Weaverly

It's a Bird! It's a Mosquito!

Third in a series of Potch's bird drawings. This one appears to be part bird and part mosquito. Was he ever in Minnesota? Maybe.

The Healing Power of Textiles

I don't know about the rest of you, but when things are dicey I invariably calm myself by thinking about (1) a new draft; (2) a new yarn combination; or (3) both of the above. Textiles invariably serve as a distraction for me when I need a little boost. Such was the case yesterday morning as I waited with my mother in pre-op at the hospital. The curtain surrounding her bed was a soothing blue and green jacquard, and as I always carry a snap-and-shoot with me, here it is. Mom is doing well, and I hope she will be coming home today. 

From the Fabric Store - II

An Unlikely Trio

Fourth in a series of Uncle Potch's drawings. The bird at the top puzzles me. I think the artist was distracted, and put the rear foot way too close to the tail. The middle bird is better, although a bit goofy. The one at the bottom is unquestionably a female of a certain age (I think the eyelashes are a giveaway here), and is casting lascivious eyes at someone out of the frame.

Catching Up

Saturday we left Tampa and drove to Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida, site of the Complex Weavers Seminars. On the way we made a stop at St. Pete Beach, where I had a chance to show off my knitting project: a couple of rows here, a couple of rows there - it really adds up.

Registration at CW went smoothly - Penny and her committee were super organized (or so it appeared to me), and the opening presentation by Richard Jeryan was wonderful. Richard and his wife Chris restored the jacquard loom at The Henry Ford, and he described the process and detailed some of the history. As I write this, seminars are about to begin. The Internet service here is experiencing some problems this weekend, so hopefully the post will go through OK. 

Back again after a day of no Internet. 

Sunday at a seminar on polychrome damask I snapped this picture of Carolyn Gritzmaker in her gorgeous drawloom-woven vest.

Sunday evening we were treated to an extraordinary video of an interview with Peter Collingwood. He talked about his weaving career, his philosophy, and some of his innovations, and showed the inner workings of his original shaft-switcher and his ingenious arrangement of small bits of rigid heddle for his macro-gauzes.

Unforeseen circumstances have caused me to leave the conference early, so I will miss the fashion show and the silent auction, two events I always look forward to at Complex Weavers Seminars. If any fellow conference-goers have pictures of these events to post, please send me the links. Let's help spread the word about Complex Weavers! I've heard the great news that 1/3 of the attendees at this year's conference are first-timers. Way to go!

Ondulé and Woven Resist

Friday evening after an early Tapas dinner we took a streetcar to Ybor City and saw the Weaving and Resist exhibition at Hillsborough Community College. The show was beautiful, and I especially loved two pieces by Vita Plume, a combination of woven resist and jacquard. They were haunting portraits with additional shibori patterning and text. Lynn Nickerson, one of the artists represented, happened to be in the gallery at the same time we were, and we enjoyed an impromptu modeling of her woven resist garment, pictured here. Lynn is a very attractive lady and doesn't usually make such funny faces, but she was intent on demonstrating the many ways to wear this garment, basically two strips sewn together with strategic openings. The fabric is wool, and after the woven resists were pulled together, the cloth was felted, which creates the crinkles. It's a bouncy fabric and drapes interestingly.

Yesterday in the vendor area, Sara von Tresckow demonstrated the use of her ondulé reed, pictured here. Note the fan-shaped configuration of the reed dents. By raising and lowering the reed, the undulations are produced in the cloth.

Thursday Whirlwind

Thursday already! Last night was the fashion show, and as usual it was a combination of the good, the bad, and the ugly. On the plus side was the fact that the models walked VERY slowly so that we could see all the fabrics, and the video monitors showed the details with great clarity. I loved the models - some of them had very generous proportions, and you could envision the garments on real world bodies, not on size twos. Photography was not permitted, but I took a few snaps before the show started, with intentional camera movement to emphasize the light trails in the dark, caveronous space. Read: intentionally blurry.

Dobby/Jacquard Connection

Thursday morning I gave my seminar on the dobby/jacquard connection. I think it went well, there were no computer crashes (my usual fate during presentations), and the class was enthusiastic and asked some good questions. I was very pleased. There were some old friends, some people I'd never met before, and a number of folks who will be going on the the Complex Weavers conference, so we'll have plenty of time to chat. After class I was still pretty revved up, so to relax I went back to the vendors' area and bought some more yarn. Here are a couple of pictures of my students before the seminar began.

Shopping Frenzy

As I write this late Wednesday afternoon, for posting first thing tomorrow morning, we are having a sudden violent thunderstorm. I should be used to this tropical display by now - we've been in Florida for a week already. Hopefully in an hour or two it will clear enough so that we can take yet another streetcar ride to a restaurant. We've eaten two nights in a row at Bellini's (fabulous!), and tonight will try something new. And after dinner is the always looked-forward-to Convergence fashion show.

This morning after prepping for my Thursday morning seminar, I strolled into the Vendors' area (again) and this time made some serious hits on my credit card, mostly for books and sewing patterns. But I did score some lovely handpainted merino roving to spin for some future lampas projects, and some 30/2 hand-dyed rayon/silk blend for warp. There is really too much to take in at this fiber heaven, and overload sets in quickly, but I did manage to snap a few pics of vendors booths, and with permission I share them witih you here. First we have some yummy hand dyed yarns from Knitting Notions.

Next, the friendly folks at the Saori booth. The Saori philosophy features plain weave with an explosion of free designing, color play, and textural variety. Their garments suggest an origami-like playfulness in folding and cutting. Here are Chiaki O'Brien and Yukako Satone. Check out their websites for some interesting information and links to Saori.

Finally, here's a peek at the clothing rack in the Saori booth. Lots of inspiration here for people who weave narrow strips and join them together.

Riding the Rails

Knitting class finished this afternoon. Ginger Luters is an excellent teacher - if you ever have the opportunity to study with her, grab it! Convention center starting to buzz with activity as more attendees arrive. They are starting to hang the yardage exhibition in the rotunda, and the cloth will hang down from the balcony so that it's visible on the first floor. Looking good!

I didn't take many pictures today - too busy gabbing with old friends. So I'll post a picture from our streetcar ride to Ybor City Monday. If you have time while you're in Tampa the streetcar is a real bargain, and loads of fun.

And just for fun, this is the scarf I started knitting based on Ginger's inspiration. The yarn is Noro sock yarn, needles size 4, the stitch pattern is seed stitch, and the shaping is with short rows. Just as I am attracted to one-shuttle weaving, I also like one-yarn knitting. I'm not a juggler by nature. All the pizazz comes from the yarn in this scarf.