Teaching and Learning

Have all of you weavers discovered WeaveZine? I have posted several links to it on my Resources page, but thought it worth mentioning here. I only recently discovered it myself and think it is a treasure! An online magazine is sort of different for old-fashioned folks like me, but I am getting up to speed. There are articles, tutorials, inspiring stories and photos. The part that I am enjoying most right now is the "Podcasts". (Another new idea for me.) They are interviews with some of the BIG names in weaving. I have been listening to them while I weave. This one titled "Weaving Teachers" that I heard last week was timely because..........
I am preparing for an exciting weaving trip to New Mexico. This will be the very first time I have attended one of the Handweavers Guild of America conferences, known as Convergence. I will "Join thousands of fiber enthusiasts and hundreds of vendors from all over the world, exhibiting and sharing their knowledge of weaving, spinning, dyeing, basketry, digital imagery, sewing, knitting, color and design, and much more at HGA's biennial fiber arts conference."
It will be in Albuquerque from July 18-25. The location made it an easy choice. I have a really good friend who lives there, and I LOVE New Mexico!  I will be attending educational sessions on Digital Photography for Fiber Artists, Navajo Weaving Traditions of Ganado, AZ,  Ikat of Uzbekistan, and Ply Split Braiding. If time allows, I will also slip in on a Drop Spindle class and a Continuous Warp Weaving one.
And if that wasn't enough.......
The last time I visited NM, I joined the Espanola Valley Fiber Arts Center. (I wish we had something like it in my area). I noticed that there were inkle looms in the shop there sitting on a top shelf and collecting dust. NM is known for the fiber arts traditions there and , well, inkle weaving is not one of them. But I hate to see an abandoned inkle, so I asked if I could teach a workshop next time I came. They encouraged me, so I am now set up to do that on the Saturday following Convergence. For class description, click here.
Will everyone in the state be weaved out by then?
Maybe not everyone could attend Convergence. I'm hoping to get at least 4 students sign up to make it happen. Inkle weaving has been pretty much a lifelong passion for me and I see myself as an evangelist for this often-overlooked loom. So, I hope we get a full class and I can have the opportunity to inspire someone in New Mexico.
This post is getting rather wordy, so to show you that I am not just all talk, here are some photos of custom sashes that I have been working on. Tomorrow they will go in the mail. I don't absolutely love everything that I make, but these two are exceptions.

Thanks to these two gentlemen for allowing me to help manifest their visions in this way. The purple chain one is going to a man for his Native American regalia, which makes it even more satisfying for me. Parts of the regalia usually have a special significance to the wearer and are chosen for a reason.