Last week was awesome. On Monday, 7 students participated in a one day seminar called “Honing Your Basic Weaving Skills”. We went over making warps quickly, efficiently and most importantly, VERY WELL. Then we dressed a loom Back to Front and discussed the pro and cons to the many methods of warping looms. Bobbin winding which is often under-rated was demonstrated and good shuttle handling, posture, and shedding sequence was practiced by everyone.
By the end of the day everyone’s selvedges were straigthening out and weaving was much faster and fun and the cloth more even.
On Tuesday, some of the same gals returned and we added some new ones to look at “Project Planning 101”. We went over all the questions you need to ask yourself when designing your projects, starting with…
1. What do you want to make?
2. What do you want to make it out of?
….and then we went from there. Everyone provided a scenario and therefore we learned a great deal answering everyone’s questions. The math is not so daunting when you think about it in a logical sequence.
Wednesday was a wild and wooly affair. We made a 4 yd. brushed mohair warp and had it on the loom by noon and then we beamed another 45″ brushed mohair warp that was 7 1/2 yds. long. That was rolled on by 1 p.m. After lunch we went over winding bobbins so that yarn doesn’t stick and exits the the shuttle easily. Again good posture, shuttle control, shedding sequences were demonstrated and then everyone sat down and wove on the mohair warp. It is amazing how easy it is to manage difficult yarns when you know a few tricks and are willing to adapt your technique a little bit to suit the situation.
We just can’t weave everything one way. Just like cooking, sometimes you have to change ‘this a little’ and ‘that a lot’ for the recipe to work.
Thursday was a very special day. Susan Brown and I led 5 women through a day of self-discovery based on readings from “The Creative Habit”, “The Four Agreements”, “The Path of Least Resistance” and several others books that have meant a great deal to Susan and I. It was a very powerful and personal day with a goal of addressing our creative needs.
Thank you so much to Sasha, Crystal, Sally, Lynne and Susan.
This week we are getting revved up for Cheryl Wiebe’s “In Pursuit of the Rainbow”, dyeing workshop this weekend. Looms are getting squished into corners so dye tables can come out. It should be a very colourful 2 days, even if the sun doesn’t shine.
Well, that’s what we’ve been up to in the last few weeks. The studio is a wonderful place to host these workshops so let us know if you want to learn something specific and we’ll try to rustle up a workshop for you. Actually, more than a workshop. We are trying to create wholesome learning experiences that feed the soul on many levels.
My friend Dawn Russell is always sending me great jokes and I have to leave you with this one. Read it with all the theatre you can muster.
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A wife was making a breakfast of fried eggs for her husband.
Suddenly, her husband burst into the kitchen.
‘Careful,’ he said, ‘CAREFUL! Put in some more butter! Oh my GOD!
You’re cooking too many at once. TOO MANY! Turn them! TURN THEM NOW!
We need more butter. Oh my GOD! WHERE are we going to get MORE BUTTER?
They’re going to STICK! Careful . CAREFUL! I said be CAREFUL! You NEVER
listen to me when you’re cooking! Never! Turn them! Hurry up! Are you
CRAZY? Have you LOST your mind? Don’t forget to salt them. You know you
always forget to salt them. Use the salt. USE THE SALT! THE SALT!’
The wife stared at him. ‘What in the world is wrong with you?
You think I don’t know how to fry a couple of eggs?’
The husband calmly replied, ‘I just wanted to show you what it feels like when I’m driving.’
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Have a great week,
Hugs,
Jane
