Three more weavers

I taught a weaving class this weekend. Welcome 3 new weavers to the community!

Fun with Chenille

Lori and Kathi both came for a weaving class last month. They both had some prior weaving experience so warped the looms using twill and point twill threadings to weave samplers. This is a great way to experiment with weave structure and color.

Lori and Kathi came back for a chenille class and Mary joined them.

Great job, ladies! I posted this photo on the Meridian Jacobs Facebook page last night and you already have rave reviews!

New Weavers

I taught a Learn To Weave class this weekend and we welcome 3 more weavers to the community!

I don't make everyone use the same yarns. Kat used Jaggerspun MaineLine wool, Jan chose Jaggerspun Superlamb washable wool (as a sample for a baby blanket) and Sandy wove a scarf of Jacob wool. Great projects!

Custom weaving projects

Here's a look at what I am doing in the weaving studio.

These are the yarns for a wedding shawl for a friend's daughter. This will be a random mixed warp in a lacy light weight shawl.

My son's girlfriend chose these colors for her chenille scarf.

Llama rug that I finally got off the loom awhile ago. I think that most people don't usually wash rugs, but it still has a llama smell so I plan to wash it. I've been waiting for a hot day so it will dry outside.

This is the roll of 3 full-sized blankets woven in double width broken twill. I have cut them off the loom and now need to crochet edges on all of them.

Learn to Weave class

I had back-to-back classes last weekend. The day after my v-shawl class I taught a Learn to Weave class. Here are the projects on the looms:

Mary chose 4 bright colors of Jaggerspun Lambspun wool and wove a sampler that looks good enough to wear as a scarf.

Susan wove a twill scarf using natural colored wool.

Dona wanted to weave a wall hanging of green fields, spring flowers, and sheep. She was very creative in her choice and placement of weft yarns and weave structure to depict parts of the landscape. She will embellish the piece with a few flower buttons and wooden sheep.

A very successful class and a fun weekend!

V-Shawl Class

I taught a v-shawl class last week. It's always fun to see the variety in these shawls. The v-shawl is warped for double weave. The fronts of the shawl are woven with two shuttles and the back is woven by cutting one pair of warp threads at a time and weaving them in as weft.

Tina chose natural colored Rambouillet and Jacob yarns.

Jackie used brown Rambouillet and a space-dyed yarn for accent.

Marilyn used softball cotton in natural and tan with accents of ribbon and a novelty yarn.

Yolanda has space-dyed wool yarn with a blue stripe.

These are the shawls right off the loom so there has been no finishing of fringes.

The back view shows the designs that you get from the warp stripes.

The meaning of WWW

To my friends  it means Weekly Weaving Workshop. It is usually the Wednesday Weaving Workshop, but is sometimes on Friday. I have had a request for an evening group. Is that  EWWW? Maybe not.

Modeling three circle shawls. The one in the middle is the prototype that Diane brought a year ago. We analyzed the fabric construction and the design of the piece, after which Chris and I both wove shawls. Check out the back of these shawls:

Yesterday's WWW was truly Wonderful--soaking up the January sun and talking about our favorite pastime!

Maybe I'll change the name to WX4= Wonderful Wacky Weaving Women.

Two busy weekends

I spent the last two days in Placerville teaching Weave a V-Shawl to the Hangtown Fiber Guild. Here are the results:

Ladies,  please turn around.

These are the warps for shawls not quite finished:

Quite a variety of shawls!

Last weekend was Lambtown in Dixon, CA. The fiber building was so busy that I barely got outside to snap a few photos. The sheep-to-shawl contest was one of the most popular events. Teams come with looms already warped and they need to prepare and spin the yarn and weave the shawls during the contest. This year the fiber for the weft was Jacob wool from my flock. It got great reviews from the spinners.  Here is the winning shawl woven by the Silverado Guild from Napa:

And a close-up:

The Del Oro Guild got second place:

I didn't get photos of the other shawls, but I did get one of Hangtown Guild's portrayal of their theme of  "Au Naturel":

There is a new use for all that roving that you don't have time to spin! Hangtown always does it with a sense of humor!

One last photo taken at Lambtown:

Do I want to swap out my sheep for a flock of these  cuties? Hmmm...what is a group of chincillas called? Covey--no, that's quail. Warren--isn't that where rabbits live? Crowd? How about Cloud?

Weaving odds & ends

I won't say that I'm catching up with my things-to-weave list, but I'm plugging away at it. I have sold about half of the baby blankets on the PURPLE warp.

but have enough left to put some on the website and maybe resurrect my etsy listings too. I have a new baby blanket warp on the loom ready to thread. Not everyone wants a purple blanket for a baby gift and that's all I have right now!

Here's a full-size blanket that I finally finished for a customer using her yarn.

This is a blanket for another customer who sent me her Jacob wool.

And here's a funky bag. I'm experimenting with felting up some odds and ends of wool fabric to create bags. I think they'll get better as I perfect it.

I have taught a couple of weaving classes in the last few weeks as well. Here are the participants and their scarves:

It's sure nice now that I have room in my shop to have 5 people weaving at once!

Another weaving class

I taught the Weave a V-Shawl class in Stockton this month. Judy Allen of Gilmore Looms organized it and we used the space at the shop to hold the class. Five students took the class and here's what they created. These shawls are right off the loom so fringes and wet finishing will be done later. Aren't they incredible? And all so different.

In the photo above you can get a feel for the warp. It's the photo below that shows what happens when the shawl is woven--you get fun plaids on the back. The second, third and fifth shawl are out of my Jacob wool. The first is a cotton mix that Judy wove for her mother (modeling the shawl).  The 4th shawl is out of beautiful handspun and the shawl on the far right is a variegated alpaca yarn--so soft.

One of the most fun things for me was that I took an old Gilmore loom I have to the class on the 2nd day and Bob spent a lot of time fixing things for me. This loom was made in 1962 and I acquired it a few years ago. Bob fixed the space where the reed goes in the beater so that I don't have to jam it in. He cut slots so that the top bar that holds the reed in place will slip out without having to undo the bolts. He showed me how to fix the reeds that have the tape coming off of them. And most exciting--he turned the beam into a sectional beam for me. Photo to come later.

Thanks to Bob for the loom work and to Judy for organizing the class...and of course the students.

A Successful Weaving Class

I spent the last two days in Placerville, about an hour from my place, teaching a beginning weaving class. The Hangtown Fiber Guild meets at a great facility. They use a classroom at a local church with plenty of space--tables, running water, etc.  There were 7 students and a few helpers and everyone finished their scarves in the allotted time. It is always fun to see the variety of scarves and this class was no exception. Here are some photos of the scarves on the looms.

These are the finished scarves before washing or finishing fringes. Great job!