The Year of the Block

It was a beautiful day in the Sierras yesterday for the outgoing and incoming guild board members.  We had lunch in Suzanne's dining room, then spent the next three hours talking about events for the upcoming year. The first and most pressing matter is to offer weaving instruction to the ladies who have recently joined our guild as a result of our outreach.

We have the two options for workshop space that the new board will check into in the next week or two.  We hope to have these ladies weaving comfortably in time for our Iridescence workshop with Bobbie Irwin in October.

We batted around ideas for programs in the upcoming year, with an eye on continuing education.  Study groups got incorporated into a program in October.  We'll watch Madelyn van der Hoogt's video on Block Weaves, focusing on three structures, Summer and Winter, Ms and Os and Twills.  Afterwards everyone will be invited to select which block weave they would like to study.  A fourth study group for the non-weavers in the guild will determine for themselves what they would like to focus on, perhaps bead weaving, shibori or felting?

Each group will have a mentor and will work independently, culminating at the April meeting when we will meet at Gayle's house with looms set up in a variety of block weaves.  Everyone will have an opportunity to weave, round-robin style, and the samples will be donated to the CNCH Sample Exchange. The study groups will also present their results at this meeting.  Even our Christmas raffle basket is themed - Blocks!  It's the year of the block.

Bow Loom Weaving

The Reno Fiber Guild meeting last night was a learning opportunity, taught by one of our own members.  Lorene had learned bow loom weaving at a conference and offered to teach the technique to the rest of us.

Several ladies who had attended our recent weaving outreach joined us for this program.  Bow loom weaving appears in many cultures.  The instructions we followed were from the Akha people in northwest Thailand, but it was also used by Indians in the American northeast to weave wampun belts.

We had to make our own looms.  We started with a long dowel, then cut five lengths of yarn which we knotted at both ends.

We secured a paperclip at each end with duct tape, opened up a second paperclip to secure one end of the yarns, did the same on the other end but drew the yarns up until our dowel had bowed - we had a bow loom.

A bow, like that on the bridge of a violin but cut from foam is what spreads the warp threads, as Mary demonstrates.

It's a really simple device.

This is what one of our instructors had woven.

And this is what one of us wove last night.  It was a surprisingly fun and satisfying way to weave decorative bands.  I don't have wampum belt  needs but I see a headband or two in my future.

9/2/2016 Marilyn Romatka has a new video out about Bow Weaving.  Go to her website to see all the details.

First Weaving Outreach

We arrived an hour and a half early and began our set-up.  The arrangement unfolded as looms showed up and we moved tables and chairs to fit.

We moved two tables together in the middle of the room and added a couple of chairs for the cardboard loom station.  We had made 100 of these looms.  We had no idea what to expect and just hoped that people would come.

Two ladies showed up ten minutes before the program was scheduled to start and within 20 minutes, we had close to that many visitors.  We threw a program and people came - phew.

It became apparent that we needed additional mentors for the cardboard looms as well as more chairs.

The cardboard looms were a hit!

One of the youngsters learned quickly and wove this piece.

Emily and Lexi brought their Rainbow looms to teach rubberband weaving.

 All the floor looms were available for the trying.  This little girl perched on the edge of her chair in order to reach and she took to it right away.  Her sister tried weaving on Lorene's loom nearby.

Lorene explained weaving to a prospective student.

We tried to keep track of how many people came, somewhere between 40-50.  The true measure will be seeing new weavers in the months to come.  The library was overwhelmed by the response and so pleased that they committed to partner with us again. They provided the space and advertising.  We are calling it a success.

Try Your Hand at Hand Weaving

Have you entertained the idea of learning to weave but the opportunity never presented itself?  You’re invited to try your hand at hand weaving on a variety of looms.  Our goal is to demonstrate and educate while you participate.  All ages welcome.

This style of loom is referred to as a "table loom" for the simple fact that you put it on a table while you work on it.  If you are deterred from weaving by space constraints, this is a perfect window to weaving on multiple harnesses.

Weaving can be as simple yet attractive as a cardboard loom.

This style of loom is called Inkle and is perfect for narrow projects.

This style of loom is for tapestry weaving and perfect for intricate patterns and pictures.

A floor loom can have as few as two shafts , as in a rug loom, or as many as 36 - or more.  This sampler is woven on four.

For example, these eight towels were woven on one warp but by changing the colors in the weft (sideways threads), you get eight unique towels.  This weaving pattern is appropriate for beginners and was woven on just four harnesses.

And if you've got your heart set on a floor room but just don't have space in your house, you might want to think about something like this which stores handily, even with a project on it.

Each loom will have a mentor to explain what you need to do and talk you through the experience so don't be shy - come on by!  Try your hand at hand weaving.

Saturday, March 22nd, 1:00-4:00 p.m.
South Valleys Library - 15650A Wedge Parkway
Reno, NV 89511 775-851-5190

Crackle Weave Workshop

Last year Gayle said that she would like to offer a Crackle Weave workshop at her house because she's been wanting to know more about it and the best way to learn something is to teach it.

Over the past several weeks, a half dozen guild members have worked to organize materials and warp two Schacht Wolf Pup and three 8-shaft Baby Wolf looms.  All the rest of us had to do was just show up yesterday.

Jen and Julie are helping Kathy work on this lace draft.  It's a single shuttle weave but that's because the shot of tabby is the same weft as the pattern shot. This was my favorite, but it had been a pickle to warp.  Jen and Julie showed us the sample they had cut off a couple of days ago before changing the sett and resleying.  The difference was magic, an ethereal lace that just seems to float across the cloth.

This is Gayle's loom which she warped with a Summer-and-Winter-appearing block weave.  She showed us two gorgeous scarves that she already woven in this structure.   This was a round-robin so we all were encouraged to weave on every loom and Suzanne is taking a turn here.

Darla is weaving on one of the Pups and I just changed my mind.  This was my favorite of the weaves and I think that's because it's something I could easily do on my Dorset without tying up (is that a pun?) one of my other looms.  It's the first draft on page 131 of Anne Dixon's book and would make great jacket material.  Even though it was a two shuttle weave, it was easy to follow.

I can only speak for my experience but I pushed myself into trying weave structures that I initially didn't understand.  I wove for as much of the five hours as I could.  I was surprised at how much heavier it is to lift eight shafts than the four that I'm accustomed to and my sore legs this morning reaffirmed that.  Now it's up to me to take the next step, warp one of my looms and do some homework.  I can't wait to see what Gayle wants to learn about next.

Sharon

February is Crackle Month!

Our meeting this month will be a hands-on workshop that gives our members an opportunity to learn about the crackle structure and try their hand weaving at various projects on five looms. 

Gayle's crackle project in progress.

There will several looms warped in the traditional manner, designed as a block weave and woven with a tabby.  There will be  at least one loom that is warped with several colors of weft and no tabby and one loom that is warped with a non-traditional free form crackle design on eight shafts.

There are a couple of newer books about  Crackle Weaves, but while I was researching what information is readily available, I found a couple of references online that give good clear information.  The first is a monograph written by Ralph Griswold.  "The Crackle Weave" .  The second is an informative blog post on the Weeverwoman blog site. 

Stay tuned for photos of the actual workshop and some details about the projects on each loom.

Afternote:  Here is a link to project descriptions and drafts from the various projects at the workshop.  http://renofiberguild.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_12.html

 

 



November's Meeting - A Workshop in Viking Knitting

The Reno Fiber Guild members often branch out into something  beyond their usual fiber interests.  At the November meeting, Mary put together a workshop so that we could learn a technique called "Viking Knitting".  We found that this isn't knitting at all, but some sort of looping technique done with wire and is the basis for making amazing chain-like necklaces and bracelets.   Mary learned the technique in a workshop at the last Convergence and has been honing her skills ever since.  Suzanne and Lorene joined Mary in teaching us the basics of the technique but most of us didn't have enough time to finish our bracelet by the end of the evening.  I hope to amend this post in the future with some pictures of our finished projects.

Mary put together a fine handout with step by step instructions and she also included links to online tutorials that she said were helpful in getting started.  

The first is How to Make a Viking Knit Bracelet Tutorial
Next we have How to Knit with Two Colors
Last, but not least Finishing Techniques for Viking Knit Bracelet

I'm adding a several more links that give insight about the origins of Viking Knitting , Viking Knitting - Fabulous or Fraud and Viking Knitting- How did it Develop

It was a fun evening, and even if our first attempts at "Knitting" weren't perfect, we all learned the basics and were ready to take our projects home to finish.