Weaverly

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!

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.

Monday at Convergence

Some random pictures from Monday's events. First is Ginger Luters demonstrating mitered knitted squares, then Robyn Spady holding up an amazing sample of doubleface plain weave overshot on 4 shafts (!), and then a glimpse of a kumihimo workshop (the braiders here had just gone to lunch). Weather improving.

Knitting, For a Change

Sunday was the first day of a workshop with Ginger Luters, author of Module Magic. Ginger is a fine teacher and a talented designer. Her background includes tapestry weaving, and she is sensitive to issues common to weavers and knitters alike, such as repeat size, pattern orientation, color, appropriateness of yarn type to a given project, color, and (did I say color?). I've seen pictures of her work, but seeing the sample pieces in person is an experience of another magnitude. Today we worked on squares and triangles and other modules in stockinette, garter, and garter ridge, and practiced weaving in ends "as you go." Monday: more triangles. Here is Ginger explaining a fine point of knitting onto the side edge of a stockinette rectangle. The rest of the pictures are the neighborhood of the Tampa Convention Center after the rain.

A Pennsylvania Voter

Here I am in Sarasota, where I will be attending the opening at Selby Gallery tonight (I'm writing this on Friday). Then on to Tampa. I thought you'd enjoy this collection of bumper stickers spotted on a Pennsylvania car at my motel in Valdosta, Georgia last night. I've intentionally left religion and politics out of my postings, but this was too good to pass up. Click to enlarge.

 

Here's Looking at You

As I prepare for my trip to Tampa for Convergence, I'm considering what to do about my blog over the next few weeks. In most of the places I'll be staying, while on the road and in Tampa/St. Petersburg/Sarasota, Internet access will be readily accessible. What is not entirely clear is how much time and energy I'll have left for blogging. My friend Cecilia asked how much time I spend on my blog. The answer is that I try to limit blogging to 20 minutes a day, but that's a bit misleading, because I recycle material in my files that I have spent hours, days, and years developing. It's like when someone asks, "How much time did it take you to weave that dishtowel?" and the answer is "All my life." But really, I do try to keep online time to a minimum so that I can put in quality Yarn Time.

I don't know how all of you feel about your blogging software. I like TypePad pretty well, although I find myself gnashing my teeth over their recent "improvements." One of the things I do like (and this feature may be present on other platforms, too) is that I can prepare several posts in advance in one monster session, and they will be published on whatever schedule I choose. I'm thinking of doing that next week so that I don't have to post news from Tampa in a hurry, and can take the time to report on my experiences at my leisure, Wordsworthian style. But in the meantime, the blog will continue to bump along on its own, like a small frog, and the wonderful chain of friends, readers, and commenters will also go on unbroken. I love looking at that little Feedjit map on the sidebar and seeing evidence of all my virtual friends, who check in every day, or every few days, and on occasion take the time to contact me. I want to be there when you are.

So what I will do is prepare a bunch of posts to fire off every morning on their own, and if something exceptionally blogworthy occurs while I'm in Florida I'll post it on the spot, but otherwise I'll report on my experiences upon my return. Meanwhile, the blog will go on. I hope you enjoy my choices. I have a collection of beautiful jacquard fabric samples from the remnant shop I'd like to scan for you, and I'll be posting some more of Uncle Potch's drawings, which so many of you have commented on.

Au revoir.

 

Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Another fun side trip on our trip to Brooklyn was a visit to the Botanic Garden. In the Steinhardt Conservatory I saw this beauty, which will definitely be added to my Weave Someday list:

Hard Cloth

This past weekend we made a quick trip to Brooklyn for a reunion, and among all the obligatory events we had time for a visit to the Brooklyn Museum. Always on the lookout for cloth, this caught my eye in the ancient Egyptian collection:

I wonder what the spotted pattern represents - a printed motif perhaps? The wrap looks so fluid. It's easy to imagine the movement of the cloth, even though it's carved in stone.

Sheets and Pillowcases

More textile goodness from Historic Brattonsville. I wish I could have jumped the rope boundary and touched these bed linens, but alas…

Nevertheless here they are for your enjoyment. This is a bedchamber in the farmhouse. The lighting is natural window light.