Two Fiber Shows This Month

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This weekend was the annual Open House for Sacramento Weavers and Spinners Guild. I took a loom and wove all weekend.

Robin wearing black and white stars scarf and sitting at the loom weaving.

I warped the loom with ten yards of chenille to weave four scarves.

Natural white handwoven blanket hanging on display.

I took a break to wander around and look at pieces on display. I am so impressed with this blanket woven of my Timm Ranch yarn by one of the members of SWSG. He had asked me about this a year ago and recently sent a photo that I have included in my Friends Gallery. The unique thing about this blanket is that it was woven on a 26” wide loom in triple weave! That means there were three layers, all connected, to make it wide enough using a narrow loom.

Handwoven pieces on display rack, some in black and white and some with lots of color.

Many of these items will look familiar if you’re a regular blog follower. The black and white ones are mine but its nice to see color too!

Black and white handwoven shawls.
Navajo weaving examples on display.

Two members have been teaching Navajo style weaving for years and they had many things on display…

…as well as works in progress.

Close up of chenille warp in blues while being woven on the loom.

This is the chenille warp I was working on.

Blue chenille scarves just cut from the loom.

I finished all four scarves just before the show ended for the day at 4:00. I took the loom home to warp it again for the next day.

After sitting at the loom all day I had to get out and move when I got home. I did my regular loop across the road. That’s Mt. Diablo in the distance.

Robin sitting at the loom wearing a naturally colored knit sweater.

Sunday (today) I was back in Sacramento with a new warp on the loom. This is another ten yards, but this time it’s wool. Notice that my sweater, my warp, and my sheepskin all come from my sheep! (Disclaimer—I did not knit the sweater. A friend did.)

One of the Navajo style weavers shared this piece (green/black/white) with me and we compared it to the piece I was weaving (gray and white). To do this on a Navajo loom he has to create each shed (the opening between the threads) by using sticks and string to lift the necessary threads. Now I wish I had asked him more. It is incredibly time consuming but looks great!

Weaving in progress on the loom.

This is the same warp but I wove the second scarf with black yarn. I didn’t finish all four scarves on Sunday. A lot of people stopped to talk to me and this pattern takes more concentration than the plain weave chenille. It’s also slower to weave because the beat is light and more methodical. I finished three, but will have to weave the last one here.

Old brick house with white deck railing and columns.

Shifting focus here. A friend of mine had entries in “Off the Grid—Contemporary Fiber Art” a show in Woodland since November. I had not made it over but wanted to see it before the show closed last week. This is the Gibson House in Woodland and the show was hanging in the building called The Barn (not much like a barn anymore).

Knitted sweaters hanging on wall in art exhibit.

Susan’s two entries are commentary about…I decided to include her statement (below) instead of trying to paraphrase.

This is a close-up of the handspun paper knitting. I wish I had asked her more about how she did that. Next time I see her…

I knew one other person who had an entry in the show. Her statement about the Corpseflower is below.

Both of these shows are over for this year. I don’t know if the show in Woodland is an annual event, but the Sacramento Weavers Open House is. It’s worth the visit, even if (or maybe especially because) it was Superbowl weekend.