New Mexico Fiber Crawl

Once again, I'll be participating in the annual New Mexico Fiber Crawl!!

This great state-wide event is brought to you by the Española Valley Fiber Arts Center. 

In it's third year now, it covers even more communities and sites than ever.

"Join in our three-day 2019 New Mexico Fiber Crawl, Friday, May 17, through Sunday, May 19, to celebrate New Mexico’s rich fiber arts heritage and the people who make wonderful fiber creations. The New Mexico Fiber Crawl is an opportunity to explore fiber studios and farms, experience fiber demonstrations, attend special gallery and museum events, win prizes, and visit fiber arts shops. 

Whether you are a fiber enthusiast, a visitor, a friend or a collector, the 2019 New Mexico Fiber Crawl is a great way to discover and enjoy the world of fiber arts in Northern New Mexico. You’ll meet the weavers, knitters, spinners, felters, embroiderers and new media artists who are sharing their love of the fiber arts at this event. Plus, you’ll have a great time!"

You can find me on Saturday and Sunday at Vortex Yarns in Taos!

It's located at 218A Paseo del Pueblo Norte. Phone (575) 758-1241.

I'll have copies of my new book as well as straps, belts and other colorful things! 

To learn more about all the sites and events happening this weekend, find the printable map and schedule here: http://www.nmfibercrawl.org/sites-and-events

The Ebook is Ready!!

Launching a book is a BIG adventure. If you are doing it yourself, it can be overwhelming and amazing and frustrating and glorious.
For me, it has been all of these things in varying proportions from one day to the next. 

It's May 3rd and I am traveling in California to teach a couple of weaving workshops and do a guild presentation. (See my Events page for details.) More adventure!
On May the 1st, with help, I launched the ebook version of "In Celebration of Plain Weave" from the road. It is now available in my Etsy shop here:https://www.etsy.com/shop/ASpinnerWeaver

I brought a dozen copies of the paper book along, thinking I'd ship them from the road. They had been selling at a rate of 2-4 each day. But, something surprising happened. The first day out, I sold the 12 copies I had wrapped and brought with me. So, they are out of stock until I return home again. I'm now selling from the 3rd printing!!!!
(Each printing has been 250 copies.)

I'm delighted with the response that the book has been receiving!! 
Check out some of the comments below: 

Liz Gipson, Yarnworker.com
" Just got my copy of this book in the mail and it is SO GOOD. The section on color is pitch perfect and I think any weaver would find it helpful. "

One of my bandweaving heroes is Susan Foulkes. She is such an important source of information on bandweaving from around the world. Her research and re-creation of historic bands is amazing!

If you don't already subscribe to her blog, I highly recommend it! This week she wrote a review of my book and tried out one of the patterns for herself. Thanks, Susan! You can read it here:

https://durhamweaver64.blogspot.com/2019/05/a-new-band-weaving-book.html

5-star Etsy reviews:

"I had high expectations of this book, having seen Annie's contributions to inkle weaving both through her website and through various Facebook groups. I have to say that, even so, I was blown away by how thoughtfully designed, organized and illustrated this book is. I'm no newbie to color theory, but the concepts and examples here are so well presented that this will definitely be a main reference for me. Brava!"

"I am a beginner inkle weaver, and I find the patterns very helpful to use. The pattern pictures are big, clear, and colorful. I love that the book is spiral bound."

"I love this book. I’ve been so inspired that I’ve completed three and have another on my inkle loom ready to start tomorrow. Great book...so glad bought it!"

"This book needed to be written and I’m so glad Annie was the one to do it. Great job, and beautiful pictures. Thanks for signing it too!!"

"Beautiful book! Well done, spiral binding always a good thing for crafting books. This book goes pretty deep into color theory and design elements specific to warp-faced band weaving. And makes it so understandable. Getting better control over what you want a band to do - sizzle and pop banjo straps or soothing calm yoga staps, it's all about color. Thank you, Annie, for putting this all together in a way that makes sense to a band weaver!"

"A Beautiful book all the way through. I especially liked Color Relationships and Color Schemes. and Color and Human Perception as it applies to more than one of my hobbies. It was you Annie MacHale who inspired me to take up weaving. I really enjoy it. Thank you!"

"This book is beautiful beyond words. Every page was breathtaking. I love it! It arrived sooner than expected which was icing on the cake. Thank you, Annie."

The Book- Launch and Learn! Corrections Made!

Well, it has been an amazing and busy couple of weeks since the launch of my book on March 18th. After day 2, it was obvious that the initial print run of 250 books was not going to last long, so I placed a reorder. Some folks had to wait for that second order to arrive before I could send their copy out to them. I appreciate the understanding. Over 300 copies have been signed and mailed.
If you don't have one yet, here's where you can get it: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ASpinnerWeaver

Waiting for the ink to dry. 

Thanks to everyone who ordered one!!! Media mail is slow, so some are still waiting for delivery.
One customer reported that she tracked her package and it was sorted through 3 locations within an hour of her home before it finally arrived. Still, I love the U.S. Mail and am grateful for their system which works great most of the time.

I've sent books to people in 7 countries besides the U.S. Extra thanks to those who paid as much to have it shipped as they did to buy the book. It's hefty, weighing 1 pound and 6 ounces packaged, and is expensive to ship overseas.

Some lovely reviews have been written on Etsy and I have received many nice personal notes, FB comments and phone calls. I love hearing what each person liked and/or found useful in the book.

My local guild, the Las Arañas Spinners and Weavers Guild, arranged a little book-signing event at our last meeting and I was delighted that so many of my peers wanted copies!

The PDF version is in the works and almost complete. We are working out the delivery system as the file is too large for Etsy to handle. Each of the 200 pattern links in the catalog had to be checked as they will  be live links in the PDF. Although I swear I checked them all before we went to print, some errors were found in this round of checking. Also, a customer wrote to mention an incorrect pattern number referenced in the text. HORRORS!

So...... If you have a copy of the book, please note the following corrections.
If you would like to print them to insert in your book, here's the link to a printable page:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/oiw6t1mjrzwevqa/Document.docx?dl=0

Page 111, Caption for Figure 102 should refer to

Pattern # 159

Pattern # 19 : Short link nn

Pattern # 71 : Short link nX

Pattern # 147 : Short link nZ

Pattern # 152 : Short link nP

Pattern # 172 : Short link nb

Pattern # 194 : Short link nh

Sorry for any inconvenience!

Annie 

My Book Is Now Ready for Purchase!

It's a book about weaving design especially for inkle weavers and band weavers. Learn what you need to know about color and design for weaving narrow warp-faced bands.  This book is a feast for the eyes, containing many inspiring, full-page, color photos. 

Take a look at this video for a sneak peek inside! https://www.facebook.com/annie.machale/posts/10218311760173904

In the book I distill color theory into some basic guidelines specifically for band weavers and demonstrate how to get extraordinary while using a simple plain weave. The art is in the warping and the possibilities are endless!

This book is available in a spiral bound 8 1/2 x 11" paperback or an ebook.

It includes:

* Color terminology and color theory basics
* Pattern design basics and advanced tips
* 115 pages
* 105 color illustrations
* 200 interactive pattern charts -Open them using the online program "Inkle Loom Pattern Editor"

The book is divided into three sections:
Section One is a discussion of color theory and band design including my best tips from years of experiments. Get ideas and resources for choosing color combinations.
Section Two illustrates how to create plain weave patterns by breaking it down to the various elements which make up a design. Learn how to to use chains, teeth, stripes, etc. and how to balance them to get pleasing results.
Section Three is a catalog of 200 individual interactive patterns plus tips for turning these into thousands upon thousands more.

Scroll down for a sampling of pages. Click on them to enlarge.

To see pattern samples and get a preview of the way they work interactively, check out this blog post: http://aspinnerweaver.blogspot.com/2018/10/free-interactive-patterns.html

CLICK HERE TO BUY A COPY!