Tag: WorkShops
Happy New Year!!
A New Year Brings New Life!
Happy New Year Everyone! I hope you can forgive us for not sending out our Usual Festive Holiday Greeting…..we had great plans, but alas, our computer had major health issues and was sent to MacHospital the week before Christmas! You can imagine our distress.
As they say, better late than never….Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Break a Leg, Eat, Drink and be Merry….May all your New Year’s Resolutions last more than 3 weeks but most importantly we wish you all Health and Happiness for 2012 and always.
Delicious News!
You know …, dreams really do come true. For as long as I have dreamed about having my weaving school (decades) I have also dreamed about finding a way to marry my other 2 passions to the business, growing food and making delicious meals.
As many of you know we have a pretty big garden and grow heaps of awesome food to feed our family and guests and now JST has taken the next step and brought on board the lovely, delightful and talented chef Rosemary Harbrecht. Rosemary trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, owned her first bakery called “Rosemary’s” near Berkely, CA and then owned the Brulee Bakery in Calgary, Alberta. She has co-authored cookbooks, taken cooking tours to France and Tuscany and is now the pastry chef for the renowned Hastings House on Salt Spring Island. Rosemary helps complete the circle. She loves cooking and gardening….coffee and chocolate……. and other such essentials! Can you believe our luck? New retreats are on the horizon bringing cooking, weaving and gardening together.
One Spot Left!
Know Your Fibre, Know Your Wheel. There’s room for one last person in Cheryl Huseby-Wiebe’s spinning workshop January 21st & 22nd.
If you want to have more control over your wheel and understand the difference between many animal fibres, this workshop is for you! For more information go to the link above.
Workshop Updates:
Everything is full until Colour Control in Spinning May 10th & 11th with Cheryl Huseby-Wiebe and we still have spots available in Joan Carrigan’s Wicker with Nature’s Bounty workshop May 24th & 25th. For more information on these two workshops, please click on the links.
And Now for Something Completely Different! We had to leave you with a laugh!
Two Dogs Dining in a Busy Restaurant!
December Newsletter
And the winner is ….
We know you’ve been waiting with bated breath all week to find out who our Grand Prize Winner is!
The lucky person who gets to spend 5 days immersed in weaving, eating great food, drinking good wine, and laughing with a bunch of other wonderful folks….. nestled here in the woods …
is VALERIE DZIAK!!!
Congratulations
We’ll be seeing her soon!
It was so much fun doing this contest, that once we’d picked our grand prize winner, we just couldn’t stop. We decided we had to add two more prizes. Claire Simons was our lovely 2nd place winner of a $100 gift certificate and Judy Sloan won the third place Namaste bag! Congratulations to everyone and thank you all so much for the enthusiastic participation!
On the Workshop Front:
There are only 3 spots left for Cheryl Huseby-Wiebe’s Know Your Fibre, Know Your Wheel 2 day workshop, January 21 and 22. We’re really excited to have Cheryl back again. Her previous dying workshops were a resounding success and now she’s ready to bring her 30+ years of enthusiasm and expertise to help us understand our wheels and favourite fibres.
If you have been spinning for a while and don’t really understand your wheel or how to tweak it, then this workshop is for you. And, if you think protein fibres just come from four legged animals, then there is another reason to sign up! You will be spinning a variety of wools and luxurious fibres like cashmere and fine mohair, but you will also be spinning man made protein fibres like latte, corn fibre and soy silk.
For more information click here.
Jane’s workshops for the year are almost full. For retreats earlier in the year – Colour & Design still has 2 spots open. February 6-10. And we have one spot left in the B&B. For more information, click here.
This workshop lays an exceptional foundation for newer weavers and advanced weavers, especially if designing your own fabrics is your goal or if you struggle with colour and sett decisions.
Holiday Shopping is Easy!
Are you wondering what to get your friend to celebrate their successful stash reduction?
Is your husband still puzzled by your favourite colours after 30 years of marriage?
Does he do all his shopping after dinner on December 24?
If you’ve answered yes to one (or more) of these skill testing questions, then have him call us! We know exactly what you need and what colour it should be – a bright green Gift Certificate! It goes with everything! You can’t go wrong with this one.
For the younger ones in your lives you may want to consider the merits of the Harrisville Educational, Enriching and Entertaining Easy Weaver, Lap and Potholder Looms. They will provide your young friend with an engaging, creative experience where they can learn a useful skill, apply mechanical ability and make a fun project all in one!
For these and hundreds of other titles please click here!
Win a 2012 Workshop Contest Almost Over!
Well folks,
there are just 3 days left (including today) for your chance to win a free retreat with accommodation here at JST. Remember you just have to spend a mere $100 (on yarn that you need anyway ;^) to get your name in our pretty little ballot box!
We will be drawing the winning name on Wednesday at 5pm!
We’ll let the winner know immediately, and put their name in the December Newsletter due next week!
November Newsletter
Win a Free Retreat!
Someone will get an early Christmas present!
For every $100 you spend in the month of November, before tax and shipping, you get your name put in for a big draw and the prize is a 5 day retreat with B&B at your choice of an available JST workshop in 2012. If you order $200, we’ll put your name in twice! Order $300 and you get it in there 3 times! Order $400 … you get the idea.
The draw will take place on December 1st and we’ll notify the lucky person right away. We will announce the winner in the December newsletter.
Some people just take off after our workshops! And you could be one of these happy ladies!
Sample Cards!
Jane Stafford Textiles has a beautiful sample card for each one of our yarn lines. The full set of 15 cards has over 500 six inch yarn samples for you to fondle and drool over. The yarns are presented in an analogous colour arrangement which makes colour choices easy. Each card also lists yds/lb, put up and Jane’s sett recommendations for that yarn. The set of cards alone is a stunning sight, not to mention all of the creative imaginings they will inspire. Each card is $3.00 and the entire set is $35.00
Each sample card set now comes with Jane’s Master Sett Chart, chock full of essential sett recommendations for many exciting projects.
2012 Retreats and Workshops are filling up pretty darned fast! Check them out here!
Know Your Fibre, Know Your Wheel with Cheryl Huseby Wiebe.
In January we are so lucky to have Cheryl Huseby Wiebe teaching her new workshop Know Your Fibre, Know Your Wheel. Cheryl has been spinning for over 30 years. Her spinning and dyeing knowledge are immense. She has accumulated her knowledge by taking spinning workshops with practically every well known spinning teach on the planet, however, what makes Cheryl so special is her ability to share her knowledge so graciously and competently.
Cheryl is also known for her precision dyeing. She has been dyeing for Treenway Silks for over 10 years and was featured in the book: The Yarn Lover’s Guide to Hand Dyeing by Linda La Belle.
If you know how to spin but haven’t had a chance to really understand your wheel or to fully appreciate the difference between all kinds of fibres, this workshop is for you! The workshop runs January 21 and 22.
Perfect Fall Project
Isn’t this a great photo? Claire Simon of Salt Spring Island sent this in last week.
These towels were woven in our boucle cotton at 12 epi, 12 ppi. 5 cones will make you 6 towels. We have the pattern up on the store with 3 different colour combinations but Claire picked her own for this batch of towels. She used Cayenne, Gold, Orange, Turmeric and Rust.
It just makes you want to run out and get a clothesline.
The Delectable Sari
Last week in Vancouver I presented the Delectable Sari workshop designed for the Maiwa Symposium and based on my observations while travelling in India. Twelve great weavers gathered together for four days at the Maiwa Loft on Granville Island. The entire workshop used just two yarns: 2/16 cotton for the warp and 2/30 silk for the weft. We looked at supplementary warp, double weave, cramming & denting, inlay and iridescence. It was wonderful!
Group and Bulk Orders
For all yarn orders over $300 we offer a 10% discount and for yarn orders over $500 we offer a 10% discount plus free shipping. So why not gather a few of your weaving friends and put your orders together. You will save save save.
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September Newsletter
A Colour and Design Fiesta
Last week from Monday through Thursday six lovely ladies descended upon my studio to focus on colour and design theory. 2 were from Salt Spring, 1 from Cedar, 2 from Victoria and 1 dragged 4/5ths of her family from Calgary. Over the four days the girls wove seven different samples out of one style of yarn all in plain weave. The samples were colour gamps, a colour and weave gamp, studies in asymmetry, stripes, gradation, analogous colour harmonies, numerical systems – all created as tools to support the lectures. We tore magazines apart and honed our skills of observing. Toni walked in the woods collecting inspiration and now sees the world as a giant grid waiting for colours to be poured into. We shared meals and life stories, laughed and cried and created fond memories on so many levels. This was the first workshop where three of the students stayed and did the B&B thing. We all helped prepare meals and being together in the evenings deepened our bonds.
On our last evening we went to town for a great dinner and then headed back to Annie’s house for a ceremonial “cutting a dog off the loom event”. Anne had at that moment a warp that had been on her loom for 8 years.
Due to life’s assaults she had left her loom for quite awhile. We cut that warp off and cleaned the slate for new creations. It was a perfect way to end our week.
On Friday I was definitely tired, but also exhilarated with a magical energy.
Thank-you to Sasha, Mary-Anne, Toni, Sandra, Annie and Susan for such a wonderful experience.
Happy Weaving,
Jane
June Newsletter
Big Exciting News!
Cashmere!
You just have to feel this to believe it! Softer than a cloud.
I love working with finer yarns more than any yarn and I have always wanted to stock Cashmere ~ so I have finally taken the plunge. After all – that’s what my line of credit is for, isn’t it :^) We have done all the sett testing, made our colour selection, decided on cone size and have just unpacked the boxes today. It is very easy to weave between 18 and 24 EPI depending on plain weave or twill.
It will sell for $32.00/50gr cone with 715 yds on a cone. You can make one 8″x72″ scarf with a cone. All we have to do now is photograph every colour and get it up on the store. If you can’t wait till next week, tell us which row and colour you are interested in and we’ll get it off to you.
Patterns will be coming soon!
Spring Inspiration
Inspiring Weavers
You met these two beautiful, brilliant women over 2 years ago on our blog in September 2008. Jane and Susan have been weaving with Pam and Josie since forever and they always bring their latest projects to show us.
They’ll both turn 91 this year! Every once in a while they arrive at the same time and we all marvel at their continued liveliness. Both are still weaving prolifically. Josie, on the left is wearing her latest turned twill spring scarf (with her sample still attached) in 7 gauge bamboo. Pam, on the right, has been exploring collapse weave using Colcolastic and various reds, pinks and oranges also in 7 gauge bambu. As you can see, both scarves are as lovely as their creators.
Pam’s scarf has 109 threads of 7 gauge bamboo and is threaded to a point twill. The majority of her scarf is woven in plainweave using 7 gauge bambu but every 2 inches she weaves 2 repeats of waffle weave using Colcolastic. When the scarf comes off the loom and is washed, the Colcolastic assisted by the waffle weave structure draws in, collapsing the scarf.
Josie’s scarf as well as a variation woven by Michelle Moore in our wool/silk blend Zephyr are now up on our store site. Check them out! We’ve offered beautiful spring colourways for them, but you can always substitute your own colours!
Stay tuned for more wonderful weaving to come from these two Grande Dames!
We had just finished up this Newsletter when who walks in the door? GP (Granny Pam)! GP was here to show us her latest rendition of a collapsed scarf done in Snow Pea, Apache Blue and Chagall Blue 7 gauge bambu. While she was here, she told me that she had wished she had started weaving earlier in life and I laughed and told her she had said that to me when she was 70 and first learning to weave. She said “Well if I had, I would have been where I’m at now, then!” GP told us she could hardly wait to finish weaving this scarf and get it into the water. She loves weaving at this stage in her life because she doesn’t have to stop and make dinner for anybody, she can do whatever she wants and weave whatever she wants. Her best quote today was “Tell all your 70 year olds to keep weaving!” If you were to say that last statement with a strong Jersey accent (as in Channel Islands) you would get the picture.
Every year in the spring before show season we order tons of books ….
everything we think you might want to see at our shows. At the end of show season we come back to the studio and start to listen to our little books whining. They whisper things like – ‘why does amazon do this to us?’ and we say – ‘there there pet, someone will look at you one day’. So … to help our books out, we are offering a 20% sale hoping that our little books will go to good homes. You can think of them as rescue books if that will help.
Retreats at JST
Our first Pushing the Boundaries of Plainweave course is already over. The gals explored cramming and denting, cording, clasped weft, they discovered that warp and weft faced fabrics don’t have to be hard if you don’t want them to be. They looked at supplementary warps, tufted wefts and more! Jane used many of the beautiful fabrics she brought back from India as examples of just how far you can push the boundaries of plainweave. They are phenomenal.
Up Next!
We have another Plainweave workshop at the end of May which is full. Then it’s Twills on Four June 27 – July 1 that has openings for 2 lucky people. Let us know if you’d like to join us for a fascinating exploration of Twills. We weave a large Twill Gamp, Shadow Weave, Colour and Weave techniques like Pin-Wheel, Boundweave, and combining Twills with other structures like Basketweave.
Jane will be teaching at the Hand Weavers, Spinners & Dyers Conference in Calgary, June 7, 8, 9 & 10. We are not taking a booth this year because Jane’s youngest son Daniel graduates from grade 12 on that weekend.
Check out our Retreat Schedule for openings in our other workshops throughout the year. There are very few spots left, so be sure to let us know if you’re interested.
Helpline
Our Helpline content is growing, but it needs your questions to really grow. You can ask your questions on the Helpline or in a regular old email to Jane. We will however, post all answers on the helpline. Your questions can be anonymous so don’t be shy. Sometimes it takes a few days to answer your questions so please be patient.
Remember, we are always here to help :^)
Maybe someone you know would like to be on our mailing list. Please consider forwarding this newsletter.
March Newsletter
SPRING!
Today as we are working on this newsletter, the sun is shining outside our windows. The leaves are beginning to work on their Spring glow.
Soon my kids will begin to tease me, apparently, I never stop talking about the magnificent vibrancy found in the greens of Spring. I’m not talking about salad, I’m talking about the leaves on trees. The crocuses and daffodils are all up. It is so wonderful to see the earth’s rebirth again.
The start to this year has been spectacular. As many of you know I went to India in January with Charllotte Kwon of Maiwa and some of her staff, Sophena Kwon, Danielle Bush and Tim McLaughlin. We were joined by Gale Anderson-Palm from Rimby, Alberta and Catharine Ellis of Woven Shibori fame. When Charllotte invited me to accompany them, it was a dream becoming reality and as anyone who has ever been to India will tell you ~ you are changed for life. I loved it and I hope to return someday. I went for the textiles but my favourite thing about India turned out to be her people. India’s people, are what I still think about everyday. Their immense generosity and kindness, even though most of them have so little is simply staggering. I have so many stories to tell but I am still processing and in time I hope to share most of them. I know that I am not good at keeping up with the blog, but little by little the stories will appear, I promise.
Field Trips
I brought back 2 suitcases of stunning fabrics and I took over 2000 photos which I’m trying to put into a few slideshows. I would love to share some of this with you. If you’d like to organize a group visit (minimum of 6 people) to hear a few stories, see a few pictures and touch some fabrics, please give us a call and book a date.
