our new look…in progress

We’re in the midst of a major redecorating of the gallery space at sutherland, now that our classroom has moved down onto Pattiy Torno’s floor. It’s still a work in progress, but here’s a picture I just uploaded to our facebook page as our new profile picture. The scarves on top are Barb’s new line of “sutherland sorbets,” scarves so sheer you can see through them in a delicious variety of colors. Stay tuned for more exciting changes.

New classes & revised class schedule

We had so much interest in beginning weaving classes during the CURVE studios & garden open house last weekend that we have put another session of Weaving I on the summer calendar. This class will run eight consecutive Tuesdays from noon-4, starting May 25 and ending July 13. This is the Three Warps, Three Towels class that allows students to warp the loom three different times during the eight weeks. Projects increase in complexity and give students a good foundation in warping. Following are more details on the upcoming spring/summer classes. If you’re interested in joining a class, please contact Barb or Karen and send a $100 deposit payable to sutherland as soon as possible to reserve your loom. We have 5 looms available for classes, two are already reserved for the Overshot class. We’ll assign the last three on a first-come, first-served basis.

Here are some pictures of some of our students and their completed projects. We’re so proud!

May 12, 26, June 2, 9, 16 – 11 am-2pm

More Twills & a Taste of Overshot. A follow-up to either Weaving I or Weave a Twill Gamp, this class introduces students to two additional twill patterns and an overshot threading. Instruction will lean heavily toward overshot theory. Students will weave a table runner, either as a gamp or with one of the three threadings offered. Students should be comfortable with warping, but support will be available. $180 per person, plus cost of yarn.

May 25, June 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, July 6, 13 – noon-4 pm  

Weaving I: Three Warps, Three Towels. This in-depth introduction to weaving guides students through planning, warping and weaving three separate projects. For Beginners or weavers who need a warping refresher. $275 per person, plus yarn.

June 26 & 27 – 10am-4pm

Two-Day Workshop: Introduction to Designing & Weaving Warp Rep. Warp rep is a warp-faced (or warp dominant) block weave in which a thick weft alternating with a thin weft produces color patterns and horizontal (weft-wise) ribs. In this introductory workshop, students will learn Karen’s building-block technique for rep design. They will then design their own treadling patterns and weave them into a  series of mug rugs (coasters) on looms they have warped prior to the workshop according to Karen’s instruction. If students want to use a sutherland studio loom (provided one is available), they may come in to warp the loom before class starts. Minimum experience level: advanced beginner. Students must be able to read a draft and warp a precise color pattern independently. For 4 or 8-shaft looms. $120 plus supply fee (copies, plus yarn if you use ours).

June 30, July 7, 14, 28, August 4 – 11am-2pm

Handwoven Lace Techniques: Students who have taken Weaving I, or are familiar with warping and plain weave, will be introduced to three different threadings for weaving lacy, open fabrics using fine cotton or fine wool. Choosing from huck lace, Swedish lace or Atwater-Bronson lace, weavers will create a scarf or series of napkins experimenting with various pattern effects possible with treadling variations. $180 per person,  plus yarn.

Aug. 9, 10, 11 – 9am-noon (or possibly noon-3pm)

Children’s Weaving Camp: We are considering holding a mini weaving camp for children, ages 8-14 for three mornings or three afternoons. We would wind the warps and students would warp looms for narrow scarves with easy-to-handle yarn. They would weave their scarves in plain weave, twill or herringbone in whatever color combination they like. This would be a fun introduction to weaving. No weaving police and lots of room for creative interpretation and “design elements.” We would have room for five campers. If you’re interested or know someone who might be, please get in touch so we can discuss this idea further.

FINALLY, don’t forget our April Web Chats AT sutherland, which are now the “last” Friday of the month from 10 am-noon. That means this Friday, April 30. Bring your show and tell, questions, design challenges or whatever weaving subjects you’d like to discuss. Also we are planning to order from Silk City Fibers very soon. You can look through the fun sample books (4 big notebooks!) and see whether there’s anything you’d like to include in our order and share shipping costs. If you’ve never seen the Silk City yarns, there are some basics like pearl cotton, fine merino wool, and Bambu 7 & 12, plus a whole assortment of weaving yarns you won’t see elsewhere. Please email to let us know you’ll be here: sutherlandstudios@gmail.com

Look forward to seeing you at Web Chats and in our classes. Our Fall Class Schedule will be available soon!

Where to Start?

There are many changes afoot at sutherland Handweaving. For one we’ve expanded, taking extra square footage on Pattiy Torno’s floor for a new dedicated weaving classroom! At right are some pictures of students working in the space. Today the classroom was buzzing all day, with Hardy and  Donna threading their twill gamps from 10:30-1:30 and Mimi making up a lesson and weaving her twill towel, number 2 in the Weaving I project towels. Emily, also making up a lesson from the Weaving I class, came in this afternoon to weave her twill towel. Monday, Caitlin was threading Towel 3 in the Weaving I class with 8/2 cotton, warp stripes and a point twill threading.

Soon our classroom will have shelves to hold all the supplies, equipment, warping boards and other weaving necessities. Once I bring in a small desk for my laptop and tea mug, maybe an apple, if I’m lucky, and a chair to watch everyone work, I’ll be very close to weaving teacher nirvana.

Upcoming classes include another installment of our weekend Just Weave: Weave a Scarf in a Day class, April 23, 24 & 25, during the CURVE studios & garden Spring 2010 Open House. May 6 we begin a five week installment of “More Twills and a Taste of Overshot,” which allows students to weave two twills and an overshot pattern as a gamp, or to select one of the patterns for a pearl cotton table runner. This is a 5-8 pm class on Thursdays.

So what’s left in our original two-room studio? We’ll post pictures and tell you more as construction gets going, but for now we’ll just say we’re sprucing up the “gallery” side of the business to improve the browsing and shopping experience for our retail customers. You’re not going to recognize the place. We plan for everything to be finished by the CURVE open house April 23. Be sure to stop by our Twilight Party from 5-8 pm that Friday to check out our new and improved space, visit the garden and enjoy some great food, drink and music.

It’s finally SPRING!   

Patience

One thing I’ve learned about Barb during our 3 1/2 months in business here at sutherland is that she is very very patient. She loves winding on 60/2 silk for a pashmina, weaving it in plain weave with 120/2 silk for weft and then hemming and beading both ends. It makes her happy.

But I came into the studio today to teach a new student, and as I was pointing out the different parts of a loom, something caught my gaze above the secretary we use as an office. The swift was stuck up there with something on it. As I looked closer, I realized even Barb’s patience has its limits. She had just started winding what we refer to as a “skanky skein” of fine yarn into a ball when I saw her on Friday. Apparently it never got better, because there are the remains in a tangled mess still on the swift perched above our desk.

I had to laugh. I know this was hand dyed (not by Barb) yarn on the expensive side and it would have been painful to cut it off and toss it. I expect Barb may take another stab at untangling it, or maybe she just needed to work up the courage to let it go.

Either way I couldn’t resist snapping these pictures and sharing them. We’ve all been there. If we didn’t need the swift, I’d tell Barb to just leave it up there.

Love ya, Barb.

Karen

They’ve Graduated!

The inaugural class of Weaving I-Three Warps, Three Towels at sutherland Handweaving has graduated, and just look at their final projects on our last day of class. We started with plain weave and a heavy weight cottolin and moved on to straight twill in the same yarn for the second towel. For the final towel in the class, I challenged them to create warp stripes with point twill threading using finer yarn, 8/2 unmercerized cotton.

Boy did they get creative with color and pattern! All three looked so distinctive, and the students’ technique and understanding of warping had charted significant improvements since the first towel. Congratulations to Donna, Martha and Hardy.

Next up for two of them is a Twill Gamp class that starts March 18 from 5-8 pm. With another Weaving I student starting this weekend, the studio looms are again all booked until the Monday Weaving I class finishes April 5. If there’s enough interest we’ll start another session of Weaving I or Twill Gamp on Mondays.

Please let us know right away if you’re interested in these or any of the remaining classes on the spring schedule. The looms don’t seem to be staying idle for long!

You've done this too, right? Also known as 'What Happens When You Do Not Like What Is On Your Loom'

The snow started falling on Tuesday morning just before dawn. Twelve hours and eight inches later, I had done just about everything I could not to weave what was on my Harrisville 48" loom. I know you have been there. Confess it to yourself if you cannot say it out loud, but you have been there. All weavers have been there. You have this great picture in your head what you want a piece of cloth to look like and it just does not happen when you start to weave. That was me on Tuesday. It is Thursday night and I have not even opened the door to my home studio today. I was at sutherland today weaving, but that was fine as I love what I have on my Baby there. But here? At home? I am going to have to force myself to get in there and just finish.

The biggest problem was I did something I do not do very often--I put enough warp on the loom for two scarves. What was I thinking? Obviously some alien took over my mind for a brief period, there is no other way I can explain the madness. I honestly wove what I thought would be the "lesser liked" scarf first so I would have something to look forward to, but it became painfully obvious the second scarf would be the "I really do not like this at all" piece. You've done this too, right? I sure hope so.

I talked it over with Karen via email and she offered the excellent advice to rethread, resley, etc and I have to say I am not that kind of girl. Those ideas are not options for me. I know, I know, that can be my next New Year's resolution. Be flexible in my weaving.

So, here's the thing. Instead of weaving on Tuesday I did something else I have wanted to do for almost a year. I had taken a class with Barbara Zaretsky of Cloth Fiber Workshop (http://www.clothfiberworkshop.com/) fame on block painting on fabric. Great, you say, because you think I am going to use something I made in class. You would be totally mistaken. What I did do is use some cloth I had purchased while I was there. I saw it and just had to have it. You've done that too, right?

Where was I? Oh yes, I had decided to make a pillow for Bill's chair with the fabric. Now I could not use the fabric and not do something to make the pillow special for my favorite art benefactor! So I pulled out my marudai and made what I think is a lovely braid for the trim using yarns from Habu(http://www.habutextiles.com/). I had never done Kumihimo of this magnitude and it turned out rather nicely I think. I am pleased with the look and may even make another one as I have enough fabric.

And one thing led to another and I went from pillows, to Cloth Fiber Workshop, to kumihimo, and then to Habu. And suddenly I am online looking at Habu's website and have placed a huge order for some more fabulously fine silk yarns.

You've done this kind of thing too, right?

I think my Harrisville is missing me.

Alice Schlein Visits sutherland

Our floor has never looked better than when Alice Schlein spread her jacquard triptych on the floor for better viewing by the group of 15 weavers, friends and spouses who gathered at sutherland to hear about her latest book.

The studio was buzzing with decades of combined experience represented by the people who gathered there last Friday morning. We saw many other samples of Alice’s beautiful jacquard and dobby weaving and learned that this self-taught weaver decided to write her new book, The Liftplan Connection: Designing for Dobby Looms with Photoshop & Photoshop Elements, because so many dobby weavers were interested in the design techniques described in The Woven Pixel, which she co-authored with Bhakti Ziek. Several guests of this special Web Chats AT sutherland helped lighten Alice’s load, buying up copies of The Liftplan Connection, The Woven Pixel and even Alice’s very last personal copy of Network Drafting. Alice graciously autographed every one.

The event also brought together friends, former teachers and students, and even two of the newest weavers enrolled in Weaving I at sutherland. Barb and I were so thrilled with how everything worked out that we will try to plan more visits by notable weavers who live near Asheville or may be traveling through Western North Carolina. If you have a suggestion for a special Web Chats guests, just let us know!

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New Pups on the Block

When Karen and I first started talking about opening a shop together last summer, we talked about looms, classes, and yarns. we would each go back home and think and email and Google, and then talk some more about all the ideas swirling around on our heads. Karen even started keeping a notepad in her bathroom because she said all her great ideas popped into her head while washing her hair!

Well, nowhere in all the planning and talking did we ever think we might need more than the four Schacht Baby Wolfs we either had already or would soon purchase second-hand. I don't know about Karen, but I felt like we would be lucky if we filled up one class. Who knew her class list would be so popular we would end up purchasing three new Schacht Wolf Pup to keep up with the class demand? I hope this is not a fluke and the interest will continue. Weaving is such a lost art and the only way to preserve it is to continue educating. In one of Karen's classes she has a student in her early twenties. Needless to say we are thrilled.

And in all this excitement we are pleased to announce sutherland is now an authorized dealer for things Schacht!

Karen worked really hard to get these Pups all put together in time for her class this past Monday. The photo shows her success.

Tomorrow will mark another milestone for sutherland--our first book signing. Alice Schlein, an authority on sophisticated pattern design for multi-shaft and computerizes dobby looms will be joining us from 10 a.m. to Noon. We will have an informal discussion while Alice sells and autograph copies of her latest book, The Liftplan Connection: Designing for Dobby Looms with

Photoshop® and Photoshop Elements®.

Same But Different

With my weaving blip behind me as told in my last blog note, I have gotten back into the 'theme' scarf idea. Not really sure where this plan was taking me, I just started to weave. The first scarf in this series was the one I wove for my friend, Walker and I called it "Sixty Years of Walker". (Ha Ha--it was a birthday gift. ) As I mentioned, I loved the pattern and wanted the series to use this as the basis of the theme.

Next I decided to use a space-dyed alpaca and tencel as the weft with a Gemstone silk from Halcyon in a sky blue color.

Then today I wove like a madwoman--i had my warp chain ready to go as I had done that last night while watching the Olympics. I was using a the same tencel in the warp and weft to see what effect this had on the pattern. As I started I quickly saw the pattern was not nearly as noticeable using this dyed yarn, but i love the tweed-like look it has while still on the loom. I have wet finished the cloth and it is drying. One of my favorite times is when I awake the morning after I have wet finished a piece to see what it looks like, what the hand is like, and finally pressing it to see the finished result. Tomorrow will be one of those lovely mornings.

I am not through with this series and will continue with several more pieces to see how this pattern works with different yarns. As I weave them I will post photos along with my thoughts on how they look.

Let me know what you think as well.

Waiting for the loom truck

…warps in hand! The second session of Weaving I began at sutherland today with three new students and one from the Sunday class who decided Mondays work better for her. Even though delivery of the three new Wolf Pups we ordered from Schacht Spindle Co. got delayed by snow from Ontario to Indiana to Colorado and finally to Asheville, NC, we started our first class focusing on planning, estimating warp and weft needs, drafting and winding our warps.

I had promised our Schacht rep my students and I would be eagerly awaiting the arrival of the delivery truck, warps in hand. She said, “I’d love to see that.” So I snapped these pictures today of the students and their warp chains. The looms are expected Wednesday or Thursday, so the students will begin warping next week.

This also means sutherland Handweaving is now a Schacht dealer. While our space does not permit us to carry a lot of inventory, we will be able to order looms and equipment for students or anyone wanting to order from Schacht. 

Our Storefront Has a Storefront

Our signs have arrived, so we’ve loaded our front door with information to help our CURVE studios & garden visitors understand all that goes on in here and hopefully entice them in. I snapped this picture yesterday afternoon during the 3 hours of sunshine we got between winter storms.

Last night we had a lovely Web Chat AT sutherland in the studio with a couple of our friendly area weavers, learning more about their work, looking at wonderful show & tell pieces and hearing more about the wonderful rich history of weaving in Western North Carolina and Upstate South Carolina.

We already are taking reservations for our very special Web Chat AT sutherland Feb. 26, from 10 am-noon, featuring a book sale and signing with network drafting guru  Alice Schlein. Alice’s newest book is called The Liftplan Connection: Designing for Dobby Looms With Photoshop® and Photoshop. We’re very excited to have her discussing her latest research and seeing some samples of the work. We’re expecting a big turnout, so please register in advance, as we may need to borrow some floor space from our studio neighbor. Just email us at sutherlandstudios@gmail.com  There is no charge to attend the web chat, but Alice will be selling copies of her books.

We’ve redecorated at sutherland

Barb and I (with Pattiy’s assistance) were busy rearranging the furniture at our studio today to make the shop more comfortable for shoppers and make room for more looms and students.

Even stripping a screw that held our scarf rack to the freestanding wall couldn’t stop us. Pattiy and her vise grips to the rescue. Then we hoisted the large, heavy angled wall through the studio, out Pattiy’s door and into the CURVE space next door that will soon be occupied by encaustic painter Constance Williams. We moved the bookcase of yarn to the open corner, the secretary (our office) into the corner where the bookcase was and a new three-sided wire display rack into the space where the secretary was.

A little vacuuming and merchandising later and our new look was ready for business and classes. It’s a good thing, because three new looms are on the way for the three Weaving I students who will start class on Monday afternoons this month. Whew!

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So, as Karen and I so often do, we were working away in the studio several days ago while throwing around ideas for new projects. I, for one, am pretty consistent with the work ethic of warp the loom, weave 6" of the project, and start planning the next project. Works for me every time.

Karen mentioned her husband, ever the trusty sales guy, thought having a "theme" scarf quarterly or seasonally might be a good idea. we tossed it around, decided we liked the idea, and promptly shelved it on the to do list in our collective brains.

Last week I put on a warp at home on my wonderful Harrisville loom with enough length for two scarves: one for my dear weaving friend Walker, who turns 60 this week, and the other to sell. After I wove, wet finished, and pressed it I brought it to the studio for Karen to critique.

She loved them as much as I did. That's when she mentioned Jeff's idea of the seasonal scarf. I started thinking about it and told her i agreed. Almost in unison we said what about doing a tone-on-tone piece. I have successfully started warping my Baby Wolf (back to front no less) with this gorgeous 60/2 spun silk. Tomorrow I will start threading and can hardly wait! It sits at 40epi with a weaving width of 15". Just so you don't have to do the math, that is 608 warp ends, taking into account the floating selvedges. Got to love a weaver who loves tedious! That's me.

I am now continuing this blog entry several days after the above portion. Why, you ask? First, let remind you I am just past 50 and the mind is not like it used to be. It happened like this: I sat down to thread this lovely silk and as soon as I did I head-slapped myself. I had wound the warp on a 4 shaft and not an 8 shaft loom; hence I would not be able to use the planned pattern discussed at length in the above section.

Never daunted, I sat down with Anne Dixon's 4 Shaft Pattern Book and found just the one. And boy oh boy did I ever hit the jackpot.

I carefully threaded and tied the warp to the front beam and started to weave late this afternoon using 60/2 Tussah silk. Karen was in the studio and was able to share with me the beauty of the cloth beginning to take shape before my eyes. Is there any better time for a weaver than when he/she sees the magic of the warp and weft coming together to form something beautiful. Well, this cloth is giving me chills.

And We’re Threading…

It’s the second session of the Weaving I Three Warps Three Towels class at sutherland, and three of the four students are here threading towel 1 today in a straight draw.

We hope to get these warps wound on the beam, and tied onto the front by the end of the day. Our students could even be weaving later. Welcome to Lennie, Donna and Martha. Our fourth Weaving I student will rejoin the class in a few weeks after a little vacation.

Another Milestone-Curvelinear

I think I can speak for both Karen and myself on this--already in this New Year we have reached several milestones we had not dreamed possible this quickly.

First, we have had the great honor to be included on the Haywood County Arts Council exhibit in Waynesville, NC called Curvelinear. The show opened January 12 and will run for about 6 weeks. We dragged along the Mr. Weavers (aka husbands) with us to the Artists Reception last Friday night and even they had to admit they were impressed. We have to give a big hand to the phenomenal efforts of our curator Greg Vineyard. He spent much time setting up this beautiful exhibit and everything about its presentation exudes his care and artistic ability. These few photos I have posted do not really do his hard work justice, but I have tried.

Secondly, Karen's 8 week Beginning Weaving class is overflowing. Not only did she fill the 3 Baby Wolfs we have for class, she added Hardy, a very enthusiastic new weaver who has his own table loom to bring to class. And just when we were celebrating this achievement, we had not one but two others express serious interest in class as well. So here we are with the delightful dilemma of having students and not enough looms! We are hoping this is not a fluke and the interest continues. It is infectious to see Karen's enthusiasm for teaching new weavers.

Thirdly, and this is very much related to the previous topic, we are already busting at the seams. A problem, but another delightful one at that.

With all these things, in the next few days we will be in serious discussions concerning how to work towards getting these new students all taken care of as well as setting up a dealership with Schacht ASAP.

We have met so many new friends on this new venture who have all helped add to our enthusiasm. Thanks much to all of you here in Asheville and beyond who have encouraged and assisted us. Karen and I are both grateful.

CURVEilinear reception invite, revised

A little clarification of the directions to Gallery 86 is in the following. Hope to see you there.

CURVEilinear exhibit includes sutherland

How exciting. We just opened our handweaving gallery & teaching studio in CURVE Studios & Garden in Asheville’s River Arts District, and we’re just in time for an exhibit at the Haywood County Arts Council’s Gallery 86 featuring all the artist at CURVE!

The exhibit runs Jan. 11-Feb. 6, 2010. Gallery 86 is at 86 North Main St. in Waynesville, NC. Hours are Monday-Saturday, 10am-5pm. Greg Vineyard, one of CURVE’s artists, is curating the exhibit. He stopped by one day last week to pick up pieces from both Barb and Karen.

The artists reception will be Jan. 16 from 6-9 pm. Everyone is invited!

Web Chats AT sutherland on Monday

Just a reminder that the inaugural meeting of Web Chats AT sutherland – face-to-face networking for weavers—will be this Monday, Jan. 11 from 4-6 pm. Area weavers and weaver wanna be’s are invited to join us in the sutherland handweaving studio for conversations about what you are weaving, why you’re not weaving, what you’d like to show off and what you’d like help with.

We’ll keep everything informal and casual, but hopefully you’ll go home with a tip or lesson you didn’t know before. If you can join us, just contact Barb or Karen at sutherlandstudios@gmail.com so we know how many to expect.

Hope to see you Monday afternoon!

Just do it

Sometimes we get so sure of ourselves, we forget the basics our weaving teachers taught us. Take sett for example. I threaded a lovely variegated alpaca and tencel blend on the studio loom for two scarves. A little stretchy, it was hard to get a good reading by winding on a ruler. Looking similar to Zephyr (JaggerSpun’s merino/silk blend), I decided to start with 24 epi for a broken twill. For the first scarf I chose a purple wool/kid mohair yarn that was thicker than the warp. I beat it very lightly, knowing it would full and not wanting it to hide the warp colors. I struggled a bit to keep the beat even and selvages nice, but I liked the overall look. Here it is on-loom.

For the second scarf I wanted to try another treadling with a weft that would weave more balanced. In my stash I found a wonderful blue untwisted cotton I had found during a visit to Habu Textiles in New York. It is just slightly thinner than the warp. The tension was working well, so I just rolled the first scarf on the cloth beam, left some fringe and started the blue one. About three repeats in, I noticed my beat was getting harder, even though I was trying to keep it balanced. I took out the last repeat and tried again, then kept weaving, checking the ppi after each repeat. After weaving about 8 inches (at what was averaging 28 ppi), it dawned on me what I should have done, sett the warp closer.

Yes, I knew this. Yes, the need to sometimes adjust your sett is one of the first things I tell new weaving students. But the prospect of cutting this Habu weft out, cutting the first scarf off, resleying and retying was just not appealing. I ate my lunch and walked around for a while, before finally deciding that I would be much happier weaving this scarf if I followed Nike’s advice. So I just did it. Here’s the purple scarf after being cut off and the warp ready for resleying. It’s now sett at 28 epi and is weaving much easier. However, if I use this yarn again for twill, I’ll probably try it at 30 epi.

Lesson RE-learned. 

sutherland in the News

We’re introducing sutherland to the local media and received a nice story in The Laurel of Asheville announcing our January classes and events. Scroll to page 25. For those unfamiliar, Barb is in the picture foreground and Karen is behind her.  Asheville has welcomed us warmly. We even had a story on the local TV news during our grand opening in December. I’d post a link to that, except while they found us interesting enough for the Sunday evening news, we didn’t make the website. It was nice, nevertheless.