A Towel Anyone?

There is nothing like a field trip to renew and replenish. And that is what Karen and I set out to do this past Monday. We headed West towards Dillsboro, NC to meet up with two lovely ladies whom we had met at our Web Chats with Alice Schlein oh these many months ago.

First we stopped by KMR Handwoven where Kathy Roig has set up shop. She is is a fabulous weaver and has wonderful pieces hanging she has woven on her beautiful draw loom. Not only that, but she is a magician in the dyeing of warp yarns. I have included some photos to give you a sense of her work as well as her work space. Needless to say, Kathy almost had to put towels on the floor to catch all our drool. It was lovely in every way::inside and out.

The drawloom you ask? The photo alone does not do this beautiful loom justice. Kathy graciously explained the basics of how it worked (none of which I feel comfortable even trying to relay in this blog-it will take more intense study on my part), even telling us how she learned from a book. Ok, have you gotten the idea I was impressed?

Next we walked just around the corner to see Susan Leveille at Oaks Gallery. The beauty of the rooms with the natural light drew us both right in and we were browsing lovely artisan works in any number of media, from furniture to glass nail files(yep, you guessed it, I have started Christmas shopping already). Did I mention a little shopping for moi as well? A lovely cuff bracelet made from birch wood painted with just the lightest of green fading into an light orange. How could I turn down something in my two favorite colors? As we wandered amongst Susan's artfully placed works for sale, she gave us a delightful history of the building(s) in which her shop is located. She also mentioned she and her husband, his name is alluding me this moment, had done the design of the famous Grovewood Gallery located next to the Grove Park Inn. Again, towels were needed for Karen and me.

In the tradition of weavers, Kathy and Susan took time out of their day to sit, have lunch with us (in Kathy's studio, where we felt quite at home), and talk about all things weaving. These two ladies provided us with enough things to have swirling around in our heads for weeks if not months to come.

After lunch we headed to Waynesville as Karen needed to update one of the photos for a piece in the Blue Ridge Fiber Show Raffle which is currently showing at Textures located on North Main St. This shop provided much enjoyment for the two of us. They have for sale several wonderful woven pieces from none other than Kathy Roig and Neal Howard.

Last but not least we stopped by Karen's other home away from home(aka sutherland) and that is Haywood Community College. She began her journey in their textile degree program there this summer and I wanted to see where to place her in my mental "picture". The ever lovely Amy Putansu was there and was working away in a frenzy of serious fan weaving amid 3 installations to be up in the next few days. The campus and studio seem to be full of energy while at the same time quite serene. Maybe only a weaver can understand what I mean by that. Let me know what you think about that please.

As we headed East we talked non-stop, our creative juices flowing with renewed energy. There is just nothing like a good field trip to recharge the battery.

Thank you much to all the lovely ladies who made our day this past Monday.

Oh, and note to self:: do not wear sandals to Karen's again, her puppy loves to lick toes.

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.

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.