Posted on January 5, 2021January 5, 2021 by Jane — Leave a comment

Maiwa Foundation

An Update on Maiwa

To all our Wonderful Maiwa Supporters

I have a report for you :). Please read to the bottom because there’s a letter from India addressed to all of you ‘many Mam weaver mams’.

And, because this need is ongoing we have relaunched the ‘pay what you want’ towel patterns on our website. Stash Crackle Pop & Tea Towel Time with Jane are back. Just look for that Maiwa Foundation square on the shop drop menu. I’ll be adding new patterns this year so there will be more ways to participate.

It is so important that you know how much you’ve helped. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Love and stay safe,

Jane

Message from Charllotte Kwon
The Maiwa Foundation

To Jane and her wonderful community of weavers – a huge thank you for your incredibly generous donation. The story of Jawaja is a long one . . . and now you are all part of that story.

The whole process of making this donation from Jane and her community through the Maiwa Foundation during these extraordinary times has been amazing for us – not to mention coming with it’s own learning curve.

We realized by September, that because all the artisans had been effected by covid we needed to be very transparent with whatever money we donated since the issues were not isolated issues of – for example – earthquake, or drought, or flood etc. All artisans had issues and it was important that we let all those that we work with know about what money was available for donation.

I decided to put together a small team to help wth the decision making – that comprised of a mentor of mine Ashoke Chatterjee (retired head of National Institute of Design and President of Craft Council of India) along with 4 artisans who head up groups we work with – from various areas in India.

This took some time and what was surprising to us all was that the artisans who had ongoing orders from Maiwa told us that they did not think it was right for them to take any of the money. They were fine as long as there were ongoing orders. They explained that most, if not all, of their local work had stopped but if they had Maiwa work they were fine.

So we then had to look at areas where Maiwa would not place large enough orders to various artisans for them to have income throughout the year – going forward. I had always known that the artisans would be alright for the first 8-10 months but that their local work would end once the Indian economy felt the impact of no tourism, very little exports and an unemployed middle class.

Maiwa has done well online with most products. But two areas are slow – leatherwork and woven carpets. Normally our orders would be fine because they are augmented by our annual India Tour (that is cancelled for February 2021). Jawaja sell three months worth of leather bags and carpets in that single day we visit. Jawaja does sell at craft fairs in India – which are all cancelled now.

Things slipped south for Jawaja Leatherworkers and Weavers quite quickly in early December – they are 25 artisan families (a total of about 250 people as these are joint families) and they had run out of money to live. There is no safety net in India – particularly for remote villages and low caste – both of which these artisans are. We made the decision to send $16,000 to them and we have reserved $9000 as we continue to see what groups may be falling through the cracks.

I, personally, am deeply grateful to all of you . . .

Charllotte Kwon

Director – The Maiwa Foundation

This is the letter we received today from Babulalji – who is the treasurer of the co-operative:

Respected Mam and Mam Jane mam,

Namskar,

Thankyou for give work for and help us. At this time our artisan face very bad situation due to Kovid-19. No Work No income so our artisan require work for income. We need help for 25 artisan family for maintenance and feeding. Thank you of heart for 8 lakh. We receive this from Maheshbhai today. This save us at this time for no money for so long. We are happy and we thank Mam Jane and many Mam weaver mams

We have deposit for next order. No supplies is possible now.

We hope we see you soon. Are you come to Jawaja?

Thanks & Regards.

Babulal

Jawaja Leather & Weaver Alliance

Pay What You Want

Pattern Download

Tea Towel Time With Jane

These towels are a fantastic opportunity to explore some of the ways you can layer graphic and different weave structures onto the same warp.

These colourful towels were woven during the COVID-19 pandemic earlier this year. Over the course of 3 weeks these towels were woven live on Facebook and during that time a fun, creative, caring community was formed.

TAKE ME TO THE PATTERNS!

Stash Crackle Pop!

The “Stash, Crackle, Pop!” pattern is a great stash buster … you gain a lesson on Crackle Weave and … end up with some pretty eye-popping towels!
This ‘pay what you want’ pattern was designed by our darling Sharon Broadley, who contributes so much to JST and can be found on Instagram as @colour.woven 🙂

TAKE ME TO THE PATTERNS!

Posted on December 12, 2019September 6, 2022 by Jane — 1 Comment

December Blog, Weaver Spotlight!

This month we shine the weaver spotlight on Jae Koscierzynski from Michigan. Like so many students that came here over the years, Jae was an inspiration to me. Throughout my career as a teacher I have been so blessed to have such wonderful students.

Doing towel or sample exchanges was always a big part of the retreat scene here at JST. When students did exchanges based on the overlaying of ideas in the workshops the results were fabulous, unique and so inspiring. The whole was always greater than the sum of the parts.

Thank you to Joan Sheridan of Heritage Spinning and Weaving for being such a wonderful friend and for sending me so many talented students. You must be so proud of Jae, I sure know I am.

I was introduced to weaving several years ago by Joan Sheridan. She owns Heritage Spinning & Weaving where I teach knitting. As an engineer by trade, she thought I would enjoy weaving. I’ll admit I didn’t take to it at first. I loved everything about weaving a project except the actual, well, weaving. Figuring out the amount yarn needed, love it! Warping, beaming, threading, sleying, and hem stitching – love all that too. It wasn’t until I took Jane’s Colour & Design class that I learned to love throwing the shuttle. Until then, I couldn’t follow someone else’s pattern without boredom setting in about 2 inches into the project, but I didn’t know where to start or have the confidence to try my own ideas. After Colour & Design, I am always weaving. I now have more ideas to try on my loom than I will ever be able to weave in my lifetime!

I wove this scarf after a sample exchange with several other class members from one of the last in-person Pushing the Boundary with Plain Weave I sessions. We had been together the year before in Colour & Design and did a towel exchange. We enjoyed taking what we had learned from C&D to make towels and wanted to do it again. However, we admitted that perhaps Cramming and Denting, Rep weave, and the like weren’t well suited for towels. Instead, we all committed to providing 3 samples at least 24″ long. The “rules” were to take something from Colour & Design and combine it with something from PBPW.

I gave away my samples and apparently did not take any photos before I did! The scarf is warped with 16/2 cotton – black. It is sett and woven at 20 epi/ppi except at the edges which are crammed at 40 epi. This sett is the same as the warp that is used for Season 3 – Episode 8.

I used 30/2 Bombyx silk for the supplemental threads and for the warp, Black Magic, Violet Ice, Ariel’s Voice, Lime Light, Gold Rush, Tiger Lily, and Persophone’s Pip.

The ratio of each color for the supplemental threads is based on the Parrot Sample from Season 2 – Episode 5. I started with colors I had in my stash to create a color gradient, similar in concept to the Parrot Sample as well.

I originally thought of using black as the dividers and natural as the back ground. I’m glad I went the other way as the bright colors pop more against the black background. If I were to do it again, I would perhaps pick a different color for Gold Rush or Lime Light. In the skein, they look distinct but in the actual warp, the colors are very close and I would aim for more contrast.

I chose to keep the middle section simple since that portion is scrunched up around the neck and isn’t easily seen.

From my sampling, I also realized that the floats had to be kept short to avoid snagging while wearing.

At each end I wove the colors to be square – one with a pattern of “bricks” and the other solid colors with small dashes from the supplemental warp. Choosing how to weave the ends was the hardest part. I had several more ideas that I wanted to try using this graphic and warp structure. As always, the warp ran out before my creativity did!

With every episode that Jane presents, I learn something new. But the best lesson she has given me is to be fearless and just see what happens. It may not turn out as I expect, but I still end up with a piece of cloth that has something to teach me.

Learn more about the JST Online Guild

Posted on November 29, 2019November 29, 2019 by Jane — Leave a comment

November 28th Newsletter

We may love the colour BLACK and
FRIDAYS may be our favourite day of the week
but here at JST we’ve decided to have a

Colourful Weekend Sale!

This weekend is the perfect time to say THANK YOU to all our customers who keep us inspired and motivated through the year.

As we head into our darkest time of year, may a colourful warp inspire your weaving and nurture your soul.

The fine print!
Sale prices limited to in-stock yarns & kits only
Not valid with other coupons
Spend over $250 and you’ll receive free shipping!
Receive additional 10% off & free shipping when you spend over $500. (Some Exceptions Apply)
Sale starts 12:01am Friday November 29th, 2019 Pacific Standard Time and ends midnight Monday December 2nd, 2019 Pacific Standard Time

Heavenly Check Scarf

We’re giving away another pattern! This simple classic scarf in 12 gauge Bambu is fun, fast and easy to weave. The scarf was designed by Eben (Jane’s son!) and has long been a studio favourite, available as a kit in three beautiful colourways or design your own by downloading the free pattern! A great beginner project.