New Things in the New Year

So it's 2012 and I am all in for trying new things this year. I started off with a bang, using alpaca from a local purveyor, Jaggerspun, and a yak/bamboo blend for two scarves I wanted to weave for men.

If you don't know me well, you might think, so what? Well, because I don't really do this kind of yarn. I'm a silk, tencel, bamboo kind of weaver. And don't forget they are usually a minimum of 60/2.

And guess what, I love it.

Here's the thing:: I usually laugh at Karen when she has a project going and she says 'I don't think I will have enough of ____ yarn." She says this a fair amount. Fill in the blank with your favorite yarn, she has probably run out of it in the middle of a project. I have been humbled. I can now fill in that blank my own self with Yak/Bamboo I can no longer get. I fortunately eked out enough of the yak to weave the first scarf, albeit a tad shorter than I had wanted (praying for not too much shrinkage).

This is what I know. Somewhere in my library(aka stash) I had to have something I could use. I started looking and lo and behold I came across what I call my "do do " yarn. As in #2. I bought this bamboo yarn quite awhile ago and I have no idea what I was thinking when I bought it; henceforth the name::do do. It looks like that, the color I mean. And I didn't just buy one cone, but several.

And lucky for me the do do yarn works quite nicely, if not better than I could hope for. Seems it gives more depth to the second scarf, or so it seems to me. The photo on the left is the first scarf with the yak in both warp and weft. The one on the left has the yak in the warp and the bamboo (aka do do yarn) in the weft. Let me know what you think.

And in this new year, I hope to try even more things in the world of weaving. Next up:: doubleweave open book style. Stay tuned!

New Year, New Study Group Subject

Happy New Year, Sutherland Handweaving Studio Friends!

Karen Donde and Barb Butler invite all weavers and weaver wanna be’s to join Sutherland’s Weavers’ Study Group as we start our second year. Our first meeting will be this Sunday, Jan. 8, from 2-4 pm, at our studio in the Cotton Mill Studios, 122 Riverside Drive, Asheville. We’re starting a brand new study subject, so this is an ideal time to join. We meet monthly on a Sunday afternoon, but which Sunday tends to fluctuate. We’ll try to work that out at the first meeting. So check out the details below and let us know if you’d like to join us. If you’re interested but can’t make it Sunday, we’ll put you on the contact list for next month. Don’t worry, we’ll catch you up.

Our study subject this year is block weaves. The group will choose one profile draft and everyone will weave a piece based on that profile, similar to Handwoven’s Weave-Along last year. Members will choose a month to show their sample and discuss how they interpreted the design. The process will work with any loom, from rigid heddle to multi-shaft.

At the first meeting on Sunday, Karen will provide a little tutorial about block theory, how to develop a profile draft and how to translate it to various weaves. We’ll work together to design a two-block profile draft that will be our inspiration for the year. Then we’ll assign months for members to present. Here’s one of Karen’s latest block weave projects.

We will also collect our $15 annual dues for 2012. Show-and-tell is one of the best parts of our meeting, so please bring whatever you’ve been working on, thinking about working on or have questions about. We love sharing successes and ideas.

We decided at our last meeting to arrange a tour of the Oriole Mill in Hendersonville, followed by dinner at the pizza place in Hendersonville. Our dues from last year would be applied to the bill for last year’s study group members. Others are welcome to join us. We’ll just ask that you buy your own pizza. 

We had a lot of fun learning together last year and are excited about our study group’s second year. Hope you can join us!

Karen and Barb