The Passing of a Weaving Friend

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

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

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

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

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