Echo and Jin Workshop Part II

Here are more photos to share from the Echo and Jin workshop with Denise Kovnat.  Instead of adding them on to the previous post, I'm making room for them and any others to follow in a new post.  Enjoy!

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Would like to say this was a great workshop for both structure and color.  Denise did a great job presenting it on Zoom—so much so that I’m ready to do another!   Diane S.

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 Samples from Suzanne W.

 I’m Dharma 16 shaft.  The first one is my sampler washed and ironed for a complete view of the difference patterns woven with various wefts.

 

This Dharma Echo as a Double Weave, resleyed at 48 epi using two wefts.   I used turquoise and a rusty copper 10/2 yarn which were 2 of the colors in the 4-colored warp. 

 

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Everything I thought I knew about weaving with colours, went right out the window with this structure.  This is different.  I tried several colour combinations before I found the right one.  Once you found the right colour, it is absolutely beautiful.  The class was excellent.  Denise did an excellent job. Eileen L.

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After the workshop, I finished hemming and washing this towel from my second set of samples of Dharma 16S 4 Color.   So many of the changes due to both weft colors and treadling we tried were not always what one would expect so it'll be fun to have this available to view as future inspiration, and to show off, in my kitchen.

Great workshop.  Besides learning how Echo works, this workshop is inspiring me to delve deeper into network drafting and tie-up changes.  So much more to explore!  Next on this warp, some place mats, each different but coordinated.

Many thanks to Denise and all involved in providing this workshop,
Barbara C.

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 16 shafts. Next project is Dharma for over the fireplace and if there’s warp left perhaps some clothing fabric in one of my own Jin patterns.  Anni B.

 

 

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

Natural Dye Workshop

Fifteen of us converged on Marilynn Clarke's home yesterday for a two-day natural dye workshop. 

The text we used was prepared by her and guided us through all the steps we took.  We started the morning with a brief lecture and explanation of the class.  She is astoundingly knowledgeable and lucky me - she's a member of my own guild!

We were assigned a buddy and each team was responsible for a dye pot.  She had prepared sheets for each pot with the calculations to achieve the intended results.  For instance the Osage Orange and Madder pot, that team had to calculate what 30% of the weight of fiber was (we knew the weight) and mix 40% of that 30% in very hot water.  The madder was 50% weight of fiber and they needed 60% of the 50%.  Some of us struggled a little with the math, even with calculators. 

The samples were pre-measured and soaking.  Marilyn provided us the weights of the Merino wool yarn since they were wet and we couldn't weigh them ourselves.

We dyed the sample skeins in bundles of three, each looped together with a label identifying the pot.

The results were starting to come out of the pots.  Sharie and I were assigned to pot #1 which was Osage Orange, measured at 30% weight of fiber.  The two bright yellow skeins in the front are from our pot.

The third skein of each pot was assigned an after mordant.  Ours was iron which turned the bright yellow into a wonderful sage green.

The post mordants had mixed results.  Some were hard to see the change and others, like the samples on the front right were dramatic.  That orange was Quebracho Red and Fustic but with the acetic acid after bath, it turned bright pink.  Crazy!

We returned this morning and the first order of business was to attach labels from the bag of labels we received in our packets.

These are my samples from yesterday.  Now that those were taken care of, we began today's dyeing and over-dyeing with indigo.

Again, we were dyeing three bundles.  The first was a single dip of two minutes duration, the second was two dips for a total of four minutes and the third was three dips for six minutes.  Marilyn said that you would just continue until you reached the desired depth of shade.

Into the Indigo Pot

And out!  You can see it's already beginning to oxidize and turn blue.

This is the first of the indigo bundles.  Max brought a silk blouse that she wanted to dye so that's it on the bottom rack.  After all the skeins were dyed, she took off her jeans and put them in the pot.  Good thing she was wearing a long tunic top!

The results were less diverse today than yesterday.  I had some favorites though and one of them, a deep forest green, is on the bottom right, front row.  It's the Osage Orange again. 

 

These are all my samples and I could not be more pleased, with them or with the workshop.  I had a blast, laughed a lot, made new friends and came away knowing that I can replicate these results, thanks to Marilyn's well-crafted workbook.  Thanks Marilyn!!!!!

Sharon