Learning New Weaving Skills

Weavers are always looking for new skills through workshops or self study.  New weave structure, new loom, new technique, new color combinations; the list goes on and on.  

This post is about members who put in the extra effort and allow themselves to be beginners again. 

Note - you can click on the photos to get a better look at the details!

Suzanne W.

I thought I’d share a photos of my finished Swedish Art Weaves (Scandinavian (Skane) Folk Art Sampler from a workshop with Joanne Hall at CNCH 2023 Cal Poly.  Although the workshop was August 2023, I didn’t get back to any weaving on the project until February 2024 as I needed more yarns and the recommended book for in-depth instruction.  Three months later, I completed two panels and turned it all into a Tote Bag!

While this sampler was woven on a 4-shaft floor loom, all PATTERN WEFT pics are pickup with 3 to 4 pics of plain weave between each row of laid weft.  Granted, weaving Heirloom Folk Art isn’t whack weaving; but I did enjoy the challenge and process creating these geometric designs.

My woven sampler includes various designs of:  Krabbasnar/Krabba, Rolakan Tapestry, Halvkrabba, Dukagang, Monk’s Belt and combinations thereof.  The warp was 16/3 linen at 10 epi and the weft was 6/1 Swedish wool (Faro) tapestry yarn. 

Inside view of tote bag

Paulie F.

The tapestry is a commission.  Completed it will be a total of 24 inches long by 52 inches wide.   I’m learning a great deal while I’m completing it.  Blending colors has got to be one of my favorite things I’m learning, as well as twining for the outlines.  I’m amazed at how the colors change by using these techniques.  (ed.  Paulie also made her own loom for this piece)

 

 

 

Sculptural basketry techniques program

 

Our March meeting was led by guild member Jennifer Jay.  Jennifer was awarded a scholarship to attend CNCH 2023 and her choice of class was one led by Polly Giacchina - The enhanced twined form".  After Jennifer had practiced the various techniques she had learned in the class, she challenged herself to share them with guild members.

 Jennifer brought two techniques to the hands-on-class.  Coiled basketry and knotless netting.  She made little kits for everyone in the class with materials suitable for learning the basics of both of these sculptural forms.  In the photo above, you see a vase covered with knotless netting and a little dangling basket using the coiled basketry technique.  Also, in the center of the vase is tree branch, covered with wrapped yarns that mimics the coiled basketry technique.

Most, if not all of our group was pretty new to these basketry ideas.  Jennifer explained how to look for materials that were unusual and combine them in different ways.  The pieces she had on display showed just how broadly the different techniques could be expressed.

We all got down to the nitty gritty of starting our little coiled piece.  Here are a few of our first attempts.

 

I know that I speak for all of the members who attended this meeting, that we appreciate Jennifer sharing her knowledge with us.  It was a grand way to spend the evening and we all walked away with new tricks in our fiber bag.

Christmas Party 2023

This year's party was especially welcome since we had to cancel the one last year because of bad weather.  We also changed our gift policy from a raffle basket(s) in which just one, two or three people won a basket full of gifts, to an old fashioned exchange in which everyone who brought a gift, received a gift.

 For this year's gift exchange, the theme was to bring a handmade fiber gift.  You didn't need to have made the gift, as long as it was handmade.  

 

Anni tries on her new knitted cap, made by Shereé.

 

Paulie's gift was made by Anni.  The wreath was made using spinning roving, so that when you are finished with the holiday season, you still have roving for long hours of spinning pleasure.

 

 

Baxter is new to the gathering and really enjoyed the extra attention and treats.  In the photo below, he is receiving lots of love from Mary - his new best friend!

This was Faye's first RFG party.  Her gift was from Paulie, a handwoven Christmas towel. It will be the first handwoven towel in Faye's kitchen.  I don't think it will be the last one, though.

Felted snowman, made by Shelley, received by Igor

Zip purse made from handwoven and commercial cloth by Mary, received  by Polly.

Shelley received a handwoven towel made by Kathy R.

Shereé showing gift from Lorene to her.  Lorene bought this delightful elf from a vendor next to her at a Christmas sale.

Naturally, this is only a fraction of the handmade gifts.  And, I really should mention the food - a fabulous pot luck enjoyed by all.  Looking forward to next year's gathering already.

Making Paper Christmas Stars

 At the November meeting, we challenged our inner child and made European Paper Stars using waxed kite paper.  The stars are popular decorations in Germany and many households display them during the whole Christmas season.  

We had three guild mentors who had learned the procedures before the meeting so that they could guide members through the process.

The beauty of these stars is revealed once they are hung on a window and the sun shines through them, showing all the various layers of color in the folded paper.  The intricacies are really amazing.

 

 Here is an array of stars that the mentors made before the program.  We started with the most basic star and worked our way up to more difficult ones.

 

 Each star is made up of multiple sub-units.  Some stars used 8 squares of paper, some 10 and more.

 

  A little dab of glue holds the pieces together.

 

 

 

 

 

This is a great activity to do on an afternoon with children or grandchildren.  We learned the technique from Marilyn Romatka on Taproot Video. 

https://taprootvideo.com/preview_class.jsf?iid=1&cid=4

 

 
 

Dyeing Skeins for Weaving

 

Reno Fiber Guild members were treated to a dye workshop with Diane S. (former co-owner of the Just Our Yarn Company).  Diane showed us the methods she used when dyeing skeins for her former company.  The skein she is holding up in the photo  at the left isn't her method.  Instead she showed us how to paint a few different colors on each skein in a more random pattern. 

The photo to the right is the array of dyes prepared for us to use.  There were so many choices, it was hard to pick just a few.

 

These are skeins painted by Anni B.  They were allowed to batch for 48 hours and then Anni rinsed the excess dye out of them and enjoyed the wonderful color display.  Wonder what she will weave with these beauties.

 

 Diane dyed one skein black for a guild member.  The others are examples for us to follow and then the outside skeins are ones in which she used some of our leftover dye.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Skeins to the left were dyed by Igor and Beryl.  Looks like brilliant parrot colors, don't they?

 

The group of dyers had a fabulous time.  There is nothing like dabbling in color to make your heart sing. 

 

 

 

 

 Kathy W.'s skeins are in the photo below.  What colors - what possibilities!

 

Sandy R.'s skeins on her drying rack.  Brilliant colors and lots of blue skies!

Jann S. chose some lovely colors for her skeins - turquoise, fuchsia , orange and purple

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Suzanne W. has some lovely yarn to work with.  She was especially happy that Diane's techniques reduced the amount of water needed to rinse out the excess dye.
 

Turned Beiderwand Threading Weaves a Lot of Structures!

 It turns out that a turned beiderwand threading will give you lots of options.  You can do turned summer and winter and its variations and double weave on your beiderwand warp.  And, you can also change the ratios of pattern to tie downs by changing your tie ups.  Here are a few more photos of some of the variations Karen's students woven in the workshop and also several links that may be of interest to our readers.

https://chgweavers.org/turned-beiderwand-with-karen-donde/ 

https://www.weaversguildmn.org/news/learning-turned-biederwand 

https://karendondehandwovens.com/home.html

 

Shelley woven this turned extended summer and winter sample on her warp

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 This is Suzanne's turned summer & winter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Diane's turned summer & winter with a 60/2 silk weft

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Maggie did a double weave sample on her warp.

Turned Beiderwand Workshop Photos

 Here is a collection of photos from the Turned Beiderwand Workshop given to Reno Fiber Guild members by Karen Donde.  Each weaver is represented by their first name only to protect their privacy.

Turned Beiderwand Ratio 1:3 woven by Deb

 

Turned Beiderwand Ratio 1:2 woven by Diane

Turned Beiderwand Ratio 1:2 woven by Joan

Turned Beiderwand Ratio 1:3 woven by Karen

Turned Beiderwand Ratio 1:3 woven by Kathy

 

Turned Beiderwand Ratio 1:4 Woven by Maggie

More photos in the next post .