I Know It's 2010, But...

First off, let me wish everyone a "Happy New Year!" while it's still January! Yes, I know it's 2010, but I'm still "in" October and wanted to share with you how the rest of the week went for my weaving class. I know. Weaving is not the only thing I'm "slow" at!

Once I got through my second full day of class, changed my attitude, and decided that whatever I got accomplished was "good enough," then all went well.

My goal for my sampler was to try every possible weave combination that my instructor and I could come up with. So, I took meticulous notes. Aimed for symmetry. And here are the results!

A little bit of basket weave.

Playing with color and pattern.

Attempting a symmetrical ending.

Cutting the warp. Would you believe that I was the last person to take a project off the loom?!?

One of the things that's really cool about the folk school is that all the classes participate in a final exhibit. Thus, the wonderful finishes from our class:

Talk about a group of talented folks and what they were able to do in a week's time!

Beautiful and colorful hand towels.

Lovely samplers, scarves, and even a shawl!

I would love to show you detail shots from every single project we worked on, but you will just have to trust me when I say how beautiful everyone's choices were and what a great group of folks we had in our class.

Maybe one of these days (or years!) I'll show you a few more pattern shots from my project and the "final" finish. 'Till then, I'm digging out at home as the new year begins.

Thanks for the continued inspiration to those of you who blog and post so faithfully. I've done a pretty good job of staying up-t0-date of late, and just wanted to let you know how much I enjoy your pictures, projects, and posts. Till next time...happy crafting!

A Week of Weaving: Day Two

When I woke up on Tuesday, our second full day of class, I woke up with a new attitude. I had gone to bed feeling discouraged about my feeble attempts and slow progress the day before - especially when I compared myself to others in the class. Many of them were ready to start weaving Tuesday morning. I still had threading and tie up to look forward to. But for whatever reason, I woke up thinking that I was here to learn as much as possible and enjoy the process. I had not "enjoyed" the day before; and that's a feeling I'm not used to and don't like. I decided then and there that I was going to take my time, not worry about how much I got "done" or how quickly, and that if I only completed one project instead of two, then that was good enough.

So on Tuesday, I took my time and spent most of my day threading the heddles. Our instructor, Pam, wanted us to play with twill, so she insisted that we "come up with" our own draft design. I understood only the basic ideas behind a draft, and even though I really, really wanted to follow someone else's pattern, I came up with a threading pattern that was at least symmetrical and started threading. I didn't take the time to even think about what the weave structure might look like; I was just ready to get started and learn as I go.

I was in the right frame of mind on Tuesday, so Ruth (my loom) and I got along just fine. The threading was tedious, as was getting all those threads through the reed, but it was a much easier process for me. By late afternoon, I was ready to weave!

By the end of day two, I had completed several inches of plain weave. I was on my way!

A Week of Weaving: Day One

What have you always wanted to do? Me? I always wanted to learn how to spin and weave. When I first got out of college (and I'm talking just weeks after graduation!), I took a two-week spinning course offered through the School of Homestead Living and Rio Grande College in Ohio. Over twenty years later, I finally took a beginning weaving class at the John C. Campbell Folk School. I learned more than I ever imagined I could learn in a week's time thanks to instructors Pam Howard and Dianne Totten.

The course I signed up for, "Weaving - Beginning and Beyond," was a course on four-harness loom weaving that covered everything from preparing a warp, weaving a sampler, and completing a finished project. Pam, the resident weaver at the school, began our class on a Sunday evening with introductions and an overview of what we were in for during the week ahead. She warned us that Monday would be the most "difficult" day, but asked us to trust her and the process.

Monday morning came, and Pam wasn't kidding about that day being the most difficult. Pam introduced us to the warping board after we had picked out yarn and planned our first project, a sampler.

Pam made preparing the warp look easy.

But all that over, under, up, around, over, down, really messed with me! My DH always said that he was amazed that I had ever learned to tie my shoes, because when it comes to challenges like tying a knot, putting a strap on a camera, or wrapping warp, I have problems: big problems. I think Pam thought I was kidding when I was struggling with just following basic directions, but she soon learned I wasn't. Thanks to her and Diane's patience and direction, I finally managed to get all my threads aligned in the right direction.

By the time we were ready to "dress" the loom that day, I think Pam was the only one smiling!

When I went to lunch on Monday, a friend took one look at me and said, "Oh no." I was close to tears and feeling pretty stupid. I didn't expect weaving to be easy, but I also didn't expect to have SO many problems day one. Everyone else in the class seemed to be following along without any problems. Not me.

I went back to class after lunch, nonetheless, and somehow managed to go from the warping board to warp on a loom. Amazing!

By the end of the day on Monday, I was ready to spend the week with Ruth, an 8-harness, 32" Macomber loom. Ruth: my new best friend, or enemy in disguise? Only time would tell.

By supper Monday evening, the weaving fantasy had ended. Reality began.

Weaving and Cross Stitching

I love a trip to a used bookstore. Earlier this week, I came across a copy of Weaving a Legacy: The Don and Jean Stuck Coverlet Collection by Clarita S. Anderson (1995).
The book details 356 nineteenth-century handwoven coverlets in the Don and Jean Stuck Coverlet Collection at the Columbus Museum of Art in Ohio. This collection is the largest public collection in the U.S. Have I mentioned, yet, that books like this one make me drool? The photos are fantastic, and the historical details provide background information that bring the weaver and the work alive.

I've been fascinated with textiles for as long as I can remember. And I recall seeing my first loom at the Smithsonian while in grade school and on a family trip to D.C. My response is still the same. How can single strands of thread create such a beautiful work of art?

The only weaving I have done, besides the requisite potholders (which I loved to make!), was a small tapestry piece of a landscape. Believe it or not, I can recall buying the kit at our local JC Penney's when I was in high school. I wonder if Mom and Dad still have that around? I'm fortunate enough to currently live in an area with an active weaving studio, so one of these days . . . !

For now, the "fix" is cross stitch.
I bought the pattern for Blue Ribbon Designs' Red Velvet Building Blocks prior to Christmas last year. The coverlet look and feel is what attracted me to it. I loved the overall design, as one of my cross-stitch fantasies (do you have those too???) is to have a collection of alphabet samplers. Yes, I have samplers with alphabets, but I've always imagined an area in my home with just cross-stitched alphabets. But I also loved the design because I envisioned small alphabet blocks either framed or made into hanging sachets.

So . . . last Christmas season I began with a couple of small blocks.
These are worked on 28-ct linen, and the small motif is worked over one. The coverlet design is actually comprised of at least four hidden alphabet letters. Pretty cool. I've enjoyed the design so much, that this is one chart that may very well become the chart that brings my alphabet fantasy to life!
Here's to fiber fantasies and a week of happy stitching, hooking, weaving . . . !