loom that one can walk into, to a sweet little table loom. So far I like Jane's action. It is everything the human Jane promised!
Now, if I can only get that little voice going "flippy floppy, flippy floppy" out of my head when I work the levers! Oops! well, you had to be there to understand that last bit.
I have several projects, well OK, a few projects going at the moment and will be posting about them over the next few weeks. I have also been busy researching Tencel(TM) yarns. I have found a few sources but would welcome any recommendations!
Oh, before I forget, I have added another fiber link to the list. It isn't about weaving but textiles in general and is called Textiles Environment Design. I have it listed as "upcycling" which was one of the concepts they are exploring. It is interesting, you can check it out here or at my fiber links list.
-Renee

Creativity

2009-01-16T20:16:00.000-08:00

Ok, as promised, I have a list of books on creativity that have had a lot of influence on my creative life. None of them are about weaving per say, many are by writers. I have always found it pretty easy to just substitute “weaver” for “writer”, or just think “artist”. The first book on my creativity reading list has to be The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. This was a very important book in my life and is a big part of why I became a weaver at age 35. I had graduated from college with a BA in apparel design at age 30. As I tend to live in jeans and a t-shirt and really don’t enjoy sewing all that much, getting a degree in apparel design is a bit ironic ...and another story. After graduating, I was working as a para-educator and not too happy about it when I picked up this book. This would be somewhere in the mid 1990’s.
This is a book you both read and do. Actually, many of the creativity books have this aspect. I actually did everything in The Artist’s Way from the Morning Pages to the Artist Dates. I read and wrote for the total prescribed length of the program outlined in the book. I still do morning pages when I need to refocus or work something out.
So, what happened? I realized several things, one of which was that I wanted to be a weaver. I jumped into weaving and playing the cello at the same time and haven’t looked back since. Playing the cello was another dream I had even though I had never so much as touched a cello before. Come to think of it, I never had woven anything before either!
This was a very powerful book for me and I highly recommend it. I actually have three or four books written by Julia Cameron.
Another powerful book is The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp. This book is a guide to the sometimes difficult, everyday work of creativity. The first sentence on the back of the book jacket sums it up pretty well;
“Being creative is not a once-in-a-while sort of thing. Being creative is an everyday thing, a job with its own routines.”
The next book is another favorite of mine that was brought to my attention by Mary Zicafoose. Anyone who has attended a workshop or program given by her will recognize the title. It is The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. This is an easy book to read as you can read for five minutes a day and put it down until the next day due to the way it is written. I read and re-read this book constantly.
That reminds me, I own copies of all of these books. I usually start at the library, check a book out, and then if it is worthy, I buy it. I could never afford to buy all the books I read. I read, and re-read, a lot!
More books to take a look at: Art and Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland, Creating a Life Worth Living by Carol Lloyd, Art as a Way of Life by Anne O’Shaughnessy and Roderick MacIver.
I also like to read about the science of the mind behind creativity. One such book is Cracking Creativity: the Secrets of Creative Genius by Michael Michalko.
I have just finished a book by Daniel H. Pink called A Whole New Mind: Moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age. Pink discusses in an easy to read and amusing format how right-brained thinking (creativity) will be playing a huge part in the way we live and work in the near future and how to cultivate the right side of the brain.
I also highly recommend any book by SARK. Her latest book, Juicy Pens, Thirsty Paper is particularly good. One of the things I love about a SARK book is the colorful and creative way they are written.
These books are just the tip of the iceberg. I could go on listing books for quite a while! These books all have meaning for me but may not always have meaning for others. Take a look at them. If you are just starting out reading about creativity, start with The Artist’s Way or The War of Art.
I will compile the books into a book list on a side-bar on the blog. If you have read a good book on creativity that I haven’t mentioned yet, please leave the title and author in the comments section. One can never ready too many books.
My next post will be about a warped Jane, er that is, the first warp on my new Jane loom.
Almost there (hit a few snags, details later) so it will be soon!
Hmm, I think I will take an artist date next week. -Renee

Wild Weather Inspiration

2009-01-08T20:44:00.000-08:00

Well, I have been eager to get my Jane loom up and running but have hit a few delays, in part due to the wild weather we have been having. At the moment, the only road into our neighborhood is under a few feet of water. I was hoping to get out to get a few things at the hardware store so I can get to warping. You see, as I have mentioned before, I am set up to warp sectionally. That equipment is all packed for moving (long story) and wouldn't work well for a table loom. This is the first non-sectional beam loom I have owned so I don't have the standard warping equipment. I do have a system but I need some clamps, which I think I must have packed!
I hope to get out tomorrow and get what I need. In the meantime, if you want to see a Jane loom in action go to Susan's blog here. I thought I had her blog on my list but I see I don't. She has a beautiful weaving blog called Thrums and it is one of many I like to keep up with when I have a chance. I will get her blog and Shannon's blog on my list.
While waiting for the floods to subside, I have been busy reading through my stack of library books. I like to read books on creativity now and again. In fact, I have read quite a few of them over the years and am thinking that others might be interested in reading them too. I will be creating a book list on the blog on creativity in the next week. I always learn something and am often inspired even if the books don't address weaving per say. I just finished reading several books by SARK. I love her books as they are wild and colorful. Her latest book is called, Juicy Pens Thirsty Paper. It is about writing but there is one piece of advice that I think I will make a sign using it as a motto for my studio. It simply states to do the following whether you are "stuck" or not:
"MOVE THE TOOLS!"
Now SARK is talking about writing tools of course but I think it is pretty easy to substitute weaving for writing here. Sometimes when we are dealing with resistance just taking 5 minutes to work on a warp (or unweave a mistake!) is all it takes to get us over the hump. In other words, just moving the tools works their own magic.
Well, I hope to get out tomorrow so I can get back to warping the Jane loom. It seems like it has been quite a wait. I am sure one day I will be humming along on the Jane and have completely forgotten about all the waiting and scrambling around it took to get her here and up and running.
Oh, the picture above! That is my dog Twill playing in the snow we had recently. She has had to be patient too as our thrice weekly hikes in the woods have been cut short due to the severe weather. She teaches good lessons on patience and joy!
-Renee

"Jane" is in the House!

2009-01-01T16:22:00.000-08:00

Well, she sailed the big blue ocean, spent a bit of time in U.S. customs (gotta watch those radical weavers you know), and slogged through snow and ice and six days bumping around in a Fedex delivery truck waiting to be delivered, and here she is! She had quite a journey. Customs released her just in time to hit the snow storm and holiday delivery rush. I had to all but ransom her from the Fedex delivery truck that never could seem to get here. I finally had Fedex pull her off the truck and went to pick her up at the warehouse. As you can imagine, I wasn't the only one trying to get my parcel from Fedex. The small office was filled with six rather portly men all waiting to collect undelivered packages. Some had been there for three hours and more while the employees searched the backlog of packages. I wedged my small 5' 2" frame in the only remaining seat between a couple of the men and imitated their stoic staring at the wall. The silence was all but deafening. A bit spooky really. It wasn't all together friendly as patience had been frayed on all sides by the storm and holiday stresses. I had been there for about 10 or 15 minutes when one of the warehouse workers came out with a box I immediately recognized. The man joked that he wasn't going to tell us whose it was quite yet until he double checked the info but by then I had seen the picture of the loom on the box and the "Louet" logo stamped all over it. I jumped out of my seat and was jumping up and down saying "It's mine! It's my loom! I gave the men some amusement as they broke their silence and were all grinning at my excitement and started asking questions about the package. I signed off on the parcel and was out the door and on the way back home in no time. It was New Year's Eve and I finally got Jane home.
The first picture is what I saw as soon as I opened the top of the box. Jane is only partially assembled. Here she is on her side. You know, my AVL loom never was named. Perhaps it needs one but this loom comes with its name already emblazoned on the front beater. She is so lovely and light one cannot help but anthropomorhize the loom. I have a feeling she will develop her own personality in no time.

Here she is all assembled with two of the 8 harnesses raised. I spent a lovely New Year's afternoon blissfully finishing the assembly. Much easier to assemble than a 60" AVL production loom which, by the way, is now completely disassembled and crated in one corner of the studio. I had a hard time finding a place to take a decent picture of the loom as the studio has boxes and bins stacked until we can clear the snow to get the truck out and haul it to our storage unit.
The final picture is is the loom from the side. When I get it warped I will take a picture of the loom fully upright like it is now and folded for storage. Speaking of warping, I am used to warping an altogether different kind of loom. Jane comes with a DVD with Jane Stafford demonstrating the warping process.
Well, I am ready for a cup of tea while I pop in that DVD. I want to wish everyone a safe, healthy, prosperous New Year. Hopefully this time next year the world will be more at peace.
-Renee

Those Mischievous Memes

2008-12-23T15:05:00.000-08:00

I was a little dubious when I got a message stating that I was sent a “meme” and had been tagged. First of all, I wasn’t entirely sure what a meme tag was and secondly, I read a lot of science fiction and sometimes memes can be mischievous. I did a little research before responding. I will admit to treating it a bit like a bomb squad with an unknown package! The wonderful part is that it is not harmful and I found a delightful new-to-me website and blog to read. Thanks Shannon!
So what was I to do now that I have been “tagged?” I was to go to the sixth folder and the share the sixth picture in my files. The picture above is the sixth picture in the sixth folder. My folder was the album that contains pictures I take, usually from nature, that inspire me in whatever way. This mushroom blossomed on one of our trees on our property. I was enchanted with the delicate structure and color of it. I took several pictures. I have no idea exactly what kind of mushroom it is, some kind of shelf mushroom perhaps. I will have to see if I can find out.
As I mentioned in the last post, my Jane loom is due to be delivered today but we are buried under 20 inches of snow down a long country gravel road. We had to dig our way out today to get to the store and it was challenging even with a four wheel drive vehicle. With all the airport closures and snowy, icy roads I am not exactly holding my breath for a delivery today.
In the meantime, I think I will have another cup of tea. Check out Shannon’s website at Sunrise Lodge Fiber Studio and be sure to click on her blog.
I hope to post exciting news next time! -Renee

Snowed In!

2008-12-21T20:02:00.000-08:00

Oh my, so much of the continental U.S. is being hit with winter weather. We have been pretty much snowed in for a week. At the moment it is snowing again and we have about 2 feet. It is a bit unusual for our area to have so much snow for so long. Usually it goes away within a day or two.
It isn't hard to keep busy in the meantime. I have been dismantling my 60" wide AVL loom. It is a bit bittersweet to take it down. At this time I don't know when and where it will be reassembled. I am not completely bereft. My new Jane loom is due to arrive on Tuesday! I am excited about that and a little anxious. I am not sure how the delivery truck will make it through two feet of snow a mile back on a gravel road. I am keeping my fingers crossed that it will work out. So far the weather hasn't been too promising.
We are fortunate, we haven't lost power and we have plenty of food and things to amuse us. Our house is heated by wood so we are nice and cozy warm, even when the thermometer reads zero degrees and there is a wind chill.
I will be posting with pictures when the Jane loom arrives. Can't wait to try it out! -Renee

You Tube Waulking Link

2008-11-15T15:10:00.000-08:00

I just checked out one of the videos on You Tube. Click here to get a nice peek at what the waulking looks like! -Renee

Waulking the Wool with Slighe nan Gaidheal

2008-11-14T12:13:00.000-08:00

I made a journey up to Bellingham the other night to visit the Whatcom Weavers Guild. They had some very special guests that evening. A year or two ago I joined a very wonderful group in Seattle to learn Scott's Gaelic, the Slighe nan Gaidheal. I will take a stab at spelling out the pronunciation here with apologies for any inaccuracies, schleeah nawn gall. They came up to talk about waulking wool as well as having us do an actual waulking of the wool. If you would like more information about Slighe nan Gaideal click on the link slighe.com.
So, for those who do not know what waulking is here is my explanation; Waulking is a traditional method of fulling or shrinking woven wool cloth by pounding so that it is weather-tight and warm. As the process is labor intensive, people came together to pound and full the wool. In Scotland, the waulking was accompanied by songs and traditions to make the work go easier. Originally, the wool was soaked in stale urine to set the vegetable dyes that were used. Not a pleasant smelling process but since your very life would depend on the good wool fabric, one did what was needed! We used water on the wool fabric that Nancy, a Whatcom weaver had woven for the waulking. The lengthwise ends of the fabric were sewn together to form a long tube and we gathered around the table with the fabric in a circle as shown in the photo at the top left.
The Slighe members kindly gave us a demonstration of the pounding method and started us off singing Gaelic waulking songs. It is very challenging to capture the rhythym and movement in still photos. If you are interested go to youtube.com and enter "waulking" into the search box and there will be several videos that pop up. I haven't had a chance to check them out yet but you will probably be able to see and hear what is depicted here.
The singing and pounding went on for five songs or so and the fabric was lifted, pounded down on the table, lifted and passed clockwise, boom, boom BOOM...boom, boom, BOOM. Now, bear in mind I was busy taking pictures so I might not be giving the rhythm quite right and I lost track of the number of songs.
I was even persuaded to put the camera down and join in. The energy is wonderful. Here you see Nancy, the weaver of the fabric, at the top center of the picture.
After each song a person uses their knuckles end to end to measure the progress. We started with a width of 31 knuckles and ended with 26. The fabric shrunk roughly 5 to 6 inches in the width!
When the fabric is finished it is ceremoniously patted and wound on a board to dry with a special ending song. The finished fabric looked absolutely beautiful. What a huge difference the waulking makes. We didn't waulk the fabric until it was weather-tight but it was nicely fulled.
It was a very interesting and fun meeting. It is always wonderful to connect to the traditions that have shaped our art. A big thanks to Nancy, the Whatcom Weavers Guild, and Slighe nan Gaidheal for a terrific cultural evening.
I know my explanation about waulking here was very sketchy. I wanted to get the pictures in and a bit of the feel of the evening. I may have to do another post with a bit of the historical and cultural background to fill it out. In the meantime, check out the links listed above! -Renee
An additional note, I need to figure out how to post several pictures and get the words to go around them properly. Sorry for the odd spacing.-R

Spinning a Warp

2008-11-08T20:42:00.000-08:00

Oh boy! I had another wonderful spinning class with Judith MacKenzie McCuin. Actually it was two days in the countryside east of Bellingham, Washington. As you can see from the pictures we had spinning wheels and fiber galore. The first day was a comprehensive spinning class. I always learn something new even though I have been spinning for about eleven years. Spinning, weaving, knitting, like so many things in life all have a life long learning curve. Judith always brings a lot of fiber. Not just quantities, but varieties as well. There were fleeces to look at and discuss. We spun Shetland and Ramboulett blend wool, rabbit and wool blend, Bison, baby Alpaca, merino wools, bamboo, silk and linen blend, and mohair locks. We spun woolen, semi-woolen, worsted, and semi-worsted yarns.
The second day took all of that and expanded it to focus on spinning yarns specifically for weaving and even more specifically, for using as warp.

I have never used my handspun in a warp even though, as Judith says, there is about 7000 years of history to back it up. I was surprised how little it takes to make a scarf. I have decided that the first warp I put on my new Jane loom will be the yarns I made from this class. I will have to wait a bit to put all the knowledge I gained to work, but I am spinning the fiber we were given in class in the meantime. I must say I am enjoying myself tremendously!
It is always satisfying to be able to take a day or two or three and concentrate on building my skills in the fiber arts. It is always tremendous fun to meet other spinners and weavers both new friends and old. One of the things I love about spinning in a group is the chance to chat while the rhythmic hum of the spinning wheel relaxes you into a lovely state. I actually think we learn better under such conditions. I wouldn't be surprised if they ever do a study that it would prove true. As you can see from the picture it is a wonderful activity for both women and men. I know children take to it quite well too.
Things are a bit slow at the moment on the fiber art front for me. Being in limbo is a challenging state to be in. I don't have to tell everyone how the economy and housing market is around here since it is nigh universal. We hang on and know we will get where we want to go... eventually.
The weather is stormy which make for pleasant times spinning and weaving, and perhaps for me, sewing. I have a use for that shibori woven fabric that I need to work on.
I will be posting on my progress with that as well a some of the fun spinning yarns from class.
A special thanks to Nancy for hosting us all at her farm. It is a pleasant place to spin.
-Renee

Drop Spindling at the Bellingham Spin-In

2008-10-26T22:20:00.000-07:00

I have a bit of catching up to do. Last weekend we took an opportunity to have a change of scenery and went to visit young relatives in Portland, Oregon. I brought along my drop spindle and actually had a chance to zone out on a cold blustery day and spin a little. The fiber is a bit of combed silk top I had which I stuffed into the dye leftover from dyeing the sample of woven shibori. I didn't stir it or anything and so I got a lovely uneven dye which is spinning into a beautiful variegated or marled yarn.
This leads me into the Bellingham Spin-In which I attended yesterday. The featured speaker was Celia Quinn. Here is the blurb on Celia since I really couldn't state it better:
"Celia Quinn, popular spinning instructor, workshop leader and well-known contributor to
Spin Off magazine, will present a program about supported and suspended spindles.
Based on historian and author Bette Hochberg’s slide archives and lecture notes, Ms.
Quinn will share the fascinating history and provenance of spindles from around the
world. In addition to learning the history of spindles, spindle use and techniques will be
discussed and demonstrated."
Her program on drop, or suspended, and supported spindles and distaffs was very interesting. I haven't had much opportunity to attend programs on drop spindling. Like the rest of my spinning and weaving, I taught myself how to use the drop spindle. I enjoy using it, in fact I have three spindles, but must admit that spinning with a wheel goes much faster. Below is a quick picture I took of a few of the spindles and distaffs that Celia brought to share and demonstrate. I quick note here, my spindle pictured above is a Bosworth spindle made from an exotic South African wood. I bought it at the Whidbey Spin-In and detailed that in an earlier post. It is lovely to spin with and it just hums.
The Bellingham Spin-In is fairly new. This was their second year. I will say here that they did an excellent job. The venue is comfortable and the programs have been excellent so far. It would be wonderful to see more people there though. I also won a nice doorprize of a hank of painted wool roving. I will have more on that in a future post. The Spin-In is put on by the Spin Drifters, a fiber group that belongs to NWRSA, which stands for the Northwest Regional Spinners Association. Click on the blue letters if you wish to find out more.
In addition to the spindles, distaffs, and excellent slide show, Celia brought a few textiles she has made using a spindle. To say they were stunning is an understatement.

The picture on the left is a detail of a camisole that was constructed using fine silk singles and filet crochet. It was very fine and soft, like cobwebs.
What I mainly took away from Celia's presentation is the idea of using a hand-held distaff with my drop spindle. At this time I usually wrap the fiber around my wrist. Convenient, until it falls off and gets twisted up with my drop spindle! I got a few ideas for constructing my own distaff. I also was impressed anew with our ancestresses who constantly spun with their spindles out of a grueling need to clothe themselves and their families.
With perhaps a few exceptions in certain parts of the world, we no longer have that need so spindling is done for our own enjoyment. The reminder that Celia gave to us makes me look at my drop spindle with new respect and gratitude. Such a humble tool spanning from a simple rock and stick to spindles made of glass and precious metals and stones. Such a powerful tool, one of the reasons why we no longer wear animal skins for clothing and I am able to blog on this computer (it is all connected you know!).
If you have a drop, suspended, or supported spindle tucked away in a drawer somewhere, pull it out again and give it a whirl. If you have never spun on one and are interested, find a local spinning and weaving guild or group and find someone who will teach you. It is an awesome way to connect to our past.
Off to spin a bit more, -Renee

Woven Shibori Fabric-Final

2008-10-12T10:19:00.000-07:00

Last post I put up a picture of a view of where we live. We hiked back up there to take these pictures. First, let me explain where these are taken. Many folks have heard of the glass artist Dale Chihuly. He co-founded the Pilchuck Glass School which is located a few miles from us in the midst of the Pilchuck tree farm. The glass school built a monument on one of the hills above the school and this is where we often hike to. There are polished stone seats looking out at the view that I took the picture of in the previous post.
I thought it would make a lovely backdrop for the fabric. The weather turned on us on the hike up becoming cold and cloudy. So, here is the fabric! Instead of immersing the fabric in one solid dye as I did the sample, I decided to paint, or in this case squirt, the dye on. I must confess I forgot to add the vinegar so I ended up spraying on vinegar after I squirted the dye on. I wasn't sure it would work.

I then rolled the dyed fabric up in plastic wrap and steamed it. To my great relief, it worked! I dyed the gathered fabric first in black. I then opened up the fabric and then proceded with the dyeing as mentioned above. I used three colors in the second round of dyeing, blue, yellow, and a warm red. I knew I wanted greens and purples and that played a key role in my color choice.
I am working on this post from a cafe and realized I forgot to pack the statistics on the cloth. I will have to edit this post when I get a chance. I will put the final width and length in this spot.

I am including a close up of the fabric here as well as the texture and play of color is interesting.
As I mentioned before, this is the last batch of weaving that will be coming off my AVL loom for a while. I really enjoyed the woven shibori and it is something that I plan to come back to. In the meantime, I am going to work on tapestry weaving and spinning. I haven't decided what to use the shibori fabric for but I have a few ideas. I plan to attend the Skagit Valley Weavers guild meeting tomorrow evening and should have something interesting to post from that.
Hope everyone is settling into the fall weather and getting the fiber out to work on. -Renee

Blogs to Enjoy

2008-10-08T11:18:00.000-07:00

While I am waiting to do the final finishing on my woven shibori fabric, I thought I would take the opportunity to mention a few blogs that I enjoy visiting when I have the chance. The first one is Peg in South Carolina's blog. Peg often leaves comments. I love to check out what other weavers in different parts of the country and world are doing. We all have different influences and points of view shaped in part by where we live. Peg's blog is www.talkingaboutweaving.blogspot.com. She likes to weave crackle and creates lovely fabrics.
The second blog of note is by Karen Madigan in Australia. Her blog has tutorials, video, and a tremendous amount of information. I find her site very inspiring not only for weaving and textile information but on blogging about it all too. Check out her site at curiousweaver.id.au.
I recently found a delightful blog by a male weaver to provide another perspective. Check out Larry's blog at www.sleepingdogstudios.blogspot.com.
The final weaving blog for this post is Linda's Fiber Weblog at www.jasmineweaver.blogspot.com. Not only is Linda a weaver and fiber artist, but she teaches too. Her blog has a lot of interesting technical information.
My final overall link is not a weaving blog or website. It is not my intent to post my political views on this blog although a few links creep in on my personal link list. I feel at the moment that this one is important for all of us U.S. voting citizens. This website is non-partisan. It is an independent site that checks the truth or untruths behind the presidential candidate's campaigns. You can find the site at www. factcheck.org.
I will have the shibori fabric posted soon. It has been dyed and awaits a final press and photos. It was tremedously fun to weave.
I am adding this picture after my initial post. This is a view of where we live. In fact, if you know where to look, you can see my neighborhood. We have been hiking and mountain biking in the hills behind our house several times a week. This was a bit of a moody day and you can't see the Olympic Mountains. You can see the Skagit river delta, Puget Sound, and the San Juan Islands. The picture doesn't do this breathtakingly beautiful area justice. I don't like posting without a picture so I decided to add this one. Enjoy!

I'll be back soon! -Renee

An Old Loom and a New Loom

2008-09-27T12:50:00.000-07:00

Well, the final yard on my AVL loom at our current house has been woven and it is time to take it down in the hopes that we will be moving soon. Here is the loom on the left with the last warp that was finished soon after the picture was taken. I have a 8 harness AVL modular loom. That means it grows up to be a 16 or 24 harness compu-dobby production loom if I wish to put the money into it. The loom is 60 inches wide as I love to weave fabric. I have a single box flyshuttle beater. It is bottom mounted. I would choose the overhead if I did it again. I have enjoyed this loom tremendously. I am a bit different from many weavers in that I bought the loom before I had learned to weave. I taught myself to weave on this loom.
Peg in South Carolina asked in a comment what it was I had dismantled that would stop me from putting it back together to do another warp. I warp my loom sectionally. To do that I use a spool rack to arrange the warp to run it through the tension box. If you are not familiar with sectional warping bear with me. I am not going to go into it here (unless someone asks!) but I do need the spool rack to warp it properly. I suppose I could improvise but it would be a challenge that I don't want to tackle at this time. I had already dismantled and re-mantled the spool rack when I packed up the majority of the studio. When the first buyers backed out of the house sale I decided to keep weaving for a bit longer. I realized when I saw the (now two time) dismantled spool rack, that I really need to start moving on even though the house still hasn't sold.
I have plenty to do with spinning and tapestry weaving and other fiber arts.
All this time I have had this big loom but never a table loom. I always borrowed one from the guild to take to workshops. This has its drawbacks. We will be living in a small trailer for a while and I still want to weave. When Jane Stafford gave her workshop she gave us a heads up on a redesigned table loom that was coming out. I liked what she described so I pre-ordered one from her. It is none other than the new Jane loom (named for guess who?) from Louet that will be available in December.

Here it is! Notice how small it folds up. Just right for a trailer. It also has 8 harness so I can keep learning and weaving. I am getting the smaller width.
I will of course be reporting on it when I get it and it is up and running.
In the meantime, I will be processing the length of woven shibori cloth and, or course, taking down my AVL loom after a long deep breath.
I definitely have mixed feelings but will look forward to when I can put it back together in a new studio in a new town.
-Renee

Woven Shibori Sample

2008-09-21T20:09:00.000-07:00

Well darn, the pictures for the sample don't even come close to the beauty of the fabric. I will have to try again. I do want to share the results of my sample though. On the left is the first sample. It is woven from a fine merino wool yarn called Pony by Henry's Attic Yarns. I sett the yarn at 16 epi* after doing a wrap to give me a starting point. I have 5.5 yards on the loom, 20 inches wide. The warp is threaded in a point twill, and is woven with a plain weave ground and an 8-harness random twill tie up!
I wove four picks of plain weave and then a pick of the gathering thread using the twill for most of the sample. The top bit after the darker section was woven with eight picks of plain weave between each gathering thread. I really like this the best. I gathered the threads as tight as I could. The gathered fabric looked like this:
The black blot is our cat Nyx whose curiosity has whittled down her nine lives considerably. After gathering the threads, I dyed the sample in Greener Shades midnight black. As I mentioned before, Greener Shades is a non-toxic acid dye. When the sample had been dyed and processed, I carefully cut one side of the gathered thread knots and pulled out the threads. The fabric has a bit of texture from the shibori process. After it dried, I gave it a rinse and then overdyed it in River Blue, again from Greener Shades.

I must say that this picture is worse than I thought it was but, as this is a sample, you get the idea. The sample is so lovely in real life, I want to use it to make something. The finished sample is about 16"x 10.5". I lost 2" in the width and 2" in the length from the off-loom measurements.
I learned two main things from the sampling. The first is that the 16 epi sett is too wide. I changed it to 18 epi. I also found, as I mentioned above, that I really liked the 8 pick spacing between the gathering threads. I did another quick mini sample (no dyeing) with the new sett to check it and to make sure I could still gather the fabric easily and the loom is all set to go. The merino yarn is lovely soft and takes the dye beautifully. I used blue on the sample just to get an idea but I am thinking I want to use a two or more colors in the second dye step and "paint" them on.
The house selling grinds on but it does allow a bit of time for weaving. I will see if I can get a better picture of the sample.
A final note, I was so enchanted with the results from the sample that I was thinking perhaps I would do "one more warp". I then realized that I had dismantled some of my warping equipment which reminded me that, alas, the current warp will have to be the final one in this house. Perhaps it is for the best.
I can't wait to see what the final fabric will look like. I am sure I will have a story so stay tuned. -Renee
*see glossary

Must have books

2008-09-17T11:54:00.000-07:00

I was planning to post a review of the book on the left, Intertwined, but Spin-Off magazine beat me to it! On page 14 of the Fall 2008 issue there is a review by Patsy Zawistoski. The only thing I would add is that the author, Lexi Boeger, has a wonderful section on creativity that I found spot on. I also love her first book, Handspun Revolution, which I have. I haven't purchased Intertwined yet but it is on the top three of my wish list. I checked it out from my local library to get a good look at it.
Since I am not reviewing, I decided to just list the books that I want to get for myself and to bring them to everyone's attention. Check oout Lexi's website, Pluckyfluff, in my Fiber Links list.

The other spinning book on my wish list is The Intentional Spinner by Judith MacKenzie McCuin and is about to be released. I have been fortunate to have had a workshop and attend programs presented by Judith. If you heard the episode on spinning for weaving on Syne's podcast Weavecast, Judith is as calm and laid back as she sounds, exactly what is needed in a weaving/spinning teacher. Her knowledge of fiber, spinning, and weaving is vast. I am thrilled that she has published another book. I will be getting a copy of this one as soon as possible.

The third book on my list is for the tapestry weavers or wanna-be tapestry weavers like me. It is the Tapestry Handbook: The Next Generation by Carol K. Russel. I have the first, out of print, tapestry book by this author and it is excellent. I use it as my first go-to reference book for tapestry.
My big loom is warped up and the weaving has started. As soon as I get the sample off the loom and processed, I will make a post on it. This is the last warp on this loom before I dismantle it. I won't be entirely loomless. I will be doing some tapestry weaving on my copper pipe loom and in December, will be taking delivery on a new table loom. New to me and new to the market. I will be posting about that when it comes. I have never had a table loom in all the years I have been weaving. I usually borrow a table loom for guild workshops. Not always a happy solution!
I still have some interesting fiber blogs to post about and will get busy on that too.
Stay tuned for the shibori weaving sample. -Renee

A Finished Fabric

2008-09-12T17:54:00.000-07:00

I have finished weaving the warp I put on the loom. Here is a picture of the warp on the loom from the previous post. Now, if you have been reading this blog for a while you will remember that I am not fond of pale, tepid, colors in general. The "fern" color of this yarn is a gray-green color. I decided before I even put the warp on the loom that I was going to overdye it. I had ordered some new dye called Greener Shades from Still River Mills. I saw the ad in Handwoven Magazine. Greener Shades says it is "a non-hazardous, non-chrome dye for use on silk, wool, nylon, or any animal fiber." I thought I would try it out on this project. I decided to use the warm red called "Flame Red" and overdye it at 1% WOG*, predicting that I would get a lovely rich rust color.
As you can see, that is exactly what I got! I am quite pleased. For those folks who may be new dyers, I used red knowing that red and green are compliments on one another and will produce brown. The green was so pale I predicted that the red would dominate and give me more of a rust than a brown. I used the warm red since I like warm colors. The "ruby red" dye is a cool red and would give me yet a different effect. I fulled the fabric a bit during the dye process. The result is a lovely textured light fabric. The "breaks" in the weave give a slight lacy effect.
Here is a shot of the fabric draped over a rail. The mottling is due to being able to see a bit of the background scenery through the fabric.
Overall, I am quite happy with the results. I started out with a different purpose in mind but decided to go where the fabric took me. I must say at this point that, although the dye was easy to use like many acid dyes, I really didn't like the smell. I still prefer Earthues dye extracts.
So, I have one more warp that I am putting on the loom at this moment. After it is woven, I will be taking the loom down and putting it in storage in preparation for our move. The warp is a wool yarn called Pony from Henry's Attic Yarns. It is undyed and has 3470 yards per pound. I have 5.5 yards going on at 20" wide and sett at 16 epi*.
I am going to make my first attempt at woven shibori. I have Catherine Ellis' book. I was inspired by the woven shibori I saw at the end of the year meeting for the Skagit Valley Weavers Guild.
I will be posting a book review and more blog links very soon so keep checking back! -Renee
*see glossary
P.S. Tina, if you are reading this, it was so great to hear from you! I have asked Janice for your e-mail. Be in touch soon! -Renee

Sampling on the Loom

2008-08-17T20:38:00.000-07:00

Well, the warp is on the loom and I wove enough to cut off for a sample. To the left is a picture of the warp on the loom. The camera distorts the fabric a bit but you can see the weave structure here. Beating the weft in has been a bit of a challenge. That is, it is a challenge to keep the beat nice and even. The weight of the beater alone packs the weft in too much. I have to control the beater very carefully to "waft" it in. That said, it is a pleasure to weave.
I have mentioned Weavecast on my blog before. I was listening to Episode 26: Sew Your Weaving with Daryl Lancaster when I heard her describe how she processes her samples. It made sense to me so I did the same thing. She cuts the samples into three pieces and sets aside one as the unwashed sample straight off the loom. The second sample she lightly washes and the third sample she tosses in the washer and dryer. This gives a good look at both ends of the spectrum. I did exactly that as the following pictures show.
The above picture shows sample 1 on the left. This is straight off the loom. As the threads relax off the loom you can start to see the texture of the weave. The sample on the right has been gently patted in soapy lukewarm water, rinsed the same way, and then rolled in a towel and air dried.
The picture on the left shows sample 2, the lightly washed one next to sample 3 the heavily processed one. Sample three is extremely fulled but if you hold it up to the light, you can still see the wonderful weave structure.
Now, what do you do with all this info? I sampled to determine the correct sett for the final fabric. I originally wanted to weave a fabric for a light jacket. The 30 epi sett would be a little too wide so I would go down to 26 epi (and sample again) for a slightly denser fabric. However, one of the aspects of weaving that I love is the journey. I loved the look of the lightly washed sample. It is a light and warm fabric with a lovely drape and texture. So, I am going to keep the warp sett at 30 epi. I will full it just a bit more than sample 2 but not to the extreme of sample 3. I am not sure what I will do with the fabric but I will let it tell me what it wants to be used for.
So now I will just continue to weave at 30 epi. I will post about the finished fabric when it is off the loom and processed.
In the meantime, we continue to fine tune and maintain the house in between watching the Olympics. So far we have had no lookers for the house. Perhaps they are enjoying summer.
Tomorrow I will host the spinning group from the Skagit Weavers Guild at our house. It will be wonderful to catch up with friends.
Hope summer is going well for everyone out there! -Renee

FiberArts Magazine

2008-08-11T21:18:00.000-07:00

I couldn't resist picking up the September/October issue of FiberArts magazine. My eye was caught by the banner on the front cover that read "Plush Art: toys for grown-ups. The article begins on page 40 and is titled Crammed Organisms. I found the article so much fun I checked out the websites listed and have posted a banner on the sidebar of the blog. Here is what it looks like:

I think it would be totally fun to create my own plush toys from handwoven scraps, in fact, I plan to! If anyone else decides to do so I would be happy to post a picture of it on the blog too. Check out the Crammed Organisms website!
In the meantime, I have a new project going on the loom.
The yarn is the 24/2 Zephyr in a color called "fern". It is a greyish green. I picked the cone up at one of those weaver's sales for a dollar or two. Zephyr is 50/50 wool and silk. As I have so much going on I decided to weave four yards using draft #47 out of A Weavers Book of 8 Shaft Patterns. I have used this draft before and liked the fabric I got with it.
In the future I will be getting back to creating my own drafts but with all that is going on I didn't want to have to fuss with it. If I end up with enough fabric I will make a light weight jacket out of it. We shall see what I end up with.
I am just about finished threading the warp which is sett at 30 e.p.i. and is threaded in a straight draw pattern. I do plan to sample this warp to see if I need to adjust the sett. So, how did I determine this one? Zephyr is one of those yarns that pop up on yarn sett charts and is well known. I used the sett listed on one of the charts.
For some reason the second comment on the previous post did not get published until this evening. My apologies for the technical glitch.
The comment mentioned that I could also just take half of the number of wraps that were crammed together. Well, yes and no! It is a good point but I must confess I just got lucky on the number of wraps that I had crammed together and I wasn't too precise on that one. In addition, if I were to use a different width of yarn for my weft, I would need to leave a space wide enough for that in my wrapping. The structure of the weave would also need to be accounted for. Those aren't addressed when the wrapping is all crammed together. Like I said, it is one of many methods and is a starting point. Sampling (yep, the dreaded 'S' word), as I will be doing for this current warp, is the best way to get the fabric you are trying to weave.
I deeply appreciate the supportive comments on the selling of our house. Thank you all so much.
Stay tuned for more...
-Renee

A Sett Method and Finished Towels

2008-08-03T20:11:00.000-07:00

I know, it has been a while. I have been caught up in the sale of our house and getting ready to move... then, our buyers backed out of the sale so we are back to square one. I am not going to go into the gory details here since I want to focus on weaving but, I might just create a temporary blog as the story is both amusing and frustrating.
I promised a bit on sett* in the previous post so I am going to start out here. There are many ways to determine sett. One common way to to do a wrapping on a ruler. The instructions usually say to place the wraps of the yarn right next to one another as they are in the picture above.

Jane Stafford teaches a slightly different wrapping method that I find makes a lot of sense. Instead of placing the wraps right next to one another, you leave a space, the width of the weft yarn, between the wraps like in this picture above.
With the first method, I got about 20 to 30 ends per inch (epi) for my sett. I got 15 epi with Jane's method. It must be noted here that this only gives you a ballpark figure or starting point. Sampling the sett is the best way to go.
This wrap is for plain weave. If I were to weave a 2/2 twill I would wrap two yarns next to one another and leave a space two yarns wide. If you are an experienced weaver, think about it, it will probably make sense. I am not going to go into great detail on this blog but I will say I got a nice sett for my towels.
This was a quick project and I didn't sample but just wove the towels at 15 epi. It was a good sett as the towels have a lovely hand and drape yet are not sleazy.

Here is the first towel on the right. As I mentioned in the previous post, in my haste to get a picture of it on the loom, I forgot to border the horizontal stripe with the yellow. If you look in the square where the two stripe meet, you can see the color and weave pattern that I was after.

The second towel here has the horizontal stripe bordered by the yellow. I like that much better.

I thought I wouldn't have enough of the light blue to use for the weft for a full length of the towels but it turns out I did so I wove the third towel with alternating light and dark blue picks. I put two thin stripes of yellow one third and two thirds along the towel to give it some interest. The color and weave stripe runs the whole length of the towel and seems to "pop" or look almost three dimensional. Over all I am quite pleased with the project.

The final picture is a sample I wove with the little bit remaining at the end of the warp. I tried different combinations of light and dark weft to get different color-and-weave effects in the squares.

The final measurements for towels when washed and hemmed were 17 inches wide by 23 inches long. That was from a 20x30 inch warp on the loom.
So, what next? I dug into my dwindling stash and pulled out a cone of greyish-green Zepher yarn. It is half silk, half wool and is a 24/2 yarn. I am going to weave a fabric with it. I will have all the details of that project in the next post!
Good weaving to all, -Renee

* See glossary

Color and Weave on the Loom!

2008-07-15T13:18:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been a very strange summer for us so far. We worked our fanny's off getting the house ready for sale and it sold faster than we were prepared for it to! That is a good thing. There is a contingency but it looks like it will work out just fine.
I had decided to leave the loom up so I could work while the house was on the market thinking I would have time. Well, now it looks like the loom will be coming down in two weeks!
I have pulled some yarn out of my now meager stash. I found some cotton to play with a bit of Color and Weave. I didn't have enough of both colors to make the entire set of tea towels in Color and Weave so I just put a stripe in one side that will have one square of the Color and Weave patterning where the vertical and horizontal stripes meet.
As I took this picture of the first one being woven, I realized I forgot to border the horizontal stripe with two picks of yellow on either side for a "zinger". I will have to remember to do that on the next one. I should have enough warp to weave three tea towels.
So here are the specs on the loom. Warp and weft yarns are dark blue 8/2 cotton and light blue 8/2 cotton. Roughly that is. Neither cone is labeled and they are not from the same line. The light blue cotton is coarser spun but about the same grist as the dark blue. The yellow zinger, or accent yarn, is a linen yarn about the same size as the blue ones. Again an unlabeled cone.
The warp is sett 15 epi. I determined that sett using Jane Stafford's method of wrapping the yarn on a ruler. I will do a post on that later.
The warp is 20" wide in the reed and 4 yards long. I am weaving the towels in 30" lengths including the hems. As I weave, I am paying careful attention to my beat so that I get a nice balanced fabric.
I usually sample on the loom. That is, I go ahead and warp the loom for the project and put on extra to sample with. I weave a bit and cut it off the loom. I wash one half and leave the other half unwashed. I study the results and make any changes to the sett or beat if needed and have a record of what I did. Due to the nature of time and limitations on the available yarn from my stash, I am not sampling. This is just to get something on the loom and satisfy the itch to weave. I have missed it during the time I had to let it sit while getting the house ready to sell.
If all goes well we will be moving to Eugene, Oregon in a month. The loom will be in storage until I have a studio. In the meantime, I will be working on tapestry weaving and doing some spinning.
Stay tuned for my take on Jane Stafford's yarn wrapping method of determining sett. It is slightly different than most of the instructions I have seen out there.
Soaking up the sunshine, -Renee

I'm Back!

2008-06-30T17:22:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been a while! I apologize for the longer than anticipated absence. We have been busy getting our house on the market and it has been not only all-consuming, but grueling hard work. We do all the work ourselves rather than hire it out. Crazy, I know. Amazingly enough it all finally came together. There is still much to do but it is now listed and on the market!
I decided to keep my loom up and weave while waiting for the house to sell. I did this for two reasons. One is that it not only added to the ambiance of the house, it would keep me busy. The second reason is that as soon as I put a warp on it, the house is bound to sell. Sort of like if you bring an umbrella it probably won’t rain (we are in the Pacific Northwest) but forget to bring the umbrella and it will pour!
The last month or so has been one of saying our goodbyes. I had my final guild meeting of the year with the Skagit Valley Weavers Guild. I was president of the guild this past year and took advantage of having control over the microphone to say a proper goodbye. I know I am going to miss all my weaving friends very very much.
The picture above is one of many I took at the guild meeting. This was a loom controlled Ikat piece that Fran M. had woven and dyed. It not only looked beautiful but it looked like a lot of fun to weave.
The Monday after the guild meeting I went to my final spinning group meeting as well. I will have a few pictures of that and talk about what is going on the loom in the next post.
Summer is here at last! -Renee

Pushing the Boundaries of Plain Weave-A Workshop

2008-05-22T20:58:00.000-07:00

Ah, finally a chance to pause in the midst of packing stuff up and settle in to write about the workshop that Jane Stafford conducted for us. The title of this post is actually the title of the workshop. For those of you who are not familiar with Jane, she is an articulate, knowledgeable, experienced, and extremely funny teacher. While I am at it, I will also add engaging and passionate! Before I get into the details of the three day workshop visit her website Jane Stafford Textiles to read about her studio and shop on Salt Spring Island in British Columbia, Canada. Be sure to click on her "Old Lady With String Digest!" Her website link is also in my Fiber Links and has been for some time.
I could do a whole post on Jane alone but I will stick to the workshop for now. Sixteen of us arrived Friday morning with our looms all warped with the beautiful yarns Jane sent from her studio in variations of plain weave. We had eight variations to play with as follows: Denting, Cramming and Denting, Colour and Weave Gamp, Weft-faced effects, Warp-faced Repp, Collapsible, Tufted Weft, and Supplementary Warp. Above is a closeup of the Cramming and Denting. It used a lovely 14/2 Euroflax linen. I was one of two weavers assigned this particular example to warp on my loom. The yarn was a pleasure to work with throughout.
Jane's workshops always are crammed with information not only about the weave structure in great detail but about handling the yarns, the looms, the shuttles, and the resulting fabrics. No matter how experienced, you always learn something more. She has years of hands-on experience to back all her information up. We had a lesson on hem-stitching and hem-stitched every sample, thereby becoming quite deft at the technique.
To the right is a picture of the Warp-faced Repp. This required a slight adaptation in the treadling of the loom due to the density of the warp threads. In addition to lifting the harnesses one by one (not as slow to do as it sounds), each pick was further packed in place with a ruler after the beater was used. None of us pounded away with our beaters after Jane's lesson. We learned how to use the beater to place our pick of weft so that it was balanced with the warp. Jane mentioned that this workshop was also an exercise in sett. Our setts went from the closely packed warp-faced sample to the widely sett weft-faced sample and everything in between.

Here is a picture of my favorite plain weave sample. As usual, the picture doesn't do it justice. The ground is a grey linen and the supplementary warps were beautiful icy blues and blue-greens. It reminds me of the glacier fed lakes and streams that are found in many areas of British Columbia. The supplementary warps float over the ground cloth and are tied down in squares when the weaver chooses. Actually, now that I think of it, it is hard to choose a favorite. I will have to do another post to show some of the other samples. These pictures were taken on the loom during the workshop and were woven by some of the other participants.
We worked hard during the workshop with Jane working even harder. During our lunch many of us sat outside in the first warm sunshine we have had for many a month. I love workshops of this nature. I enjoy working along side all the intelligent and interesting women in the group. It is three, eight-hour long days and intense but the jokes and laughter are always flowing. Jane also gave our guild an evening program on Monday night. I will have a report of that along with a few more pictures of my samples in a few days.
Back to work I go! -Renee

Nurturing Weavers and Trees

2008-05-16T20:07:00.000-07:00

It has been a bit longer than I anticipated since the last post. I had hoped to get a chance to explore a couple of blogs that I would like to mention but haven't had the chance. I will get to them in due time. We have been very busy getting our house ready to put on the market. In spite of that, weaving does go on!
First a bit of old business. I mentioned the bags I got as a door prize at the Spin-In in a previous post and my solution to honor the prize. The bags and handspun yarn have sold. As promised, I have donated all of the proceeds to kiva.org which I believe is in my Personal Links section. If not, I will place it there. To be a bit more specific, I donated the money to loan to the Kakeda Sun Village Bank Group. There is a young 25 year old scarf weaver in the group who will be using the money for weaving supplies. The website does an excellent job explaining how the microloan process works. Check it out when you have a chance and if you decide to make a donation, let them know that I recommended the site. My e-mail is ispyaweaver@yahoo.com.
So what are some of these things that have kept me from my blog? Planting 400 baby cedar trees on our 5 acres is only one of the many many tasks. Green on green is a challenge to see but the picture below is one of the 400 baby trees. They are about a foot tall.

Today was an exciting day because I got to take a break from all the work and participate in Jane Stafford's Pushing the Boundaries of Plain Weave workshop. Jane is always a treat. We also had our first really warm day in what seems like an age so we all sat outside at lunch soaking up the sun. I will have a full report (and pictures!) on the whole three day workshop as well as the Skagit Valley Weavers Guild meeting next week so stay tuned! -Renee

Whidbey Weavers Guild: Kakishibu and Farewell

2008-05-02T11:05:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the Whidbey Weavers Guild meeting. The morning program was a wonderful treat presented by Chris Conrad on kakishibu. What is kakishibu you ask? I will quote from Chris' handout as she tells it best.

"Calling kakishibu a “dye” is a bit of a misnomer. Made from the fermented juice of unripe astringent persimmons, the color comes from the tannin molecules linking together and forming a coating. More than a coloring agent, kakishibu also has strengthening, antibacterial and waterproofing properties. Kakishibu was used in China and Korea, but reached its ultimate utilization in Japan. It was used as a wood preservative, waterproofer, insect repellent, folk medicine, and on washi (Japanese paper), fans, parasols, clothing and in sake production."
Chris is an engaging and interesting speaker. She and her husband lived in Japan for several years when she came upon kakishibu. They returned to Japan so that she could study and learn about kakishibu and are now back in Washington State where she is teaching the rest of us fiber folks about this wonderful process. She has written a book on the topic, the first one written in English, and has an elegant and informational website called Kakishibui. I will also put her website in my Fiber Links section. She sells kakishibu "dye" as well as textiles. Unfortunately I did not get a picture of her beautiful textiles to share here but you can see some of them on her website. Those of you who were at the Spin-In will remember her booth.
In the afternoon, I presented the results of my grant study. It is hard to believe it has been a year already! I gave a Powerpoint presentation and had all 515 skeins of yarn piled on the tables for people to see. There was a bit of a technological glitch getting the digital projector up and running but, thanks to the folks at Camp Casey who brought in the spare, I was able to share my project.
To the wonderful fiber artists of Whidbey Weavers Guild, a big thank you and hugs all around for your support and encouragement not only for my grant project but for all the years, starting with my journey as a beginning weaver, to where I am now. I will be keeping up with the news on the Whidbey Weavers Guild website and I will definitely be back to visit sometime.
To my friends at the Whidbey Weavers guild, farewell. Please keep coming back to this blog to keep in touch!
My husband and I are continuing our work on the house to get it on the market very soon.
On a final note, yesterday marked the first anniversary of the creation of this blog! I am looking forward to another year of adventure.
This month I will have the workshop with Jane Stafford so please stay tuned!
-Renee

A Handy Tip and Door Prizes

2008-04-27T19:14:00.000-07:00

I have a handy tip that I read in Threads Magazine. The tip was sent in by a reader and I thought it was a great one for storing not just any fabric but handwoven fabric. Purchase foam pipe insulation at the hardware store. I got mine at Home Depot. It comes in different lengths. I got a bag of four 3ft. lengths of insulation for a couple of dollars. The insulation is soft and cushy and has a pre-cut slit down the length of it. Tuck one edge of the fabric in the slit and roll. Nice and neat and light-weight. You can see the slit in the picture above if you look closely and the fabric is partially rolled around. If you are concerned about the foam affecting the fabric (I haven't heard of it happening but you never know) you can roll an acid-free tissue between the fabric and the pipe insulation. The insulation is easily trimmed to fit the width of the fabric too. I didn't trim it in the picture because I wanted to show the process. I apologize for not having the exact issue of Threads magazine the tip was published in. My magazines are all packed and in storage at the moment. I will try to find it online when I have a chance. I will also put a link to the magazine website in the Fiber Links column.
Now, about the door prizes. I have a bit of a story to tell leading up to the picture below so please hang in there for a moment. One of the fun things going on at the Spin-In I mentioned in a previous post was the lavish amount of door prizes given away. There was fiber and gift certificates and tools and all kinds of fun stuff. Not everyone gets a prize but many do. I was one of the fortunate ones and had my number called. Now, I have an uncomfortable confession to make here. I was disappointed for a flash of an instant when I was handed a stack of paper bags for my door prize. I did not see at first they were decorated. I thought there might be a gift certificate or something but the paper bags were the door prize. I realized almost instantly that it was silly to be disappointed as the door prizes are all in good fun. I did not go to the Spin-In for the door prizes and as I said, not everyone won one.
Someone decorated the bags and generously donated them to the Spin-In. As I was driving back to the park for the night, I decided that I needed to do something to turn around the brief moment of disappointment and to honor the gift. Sounds more noble than it is but can't think of another way to put it. We are moving and I am getting rid of things like this. It didn't feel right to just stick them in the recycle bin. I decided to select a skein of my handspun yarn for each bag. I am going to sell each bag and skein for a minimum donation of $10. I will then take all of the proceeds and donate them to an organization called kiva.org which uses the donations to make micro-loans to impoverished entrepreneurs around the world. Many of them are women.
Below is a picture of the bags and skeins. Starting on the left is an Australian 54's wool roving that I hand painted and spun. The center is from Kathy Green's Potluck roving and is spun thick and thin. The right skein is a 3-ply wool spun from a Jacob's sheep fleece that I purchased at the Spin-In years and years ago. I am going to take them to the Whidbey guild meeting on May 1 to give them the first opportunity to purchase the bags. From there I will take it to the Skagit guild and if I still have anything left, I will put them up for sale online somehow, either through this blog or otherwise.

You never know when an opportunity to look outside yourself will be presented. This was one of my opportunities. I probably would have never thought of doing this 10 years ago. I guess there is hope for me yet!
So, that is my story for the week. I should have some things of interest to post after the Whidbey Weavers Guild meeting this week and then the Jane Stafford workshop later on in the month.
A big thanks to all of you who have either e-mailed me or left a comment. It is much appreciated. More to come, -Renee

Snow Woman Weaver

2008-04-19T20:49:00.000-07:00

I have to ask you all for an indulgence. You see, I grew up in an area that did not get snow so not only do I have fun when it does snow, I am not an expert snow-woman builder!
It is April 19th, my birthday weekend. I usually have lilac blooms for my birthday, not snow. Western Washington set a new record for a late snowfall. It was a heavy, wet, 5" plus snowfall and it packed into beautiful snowballs. I built this snow-woman weaver with the help of my dog Twill who enjoys playing in the snow as much as I do. Her eyes are buttons in the shape of yellow flowers. In her right hand is a high-whorl drop spindle and she is cradling a boat shuttle. In her left, she flourishes a handwoven bag. Her cap is a University of Oregon sun hat.

Here is a closer picture of her bag. She is leaning because the snow was wet and heavy. She actually fell over in the middle of the photo shoot!

Here is Twill sitting still enough for a photo and a shot of the drop spindle. Note the model like pose of the snow woman with "hips" jutting forward! We had a fun time throwing snow balls and romping in the snow before going inside for a cup of hot chocolate.
It was actually a perfect day to continue packing up my studio. Alas, it is time. For those who do not know yet, I am going to be moving in a few months. We will be moving down to Eugene Oregon so that I can get my MFA in Fibers. It will be a fun adventure. We will have a year to transition before I enroll and start the program. I will have a lot of fiber things to report and a new area to share so stay tuned!
I will still be spinning and will have a tapestry loom to weave on. The big AVL loom will be dismantled and stored for a time. I also have a lot of handwoven fabrics to make into various projects. Before I leave this area, I will have one more workshop with the Skagit Valley Weavers Guild to report on. The workshop will be given by Jane Stafford, one of my favorite weaving teachers.
Click on her name to see her website and I will add her to my Fiber Links.
Thanks for your indulgence. I couldn't resist sharing the snow photos. If anyone is looking to buy a house with a weaving studio loft on 5 acres that has easy access to I-5 in the Stanwood area, send me an e-mail!
Stay warm! -Renee

Spin-In!

2008-04-12T10:47:00.000-07:00

Here we are at the Spin-In! I had a bit of catching up to do on the home front so this post got a bit delayed. For those readers who have no idea what a "Spin-In" is or what goes on at one, I offer the following explanation: A Spin-in is a gathering of spinners and other fiber enthusiasts for the purpose of exchanging ideas, shopping, tips, shopping, techniques, shopping, socializing with fellow spinners, and um...shopping. OK, I am going on about the shopping a bit much but for some of us, I am not too far from the truth. In addition to the above, the Spin-In features a guest speaker and teacher which, this year, was Judith MacKenzie McCuin.

The picture on the right isn't the best of quality. I find overhead florescent light a bit challenging. It gives you a partial view of the spinners looking out from the vendor area. My spinning wheel is lost somewhere in the middle there.
After the wonderful pre-Spin-In workshop I attended I had a good day of rest at Deception Pass state park with my husband and dog in our new travel trailer. You will be hearing about the trailer sometime down the road soon as it will be playing a large part in our future life. I got to the Spin-In ready for more spinning, learning, and yes, shopping! I spent most of the morning, after staking out my spot, browsing the vendor booths. We had a wonderful assortment of fibers, books, fleeces, and equipment to drool over and fondle, er... that is, to evaluate and consider.
The first day of the Spin-In was mostly time to spin, meet old friends and new, shop, and settle in for the afternoon presentation by Judith.
Not only is Judith a knowledgeable spinner, fiber artist, and rancher, she is an articulate and enthralling story teller. I could sit for hours spinning and listening to her stories of ranch life and her knowledge of fibers. The focus for the weekend was the wild fibers, particularly bison, yak, and cashmere. The following is a taste of what we learned. As before, any mistakes in facts are solely my own and not Judith's.
I should mention at this point that "bison" is the official or legal term for what we have called buffalo. Before the Europeans came to this continent, there were estimated to be about 70 million head of bison. The bison were systematically killed which took about 60 years and reduced the 70 million to about 500. Yes, that is five hundred. Today the bison have been brought back to about 150-200,000 head strong. I apologize that these sentences are a bit terse. I am trying to stick to the facts and leave the emotion and judgments for each individual to sort out themselves.
Judith is a firm believer in telling the truth of our fiber sources and I support this one hundred percent. To make good decisions in life, we need to know the truth and base those decisions on truth. The truth behind the bison fiber is that unlike sheep or cashmere, bison fiber is collected when the animal has been killed. The fiber is essentially a by-product of the bison meat industry.
The fiber we use for spinning is the undercoat and it is very soft and lovely. It is a short fiber like most undercoat fiber is and is best spun using the woolen technique. The yak and cashmere we spun on Sunday is also best spun using the woolen technique.
After Judith's lecture we had more time for spinning, shopping, and socializing before going home tired and happy.
Sunday was the workshop portion of the Spin-In. We were given fiber packets as part of our admission fee that contained yak, bison, and cashmere. Judith got us started on the bison and came to each group to demonstrate and hand out more fiber (de-pigmented yak the first time and a yak/silk blend the second time around).
A spinner named Elsie who was sitting next to me asked Judith what would be the best fiber to practice using the woolen spinning techniques and not be so costly as the wild fibers tend to be. Judith's prompt reply was cotton! As a predominantly worsted spinner, I took her advice and purchased some Pima cotton to practice on.
We left the Spin-In with enough spun fiber to knit up a scarf. As I don't knit, I will have to find another use but the resulting yarns are quite lovely. It was a very satisfying Spin-In for me and I am able to add new techniques and fibers to my spinning repertoire.
So, what treasures did I take home from the vendor booths? I am downsizing so I was very selective. Starting from the bottom center with the drop-spindle, I purchased it along with the mini niddy-noddy from The Bellwether. You can visit her website at www.thebellwether.com
The drop spindle is made by the Bosworth's and is crafted from Bocote wood. It is a richly colored and patterned wood and the spindle spins like a dream. The fiber the spindle and noddy are resting on is baby camel and silk I purchased from Island Fibers on Lopez Island, WA. The mini niddy-noddy is also of Bocote wood and made in Winnipeg by Edward Tabachek. The lovely fiber at the top of the picture is Mongolian Cashmere dyed and sold by Sarah Anderson at Great Balls of Fiber. Her yarn is featured on the cover of the Spring 2008 issue of Spin Off magazine. The final fiber is Pima cotton I purchased from Island Fibers to practice spinning using the woolen technique. Who says practice fiber has to be yucky? The yarn will be used even if it isn't "perfect"!
So, that is the Spin-In! I want to say Hi to all the wonderful friends I met who kindly went out of the way to tell me they enjoy reading my blog. It is a treat to see you all in "real" time and I appreciate the comments, they inspire me to keep on blogging. I also want to say Hi to Diana who I got to meet in person after meeting through the blogosphere and will be popping over to her blog to see what she has written up.
Now, to get to work on spinning up some of those fibers! -Renee

Judith MacKenzie McCuin Workshop-Part 2

2008-04-08T10:32:00.000-07:00

I left off my last post with us spinning up the bamboo fiber into various yarns. After the bamboo, Judith brought out Tussah and Bombyx silk. Tussah silk is produced by silkworms in the wild and has a lovely honey color. Bombyx silk is bright white and comes from a domesticated silkworm that is bred in captivity to produce a cultivated silk. It is very smooth and lustrous. We spun both of these silks using a worsted* spinning technique. Generally speaking, the long smooth fibers such as silk are spun worsted while the short, crimpy fibers such as cashmere, yak, bison, and cotton, are spun using a woolen* spinning technique.
The silk is heavenly to spin. I love both the tussah and bombyx silks.
After the silks, Judith brought out the wild fibers; de-pigmented yak, yak and silk blend, and cashmere. The bison was saved for the Spin-In so stay tuned for that next post. We spun the yak and the cashmere using a woolen spinning technique. Now I have to do a bit of explaining here. I am a weaver not a knitter so I usually spin fibers using a worsted technique to make them smooth and strong for weaving. I am, or perhaps at this point I should say was, a worsted spinner. Or, as Judith says, a "recovering worsted spinner". The techniques are basically opposite. It took me a few tries to get the hang of spinning woolen but I must admit I am hooked. I love the idea of being able to spin any yarn for whatever my needs so I am very motivated to learn new-to-me techniques. I have spun woolen in the past, of course, but Judith gave such good techniques and pointers that I am now able to spin woolen comfortably and getting better with each woolen-spun yarn I make.
The silk in the yak and silk blend meant that the fiber spun best using the worsted spinning technique. I love the end results of this blend. The yarn is lustrous and smooth but has a halo of the yak fiber that makes it soft and warm. Lovely.
Our final spinning technique was to make an encasement yarn that was beaded. We learned how to add beads and decorative threads to make a stable and strong beaded yarn. This is what I cabled with the bamboo in the first picture of the previous post. The picture below is one of my classmates spinning her encased beaded yarn. Totally fun and addicting!
I am going to finish this post with a few of the tips and websites that Judith gave us.
Silk and other fine fibers can catch on rough hands. I know my hands are always rough due to all the activities I do. If you rub lemon juice on your hands and let it dry it will make them smooth for quite a while. There was a lotion she recommended but after reading the ingredients, I didn't write it down. I have chemical sensitivities and avoid certain ingredients. It is nothing alarming, most lotions have the particular ingredient that I avoid in them.
One important spinning tip, Judith rarely "spins from the fold". This involves taking a length of fiber and folding it over your finger and spinning from that fold. Judith feels that this decreases the luster of the yarn and makes it difficult to spin it absolutely even as the fibers enter the yarn from different angles. I happen to agree with her. The first time I have ever spun from the fold was in her workshop to see the difference for myself!
I haven't had a chance to check out the websites she mentioned but I will list them here then put them in my Fiber Links section when I have had a chance to look at them.
Wormspit
Peace of Yarn
Habu
Textura (beads)
That is my report on the workshop. Tomorrow I will post on day one of the Spin-In. I will also show off the few treasures I purchased and pictures of spinning friends. Stay tuned! -Renee
*see glossary

Bamboo, Beads, and Boucle: Judith MacKenzie McCuin Workshop-Part 1

2008-04-07T09:35:00.000-07:00

Wow, it has been quite a whirl (or should I say whorl?) of learning and excitement for me the past five days. The annual Whidbey Weavers Guild Spin-In has been spun and I am back home trying to catch up on all of the mundane chores. I am still a bit fuzzy-headed but please hang in there and I will do my best to describe the past five days.
I had the privilege of attending a pre-Spin-In workshop with Judith MacKenzie McCuin. The subject of the workshop was spinning what are called "reconstructed cellulosics" such as soy silk yarns, latte, and bamboo. Tencel(TM) and rayon fall into this category as well. In fact, pretty much any manufactured fiber or yarn made from cellulose materials are considered reconstructed cellulosics. In addition to spinning with bamboo and the like, we learned how to make a boucle* yarn and how to add beads to our spinning. The picture above is my final yarn from the workshop. It is a bamboo fiber yarn spun marled*, thick and thin, boucled, and then cabled with an encased beaded yarn. Phew! That was the workshop in a nutshell. Of course I won't leave you hanging there. I will go into a bit of the incredible detail that Judith provided us. Before I start, I want to note that any errors in information are solely my own and are not Judith's. If you find some mis-information, please make a comment and I will verify and correct it!
After going around the circle with each of us answering the question, "what do you want to learn from this workshop?" Judith pulled out four beautifully dyed balls of bamboo top* and put them on the floor in the middle of our circle for us to admire while she told us about how such fiber is manufactured.
We generally think of bamboo as being a "green" product as it grows abundantly with little or no pesticides or fertilizers needed. Many of the "green" houses tout sustainably harvested bamboo floors. Bamboo fiber for spinning and yarns uses the waste materials from the floor making process. In this, the fiber has some "green" qualities. We soon learned that the process for making the bamboo and other manufactured cellulosic yarns and spinning fibers is anything but green.
To summarize what Judith told us based on her research, bamboo fiber is made by putting the bamboo bits and pieces into a chopper to grind it all up. The pulp is dissolved in a hydrosulphite solution, in other words, lye. Formaldehyde and another chemical is added to the liquid to gel it so that it can be extruded into a fiber. The fiber is usually extruded into a sulfuric acid bath and can be made into any desired shape, luster, or other qualities.
Most of the reconstructed cellulosics are produced overseas in China and Europe. Environmental controls are different and the fiber is definitely not local.
From what I understood of what Judith was telling us, legally any reconstructed cellulosic fiber is considered rayon no matter what its cellulose source. This means that technically bamboo is rayon.
One exception to the overseas production is Tencel(TM) which is produced here in the U.S. under stricter environmental standards. Tencel(TM) is a brand name of one type of rayon.
We were lucky to get to spin dyed bamboo top. Judith mentioned that bamboo is very difficult to dye satisfactory, particularly in its un-spun state. I have a bit of "natural" colored bamboo. I think I will spin it and try out the natural dyes on it.
Speaking of spinning, I am not sure I really like spinning with bamboo. It is slippery which can be dealt with but the weight of it in the fiber bundle kept pulling it out from the bottom of my hand and would "drip" onto the floor. Very annoying. If I held it too tight to compensate, it would get all tangled up in my hot little hand.
We had an assignment when she turned us loose to spin. We spun the bamboo worsted* and spun a thin two-ply, and a thick 2-ply yarn. We made a marled* yarn, a slub yarn (thick and thin), and we cabled* a yarn using decorative sewing threads as binders.
From there we went on to boucled yarns and got to try our hand at silk, yak, and cashmere. I will talk about those in the next post. Stay tuned for Part 2 and then on to the Spin-In! -Renee

*see glossary

Virtual Weaving-Seattle Weavers Guild

2008-03-28T09:02:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the Seattle Weavers Guild meeting. The program for the day was presented by Jannie Taylor. There is a lovely bio on her at www.avlusa.com. Look under "workshops" and then "teacher profiles".
The subject of the presentation was on weaving software, what is available and how it all works. She hooked her computer up to the digital projector and opened and discussed a few of the more common weaving software programs and was actually able to show us how they work. She is an engaging and entertaining speaker. Lets face it, for some, the topic of software and technology isn't as exciting as discussing weaving techniques and color. She never gave us a dull moment. Actually, Jannie was discussing weaving techniques and color, just in the context of using weaving software.
There was one or two particular points that she made that I thought were completely spot on. She pointed out, or reminded us, that there is a learning curve to practically every new skill we try and using weaving software is no exception. She suggested approaching learning the software as play. Play with it for 10 minutes a day or so, make a mess and then get rid of it. One will be surprised how soon you can learn to use the software doing this. She also cautioned about expecting to get new software and design fabric for a wedding dress the first time out.
She pointed out how we adults tend to be focused on having a tangible outcome rather than just playing around with things. I have to agree with her although I am one of those people who do a lot of playing around whether it be on the computer, dyeing, weaving, music, climbing, etc. I have many things that don't turn out well because I thought I would try out a "what if ". When I do have a success, I consider all of the "goofs" to be part of that success. I include the cost of materials in this. That means the first time I produce something wonderful, it costs a lot more in materials than the next time I produce it. I usually approach workshops with the idea of what I can learn and what can I try that is new to me rather than what wonderful fiber thing I will bring home. I even go to the extent of picking colors that I don't particularly like or use often. That means the things I bring home from workshops are not usually suitable for framing!
I must admit though, it isn't always easy to do this. Sometimes I would love to be able to pull something fantastic off in one go. When that does seem to happen, I have to admit that it was more the result of previous hard work coming together than any super talent that I have. What does that mean? It means the previous hard work and time needs to have been put in place. So play, make mistakes, ask "what if?". Have fun, scream and yell in frustration, scream and yell in triumph! The rewards are so worth it.
In the meantime, I am going to reconfigure my weaving software (long story) and get it set up to do a bit of virtual weaving.
Happy playing! -Renee

An Ah-Ha Moment or, Why I Do What I Do

2008-03-20T09:26:00.000-07:00

Ok, this is not a fiber photo. It does have a connection to fiber and what it means to me so read on!
I am giving my knees a break from tiling the mudroom floor and have been checking in on my friends and family through e-mail and blogs. I checked in with my dyeing friend Dana whose blog you can find through the Fiber Links list on the sidebar of my blog. She has been struggling, as we all do now and then, through life's sticky spots but in her post she talked about how her textile work is helping her find her way through. It was when reading her post that I had one of those Ah-Ha moments.
This is what I posted in the comments section;
"(It is) So appropriate that textiles and the fiber arts lead the way out of the dark places we fall into now and then. We join hands with women throughout time both past and present (and future I forgot to add) when we take up our needles, shuttles, dyepots, and tools."
This is why I have to do what I do with fibers. This is why I am uprooting my life and my husband's life to pursue a MFA in fibers. This is why I want to one day create a fiber art center with like-minded people. This is why I want to share this knowledge with others in a world that is rapidly forgetting some of these skills in favor of technology.
The fiber arts connect us through thousands of years as people, and as women (and men too!) across time and cultures. We need this connection more than ever in the present.
So, what does this picture have to do with the above? It is a picture of me climbing the REI spire in Seattle. I love climbing. It isn't really logical since I am afraid of heights and have to conquer that fear every single time I tie in. Climbing is an apt metaphor for many things in life but in this case, it represents how challenging the journey in fibers can be at times. We wander into dark places and obstacles get in the way and sometimes it is just plain hard and scary, but we keep climbing back to our fiber roots. Because we have to.
Keep weaving, spinning, dyeing, knitting, and the rest. Who knows? We might just save the world! -Renee

SVWG Program-Syne Mitchell

2008-03-12T15:37:00.000-07:00

Monday night was the Skagit Valley Weavers Guild meeting. I had really been looking forward to the program which featured Syne Mitchell discussing her podcast; WeaveCast. I have mentioned WeaveCast a couple of time in past posts and you will find a link to her podcast in the "Fiber Links " section. If you haven't had a chance to check it out yet, take a bit of time and do so. It is so very worth your while!
Syne gave us a wonderful presentation on what goes on "behind the scenes" when making a podcast. It is very exciting to see weaving taking off in this direction. Weaving can be a very solitary activity. Most of the time, I believe we weavers really enjoy that but it is also wonderful to come together with like-minded people and share. Up until recently, that sharing has been in the form of weaver's guilds and conferences. Now, with Syne's Weavecast and her new online magazine WeaveZine there is a whole new realm where we can connect. Combine these with blogs, weaving lists, and other forums and we have quite a powerful connection.
There were two things about Syne's program that really made me think. Syne mentioned the concern that many of us weavers have about reaching potential young weavers. Knowing how important online communities are to many, if not most, of the younger generation, WeaveCast is an excellent portal into the weaving world that can capture their attention. The possibilities are encouraging.
The other point that I noted is that Syne went looking for podcasts for weavers and, when she couldn't find one, created one herself! There is a lot to think about in that simple statement.
I am, like Syne, on the younger end of the spectrum when I look around the weaving guilds and I am middle aged! Syne has given me a lot to think about as my husband and I are in the process of making a very large mid-life change. That change is taking up a bit of time so my posts to this blog have slowed considerably. I do have several fiber events in April and May coming up so please hang in there!
I have to confess that I am totally addicted to Weavecast as Syne is an excellent story teller and knows how to conduct a great interview. I will be listening with eager interest and reading her online magazine.
To Syne, great job! I promise I will subscribe to the podcast announcements!
-Renee

Skagit Valley Weavers Guild Followup

2008-02-26T19:29:00.000-08:00

I did get Nancy's permission to use this wonderful picture of her on the night of the guild meeting and her presentation on her month long trip to India. She looked stunning in her apple green kurta and scarf. As so often when I hear a program on fiber subjects of interest, I go home and call up my local library website. I am fortunate to belong to one of the best library systems I have encountered, the Sno-Isle library system. I was entranced by the colorful textiles that Nancy both brought back and showed in her pictures. Of course I have seen these textiles occasionally throughout the years but now they had my attention. I found a wonderful book in our local library system titled, The Sari by Mukulika Banerjee and Daniel Miller, ISBN: 1-85973-732-3. Not only does the book have lovely color pictures but delves into the intimate details of what wearing a sari is all about. I learned not only about the sari and the other items of clothing worn but a lot about Indian women and their connection to this particular item of dress. It was a fascinating read and I would highly recommend it if you are at all interested in Indian textiles, dress, and culture.
This week I travel down to the Seattle guild and will have much to report on the program. In the meantime, my own weaving has slowed considerably while we get our house ready to sell. More on the subject and the new adventure later. -Renee

Skagit Valley Weavers Guild Meeting

2008-02-17T21:43:00.001-08:00

I am a little behind on my meeting report but here it is!
One of the wonderful aspects of all the weaving guilds I belong to is the talented and interesting members that make up the guilds. We had one such member give us a travelogue program for our February meeting. Nancy took a fiber tour that was lead by Anita Mayer. If you look at a couple of my recent posts you will find information about Anita. This particular fiber trip was to India and was for a month. Nancy gave us a fascinating account complete with pictures and a surprising amount of textiles that seem to endlessly come out of the small box she brought them in. This is a picture of a couple of the textiles. I also have a beautiful picture of Nancy wearing one of the lovely outfits she bought. I lost track of all of the places and adventures that Nancy told us of. There were a couple of fiber workshops that she and the others participated in while they were there too. I could have listened to Nancy's stories for a few more hours. The trip sounded quite adventurous and her pictures showed the beautiful people of India and the glorious colors and clothing of the country.
Personally, I love travelogues as I haven't had much opportunity to travel widely as of yet. Nancy's program was perfect for this time of year when we need warmth and color and a burst of inspiration. Well done Nancy and thank you! -Renee

Dyed Roving and Handspun Yarn

2008-02-17T21:24:00.000-08:00

I have been waiting to take a picture of this roving and yarn. I like to use natural light as it seems to capture the colors the best. Light has been a bit of a challenge around here lately. We have had days of rainy, cold, gloomy dark weather with never enough light to use. Today the sun came out. Unfortunately, it was the weird way-too-bright blinding sunlight that we get at this latitude this time of the year. I tried to find a place to take the picture where the sunlight was a bit filtered but it was surprisingly difficult. I got light and shadow no matter where I put the yarn so this is the best I can do at the moment.
At the bottom of the picture is the roving I painted with acid dyes quite a while ago. The roving is a 54's Australian wool. Not as fine as Merino wool but of a respectable fineness. I mixed my own dye formula trying to match colors from a magazine photo. It actually worked! The nicest surprise came when I spun the roving into yarn. The colors appear darker but harmonize beautifully without appearing too muddy. As usual, the yarn is much prettier in person. I have decided to give this yarn to my friend Elizabeth whose knitting blog you will find in my Fiber Links list under "Elizabeth's knitting blog".
Since the sun was out and it wasn't raining or freezing, today was an outdoor workday. Plenty of winter clean-up projects and much to do to get ready for spring... -Renee

I Brake for Bald Eagles-WWG meeting

2008-02-08T10:43:00.001-08:00

Yesterday was a very long but rewarding day. I drove my wonderful commute to the Whidbey Weavers Guild meeting. If you all remember from previous postings, my “commute” involves driving across the scenic Skagit Valley, where the tulip festival will be held in a couple of months, then onto the north end of Whidbey Island over Deception Pass to Coupeville where the meetings are held in an old officer’s building next to the Puget Sound. The commute is one of the most beautiful drives and the view from there is spectacular, but I am getting ahead of myself!
What made this trip a bit challenging was I was driving our pickup truck with a 4’X6’ tapestry loom carefully wrapped and tied down in the back. I also had Twill, my dog, in the cab with me as I knew I would be gone most of the day. Oh, did I mention? The wind was probably blowing at 60 mph. This may even be an underestimate but I didn’t follow up on the weather. While driving across the Skagit Valley birds were struggling in the wind, some literally flying backwards. A bald eagle zoomed across my path about windshield height and yes, I had to put on my brakes to avoid hitting it! I could hear the eagle scree as it went flying by.
I snuck a quick peek at the water below as I was going over Deception Pass and shuddered. It was a wild churning of waves and cross currents. The tide was high and the water around here is extremely cold. Not a good day for boating. I made my usual stop at Deception Pass State Park to let the dog stretch her legs but the park was gated shut. We had to walk along the fringes while the trees swayed and bits of trees blew past me. It took a bit longer to get to the meeting but we made it. I walked the dog around before settling into the meeting and the wind blew her ears back flat against her head.
The Whidbey Weavers Guild Program featured none other than Anita Mayer, who is also a guild member. This time we got to see the garments she brought to show elegantly modeled by Fine, one of our guild members. I had heard much of what she discussed during our fieldtrip to her studio last month but, as always, I heard a few new things as well. Her presentations are always inspiring.
Speaking of inspiring, we had show and tell in the afternoon. I am always impressed with show and tell. I always come away with a renewed respect for the skills and talents of my fellow guild members. I took a few pictures but neglected to get permission to use them. I do not like to use pictures of weaving or people without their permission. I will post a picture or two when I have contacted the people.
In the meantime, the picture above is the view from the guild meeting area. I walked Twill to the water’s edge during lunch. There were bits of white foam from the waves blowing past me. Both Twill and I struggled to walk there and back. If she was a smaller dog, she would have gone kiting into the wind dragging me along behind!
The tapestry loom was placed into the guild storage while it awaits its new home. Twill and I usually stop at my favorite beach to walk before heading home but this time it was late and although the wind had finally blown itself out, the rain was hammering down. I had to brake once again for a bald eagle about the same spot as before so it might have even been the same one. We made it home safe but weary. I must also mention that my traveling story is quite tame compared to one of the guild members who arrived soaked from head to toe as the result of a wave sweeping through the cabin of the passenger ferry she was sailing on to get to the meeting. That is another story! Weavers and fiber artists are a dedicated and passionate group.
The next event on Whidbey that I will be attending will be in April for a spinning workshop with Judith MacKenzie McCuin and then the Whidbey Weavers Guild Spin-In. I will be reporting on these in April so be sure to check back in! In the meantime, check out the Whidbey Weavers Guild website listed in my Fiber links and I will be posting more later. -Renee

February Krokbragd Study Meeting

2008-02-08T10:34:00.000-08:00

It has been a bit busy around here and the weather and intermittent internet connection hasn’t helped a whole lot either. That said, I was able to get to another Krokbragd study group gathering. It was held at the same gracious house as the first one. The weavers have been busy! This is just a sampling of what was brought. I will have to do another posting of mainly pictures as I had a few wonderful ones to choose from.
The study group was a very pleasant get together. It started snowing but the snow didn’t stick so it mainly contributed to the atmosphere. We were snug and warm and cozy. The more experienced Krokgragd weavers shared a few tips and pointers, and all but me wove away on their looms. I was busy untangling wool rags that belonged to my grandmother for her use in braided rag rugs. I thought I would weave them into a rug using the Krokbragd weave structure. I have a bit of preparation to do but they are all untangled and washed at the moment. I need to determine how large to make the rugs and get the warp on my big loom. I am determined to have at least one done by the next meeting!
Working in a study group of this nature is wonderful. There is a communal sharing of information, experiences, and expertise. There is also the very enjoyable companionship of working with your weaver friends which is quite a treat since most of our weaving is done in solitude. I must confess to a dream here. I would love to start a weaving center where people could come together and weave like this. A bit challenging as it would require a large space, many looms and quite a bit of commitment. Very challenging but not impossible! I am putting it out there. One of these days…
On that note, I will leave this posting with another inspirational picture from the Krokbragd study group. -Renee

January Weaving

2008-01-27T16:42:00.000-08:00

For January being a month when some of the guilds I belong to take a break, it was sure busy guild-wise! Above is a picture of the corner of the Skagit Valley Weavers Guild booth. It looks pretty busy in the picture but didn't look too bad in person. We didn't really sell much of anything but had weaving and spinning demos going the whole weekend. We had a lot of interested people stop by and say hi. Almost all of our brochures and business cards were gone by the end of the weekend. Vivian and I had fun chatting with other vendors and spending our "profits" on new treasures. One thing I was able to do was to get the name and e-mail addresses for two local fiber animal sellers. They are small producers compared to several others in the area. I realize I need to get information on the larger producers and sellers in the area as well but it is a start. I am going to create a list on the blog with the info for folks to find.
The day after the Quilting and Textile show finished I hosted the Skagit Valley spinners at my house. A bit of a crunch doing the weekend and getting ready for the spinning group but we did it. My husband took pictures with his camera as I was busy having fun. If any turned out I will post a few in the next blog post. We studied a technique of making rolags from drum-carded batts. More on that later. I will get the list of local fiber suppliers started and will be posting more soon. Stay warm, and weave! -Renee

Skagit Valley Weavers Guild Fieldtrip

2008-01-16T12:59:00.001-08:00

The weather in January is often very unpredictable in this area. The Skagit Valley Weavers Guild meets in the evening, making a bad weather situation even worse. The guild takes a break in January and plans a field trip during daytime hours instead. In past years the field trip has consisted of a studio tour of various guild member's weaving studios. It is a good chance for fellow members to see different looms and how they work. Since the looms are often too large to cart around, we go to the looms.
This year was a bit different. We are very fortunate to have Anita Luvera Mayer living in our area and such a large part of our guild history. We had the delightful privilege of visiting her studio as a guild.
For those of you who do not know of Anita, she is a teacher, tour leader, weaver, writer, and fiber artist who lives in the Pacific Northwest. She has written a few books and has contributed articles to Handwoven Magazine. In addition, she teaches all over the country at schools and retreats such as John C. Campbell Folk School, and Madrona Fiber Arts. There are at least two universities who have her garments as part of their permanent textile collections.
I could go on and on listing her many contributions to the weaving world. Just putting her name in the Google search engine turns up several pages on her alone!
Anita's studio is on the complete upper level of her home. She has a room for weaving and creating her wonderful wearable art pieces, a room for dyeing, and a large office to manage her business affairs. After greeting us all we settled into the main part of her studio and she showed us her latest pieces.
Anita is a charismatic speaker and wonderful story teller, and her work reflects that. She knows how to touch on subjects that concern women in our society with grace and dignity. I know that I am not alone in my enjoyment of her many programs and workshops that I have had the pleasure of attending over the years. The studio tour was a real treat. After a bit of time exploring the rich gathering of art, artifacts, and fiber arts, a large group of us adjourned for lunch at a local restaurant.
Before I post this entry, I would like to leave with the following thoughts: Although I am a lady of middle age, I am on the young end of the age spectrum of the women who attend the weaving guilds. One of the wonderful side benefits to belonging to weaving guilds is the association I have been able to have with women who are ten, twenty, thirty, and even more, years older than I am. They have all been my mentors in so many ways. We just don't have very many opportunities in our society to socialize, learn, and work with many people of different ages. I feel very fortunate to have stumbled across this society of weavers!
Well, off to weave, and if you ever have a chance to take a class or hear a program by Anita Luvera Mayer, I would highly recommend it! -Renee

Local Textile Fair

2008-01-16T12:54:00.000-08:00

For those of you who are in the Skagit Valley area, Skagit Valley Gardens is having a Quilting/Textile Fair this weekend from 10-4. The Skagit Valley Weavers guild will be having a booth there. If you get a chance, stop by and say hi. I will be in the booth on both days. This is the first time the guild has done this so I cannot tell you what to expect. I will have a little report next week. Happy weaving! -Renee

A Krokbragd Study Group

2008-01-09T19:52:00.000-08:00

I am participating in a Krokbragd study group with some of the members of the Skagit Valley Weavers Guild. What in the heck is Krokbragd? It is a Norwegian weave that is essentially a 3 shaft Twill. For those of you who may not be weavers yet, your blue jeans are woven in a twill weave structure. Take a close look with a magnifying glass and you will see a very characteristic twill weave. Krokbragd uses three shafts of the loom. We met at Jeanine's house as she is the weaver who is conducting the study group and weaves incredibly beautiful Krokbragd rugs. Here is a sample:
She has a nice large weaving studio in her house and we were able to crowd our looms in to weave.
We first met around the table to discuss the weave structure, what it is and how to weave it. All of us arrived as pre-arranged with our looms warped up. If you look closely at the picture on the left, my loom is the wee little loom between the two back looms on the table.
Krokbragd's most striking feature is the color patterns that you get with this weave. If you love color it is a lot of fun to weave. Here is Anna in action:
My little loom is a Dick Blick Artcraft loom. They don't make them anymore. The loom is so tiny, it really isn't good for a whole lot but perfect for trying ideas and new weaves out. Here is what was on my loom at this point:
I happened to find four skeins of wool rya rug yarn in my stash which was fortunate because I was so distracted by the holidays I forgot to make sure I had weft yarn for the workshop! Considering that my stash is down to the bare minimum, I was lucky indeed.
We had a wonderful time. It had snowed that morning but the roads were passable. We spent a wonderful day warm and snug while weaving and chatting. For a weaver who usually weaves in solitude, it doesn't get much better than that. The final picture is another rug that Jeanine has woven. It is a bit more complex that what we were doing and the skill and beauty of the rug is really breathtaking. The picture can never do it justice.
Thanks to Jeanine, Anna, Marie, Gloria, Sue, Elinor and Carin our Krokbragd study group is off to a good start! More information on Krokbragd can be found in The Techniques of Rug Weaving by Peter Collingwood, and Handwoven magazine. Stay tuned for more weaving adventures. -Renee

A Call for Local Fibers part 2

2008-01-02T21:40:00.000-08:00

This is about as local as one can get. The fiber for this hand spun yarn was provided by my dog Twill (Lab mix and double coated as the breed tends to be) and the alpaca of a friend. I featured this yarn earlier this year, er... that is last year in my "Hair of the Dog" post. I am posting my call for local fibers again because I happened to pick up the current copy of Spin-Off magazine. For those of you who are not familiar with this wonderful publication, it is a magazine dedicated to spinning yarn. Knitters would find a lot to like about the magazine as well as many of the projects featuring hand spun yarn are knitted.
What is so special about this issue? There is an article entitled "Spinning Locally: Finding Local Sources for Sustainably produced Fiber." It can be found on page 80 of the Winter 2007 issue. The article is understandably general but states the point I would like to make nicely.
So, again, if you have a source for fiber in the Western Washington State area north of Seattle, please let me know. A post in the comment area would be most appreciated.
The link for Spin-Off magazine will be posted in my Fiber Links section. Spring is on the way and with it comes shearing season and fiber festivals so stay tuned! -Renee

Weaving New Years Resolutions

2008-01-01T21:41:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! My husband and I spent the holidays visiting my family in Honolulu, Hawaii. This is a picture of the beach on the Wai'anae coast of Oahu. If one never leaves Honolulu one would never know that Oahu does have beaches that can be empty of people. We were the only people on the beach, with the exception of the life guard, for about an hour on this day. The skies were cloudy and gray but it was balmy and the water was warm.
I have been thinking about the direction of my blog. I originally started it as a way for my fellow guild members to keep track of my progress on a guild grant. The grant work is finishing up and I have decided to continue the blog because I have been enjoying it so much. The focus this summer was pretty much on dyeing. I want the blog to have a bit more of a balance of weaving, spinning and other fiber arts. I would also like it to reflect my passion about women's causes and the environment in the context of the fiber arts.
My New Years Resolution? To become a better weaving blogger. I know this will take time and commitment at a time of tremendous change in my personal life and I am willing to commit to that. So, to the wonderful people who have read and followed along and even posted a comment or two, thank you. I hope you will continue to return! To those who are new to my blog, welcome. I hope you have a chance to look at the archives and my grant project.
One of my interests is eating organically grown foods. Not only for my and my family's health but for the environment too. I have been reading a couple of fun and interesting books on eating locally and, while I haven't gone to the extremes of the authors of these books, I have made a conscious effort to purchase more locally grown foods.
In addition to food, I have been thinking about locally and organically grown sources of fiber. I know we have a lot of alpaca farms around and one of my fellow guild members is a llama farmer. I am determined to look into this and will be posting my finds and resources. To add a bit of synchronicity to the mix, I recently got an e-mail from a fellow fiber artist in my area asking the same question!
So, the question I would like to put out there to readers in the Western Washington area: Do you have a local source for wool of any breed or animal? I would love to hear from you and will post the resources with full credit unless requested otherwise. In the meantime, I will do my own research. Here is to a new year and all the changes it will bring! -Renee

The Passing of a Weaving Friend

2007-12-11T17:13:00.000-08:00

It is a fact of life that our loved ones and friends eventually pass on. It is part of life and not an uncommon event, specially if many of your friends are well into the second half of their life span. It doesn't really make it any easier to lose them though. Many of us in the Whidbey and Skagit Weavers Guilds have lost a weaving friend last Friday after a long and valiant battle with cancer. I have many pleasurable memories of chatting with her at the various guild meetings. She was one of those wonderful people who always had a smile and a kind word for you. I will treasure my memories of her and will miss her very much.
There was a small group of us who ventured out into the freezing fog and slippery roads to attend the Skagit Guild meeting December potluck and auction. We ate, got our business done, and had a small and lively auction which raised enough money to fund an evening program.
The only treasure I took home was the book, Clothing from the Hands That Weave by Anita Luvera Mayer. I must confess that I am not a fan of rectangular, loom-shaped garments, being a rather petite person who looks like a hobbit when I wear such. The book, however, is more than just an instruction book. It also contains Anita's encouraging personality. While I probably will not make a loom-shaped garment, I will make myself a garment using my handwoven fabric so I am enjoying the book.
Tomorrow I plan to get another warp on my loom. I just have to decide...
Stay tuned! -Renee

Weaving Through the Holidays

2007-12-10T11:38:00.000-08:00

Uh oh! I am at the end of a ten yard warp on my loom and the holidays are nearly here. It is always a challenge to work on projects with the holidays descending, at least it is for me! This is my final yarn stash warp and it is....not the prettiest fabric I have woven. It gets to be quite a challenge to put together a decent fabric when you limit yourself to the last dregs in your fiber stash to use them up. The yarns I have left are for specific projects. I guess I could put one of those projects on the loom as soon as I can, that is this week, so that I can return to the loom after the holidays and have it ready to go and not standing there sad and empty. The challenge is making it a priority. You might have noticed I didn't say "finding the time". The time is there but sometimes other things take priority. All of us have this challenge, particularly women. I will keep you posted on the next warp going on the loom.
In the meantime, I went to the Whidbey Weavers Guild meeting last week. It was cold and sunny. I have the Skagit Weavers Guild to go to tonight but am a bit concerned as it is freezing out and I am looking at a fog that just rolled in. It it doesn't warm up, the fog will freeze on the road and driving will be too dangerous.
While I was at the Whidbey Weavers Guild I browsed in the guild library and found a notebook containing past episodes of podcasts from Weave Cast. I do have the link in my Fiber Links bar. Syne gave a program to the guild but I missed that meeting due to snow in my area last year. I was disappointed because I really wanted to see Syne's program. The good news is not only did I get to check the podcasts out, Syne will be coming to speak to the Skagit Guild in the spring. Something to look forward to. I have listened to one of the podcasts, number 12 with Anita Mayer. If you have a high speed connection, which I don't, check out Weave Cast, the podcasts are just wonderful!
I took some wonderful inspirational pictures while at the Whidbey Guild meeting. I will share a few and some thoughts and impressions on the podcasts I listen to. Off to look at the weather reports. Hope all are warm and dry. -Renee

Exploring a New Spinning Technique

2007-11-27T19:49:00.000-08:00

I am exploring a new-to-me spinning technique. To back up a bit, I ordered a "organically grown" roving to try. I ordered a pound. I like the idea but the roving is disappointing. It is full of vegetable matter (VM) and second cuts or neps. The wool fiber itself is soft but the staple length is a bit on the short side. I am spinning it using a modified long-draw technique to get a woolen yarn.* The wool is a brownish grey. With all the VM and neps, it makes for a rather scratchy yarn. I wouldn't want to use it for a garment of any kind. I decided to try spinning an encased yarn using recycled sari silk. The bright silk fibers look stunning against the neutral grey background fiber. The whole thing is bound with a copper-colored thread which you can't see in the picture due to its fineness. The yarn is horribly overspun as this was the first time I have tried this method. I am going to try again with finer chunks of the sari silk and paying closer attention to the amount of twist. I am quite pleased with the yarn otherwise. It looks far prettier in person. I am going to weave it as an accent in fabric for a purse. Something that doesn't need to be soft or next to the skin.
I am weaving a final use-the-stash-warp. My loom is being cranky, something it rarely does, so I am slowed down by having to stop and make adjustments to get it humming along again.
The dye kitchen has been dismantled and the dyepots put away for the season. I just need to organize and write up the notebooks which is another large job. I will be posting more on a regular basis as I am getting back to work here. Stay tuned! -Renee
*see glossary

Indigo, Spin-In, Skagit Valley Weavers Guild

2007-11-13T14:43:00.000-08:00

I am slowly getting back on track after such a major change in life. I was combing through my digital picture files to look for pictures of my weaving over the past 10 years and I made a disconcerting discovery. While I have many pictures of inspirational subjects, my pets, my husband and even members of his family, I have very few pictures of my weaving! This picture is one I snapped of one of my first tapestry weaving samples. I was using whatever yarns I had around. I actually like the way my samples turned out. I will have to get very serious about photographing my weaving from now on. It will just not do to have so few pictures!
There is a wonderful magazine called Wild Fibers. Linda Cortright is the publisher and editor of this amazing magazine. I could write several paragraphs on just how wonderful the magazine is but will place the link in my links section instead. Check it out, locate a copy and buy it. Serious fiber lovers will be hooked. The Fall 2007 issue has an article about the Miao (pronounced meow) people of China's secrets on making indigo dye. The article is titled, An Eye for Indigo and starts on page 8. The article is fascinating and I highly recommend it.
Saturday I went to a Spin-in put on by the Spindrifters spinning group up in Bellingham, WA.
It was the first spin-in they have put on and they did a wonderful job. There were two young gals highlighted in Spin-Off magazine on page 14 of the Fall 2007 issue. One of them had a booth at the spin-in. It was a treat to be able to chat a bit with her and look at her beautiful yarns. The speaker, Susan Forsyth, gave an excellent talk and demonstration on wool combing. Susan also has a feature in the same issue of Spin-Off. The spin-in was a pleasure and the Spindrifters deserve a "well done" for their hard work.
Last night was the Skagit Valley Weavers Guild meeting. Our program consisted of small presentations by two new study group leaders and a viewing of the DVD, Weaving Around the World. It is amazing how pampered we western weavers are compared to many cultures who make incredibly beautiful and intricate weaving with a few sticks or whatever materials they have on hand. I'll take the pampering though!
Well, another storm appears to be moving in and I need to turn my attention to my loom which I will be putting up for sale. In the meantime, I will haul out what weaving I haven't sold and take some pictures! -Renee

More Indigo Dyed Silk Fabric

2007-10-29T20:29:00.000-07:00

This next piece of fabric was just plain fun to dye. This is silk chiffon so it is a sheer fabric. I used a Shibori method of resist to dye it. On the right is the fabric wrapped and tied around a large plastic pipe. I oriented the fabric so I would have vertical pattern along the lengthwise grain. After I wrapped and tied the fabric I scrunched it down as compactly as it would go and dipped it, pipe and all into the indigo. As you can see from this picture, I deliberately allowed shading to happen by not dipping all of it every time. I think I dipped this one 3 separate times allowing time for oxidation between each dip.

Here is the fabric after it has been dyed and opened up to dry.

And, here is a closeup of the effect. This will be a fun fabric to work into something elegant to wear. The sheerness of the fabric adds an interesting element to the pattern. I am quite pleased with the way this piece turned out.
As you can tell, I enjoy experimenting. Sometimes things don't work out the way you want them to but you always learn from what you did.
Do you enjoy experimenting or playing with the unknown? -Renee

Indigo on Silk Fabric

2007-10-27T18:58:00.000-07:00

After finishing up dipping the remaining yarns in Indigo, there was still plenty left in the pot. I had prepared a bit of silk yardage just in case and had it waiting ready to dip. This was the first bit of yardage. I did not want an even color. The picture on the right is what I did to achieve that. I dipped the fabric and held it for about 2 minutes. When I pulled it out I crumpled it up on my staging tarp. It was fun to watch the oxidation at work. I let it sit for an hour or two before opening it up and hanging it on the line to dry.

Below is what the fabric looks like now. There are lovely areas of mottling and color shading. It is somewhat subtle but will make a lovely background for further embellishment. The fabric here is silk charmeuse. I also dyed a silk chiffon using a shibori method. I will have the pictures of that on the next posting. Both fabrics were allowed to oxidize a full 24 hours before neutralizing. Now that I am back from our trip, I have been washing the remaining yarns and getting the tags back on. I am slowly getting back into gear to weave, spin, and do a bit of sewing in between all the other chores. Until the next post, -Renee

On a Personal Note...

2007-10-24T14:18:00.000-07:00

I am back from Hawaii and re-adjusting to our Pacific Northwest weather after a week of wearing shorts and swimming in a warm ocean. As I said before, I am very fortunate, I had the best Dad in the whole world. Saying goodbye so suddenly and unexpectedly is very very hard. I have a few pictures to post today from our trip and then will be back to posting about weaving, dyeing, and spinning.
To my family and friends, Aloha Nui Loa. -Renee

Triumph and Tragedy

2007-10-12T21:58:00.000-07:00

Well, it is done. The final skein of yarn was dipped in Indigo yesterday. The dyeing process of the Whidbey Weaver's Guild Grant is finished. After a bit of a rest, I will be putting together notes and samples to present to the guild. What a journey it has been! I started working on the grant in May and spent nearly the entire time dyeing some 500 plus skeins of yarn.
I have often heard people complain that natural dyes produce disappointing colors. I am posting these pictures along with all the previous ones to show that it just isn't so. As you can see, even with my unprofessional photography, the colors just glow, and these are skeins that have been dipped in Indigo.
Unfortunately for me on the same day, along with the triumph of finally finishing this long dye process, tragedy struck. I finished my last bit of dyeing and called my parents. My father was in the hospital after suffering a very small heart attack. They pronounced him very healthy and fit and were going to release him with some medication. An hour or so after I talked to him, he was suddenly gone, the doctors puzzled as to why he suddenly died.
I am a very fortunate person. I had the best Dad in the world. The last words I heard from him were how much he loved me and my last words to him were how much I loved him.
Needless to say I will not be posting in the next week as we fly to Hawaii where my family lives to be with my Mom and brother at this time.
If it has been a while since you told your loved ones that you love them, do it now, you will never regret it.
When we return I will be working on weaving and spinning and will be posting more on those topics. In addition to the yarn, I dipped some silk fabric into the Indigo and have the results to show.
This final picture is one of the Vine Maples on our property a bit worse for wear after the fall storm but still showing its colors. A perfect setting for my feelings about now. -Renee

Indigo Back Online!

2007-10-09T19:47:00.000-07:00

Well, a lesson well learned. When using Indigo, use fresh chemicals if that is the route you are choosing. I will be talking about the different ways to make an Indigo vat soon. The Indigo pot is back up and I nearly finished the first round of the last giant bag of skeins to dip. It is good to get it going again. The fresh lye and Thiox made a huge difference. I will be at it again tomorrow to hopefully finish. The logging is done too as is the clean-up. Alas, we have a few piles to burn. We looked into chipping them but with 5 acres of slash, the cost was way beyond our means. The property doesn't look too bad. It is nice to be moving forward again on several fronts.
While I was waiting for the new chemicals to arrive the first dye batch had been curing for a week. I neutralized the skeins and thoroughly washed them. The lye is very caustic and needs to be neutralized with vinegar so the yarns won't be harmed in the long run. I will leave you with a couple of pictures of the Indigo dyed yarns. The colors are nice and bright before they go into the dye and come out muted in shades of green, blue, rusts, burgundies, and browns. Lovely. More to follow soon if all keeps going well, and a report on last night's Skagit Valley Weavers Guild meeting. -Renee

Stalled

2007-10-04T14:13:00.000-07:00

Well, I got about half way through with the Indigo when I killed the pot. I thought I had turned off the burner but it turns out I didn't and the temperature climbed to 150 degrees F. Not good for Indigo. I tried a different approach to the Indigo pot outlined in a different book but it didn't work. So, I am waiting for a delivery of a batch of Thiox. I have fresh lye, plenty of soda ash, and tomorrow will have the Thiox. In my poor defense, I have to admit that I am dyeing in the midst of sheer chaos. We have lived on a heavily wooded 5 acre piece of land for the past 19 years. We decided to thin the trees out this year taking mostly Alder which grows like a weed. My dye kitchen is outdoors and there were chainsaws buzzing, trees falling, and tractors roaring practically in my lap for the past two weeks. It is nearly done now. Just the cleanup but the loggers are having equipment problems. Well, if you have ever experienced this kind of logging first hand, you will understand the distraction. There are many many trees still left and we will be planting 1000 cedar seedlings to take the place of the Alder.

The picture to the left is one of the side paths I took earlier and have revisited. The yarn is the Licorice Twist from Henry's Attic Yarns and I first dyed it using Madder roots. I wasn't entirely pleased with how it turned out so here it is being dyed in Cochineal. I wanted some variation so the skeins are hanging over a piece of PVC so that only part of the skein will be dyed. This yarn will be for my knitting friend, Elizabeth. Alas, I am still not happy with the color so I am going to dip it in Indigo when I get it up and running again. So very close to being through! -Renee

Seattle Weaver's Guild features Sarah Swett

2007-09-28T10:51:00.000-07:00

Well, this is not a tapestry by Sarah Swett but my tapestry exercise from a workshop two years ago with Archie Brennan and Susan Martin Maffei. I would love to post a picture of on of Sarah's amazing tapestries but there are copyright matters to consider. Instead, I am posting Sarah's website in my Fiber Links side bar. Do yourself an incredibly inspirational favor and visit her website.
Now, the Seattle Guild program. Sarah is a very energetic and dynamic speaker. She brought several samples and gave a wonderful slideshow that used equipment from two centuries, as she sort of put it. She started out with traditional slides and ended the second half with digital slides. To use a few words to describe her program; inspirational, exciting, beautiful, spellbinding, and generous. Generous not only because she gave more than a full program but because she shared not only her triumphs, but her struggles and techniques. While tapestry is really a simple weave structure, it is anything but simple to weave. She is a storyteller. It shows in her art and in her presentation.
I have been admiring Sarah's tapestries for several years now. What a treat to finally see her in person. The bonus? She uses natural dyes, including Earthues, to dye all her tapestry yarns. I saw the same colorful, vibrant palette that I have been making over the past few months. It gave me the encouragement and inspiration I needed to run back home to my Indigo pot. Speaking of, I need to check it. Do take a look at Sarah's website, I promise you will be glad you did. -Renee

Indigo at Last

2007-09-26T20:54:00.000-07:00

Wow, after struggling for a couple of days I finally got the Indigo pot straightened out and going. To the right is all the skeins of yarn waiting to be dipped, soaking in water. Indigo is what is known as a substantive dye. There is no need to mordant, the color is permanent. I will go into a bit more in depth on Indigo in the next post. These yarns will be dipped once, some twice, some three times with a few being dipped more. You can see little blue squares in the pictures. That is the masking tape I used to label each skein. There is a number that corresponds to the identification tag and then there is a Roman numeral indicating the number of dips the skein will have. So far the system has worked well. The tape is folded in on itself three times for security and the info marked with a permanent Sharpie. Other than the soaking time, the skeins are not immersed in liquid for long.
I started with the lightest colored skeins so I am mainly getting blues, greens, bronzy browns, and a few purples. I am about half way through. It will take a few days to finish. I will probably do a bit more dyeing since I have the pot up and running. I am finding it fairly easy to keep it going. Today I started dipping the dark colored skeins and am getting some lovely purples. Suddenly I have seemingly endless shade of greens and blues. I like the browns so far too, they tend to be on the dark bronze side.
There are advantages and disadvantages to dyeing so many skeins in Indigo at once. I can only dip about ten skeins at a time. The advantages are that I am beginning to get a feel for the temperment of the Indigo dye process. I now can tell when I need to add more Indigo or when I need to add more chemicals. One of the disadvantages is I am doing so many skeins that quality control isn't what I would like it to be. Most are just fine but a few are dyed a bit uneven. I actually like the uneven dyes. I think it adds to the beauty of the color.
Tomorrow is the Seattle Weavers Guild meeting. I am looking forward to the program given by Sara Swett. She is one of my favorite tapestry weavers. I have a lot to go over in the next few days so hang in there. -Renee

Lessons from the Indigo Dye Pot

2007-09-24T19:50:00.000-07:00

Well, my Indigo dyepot is still not quite ready to start dipping yet, in spite of working it all day. Here is a picture of what I am looking for. My dyepot is close but not quite there. Dark caught up with me so I will continue tomorrow.
I am at the beginning of some very big changes in my life. I love to research and read about any topic under the sun that catches my interest. Sometimes I just read a book or two, sometimes I spend years reading on a topic. Creativity and personal growth are such topics. With such big changes on the horizon I have been reading, no, devouring, a few books a week. All of them talk about slowing down and taking time to really look around and enjoy the process or journey. I have been jumping up and down with impatience for the Indigo pot to work so I can get on with the dyeing. I realized that I haven't been taking the time to enjoy the process. Indigo is not only tricky but intriguing. That is one of the fascinations. So, tomorrow I will enjoy the process. Dana left a comment about the chemicals. I realized the lye I used is old and probably not working well. I used every bit of it. I have plenty of thiox though. Lye is a challenge to find these days. I will keep adding the necessary chemicals little by little until the magic happens. I will also enjoy the challenge and the journey while I wait.
Have you taken the time to enjoy the journey in your life lately? -Renee

Indigo Blues

2007-09-23T19:33:00.000-07:00

Ok, got the yarns labeled (all 310 of them), sorted and soaking. Everything was staged in the dyeing area. I carefully measured out Indigo and appropriate chemicals to make my Indigo stock solution and....nothing. It just sat there being blue. This is actually a picture from a previous workshop. Dana may recognize it, we had a perfect Indigo pot. This is what the solution is supposed to look like. For those who aren't sure what they are supposed to be seeing, the solution is actually a greenish yellow with a coppery blue scum on the top. Mine just sat there and stayed opaque blue. Ok, no problem, I thought, I will just add more chemicals like the book said to do and wait another 15 minutes. It worked for me before. This isn't the first time I have done this but. alas, nothing I did worked, and I worked and worked for a few hours. So I am leaving it to sit overnight. I have drained the skeins and put them in giant Ziplock bags to keep them damp and will try again in the morning. To say that I am frustrated and disappointed is putting it mildly. I could have been through with the dyeing today. It would have been perfect as tomorrow will be a much more challenging day. Ah well, that is the way life works isn't it! Now that I have had my whinge, I will admit it really isn't a terribly big deal. I am most fortunate and appreciative to have the chance to do this. Sigh, stay tuned, if I don't burn the lot, I will have Indigo yet. -Renee

Final Color Mix

2007-09-18T14:04:00.000-07:00

Here is the final Color Mix batch. It looks much pinker in the photo than in real life. The color is more of a rusty red. It is the recipe for True Red using Madder and Cochineal BUT I used cream of tartar with the mordant* and it shifted the color. A nice trick to know.
I am busy labeling each skein with its own number and number of dips it will get into the Indigo. I will have a final count of the number of skeins I have at the end. I am figuring out the most efficient way to dye this amount of skeins in Indigo and not lose track of how many dips and what the original color is. I have a method and will be letting everyone know how it works.
Last night was the Skagit Valley Weavers Guild meeting with JoAnne Hall finishing up the workshop she gave the guild with a program. The program was pretty much on rug weaving with people bringing a wonderful variety of handwoven rugs to be discussed.
Back to labeling! -Renee
*see glossary

Glowing Yarns

2007-09-16T21:36:00.000-07:00

To get my photos to my blog I run them through my i-photo, then Photoshop Elements to tweak them and save them to my desktop in the appropriate size and format for uploading. I give them quick descriptive file names so I can find them easily such as Lac, Madder, etc. This one I just called "glow" because these truly do glow in the light. From left to right is "Deep Orchid" which consists of Lac and Cochineal. In the center is Osage Orange. I will be dipping all of these in Indigo. On the left is "Garret Rose" which consists of Lac and Fustic. After consulting my notes, I realized that I got ahead of myself. The Madder combinations in the previous post used a mordant*of alum with the addition on cream of tartar. These dyebaths just used a mordant of plain alum sulfate. I have one more picture to post of the final dye batch in the Color Mixes category.
Skagit Guild meets tomorrow night so hopefully I will have a few things to post from the meeting as well. Stay tuned! -Renee
*see glossary

Madder Mixtures

2007-09-15T21:12:00.000-07:00

Oh boy! The Color Mixture category is officially finished. As I mentioned before, I will be labeling all the skeins in preparation for the Indigo dyeing. It might take a day or two to get the task done and the Indigo set up.
Here are three Madder mixtures. From left to right is Madder and Cutch, Madder and Fustic, and Madder and Cochineal. I have two more color mix dye batches to share. The mordant* is slightly different for the remaining batches. I used alum sulfate with the addition of cream of tartar. It shifted the colors slightly and was interesting to see. I will post them over the next couple of days while I am getting prepped for the Indigo. Colorfully yours, -Renee.
*see glossary

The End is Near...Sort of

2007-09-13T13:46:00.000-07:00

I am down to odd batches to try to replicate some of the color recipes in the dye book I am using. From left to right there is Rosy Beige, Old Gold, and Raisin. The Raisin color looks a lot greyer and bluer in the picture. It didn't have the brown caste to it as a previous batch I had done. What I like about the Raisin color is that when you dip it enough times in Indigo it makes the most stunning black. We will see how it does. The Rosy Beige is lovely and the picture here does not do it justice. The Old Gold is a bit oranger than I thought it should be. I am sure I could adjust the amounts to get the color right. Just goes to show you the value of sampling.
The colors in this next photo from left to right are Rouge, Poppy, and Wasabi. I wish the Wasabi came out more true to life than in the photo. It is the prettiest shade of green and uses Osage Orange and Logwood Grey in the mix. The Poppy was a bit too red I thought. To get Poppy I used Madder and Osage Orange. It is a lovely combination though. The Rouge is a lovely color too and I used Quebracho Red and Cochineal to get it.
A note about the Osage Orange. I really debated about using it in this project. It is no longer included in the Earthues kit because it has become so expensive. It isn't as lightfast as other yellows either. I used it because I had it from a previous kit I had purchased. I wanted to see how it interacted. I did do a straight single mix with Osage and it looks a lot like the Quecitron and Weld mix I did in terms of color. It is a lovely shade of yellow. I will be dipping it in Indigo to get (yellow plus blue =...) spruce, or green.
Now for the exciting news, in 20 minutes I will be turning off the final Color Mix category dye pot!!! I will be going on to the final category, Indigo. All of the colors I have dyed over the past 4 months will be dipped to see how they turn out. First I will have to label them so that I will know who is who and how dippy they are. That is, so that I will know what the original color is and how many dips into the Indigo bath it has had.
I am not sure how long it will take me but once all is labeled and the pot going I think it will go pretty fast. We shall see. I still have a few more skeins to post so check in over the next few days! -Renee

Madder and Cochineal

2007-09-10T19:56:00.000-07:00

Oh how I wish the camera could accurately portray the colors. These are actually three very distinct shades of a combination of Madder and Cochineal. They are quiet lovely. I got another round of dyeing in today. I do believe that this is the last week I will be dyeing the color mixes. Next week Indigo. The mornings are definitely getting chilly but we are having some beautiful end of the summer days. It isn't quite fall yet but the Equinox is coming. I have several skeins to post so stay tuned. -Renee

A Small Breather

2007-09-08T21:44:00.000-07:00

I have four batches of yarn to share but I don't have the pictures yet. I was out longer than planned today and ran out of the proper light to take the pictures. I will do my best to get them taken tomorrow but will be out most of the day then too. In the meantime, I thought people would enjoy a picture taken from the top of the bluff in Coupeville. This is where I get to go for the Whidbey Guild meeting. The scenery is worth the long drive for me. I thought I would also take a minute to add three more links. Two are in the Fiber Links and one is in the Personal Links. The first is WeaversHand. It is a wonderful website bursting with information for weavers done by my fellow guild member, Janis. She also has BraidersHand which goes into more detail on Japanese style braiding. Both are great sites to explore so please check out the links. The third link I am posting in the Personal Links is related to my commitment to empowering women. It is A Call to Power: The Grandmothers Speak. I highly recommend reading this book and checking out the link. It has enriched my life as a woman and weaver tremendously.
Please take time to check out the links. I love sharing them with everyone.
Joyfully yours, -Renee

Logwood Grey and Cutch

2007-09-06T18:34:00.000-07:00

This was a strange combination. With the one on the right I should have got coffee bean brown. It is brown but more of a latte brown. The others are mainly grey with a brownish undertone. I ran out of Cutch and have had to use Cutch that was not from Earthues. I haven't had a chance to get more and I needed to go on. The Cutch I purchased doesn't look as nicely prepared and I don't know the concentration of it. From these examples, I am thinking I may need to add more Cutch!
Today was the Whidbey Weavers Guild meeting. It is the first of the guild meetings starting up after the summer break. I packed up my dog and went off to the meeting. It was a stunningly beautiful day today. It makes for a lovely drive but it turned out to be just too hot for the dog to stay in the car for long. It wasn't a very hot day, in the 70's I believe, but it doesn't take long for a car to heat up, even a SUV with the windows generously cracked. I didn't stay long at the meeting but did take advantage of being on the island and went to my favorite beach. I will have to post one of the pictures I took. The views were breathtaking.
I had brought the latest dye batch for show and tell but did not get to show them. I will show them here tomorrow! -Renee

Log Grey and Cochineal

2007-09-05T14:59:00.000-07:00

This is a lovely greyed lavender dye combination. Logwood Grey and Cochineal both go a long way in the dyebath. Very small amounts are used to get rich colors. It is a good thing that a little Cochineal goes a long way as it is an expensive dye. Not surprising considering each tiny bug that must be harvested by hand and then processed. It takes a lot of bugs to make a little dye.
I am out of water again so I only got one dye session in today. I will have plenty to post as I push for the end. Stay tuned! -Renee

Madder and Cutch

2007-09-03T20:44:00.000-07:00

Here is Madder and Cutch. They seem to appear more on the pink side than in the picture I took and certainly more pink than in real life. The colors are much richer but I think you can get the idea. Madder has yet to disappoint me. I have a few more dye batches to post but I will string them out a bit. Today I dyed with Madder and Cochineal. I really like this combination. It seems to bring out the best of both dyes. I am hoping the picture will do it justice.
That light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter. I should be through with all the Color Mix category this week and, if all goes well, I will get the Indigo category finished in a week. More skeins coming this way! -Renee

Fustic and Logwood

2007-09-01T19:50:00.000-07:00

The skeins on the left were dyed with a Fustic and Logwood Grey combination. They look very green in real life but the colors didn't register well in the picture. I like the greens, they are olive greens to mossy greyed greens. It will be interesting to see how fugitive the colors are with the Logwood Grey being a component.
Dana left a question about the Quecitron on a previous post that I thought I would answer here. She asked about the proportions of the Quecitron. Quecitron is not listed in the dyebook like most of the others. I have been treating it much like Madder Root in preparation and proportion. I simmer the Quecitron saw dust, steep it overnight, and strain it out and add it to the dyepot. I use a percentage of the Weight of Goods to determine how much. In the case of Quecitron, I used 90% 50% and 25% WOG to determine the amount of sawdust. With the small amounts I am dyeing it doesn't amount to a lot. It would be interesting to do a dye sample using a range of percentages from 1 to 100 in increments of 5. That would give me 20 dye samples ranging from pale yellow to deep yellow. I would also be able to pin point the best percentage to get the color I want. There are times when I deviate from the dye book due to experience. I already know when the percentage listed will not give the rich DOS I am looking for. Most of the time I stick to the book. I have also found out the hard way that the book is right where I want to be most of the time. That is part of the learning experience. If I didn't venture from the tried and true path, I would never know. I keep notes and everything is meticulously labeled. This way I will be able to go back and either duplicate the color or decide it is not dark enough or light enough. I am really just scratching the surface here with this project. It will be a good jumping off spot, and totally fun of course!
I have Cutch and Log Grey, and Cutch and Cochineal and Log Grey drying on the line. I am about to go rinse the Cutch and Madder out and another batch is mordanting. Two more mordant baths to go! -Renee

Fustic, Cochineal, Weld, and Quecitron

2007-08-30T19:05:00.000-07:00

I have noticed that some colors I can photograph with ease with my digital camera and others like the colors in the next two pictures, just cannot seem to be captured properly. The picture on the right is Fustic and Cochineal. I don't really like the combination. The two dyes seem to fight one another. It could be something I am doing incorrectly though.
The skeins on the left are the Weld and Quecitron mixture. I wish I could capture the beautiful glowing yellows with the camera. They look quite anemic here. I might just have to try to take the pictures again.
I really like the Quecitron/Weld mixture. The yellow/green of the Weld and the golden yellow of the Quecitron blend into a lovely vibrant butter yellow.
The next few dyepots are various combinations using Logwood Grey. Logwood Grey and Fustic make lovely olive greens. Pictures will be coming soon. -Renee

Fustic and Madder

2007-08-28T22:59:00.000-07:00

This picture was taken in direct sunlight so the colors are a bit bright. Fustic and Madder is very close to Quecitron and Madder. I like the Quecitron mixture better but I think I could come pretty close to it with Fustic with a few adjustments. Fustic is less expensive and easier to come by than Quecitron. Both are more golden yellows as compared to Weld which produces a more greeny yellow.
Today I mixed Quecitron with Weld flowers to see what kind of yellow I would get. I should have the results soon. I have Cochineal and Fustic drying and will post it tomorrow. I got another batch of skeins mordanted today as well. I am excited because I have three more batches of 36 skeins to mordant and dye and then all the yarn will have been dyed and the Color Mix category will be done. From there I will move to the final and most challenging category, Indigo. It will also be the most fun and interesting to me. I have already figured out a method to keep track of all the dyed skeins that will be dipped in indigo. I will reveal the method when the time comes. It is simple and that is usually the best. More dyeing tomorrow. -Renee

Sumptuous Color

2007-08-27T21:02:00.000-07:00

Sumptuous, sensuous, sustainable color. Those three "s" words are my new design motto. It is a plus that I get to use them here with the Quecitron and Madder color combination. The colors glow with a life all their own. I do believe this is one of my favorite dye batches. These skeins will be fun to pull out on a cold, grey winter day. I am planning to weave myself a meditation shawl. It is my birthday present to myself. My birthday was a few months ago but it is next in line to go on the loom. I have been waiting to see the results of some of the dyeing before making my final choice. The yarn is a silk/wool blend, undyed of course. I wanted a wrap that was warm and luscious. I would also like to experiment with woven shibori. I am thinking I will dye the yarns a lighter color over all and then overdye the darker using the shibori. I am also thinking of dyeing several sections in these colors, gathering the shibori threads, then overdyeing with Indigo. That will be a long process but it would be interesting to do.
I dyed three batches of dye today, the Quecitron and Madder, Madder and Fustic, and Cochineal and Fustic. Tomorrow I will mix two yellows, Quecitron and Fustic. I thought it would be interesting to see what kind of yellow I could get.
I have a question today, Do you have words, mottos, or phrases, that you use for inspiration? If so what are they and why? I have decided the three words I mentioned are ones I want my weaving and fiber art to strive for. In fact, it wouldn't hurt to shape my life to fit those words! -Renee

Yarn Stash Challenge Final

2007-08-26T21:06:00.000-07:00

Way in the beginning when I started this blog, I mentioned my Great Yarn Stash Challenge. I was trying to weave up my yarn stash. I have officially declared it finished. The remaining yarn is designated for specific projects. I have no more odd cones of yarn. I saved all the empty cones of yarn for fun. I snapped a quick picture of the cones before putting them in the recycling bin. Not all the yarn was on cones but this is close enough. Nyx the cat popped into the picture just as I took it. She was curious, naturally!
I have the next batch of yarns mordanted and Quecitron is steeping for tomorrow's dye session with Madder and Quecitron. What do you bet that the color is another variation on pink? I will not be mixing all the reds with Quecitron as originally planned as I get the picture now! I will be posting the results when they are ready. Here's to a colorful week...-Renee

Rest and Recreation

2007-08-24T20:37:00.000-07:00

This isn't weaving, spinning, dyeing, or fiber related but is a picture of a mother bear and her cubs. We "met" her while hiking in Whistler, B.C.. It is a little closer than I like to get to bears but she didn't give us much of a choice! I have been off with my husband and dear friends taking a much needed break and vacation. It was wonderful to get out into the wilderness and hike, bike, and climb then come back to spend the evenings with friends and good food.
Now I am ready for the final push of dyeing. I have all of the remaining wool yarn to be dyed skeined and ready to process. I have the last half of the Color Mixes category and the Indigo category to go.
Summer is slipping by so it is time to hit the dyepots hard again. Tomorrow is a mordanting day and then the dyeing begins....Stay tuned! -Renee

Summer fun

2007-08-14T13:59:00.000-07:00

First things first, this is the Lac and Fustic color mix. The right skein used a light DOS* for Lac and dark DOS for Fustic. I have found that Fustic is a rather greedy dye and seems to strike before some of the other dyes. There wasn't enough Lac in the light DOS to compete with the strong Fustic so the color kind of got elbowed out. The middle and left skein have a medium and dark DOS of Lac respectively.
We have been taking advantage of cool but dry summer days to get the house painting done and other dry season chores before the wet settles back in. The dyeing has slowed way down and we are about to leave for another short trip. I didn't want to have skeins sitting in a mordant bath while we are away so I have just been skeining and washing yarn so I can go for the final push when we return. I am on the last 5 cones of yarn. The light is starting to shine at the end of the tunnel. Still a ways to go though and Indigo yet to come. It may be a week or so until the next post. I will be gathering inspiration on our trip.
Enjoy the summer! -Renee
*see glossary

Weld Flowers and Lac

2007-08-08T21:44:00.000-07:00

What do you get when you mix Lac and Weld? More pink! I remember the birthday party for my 5th or 6th birthday, my mother decided on a pink and orange theme. Have I mentioned enough times that I really don't like pink? I feel like I am back at that birthday party with all the pink and orange I have been dying lately. Dana left a comment on one of the recent posts that Fustic and Lac make wonderful pinks. She usually dyes on cotton. I couldn't resist finding out for myself how it goes on wool so I made the next dyepot with Fustic and Lac. The skeins are drying so the results should be posted soon.
On the home front, we finished the second and final coat of paint on our two story house today. I need a good soak in the bathtub to recover! I am starting to think about how I will tackle the indigo dyeing and keeping track of the vast amounts of colored skeins I will be dipping. I have a plan......
-Colorfully yours, -Renee

House Dyeing and Lessons Learned

2007-08-05T21:26:00.000-07:00

Well, we are not technically dyeing our house of course, just painting it. We still are applying pigment to a porous surface, in this case a cellulose in the form of wood. We have the first coat on and then there is the trim and doors....
In spite of painting today, I managed to squeeze in a dyepot. I used Weld flowers and Lac. More variations on orange and pinks. I will have a picture for the next post. As I am sure many of you who paint their own houses know, a lot of thoughts go through your head while you are painting. Today I was thinking of what I have learned so far at this point in my dyeing project. So here are some of the things I have learned in no particular order:
If the yarn is already mordanted, I can get a dyepot going in less than 5 minutes. That is dye measured, water added, mordanted skeins prepared, thermometer clipped on, and burner going.
I can tell the temperature of the dyepot by looking at it. I know just when it is at the perfect temperature to hold. I still use the thermometers though. I found out I could tell the temperature by looking at the dyepot when I forgot to put the thermometer on and didn't realize it until well into the process. Seems kind of funny I know, but when you dye day after day these things happen.
I know I need to double and triple check that I have turned off all the burners and that they are turned off all the way!
I am getting pretty good at predicting the colors I will get when combining dyes.
I have memorized by accident, some of the dye amounts I need for certain WOG* and DOS.
I am learning when to deviate from the book and break the rules and when to know the book is right on.
I am learning to follow my curiosity off the determined path.
I learn a great deal from my mistakes!
With the exception of the yarn burnt to a crisp, everything is usable.
Skeining yarn is not my favorite part of the project but it goes a bit easier with comedy on DVD borrowed from the library.
Well, those are some of the things I have learned so far. I hope to post tomorrow but cannot guarantee it until we are finished painting the house.
Hope summer is going well for all. -Renee
*see glossary

Faulty Phone Lines and Distractions

2007-07-30T20:29:00.000-07:00

There is something wrong with our phone line and service comes and goes. As a result, I am not able to get online as often and sometimes am forcibly ejected when the phone goes out. In addition to this challenge, we have also started painting our house. I didn't get to do any dyeing today as my dye kitchen got moved away from the house to paint. That said, I do have two new dye batches to share.

Both of the batches used yarn mordanted* with alum sulfate. The first batch is Cochineal and Weld. Somewhat different than the batch mordanted with alum and Cream of Tartar. I really like the bronzed purples I got with this combination. The Cochineal/Weld with the Cream of Tartar is pinker. That seems to be consistent with my results for Cochineal in general.

This batch is Madder and Weld. The colors are exquisite. The orange is a rich beautiful orange with the other two skeins being more red/orange. Again, slightly different than the Madder/Weld batch with the Cream of Tartar.
I am out of Weld extract so the next batch will be Lac and Weld flowers. Stay tuned for more oranges golds, red/oranges, and bronzed purples.
Posting will be a bit sporatic this week but the dyeing will continue! -Renee
*see glossary

Lac + Weld

2007-07-25T21:14:00.000-07:00

I am about in the middle of the dyeing process for this project. The middle can be challenging as the excitement of the beginning has worn off and the end is still a ways away. This is where I need to really lay on the rewards and incentives. I must admit I am more than ready to see some blues and greens too. Ah well, I will get there, I promise. This is Lac and Weld. They appear more toward the Burgundy color, with a slight brown undertone, than what appears in this picture. Again, the camera has evened out the shades. Even though I do my best to adjust it in Photoshop there is only so much that can be done quickly. Tomorrow will be a day of washing and mordanting the next batch of yarn. I am slowly getting down to the end of all the skeining. The long term rewards of this project will be great, I know. In the meantime, I need to figure out a short term reward. Stay tuned!
I will ask you all the following question today; What rewards and incentives do you give yourself to keep yourself moving when in the middle of a long and consuming project? -Renee

Madder + Weld

2007-07-24T21:53:00.000-07:00

Fiery, No? Madder is a nice warm orange-red to start with. Add a yellow, even a cool yellow/green like Weld and you get glowing red/oranges. There are actually three lovely shades in this picture. Unfortunately the digital camera evens them out. So why try Weld with all the reds like Cochineal, Lac, and Madder when I know I will get orange or red/orange? Just as when you mix cool yellows with cool reds and cool yellows with warm reds to get different shades and tones of color, mixing these different reds gives you different shades. The differences are distinctive and I find that exciting. I could happily spend another couple of years getting all the different shades.
Today I dyed with Lac and Weld. I am getting yet another shade of red/orange. Definitely more on the cool side as both Lac and Weld yield cool colors. Tomorrow I need to replenish my water and propane supply before washing and mordanting the next batch. Remember, all the color mixes I have done so far are with yarns mordanted in alum sulfate plus Cream of Tartar. The next batch will be mordanted in just alum sulfate and I will try the different colors again as long as my Weld holds out. It will be interesting to see the differences. Can you see why it would take a few years to try out all the possibilities? Years actually. This project will merely give my a starting point. It will be an excellent base to draw from. Now to get another section threaded on the loom. -Renee

Weld + Cochineal

2007-07-23T20:03:00.000-07:00

Here are the results from the two dyepots that didn't burn the other day. This is Weld/Cochineal color mix. I got a lovely burnished copper and an orangy-pink that looks like it could be from India. The dyebath that burnt was the dark DOS* Cochineal and light DOS Weld. I will have to repeat that one. Today I used Weld and Madder. I am liking what I see so far. I have already said several times that Madder is one of my favorite red dyes and it hasn't disappointed me yet.
I am almost through getting the next warp on the loom. It is the last warp in my Great Yarn Stash Challenge and it has been a problem to get on the loom. I have set a date for getting back to sewing and I have several spinning projects lined up. It is time to get busy to finish items for all the guild sales. July is almost gone! -Renee
*see glosssary