My Library

I returned last weekend from a trip to Seivers on Washington Island, WI exhausted but very happy. I traveled with a fellow weaver and we took "Weave, Cut, and Sew" by Mary Sue Fenner. It was so much fun to see 8 of us returning from last year's class and to meet the 2 new students. May Sue, as always, provides wonderful instruction mixed with an abundance of enthusiasm. I admit this year I did not weave the fabric with which I sewed: not enough time and I really need to learn to sew so I just wanted to concentrate on that aspect. Those who actually wove and sewed a complete project while there simply amaze me. Candee's yardage was woven with the more red portion along the bottom of the jacket and the backs of the sleeves as the selvedge of the fabric and then incorporated it into the jacket.

As you know, when attending one of these types of classes all manner of discussion arise. One of the 'new' members of the class was Rina, an art teacher and wonderful weaver and seamstress. We were chatting one day as I was helping her with some problem on the loom, when she happened to mention to me she has a lovely weaving store nearby and gets all her yarn from there. Upon further questioning, she told me she only buys yarns as she needs them when planning a specific project. I was aghast! Seriously, I asked? I am still amazed as I write this that there is a single weaver who actually does this. I am sure her husband must love her very much since she is the only hold-out on the planet who does not own a stash. When I used the term stash she looked at me like I had suddenly sprouted another head. So we further discussed the necessity of her acquiring a stash so as not to make the rest of us look bad. If she follows my instructions her husband may still love her, but he will certainly not like me!

My sewing turned out rather well and I promise to post photos of my projects when Bill gets home to take them. I am pleased with my accomplishments from the class and feel much more at ease in front of my sewing machine after this year's class. I am looking forward to wearing the fruits of my labor.

So, I am back in the sutherland studio this week warping for my next project when I overheard my studio mate, Pattiy Torno talking with a customer. Pattiy was showing them one of her wonderful quilts and her fleece stash, when the customer up and called the stash her library. Eureka! I love a new use of a word.

And as for me, I came home from Seivers with 2 small cones of purple and grey variegated mohair and silk yarn from Habu to add to my library.

A Little Respite with Spot Bronson

The spot Bronson shawl,which I put on the loom to take a respite from some frustrating differential shrinkage experiments, is finished and hanging in the studio. What a nice project. Aaahh.

Barb was right. Experimentation and design is exciting, but sometimes you need to just weave something that turns out simple and pretty. This one has a Bambu 12 warp and 16/2 bamboo weft. It feels lovely.

Now I am making final preparations for Convergence, the biannual international weaving conference next week, organizing my travel plans and winding my workshop warp. I am taking a three-day workshop with Robyn Spady that includes all kinds of interesting structures. I get to warp the loom for velvet, which I have woven before for my Certificate of Excellence Portfolio. I swore I would never do it again, but Robyn assures me she has a simpler set up for the pile warp, so I said I was game to give it another go. It’s a round-robin workshop, so I’ll get to weave samples of lots of different and less common structures.

I’m taking a couple of other shorter seminars and will spend the rest of the time touring exhibits and galleries, visiting weaving friends and shopping at vendor hall. This is only my second Convergence, so it’s all still a bit overwhelming, but I will take lots of pictures and bring back notebooks full of inspiration and ideas.

If you’re coming to Albuquerque next week for Convergence or Complex Weavers Seminars or American Tapestry Alliance conference, give me a call.

Finally, something that works!

I’ve been experimenting a lot on the loom lately, with less than stellar results. Barb said I just need to put something on that’s fun and that I’m sure will work. So I dug into the Bambu 12 stash and found this new wine color I just ordered from Silk City. I played with weft colors a bit and, advised to “make it more red,” found a tube of bamboo in a red-orange color in Barb’s stash.

I had my doubts, but it really lights up the spot Bronson pattern, so I’ve “borrowed” this tube from her.

In other sutherland news, I’ve just compiled our fall 2010 list of weaving classes. Until I figure a way to make it accessible on this blog, just email me if you’d like a copy. I know, we need a website…we’re working on it. The first class is a 2-day Warp Rep workshop Aug. 14-15, so get in touch right away if you’re interested. Looms need to be warped ahead of time.

Also coming up soon is a one day workshop with Daryl Lancaster Sept. 27 titled Playing with Color. This is a no-loom color & design class, and Daryl’s always fun. Register early, because we’re confident it will fill. I’m starting another Weaving I class Aug. 22, and a new class that delves deeper into design, project planning and drafting Sept. 15.

Back to my spot Bronson…

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.

June 2010 RAD Studio Stroll…Whew!

Twice a year, the second weekends of June and November, the artists in the Asheville River Arts District sponsor a Studio Stroll, when all of the more than 150 artist members with studios in the RAD (including us) open 10 am-6pm both Saturday and Sunday. The first stroll was in 1994 and attracted about 200 people to the 25 or so artist studios at the time.

For those of us at CURVE studios & garden, opening the doors is a daily thing, as we’re always (save 5 holidays a year) open 11 am-4 pm. Nevertheless, Barb and I geared up for the “thousands” of strollers we were told to expect this past weekend. And there may indeed have been thousands, despite heat and humidity that was far above the norm for our mountain climate in early June.

When I had time to catch my breath from helping children and adults weave on the demonstration loom, I snapped a few pictures. One is of the crowded front room of sutherland’s handweaving gallery, where Barb was weaving two more tencel/bamboo pashminas, answering tons of questions and ringing up a few sales. Trust me, she’s back there.

Another captured the nicest group of college-age kids who took turns weaving and sharing their amazement at the patterns made by a simple twill treadling on an overshot threading. They were all working in the area as camp counselors for a Lutheran summer camp, and this was how they decided to spend their one day a week off.

Finally there was Thomas, a young man who sat down to weave on Saturday, caught on in an instant and shared his thoughts on color theory as he pulled bobbin after bobbin out of the basket, loaded them in the shuttle and made up his own treadling patterns. He had so much fun, he asked his mom and aunt if they could come back Sunday. And they did. (Notice the shirt change in the two pictures.) Thomas wove another 20 minutes or so before relinquishing the loom bench to a couple more young men who wanted to try.

Thomas made a big impression on us. We hope his fascination with weaving continues.

By the way, during the weekend more than 20 people signed our guest book to receive email updates about future classes. That’s a lot of potential new weavers, and we hope to see many of them in our upcoming classes. A new schedule for fall will be out in a week or so. Contact us if you’d like to receive it via email or snail mail. Or stop by the studio. You can see the finished community sampler our guests wove this weekend.

You would have thought I gave the man $10,000

Today I started weaving the first of two scarves I have warped on the loom. I find it is always fun to throw the first few picks to see what it will look like. I did not like what I saw so I quickly headed to my stash. Threw picks of two different colors and voila, found just the one! My original plan was to use two different wefts, but I am loving what I have on the loom I will weave one to sell and one for me.

So, I am weaving along and in come 3 people- two ladies and a gentleman. As is usually the case the fellow heads over towards the loom. Men are attracted to mechanical devices. I would like to think it was me, but I know better. I explained the mechanics of the loom and he explained he was a woodworker. And then he said he also tied flies. Well, not to be outdone, I handed him a thrum from the metallic silver scarf. You would have thought I had given the man $10,000!! Seriously. He told me a lot of times fish will bite at something if they do not have any idea what it is. who knew?

And this made me think of the guy in my second Deborah Chandler class who seriously asked how he could reuse all his thrums. Really, I thought?

May I Touch?

Several months ago I met up with a friend from nursing school to celebrate a very important birthday. Oh, who am I kidding? At this age they are all important. Anyway, we had not seen each other since graduation for many many years (or should I say decades?) and so it was also a reunion of sorts.

Roxane had invited several friends to join her at her lovely mountain home in Dillard, Ga. I had never been to this beautiful area and it was quite a treat. This was a really fun gathering--there were four of us and the only one who knew everyone was the hostess. There was Laura, from the west coast, and Jeanne, from the North, and me from WNC. It took a lot of nerve to invite three women to come together who had never met before, including me who Rox had not laid eyes on forever. I guess she knew what she was doing as it was as if we had all known each other for years. We did not stop talking. And talking.

You are probably wondering where in the world I am going with this, but I am getting there. In all that talking, Laura mentioned she had seen a metallic silver scarf in a magazine and wondered if I could weave her one like it. I thought that would be the end of that. Nope, she texted and then emailed me a photo. She was relentless.

I was enthralled with the challenge of working with a yarn I had not ever woven. There are lots of yarns I have not used, but this is would be way out of the box for me. So I did my research and ordered what I believed to be the best choice for this project. Silk City came through with a nice weight yarn and when it arrived Karen was at the studio and I was at home. She emailed and asked "May I touch?" The most important thing any fiber enthusiast wants to do. She quickly emailed me back and told me it was lovely. And slinky.

With each step in the weaving process I kept thinking something would become difficult with this yarn, but it never did. It was so much fun and even the slinky part was not hard. The sett is 30epi and I used my favorite 120/1 silk from Habu as weft.

I took the piece into the studio today to show Karen before I shipped it off to Laura. As soon as she saw me she said "I have to wash my hands, I want to touch." And she did. We both decided I must weave another one. Soon. And I will.

My thanks to a new friend who got me out of my silk and tencel box and into something different. I'll let you know what she thinks when she gets the piece in the mail.

Oh, that's Laura and her scarf::separately. Next photo I hope they will be together.

Inspiration and Experimentation

Some days creative inspiration lands in your front yard. We’ve frequently seen hot air balloons in the skies near our home on weekends as a take-off and landing location is just across the highway. This weekend though, my hubby called from the patio, “They’re right over the house.” On this day the breezes blew two of the four balloons in the sky that day right into the field across from our clubhouse.

The picture washed out a bit as the sun was very bright, but the colors, patterns, shapes and unmistakable sound of the balloons launched the day into creative high gear.

So how coincidental was it  today when the differential shrinkage shawl I’m weaving at the studio gave me a hint of what’s to come -- just the slightest little balloon-like poofs.

With two students coming tomorrow for the More Twills & a Taste of Overshot Class, I had to fold up my loom and roll it out of the way. I turned it so the cloth beam faced out so the students could see the progress on this undulating twill with tencel/cotton blocks framed in black merino. I’ve been experimenting a lot lately with dimensional fabrics from various weave structures. Not all these experiments have succeeded. So I was thrilled to see that with the loom tension released, my shawl is already beginning to puff up into the “undulating bubbles” I wanted.

Now I can’t wait to get it off the loom and drop it in the shrinkage soup to see how it finishes.

Karen

Celebrating Weaving Greatness

When I was asked to chair a fund-raising raffle for this fall’s Blue Ridge Fiber Show, I was tempted to hit the floor and Army-crawl out the door. I’m glad I didn’t, because we’ve just put up an exhibit of raffle prizes at Sutherland donated by some of the top names in the fiber field, locally and nationally. Catharine Ellis, Daryl Lancaster, Alice Schlein, Lisa Klakulak, Suzanne Gernandt, Liz Spear, Tommye McClure Scanlin and Tina Feir. These pieces are, as  you certainly would expect, beautiful.

The Blue Ridge Fiber Show is a biannual show sponsored by the Western North Carolina Fibers/Handweavers Guild. It is a very large, unjuried show, attracting entries from around and outside the United States. Cash prizes are given in several categories, which means fundraising is critical to its success. The raffle is only one of several fundraisers for the show.

Here is a picture of the raffle items on display at sutherland. It doesn’t do them justice, especially for the framed items, so please follow this link to the BRFS website for detailed descriptions and much better images.

We will be selling tickets here through June 13, (Studio Stroll weekend)  then the whole exhibit moves to Textures-For the Finely Crafted Home, in Waynesville, NC, through July 14. Textures is owned by fiber artist and raffle donor, Suzanne Gernandt, and her husband. After that it goes on the road again to Earth Guild where the BRFS committee is holding a trunk show as another fundraiser. Then it returns to sutherland until the drawing during the BRFS Opening Reception in October. The pieces and tickets also will be at every WNCFHG meeting through September.

Feel free to share the link with anyone you think might be interested in winning one of these beautiful prizes. Tommye Scanlin has posted details of the raffle and her tapestry in progress to her blog, and I’ve already had two emails from people around the country wanting to purchase raffle tickets through the mail. We can do that!

If you’re in the Asheville area, please stop by sutherland to see these beautiful pieces in person. Buy your tickets early and often! They’re a bargain. $1 each, 6 for $5 or 15 for $10. You can enter different drawings for each prize, and you do not have to be present at the drawing to win.

By the way, at our May Web Chats AT sutherland this Friday 10am-noon, I’ll be showing my Certificate of Excellence in Handweaving Level I samples (all 40 of them) and answering questions. That would be an excellent opportunity to buy your raffle tickets. Just email or call to let us know you’re coming.

Karen

Where Do You Live?

Whenever a customer comes into the studio I am drawn to ask them where they live. I am fascinated by all the different places people come and also why they are visiting the Asheville area.

Today there were the Snow Birds heading back to New York, the couple from Cincinnati who diverted due to the oil spill, the sweet elderly couple from Santa Fe, the Lady from Toronto, another from Minneapolis, Seattle, and more. The reasons for visiting are as diverse as the places from which they hail.

After work I met up with a new friend for dinner while her husband was taking a photography class at A-B Tech and she asked me how Karen Donde and I met. As some of you might already know, we met at Convergence four years ago when Grand Rapids hosted this wonderful event. She was living in New Jersey at the time and I was in Columbia, SC.

When I returned home from dinner, I got to thinking (scary, I know) about how fortunate I am to have met Karen at just the right time and where that has led us today.

She is doing what she loves (well, maybe not right this minute unpacking all those boxes from Jersey) by teaching weaving and starting classes at Haywood Community and I am doing what I love-just weaving and talking to the people who walk through the door. I have had many years of practice talking with people while I was giving outpatient chemotherapy and it is serving me well in this new part of my life. I was thrilled today with the sisters, one a first grader the other a fourth grader, who came in with their mom as part of their homeschooling for the day. I was able to show them about making cloth and it made my heart sing to see how excited they were.

I suppose the point to all my rambling is I am amazed each day by the gift of friends, new faces, and smiles when people walk through the door of our studio. Thank you.

Oh, and in case you are interested I am posting a few pictures of what is either on the loom or what I have recently taken off the loom.

When Weavers Move…or why they don’t

Last week I was finally able to move the rest of our New Jersey things to Asheville. That included many  weaving things I had been missing. My most familiar and tiresome lament at sutherland over the past 5 months has been, “I have that, but it’s in New Jersey,” whenever we decided we needed something for the studio.

So now it’s no longer in New Jersey. I just don’t know which box it’s in. I had my home studio looking pretty good before the movers arrived. New cabinets in place and yarn shelves at the ready. As the movers carried in boxes and asked for direction, I kept sending them upstairs to my weaving loft. Later I went up to assist in placing some bigger items and gasped. Where did I get all this stuff?

So here’s a look at what awaits me at home, which is probably why I’m lingering at Sutherland today. I know it will eventually all get put away, and I’ll undoubtedly look around and decide, “Now what I really need to get is…”

inspiration

Several weeks ago Karen had this lovely idea to weave a piece of fabric to be a representation of Akira Satake's work. She has been so busy teaching, taking her math test for acceptance into Haywood Community College, and moving the rest of her life from NJ here she has not had time to start. And I had not even thought about it until I took this piece off the loom and realized I had done just what she plans to do without meaning to do so. I had woven this piece for a shop in Venice, CA named Roots, where I met the proprietor while visiting my daughter. She expressed interest in my work and so I thought I would weave something within the parameters she desired, and this is what evolved. It is all silk and just lovely.
Thank you Karen for your inspiration. And Akira for your work.

Yes, it really is the President.

Just to bear witness to Barb’s last post, here’s a photo I snapped when the Presidential motorcade pulled away from 12 Bones Smokehouse and right past our studio.

That is him, the figure through the tinted windows in the white shirt. He is waving to the crowd of assembled River Arts District Artists and customers, several of whom were just waiting to get across the street to pick up their take out lunches. Talk about starving artists!

We couldn’t see which car Michelle got into, but we know she was there from Pattiy’s video.

Walt Disney was right after all...

Last weekend Curve Studios and Garden hosted our Spring Open House. If I must say so myself it was quite a success. How often does one's Open House begin with a drive-by featuring the President of The United States. That's what I said: the Obamas were in town and they ate at our local BBQ joint across the street called 12 Bones. So the whole weekend we were all on a presidential high, as it were. (And just in case you missed it, I have included the link to the video our very own Pattiy Torno took of the Obamas ordering at 12 Bones.)

All the artists in Curve Studios and Garden opened their doors on Friday night for a Twilight Party with cocktails and delectable goodies to say thank you to our neighborhood and customers. We are guess-timating there were 400 people or so who stopped by over the course of the evening. A good time was had by all.

We had much foot traffic all weekend long and Karen and I thoroughly enjoyed showing off our new space. Karen was by far busier than I. She had students on both Friday and Saturday for a Just Weave class, where she had the looms dressed and ready to weave. The students came in and after a brief tutorial were off and weaving. Looked to me like they all had a grand time and each went home with a finished scarf they had woven. Aside from all that, Karen also had set up a loom for customers to "try out" if they were so inclined. The two people who seemed to not get enough of this action were middle school kids. So with that in mind Karen is now mulling over having some classes for the younger crowd. The thought of young people wanting to learn to weave just gives me chills!

With all the comings and goings throughout the three days, I met lots of new people and caught up with some I had not seen in awhile. One of my favorite stories of the weekend was a family who stopped by to look around. As is my usual, I asked from where they were visiting. Turns out they were from Keene, NH, just 12 miles from Harrisville, where I took my first weaving class. Not only that, but the grandmother in the group had lived in the little town of Harrisville for a number of years and knew the family who owns the Harrisville Mill. My first loom and my favorite is my 48" 8 shaft Harrisville.

And that is where old Walt Disney had it right: it is a small world after all.

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.