It’s Blankie Season… YAY!
At this time of year we always love to encourage blankie weaving… we need to stay warm up in these parts!
To this end we’ve done two things.
1) We’ve produced a free leaflet to download: Quick yarn requirements for Shetland, Mohair and Alpaca
2) We are giving a 10% discount on our favourite blankie yarns:
This sale lasts until November 18, my milestone birthday when I’ll be 40… again!
Don’t forget to review Episode 9: Making a Mohair Blankie….. Yes! of the Online Guild which was all about making blankets with brushed mohair.
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Clockwise from top: 1) Shetland warp, brushed mohair weft, twill, 2) Shetland warp, Shetland weft, plain weave, 3) Mohair warp, mohair weft, plain weave, 4) Shetland warp, Shetland weft, twill, 5) Shetland warp, natural alpaca weft, twill.
Are you Confused about what the Online Guild is?
I have had a few calls lately from weavers interested in the Online Guild who weren’t quite sure what it’s all about.
The Online Guild is a series of one to two hour lessons released every five weeks. This is the first year we have done this and it has been hugely successful providing support for new weavers and weavers who have been at it for decades. There is a theme to each episode and each episode has been broken down into mini videos and indexed. You can watch them over and over…. play, stop, rewind, repeat… they never ever go away.
I chose the guild model because when you are a member of a guild you have access to a library. If you pay your yearly dues you get to borrow from the guild library. That is how our guild works. The videos are the library and as long as you are a member you get to watch them 24/7, 365 days of the year.
Your membership starts from the day you sign up. If you sign up today you get access to every single video in the library plus you get every video we release for the next 12 months. That means you can do some serious binge watching 🙂
The programme for 2018 is Colour and Design. Colour and Design has long been my most popular workshop resulting in hundreds of students on wait-lists. I have decided to tape the entire workshop and offer it in episodes which will allow you to weave along through the months and experience everything you would if you were actually in my studio. We will offer the kits to support the samples or you can delve into your own stash as you wish. I can guarantee that you will be liberated around making decisions in regards to colour choices and design choices through these episodes.
This past year we have woven each one of the seven samples on 27 yard warps creating a amazing library of visual ideas which will be shared throughout the season. Each episode will be one sample. The first two episodes will be laying out the process. My ideas just don’t float out of my head… I have a process that brings all my designs to life and I am so happy to be able to share it all with you. No holding back 🙂
We have years of episodes in the works so the online guild will be the place I can deposit all my knowledge for weavers anywhere in the world. My staff call it “Jane’s Brain Dump”. Too funny!
I am trying to keep the cost of this similar to what you would pay for guild dues, $75.00 for the entire year. This means it is accessible to everyone and I am accessible to everyone. We also provide a forum where all members can post questions and create a dialogue within a like minded community, all walking down the same road to become strong, independent, happy weavers.
I hope this little babble has cleared up any confusion you may have had about we are doing around here. Come join us today and Happy Weaving,
Jane
The next Online Guild episode
Release date is November 16, we’ll be tackling wet finishing. In a washing machine, by hand in the sink, I collapse fabrics, we go over fringe twisting and, believe it or not, ironing! That’s a good way to finish up the year… with finishing.
Introducing the new Erica table loom by Louet
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Named after the great weaving teacher Erica de Ruiter, a specialist in three shaft weaving, the Louet Erica 30 Table loom is small and very portable. For over 40 years Erica has done research on weaving with three shafts: twill, huck, M’s and O’s, honeycomb, thick and thin, padded weave, Krokbragd, supplementary warps, block weaves, color-and-weave, and much more.
The Louet Erica loom is an attractive alternative to a rigid heddle loom: it is easier to operate, the warp tension is more even, it has a large shed of 4.5 cm (1 ¾”) and you have flexibility in the number of threads per cm. The option to expand it to 3 or 4 shafts will make it an even more interesting alternative.
The loom is made of unlacquered beech and laminated birch. It comes complete with built-in raddle, stainless steel reed (10 dent), 200 Texsolv heddles (150 mm) and lease and tie-up sticks. The folded size is 55 x 48 x 16 cm (22” x 19 1/8” x 6 3/8”) and it weighs 3.5 kg (7¾ lb).
At this point the Erica loom is available with in a 30 cm (11.75″) weaving width. In early 2018 a 50 cm (19.5″) weaving width version will be available, along with a floor stand, accessory package (unfinished warping posts, 2 flat shuttles, and a threading hook) and bag.
Our first shipment will be leaving Holland in mid-November, arriving in north America early December, just in time for Christmas (fingers crossed!).
Guilds in North America have been the keepers of knowledge. They are the places where you find those out-of-print books that hold such a wealth of information. The old books hold the knowledge, the history and the passion of weavers who have gone before us. It is the idea of a library that inspires me most.
The Online Guild is our library; instead of books we have videos.
Last week I had a surprise visit from my very first weaving teacher. You can blame everything on her. Ha ha. When I was 21 and the idea of being able to create my own cloth to make my own clothes was just taking root it was Jan Korteweg who showed the way for me. Some 39 years later she is still a strong thread in my life and when she popped in to get more yarn I was thrilled. Not only did we have a great visit, she brought along a study she had just completed on stripes. Jan is now in her eighties and is using up her stash of yarns. She works from a source of inspiration as do I. Hers was the painting by Canadian icon Emily Carr, 
I first met Sherella Conley in 2009 when she wanted to purchase a new multi-shaft loom. She choose a David 90 from a special edition that Louet had produced in oak. Then she started attending workshops and her brilliance became apparent. Sherella turned 90 last year and her ability to turn out stunning traditional textiles is very apparent in the runners she is weaving for her daughters. Like Jan Korteweg, Sherella is intent on reducing her stash of yarns too. She combined all her yarns that were alike, and that had similar shrinkage rates, and used them for weft on a linen warp. Her pattern is from Marguerite Porter Davidson’s eternal source of inspiration 
Charlotte came to work in the studio five years ago as my office manager with no intent to become a weaver but, as you know, weaving is contagious. She is now creating her own stunning textiles and selling them on Salt Spring Island.
