Exciting New Online Tool for Inkle Weavers!!

This is the best new thing to come along for inkle weavers in years!!!

It was created by Jeff Bigot of France. I am especially pleased since he wrote to tell me about it and cited my blog as one of his inspirations. How cool is that?
His other inspiration was The Corolignian Realm's Inkle Weaving Pattern Generator which has helped MANY inkle weavers over the last years.

Try out the new Inkle Loom Pattern Editor here:  http://www.raktres.net/projects/inkle_loom_svg/inkle_loom_svg.html

It has some outstanding features!

Here are some highlights:

• *You can select your own colors using a color picker. Once you find the exact color you want, copy the HEX code and paste it into the Pattern Editor. Amazing! Here's the Color Picker site I  use:  https://htmlcolorcodes.com/color-picker/
• *The cells are uniquely shaped to represent threads in a woven band, so you get a great preview of what your woven band will look like.
• *With one click you can create a PNG file of your design and save it to your computer.
• *Start your pattern on the left side, and click the SYMETRY button and it will automatically reverse the pattern and fill in the right side for you.
• *Once the design is filled in, click the ROTATE button to try the colors in a different order within that pattern.

Below is a 1" wide piece that I wove and the pattern for it created with the Inkle Loom Pattern Editor.

I liked it so much that I modified the pattern to create a 2" version. On this blog, I offer many free patterns for inkle weavers to use.  Consider that any of the 1" patterns found HERE could be turned into a 2" pattern by adding some threads. Compare the design below to the one above.
The 1" version has 41 threads and the 2" version has 77 threads.

New Mexico Fiber Crawl

Lucky for me that I live in a state where fiber arts play such a large role in the history as well as the current livelihood of so many people. There is much support for those of us who carry on the work of raising and working with fiber.

The Española Valley Fiber Arts Center Shop

In Northern New Mexico, there is a small but mighty center of activity in the fiber arts world, the Española Valley Fiber Arts Center. "Our programs aim to increase markets for area farmers producing raw fiber (for example, heirloom Navajo-Churro wool, other wool including mohair, llama, alpaca, angora, bison and yak) by serving fiber art hobbyists, newly discovered talent, novice micro-entrepreneurs, seasoned fiber artists, and those looking to acquire a marketable skill rooted in local traditions such as weaving." I have been a member ever since I first stepped through their doors, several years  before I came to live in New Mexico. 

A brainchild of the EVFAC is the New Mexico Fiber Crawl. The crawl encompasses a massive 135-mile total radius and is divided into several geographic regions: Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Los Alamos, Española, and Taos. It has given local artists in New Mexico much-needed opportunities to supplement their income by bringing the market to them. During the crawl, fiber artists, culture centers, galleries, farms, and museums open their doors to fiber enthusiasts for a behind-the-scenes tour of the fiber art world. Visitors gain a better understanding of the materials used, the process that goes into making the final product, the diverse culture and contexts behind each piece, and the people who make them. There are often demonstrations at each site and artisan-made products available for sale. Now in it's second year, it has grown significantly. Last year, I hosted several friends at my house. You can read about it HERE. We had a blast! But, being sort of off the beaten path, our number of visitors was pretty small. This year, I've chosen to join a group of artisans showing in Albuquerque.

During this year's Fiber Crawl, you can find me at the Designers Warehouse in Albuquerque, weaving all weekend.
Along with me will be 5 other fiber artisans showcasing a variety of talents.
Read about our group at the link below and come visit us on May 18th, 19th, and 20th. 
Designers Warehouse Artists Group

New Mexico Mountainscape

When I have more time to pursue weaving just for fun, I swear I'm going to do some tapestry weaving. I like the idea of weaving pictures. In the meantime, I've found a way to weave little landscapes every now and then on my inkle loom. 

Here's my latest, entitled "New Mexico Mountainscape".

It was created for a show sponsored by the Albuquerque Fiber Arts Council in early April.

The show was cleverly called "Earth, Wind and Fiber".    It was amazing!

Click on any of the photos to enlarge them and see more detail. 

For the sky, I used my go-to yarn, Omega Sinfonia and a little bit of thick and thin "cotton flake" in darker blue to give a bit of texture to the clouds.
The green of the mountains is Reynolds Saucy, a now discontinued yarn which I still have a small stash of. It's a bit thicker than the background yarn which makes the mountains look more solid.
Behind the mountains is some hand-painted Sinfonia. See below for details about that.
The rocky foreground at the bottom of the band is made of some lovely variegated bamboo. To get a rocky texture, I used two strands as one and knotted them together at random intervals.

The yellow/green background yarn was the product of a warp-painting class which I took from a friend, Robin Pascal. You can see her lovely painted yarns HERE.
In my stashed lurked this pale orange Sinfonia, not a color I like much or could ever find a way to use. This was the perfect opportunity to make it into something else.
My original idea was to warp the loom, tie it off, paint the warp, put it  back on and just weave it as it was. Taking the warp off the loom and putting it back on was successful! Yay!
But, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with the resulting band. So, instead, I just decided to wind it off the loom into a ball and some of it became background for the mountains.

In class, Robin had us painting the yarn with brushes. I even tried dyeing a loose skein without winding it into a larger loop first. Shown at front right. It sorta worked. The green ball at front left was wound into a loop, painted with several colors which ended up running into one another making a smooth and pretty green. 

See these posts for more landscapes which I've woven in the past:
Taos Mountain and the Rio Grande Gorge
Sandia Mountains

From the windows of my house, I can see the Sandia Mountains. Everywhere I travel in New Mexico, one or more ranges of mountains are in view. For this I am grateful!

Inkle Classes in My Home Studio

My home in the mountains near Albuquerque has proven to be a very nice place to have classes!! The New Mexico sun shines here almost every day, filling the spacious rooms with light.
The photo below was taken in the living room during a class on the basics of finger loop braiding.

My weaving room (AKA The Color Lab) houses a great stash of yarns! I always have my favorite cotton, Omega Sinfonia, on hand in sufficient quantities and colors for students to choose from. I also sell it from my Etsy shop HERE.

I've just finished creating a schedule of classes for 2018. There are several topics to choose from including:  Color & Design, Setting up & Weaving, Baltic-Style Pickup, and 3-Color Pickup.
For the full schedule, check HERE.  To sign up, send me an email to: iWeaveStraps@Gmail.com.
If these classes don't fit your schedule, contact me for a private lesson.

If you live far from Albuquerque, consider taking a vacation here! There are SO many amazing things to see! I'm working with local Airbnb hosts to provide accommodations to students who come from out of the area.

I'm especially excited to teach the two hour Color & Design Planning classes for the first time!
Playing with color is one of my favorite activities and I can teach you a thing or two about using color in your inkle designs. I have hundreds of woven swatches to look through for inspiration.
We can analyze them, talk about design elements and colors, and learn some do's and don'ts.
Try my method for weaving up a quick sample without using your loom.
I'll  help you to chart your own designs on special graph paper so that you can take them with you to use when you set up your loom later. Or, stay for part two of the class and set up your loom while you are still here.

 I've written a tutorial on the 3-Color Pickup which has been used by weavers around the globe.

Now you can get the hands-on classroom version!

 I love this technique and the colorplay that it allows.

Find the tutorial HERE in my Etsy Shop.