Color us Blue!

Mary and Polly holding up Polly's grand piece that was resisted around a piece of pipe.

 Every so often, Reno Fiber Guild has a dyeing day.  This year the program committee decided on a resist day, in which interested members learned how to resist the items they wanted to dye and the follow up day in which we had four indigo vats at our disposal so that the indigo could work its magic for us.  

Jen generously offered her garage for the event.  She and Suzanne made two 1-2-3 vats using fructose as the reducing sugar, Karen made a banana vat with the pulp of bananas as the reducing sugar and Beryl stirred together a pre-reduced indigo with a couple of chemicals for the "easy" solution!

The weather wasn't too cold so that made the indigo vats happy and also the dyers.    Karen and Beryl took photos of some of the amazing items that emerged  from vats like butterflies from cocoons.  It was simply a wonderful day.  Thanks to everyone who made it possible.

Maryln with one of her scarves.  This was wrapped on a piece of PVC pipe.

Paulie holding up her prize after removing the resist bands

Suzanne hanging out at a 1-2-3 vat

Tanya brought handwoven shibori scarves.  The photo below shows the results after the resist threads were pulled out and she rinsed the scarves.

Wide Variety of Fabrics from the loom

Anni B. is interested in weaving for clothing.  Recently she put on a long warp and wove it off in a variety of  different fabrics, all in the same colorways, so that she could combine them in garments.  The yardage in the photo to the left might be a top or skirt.  Anni hasn't decided yet.

The photo below shows off the different sides of another piece of yardage.  This could be a lovely way to have a jacket with one side of the fabric showing and make the lapels with the reverse side showing.  Hopefully, Anni will have something sewn soon so we can feature her garments in another post.

 

A brand new member, Zoi, joined us for her first Sage Weavers meeting and brought som stunning pieces for our show and tell.  The photo below is a baby blanket woven from instructions in a book by Tom Knisely.  Zoi hand dyed the yarns for this piece and you can see how the colors change across the piece.  She gave one similar blanket to her grandson - what a lovely give for him to keep and treasure.

Zoi also brought this overshot scarf that she wove.  I believe that the white patterning is done with wool and it fulled gently when she wet finished it.  A lovely piece which will be a joy to wear on a winter morning.

Deflected Double Weave from an Online Class

 In February or March, Reno Fiber Guild had Denise Kovnat lead a class in Deflected Double Weave for Collapse Fabrics.    This was an online class that was spread over more than a week.  The participants had ample time to work on many different samples using a large variety of different kinds of threads.  It was a blast, expecially when we wet finished our pieces and could see how the weave structure deflected and distorted the surface of the fabric.  Work from that class is still being presented at Sage Weavers and we had two lovely pieces at our last meeting.  

Nancy S. brought this intriguing four shaft sample.  In the class, Denise had given us instructions on how to weave two separate layers and explained how this might be used in a scarf - a gap in the fabric so that one end could be inserted through the scarf.  Nancy didn't have enough warp left for a full scarf, but she did weave the layers and finished the sample with a twisted fringe.  The colors are glorious and this would make a scarf that would be noticed!

Susan M. wove a sampler that turned into a full length scarf.  She used wool in some of her wefts so that it would partially felt during the wet finishing.  She also added an exciting button  and kumihimo loop to fasten the edges of the scarf when worn.  

Susan (photo to the right) wore a top that she wove and Jill A. sewed for her.  Not sure if this is deflected double weave or not, but it certainly is striking.

We Love Overshot!

  Kathy R. brought this lovely towel /mat to Sage Weavers.  She used two painted warps (Easter eggs and Blue opal) purchased from Kathrin Weber and used an overshot pattern from a recent Handwoven magazine. These towels must have been fun to weave with all the color changes in the warp - and will be especially fun to use.

The photo below is a napkin, also woven by Kathy R.  She used a gradient in the warp and a fine cotton warp and weft for an elegant piece.  The technique was learned in a class with Tien Chiu.

The next towels were woven by Michelle L., also in overshot.  The pattern comes from Carol Strickler's book #416. Beautiful work, Michelle.

  

Jill Altmann Design

 

In this post we move through the "Show and Tell" portions of the last Sage Weavers meeting.  This photo above is an example of the kind of art that is created by Jill A. in her weaving and dyeing studio. Jill has used natural dyes in  her work for a long time, but recently her emphasis is in using natural dyes that she grows in her own gardens.  

The handwoven top has many layers of complexity.  Jill wove the cloth  using a technique known as "woven shibori".  As the cloth is woven, there are  added threads which are pulled to create resists in the fabric when it is dyed. Sometimes these threads are in the warp and sometimes they are woven as weft pics.  Jill used a variety of dyes including coreopsis flowers and more.  The silk scarf was also dyed using resists which accent and go with  the top so beautifully.  The rust coloring in the scarf comes from Madder roots.  

Jill is  a great fan of indigo dyeing.  She attempted to grow her own plants a year ago, but air conditions and falling ash due to forest fires, weren't conducive to growing dye plants.  She hopes to attempt this again in the future. Jill is an expert in  indigo dye vats,  and has used some advanced techniques that include the addition of henna.  The photo to the left shows some of her indigo dyed cloths and yarns.  

The photo at the bottom of this post illustrates some of the details in color and weave structure that go into Jill's garments.

You can visit Jill's website for more eye candy from this talented weaver, dyer and seamstress.  https://www.jillaltmanndesign.com/

Summer Sage Weavers Meeting

Weaving can be a solitary endeavor, but weavers are always eager to join with other like-minded artisans to share what they have been doing and talk about their passion.  It has been so good to get back in the social swing of things for members of Reno Fiber Guild.  We met at the South Valleys Library this past weekend for a couple of hours of show and tell and exchanges of ideas and information.  Since there were so many great handwovens shared at our meeting, the blog posts have been divided into smaller bites.  Watch for the next post in a few days.

Jochen D. shared this throw that was woven on his new AVL K Series loom.  The profile draft that Jochen used is from the book "Keep Me Warm One Night"  Should you be so lucky and own this book, it is Profile #419.  

Jochen also wove a whole series of mohair scarves on his four shaft counter-balance loom.  These are plain weave, using an off white loopy mohair for the warp and different colors and fibers in the weft.   

Would you like to weave some of your own?  Jochen shared his details with us. The threading is a straight draw on four shafts.  The sett is 8 epi. and sleyed in an 8 dent reed.  Sley two in the first dent, then 1 per dent for 16 dents.  Skip 10 dents and repeat ending again with 2 ends in the last dent.  His scarves were a total of 80 ends and he wove them at 6 to 8 ppi.  To finish the scarves, wash by hand in warm water or put in the hand wash cycle of your washing machine.  Put in the dryer for 10 minutes (I would check frequently to see what is happening).  After that, let them dry completely on a rod.

Jochen's warp was 25 yards long and since he wove with many different colored wefts, he has a large variety to choose from.  See Jochen's ad on the main blog page (right side).  Jochen gives weaving lessons and starts his students weaving with mohair.  He also sells his handwovens.