ASpinnerWeaver

Bags, Straps and Powder Horns

2012-01-25T21:36:00.000-08:00

The strap on this leather pouch also carries

the powder horn. This setup is suitable for a single

day's deer hunt.

My husband, Rick, has been doing historic re-enactments for over twenty years. Recently he has been working on some of his gear. A friend's company, The Lumenaris Group, started making some great leather hunting pouch kits and he got a couple. His stitching came out beautifully and he selected woven straps and powder horns from his collection to go with the bags.

With this pouch and the larger horn he is ready for a Rendezvous or Trail Walk.

The wooden powder flask was carved by a friend and is used with a squirrel rifle.

When I realized what a nice collection of powder horns he had stashed in the garage, I suggested that we display them in a prominent location inside the house.
After looking at them for a while, he became inspired to try his hand at scrimshaw.
A book, "Recreating the 18th Century Powder Horn" suggested some ideas for design and described the technique.

His first attempt turned out great!

"They that can give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty or safety" - Benjamin Franklin 1775

This stunning horn was made by Ken "Dirty Hand" Falletti.

Rick chose the strap to go with the horn and stitched the leather tabs onto the ends.

What I've Been Weaving

2012-01-19T09:38:00.000-08:00

I've been making some wool straps. It started with a request from my husband for a project he was working on. (I'll show you that in the next post.) Once I got started with the wools, I kinda went on a binge.

Here are a few pieces that I've finished in the last week.

And this one is still on the loom. It uses some especially beautiful handspun yarn from AFiberLoveJones on Etsy. The yarn is spun from a blend of merino, alpaca and silk.

Snow Dyeing

2012-01-15T08:16:00.000-08:00

Recently I saw this beautiful photo of hand-dyed silk cloth on Facebook, the work of Inge Dam. Her caption was "Snow dyeing surprise." Boy, was I surprised; I'd never heard of snow dyeing! What an interesting concept.
When I inquired about snow-dyeing, she sent me the link to these instructions from the dye manufacturer, PRO Chemical & Dye. http://www.prochemical.com/directions/MX%20PDF/Snow%20Dyeing.pdf
Sounds like fun, right? You can buy the dye and if you can't find snow, then you manufacture your own just like the ski resorts do. (The instructions actually say that you can make your own "snow" by using a snow cone machine.) She used the real stuff.

Inge also sent me these photos of some yarns and the dyeing process. Amazing!

Look at all of those colors!

This is the silk yarn that came out from under all that snow and color.

In this photo, the snow is pretty much melted away, leaving.....

This cotton yarn in scrumptious hues.

Inge is a master weaver and textile designer living in Ontario, Canada. She has earned the distinction of Master Weaver from the Ontario Handweavers and Spinners by completing an in-depth study of Iron Age Textiles from Northern Europe. Drawing on the inspiration from these studies, she now incorporates tablet woven borders and bands into her loom woven textiles. Her colors are vibrant and beautiful and her combined textures within a single piece create her very unique style. Have a look at the photo gallery here on her website for a real treat! Many thanks to Inge for sharing her photos and inspiration with me and allowing me to share it here with you.

The Weaving Monk

2012-01-09T21:11:00.000-08:00

The following story was written by a fellow EtsyWeavers Team member, Blossom Merz. I've been following his business and reading his blog for a while and am impressed with what he is doing. He recently participated in a fundraising program using Kickstarter and I asked him to write about the experience. At the end is a link to his blog so that you can follow along, too. ~Annie
*********************************************************************************


Closeups of the scarf I got from Blossom, showing the color gradations throughout the piece. He does a very nice job of color mixing and blending.

First, I want to give a word of thanks to Annie for inspiring me to write this post and offering to share it with her blog readers. I'd been thinking about writing it for a while, but might not have never gotten around to it without a little nudge. Thanks, Annie!

When I set out to start this weaving business, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. In the last year, I've learned one big lesson: starting a business is way more expensive and time-consuming than I thought it would be.

I had considered what it would cost to acquire my equipment and the materials to weave my cloth. But I didn't realize that I would need to have twice as much thread as I'll actually be using so that there's room to play with colors. Having "just enough" yarn to complete the work is not enough.

I knew I'd have to build a booth to sell my wares, but I didn't think that all the way through, either. The booth also needs its own carpets, lights, drapes, and display forms - all those little touches that turn an empty popup canopy into an enticing and professional retail outlet.

And then there's all the extra equipment that I didn't think about: a yarn winder, dehumidifier, shelving, storage boxes. The list goes on and on.

I realized part way through my first year that I would not get to market with a variety of garments if I didn't find a bunch of money somewhere. Enter Kickstarter!

Kickstarter is a group funding platform with an interesting approach to their projects. Knowing that half of the funding doesn't usually enable half of a project to get done, the funding is "all or nothing". A project does not receive its funding unless it reaches its target before the deadline set when the project launches. Kickstarter doesn't fund anything. In fact they take a little money for the service that they do provide: helping you to create a compelling presentation and a sense of trust for individuals to fund your project.

Every project is required to offer tangible rewards to people in return for their funding. They're flexible in terms of what you offer. Obviously, since I was asking for money to help me produce a new line of cloth, I offered some of that cloth as my rewards.

Before the project was approved, I had to interact one-on-one with a member of the Kickstarter team to prove to them that my goal was reasonable, and that I was asking for enough money to complete the goal if I was funded. After doing a little extra legwork to show them that I knew what I was doing, my project was approved.

Then, it was time for the real work to begin. I worked closely with other members of our new collective to write the script for our promotional video. Kickstarter highly recommends that all projects have a video, and I have to say that I agree. It helps to develop a real sense of who you are and what you're doing.

And once the project was ready to be seen by the world, it was time to launch it and do more real work: getting the word out to people who might be able to help. Yes, some projects get picked up by Kickstarter's publicity and receive help in connecting to donors, but most projects do not. It's up to us to find our own donors and convince them to help us. All but a few donors found out about the project from me or my friends.

Once the project is live, you're working under your own deadline to raise the funds. To spread the word, I used my blog, my email contacts and my Facebook friends list. When people donated, I asked them to help me spread the word to their friends. I kept my Facebook business page updated with the remaining time and money left to meet our goal. It was really down to the wire, but the donations all came in with a couple of days to spare.

And after a two-week delay in receiving the funds, it was time to manage the money to meet my goals. My plan was to use the money to buy yarn for three brand new cloth designs, build a booth to sell my garments at shows, and pay the fees for my first batch of shows.

The first shows would make enough money to pay for the shipping of the rewards. This is where things got a little hairy. I didn't actually do the math of how many rewards would need to be shipped out, or what this shipping would cost.

I also didn't have enough inventory to send out all of the rewards at once and still have a good display at shows. These two things combined, causing donors to wait...

Meanwhile, I had spent the money to get into shows that didn't bring in as much income as I expected. The upside to low sales is that I didn't sell off the rewards that I owed people, I just kept them marked in the booth so that I could replace them if I *did* sell them. The downside is that I didn't have the money to ship out the rewards.

In the end, it all worked out. I did more shows and produced more weaving. It took way longer than I expected, but everyone got their rewards about three months late and I learned some great lessons.

Here are the things I would do differently if I did it again:

1. I would set the rewards more specifically. Instead of "Shawl", I'd make it "Red Shawl", "Blue Shawl", etc. Then I'd set the number of rewards in each category to the inventory that's actually available to ship at the close of the project.

2. I would increase the project goal to cover the fees to Amazon, Kickstarter, and the US Postal Service, leaving enough for me to do the actual project.

3. I would time it to end nearer to "gift season". I'd then guarantee that people would receive their rewards in time for the holidays. I think this would make it easier for people to donate. "I can help out this project AND get holiday shopping done at the same time? Yeah!"

Other than my own mistakes, I found the Kickstarter experience to be a fantastic one. If you need some funding for a project that you're working on, I'd highly recommend the Kickstarter platform. They really do make it as easy as possible to ask for money and have people say "yes".

--
Blossom Merz Handweaving
"Weaving Monk"
Blog: http://blossommerz.com
Etsy Shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/WeavingMonk

New Mexico Centennial

2012-01-06T05:10:00.000-08:00

As you all know if you have been reading this blog for a while, I LOVE NEW MEXICO!

'New Mexico's Centennial' by ASpinnerWeaver

On January 6, 1912 New Mexico became the 47th state.In honor of New Mexico and in the spirit of celebration, I offer this collection of classic icons and beautiful scenes from "The Land of Enchantment".

Route 66 Zia Motor Lodge Vin... RetroRoadsideP... $85.00	San Felipe Church Cross Cast... PixelGallery $25.00	Red Chile Ristras Photo Blan... AlwaysBackroad... $3.00
I Love New Mexico Zia T-Shir... SandiaShirts $13.99	Chimayo Ganscraft Woven Clut... TheClassicButt... $55.00	rare HOLLING C. HOLLING Yei-... quiensabeque $60.00
Lightning Storm in Albuquerq... handelmanphoto $30.00	Pequino Pueblo de mi Corozon bartos $25.00	Vintage Authentic Southwest ... j3decor $38.00
Cranes over Bosque fine art ... RoseCollinsArt... $25.00	New Mexico Zia Turquoise and... SantaFeSilverw... $79.00	Handcrafted Old Santa Fe Sty... PCAS $375.00
Tin Rosette Cross Handmade i... TINspirationsA... $45.00	1884 Antique Map of New Mexi... OldMapsandPrin... $18.00	Silver coin ring New Mexico... azcoinart $33.00
Window of Kit Carsons House ... keithdotson $30.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

Here are some interesting facts to know about New Mexico from High Road Artist, Jeane George Weigel. http://high-road-artist.com/9306/southwest-history/new-mexicos-100th-birthday/

Road Trips and Bucket Lists (Part Three- Patterns)

2012-01-03T12:56:00.000-08:00

For as long as I can remember, I have enjoyed looking at patterns.

I find them everywhere and Mother Nature has the best!

Wishing you much inspiration in the New Year!

Road Trips and Bucket Lists (Part Two-The Homeward Meander)

2012-01-01T12:29:00.000-08:00

After our short and sweet visit in Shady Cove, we came up with a return trip plan that included trying to see Crater Lake, only an hour away. Rick had told me that his father went there twice but never actually saw the lake due to fog. Since he has now passed on, the quest has carried to the next generation. We first called the folks at Crater Lake National Park who told us that the visibility was good, but storms were expected. As we drove up the long and winding road, the suspense was palpable. The higher we climbed, the foggier it became.

Alas, it was cold, windy and FOGGY at the top. Can you tell that there's a lake out there? No, neither could we. After reading the parks website, I have now learned that the lake is only visible 50% of the time in the winter AND they have webcams on their site, so you can take a peek first. We'll just have to go back.

As we drove out of the park, the scenery was pretty spectacular, though!

Then the long meander on the Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway continued in a southerly direction through the rolling hills of southern Oregon. This dark grey horseshoe cloud was one of the most amazing clouds either one of us had seen.

Next stop, we decided, was the Lava Beds National Monument. By the time we reached it, the sun was setting. We walked for a short distance along the trail at P etroglyph Point which was intriguing. The area surrounding us was lovely at this time of day. We were inside a ring of fire with volcanic mountains all around. Worth further exploration, we concluded and set off to find a nearby place to lodge for the night.
Nothing! It was too cold to sleep in the back of the truck, so we pressed on to Alturas for dinner and a motel.
We'll just have to go back.
As soon as it was light we set out again with a revised plan. Pulling out of the motel parking lot, we stopped to let a whole herd of deer (dozen or more) cross the road in front of us.

We ate wild rice pancakes at the Fall River Hotel in Fall River Mills and even purchased a packet of the mix to take home! Yummy! Wild rice is an abundant crop in this area of California and you can see beautiful photos here.

McArthur-Burney Falls State Park proved to be the perfect place for an afternoon walk. The color of the water is amazing!!! Watch the video and it will be just like you were there with us. The trail along Burney creek led us to Britton Lake where we had the company of a pair of bald eagles. Win!

Rolling on along, heading for Lassen Volcanic National Park, we read that there were lava tubes that you can walk through. That went directly onto the bucket list! Wait! WHAT?? The road sign tells us that the park is closed during this time of year. We'll just have to go back.

We were on the last leg of our journey home, but not in any hurry, so we stayed on back roads. Just before sundown on Hwy 99 we had to pull over to watch the flocks of geese and swans that were filling the sky above us and fields around us. There were so many! They were high and low, near and far. You can hear the geese in this video. Sorry about the sounds of traffic on the highway. Another magic moment among many.

Road Trips and Bucket Lists (Part One-The Mountain)

2011-12-30T11:48:00.000-08:00

My husband and I do road trips together very well and this has been the best Christmas present we have given ourselves for the last couple of years.
This year's agenda was to get to Shady Cove, Oregon to visit an old friend of his, an adopted second mother.
We began looking at maps and thinking about what we could see along the way.

Since Mt. Shasta was on my "bucket list" we decided to include that for sure on the way up.
The weather reports showed that rain was likely on Wednesday and after, so we decided mid-day on Monday to take off so that we could make the 7 hour drive that far, spend the night and be ready for a good hike Tuesday morning when we awoke. We were blessed with a warm and wonderfully sunny day.

We drove to the southwestern slope of the mountain to the Bunny Flat trailhead (6,950 feet). In the winter, this is as far as you can traverse by road. Our 3 hour hike took us in zig-zag fashion a short distance up the mountain. With several inches of snow already on the ground, trails were hard to follow. I found that the countless hours of playing in the snow as a child had really taught me something about snow.

Some areas were hard-packed, some had drifts and we had to look for passable routes. Adventure! When possible, we followed someone else's foot tracks. These were left some time ago and had filled up with interesting little bits of nature.

Frequent stops along the way were required to take in all of the breath-taking scenery!

When finishing up our lunch in Mt. Shasta City afterwards, we took one last look up at the mountain before climbing in the truck to drive on. Oh, look! It's cloudy up there now! We were lucky, weren't we?

The return trip was left largely up to chance, with additions and subtractions made up in the moment all along the way. In the next post, I'll show you a few of the amazing discoveries made along our meandering homeward part of the journey.

If you read the above and asked "What is a bucket list?" give yourself a great treat and watch this movie. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0825232/ This link just shows you the movie trailer and hopefully entices you to download it, rent the video or find it in whatever form you choose. It was wisely recommended to me by my mom and dad years ago.

Artist Trading Cards and ACEO's

2011-12-17T06:13:00.000-08:00

Have you heard of them? Well, I had, but had not given them much thought until a member of our Central Coast Textile Artists suggested that we all make some for an upcoming show at the Santa Cruz Art League.

Okay, why not? The Artist Trading Card is a miniature work of art for which the standard size is 2 1/2" by 3 1/2". It just so happens that I had woven this piece as a sample and didn't know what to do with it. It was just shy of 2 1/2" wide and the diamond pattern repeat was just about 3 1/2" long. Bingo!

I added some beads to it and glued it to the properly-sized card.

It is currently in the show until January 8th. At the show's end, the curator will return cards. Not to their makers, however. You see, the whole thing is a trade. Enter one and get someone else's back.

Artist Trading Cards (or ATC's) are based on the idea of baseball cards. The size is the same and they are made to trade. A version has spun off known as ACEO's ( Art Cards, Editions and Originals ) .

These are often sold and I've put together the following treasury on Etsy to showcase some of them.

'ACEO Explorations' by ASpinnerWeaver

I became interested in this mini art formrecently and love exploring the various ways that artists can express themselves when limited to a few square inches of paper.

ACEO Flower No. 14: Rose No.... drawingsbydavi... $15.00	Letter D White Wicker Chair ... AlphaSoupPhoto... $4.00
Aceo, Jewelry Box with Sweet... CopperLeafStud... $50.00	Original Drawing ACEO Black ... gogokittenart $10.00
ACEO ATC Giclee Print: Canad... JacquelineSwan... $5.00	Skull with 2 Crows OOPS Sign... dotbunnysspot $5.00
Sandstorm, ACEO card, sunset... greyocean $10.00	Original Drawing ACEO Greens... gogokittenart $10.00
ACEO Print from My Original ... solamar7 $5.00	East of I95 // ACEO TheJennuineArt... $5.00
ACEO Blue Aspen Dream Altere... MyBlueMind $5.00	SPIRIT SEEKER 3 - Original ... KathyMortonSta... $15.00
Handpainted Fuchsia Pink Flo... TheExpressiveP... $9.50	Textile ACEO - 'Little F... HeketDesigns $10.00
ACEO Painting Kismet -Abstra... galleryzooart $22.00	Consider the Ant in Pink, Ho... PhotoLadz $4.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

This blog post has the best and most thorough information I've seen about making Artist Trading Cards. It will blow your mind with ideas, suggestions and possibilites. It includes a lot of how-to information. Have fun but beware, as I'm told it can be addicting! And if you want to know about how to get involved in trading, this website will help you.

A Week in Review

2011-12-13T10:07:00.000-08:00

This past week I may not have been writing blog posts, but it was because I was doing so many other interesting things like celebrating my youngest daughter's 23rd birthday. My kids are not kids anymore!

I'm reading not one, but two, books: "The Geography of Bliss" by Eric Weiner which I am finding so interesting that I may have to do a book review for you later. Also my husband and I are reading this one together: "Murder Down Under" by Arthur W. Upfield. It is a murder mystery set in Western Australia, written in 1937. The language is a bit difficult in places, but reading aloud to each other makes it more fun.

I did weave a few things in between. Like this guitar strap which I find amusing because it uses an old tie-dyed t-shirt for warp (made into yarn by me) and recycled blue jeans for weft (it's a comercially available yarn from Kollage, called "Riveting".)

Several conversations with interesting folks about potential custom orders took place:
1) There was the guy from Montana who wanted to hunt in his buckskin clothes, but the state requires him to wear Blaze Orange (Hunter's Safety Orange) so he asked if I could weave him a sash in Blaze Orange. I Googled to see what I could find in the way of yarn to accommodate this request.
There is a company, Bartlett Yarns in Harmony, Maine who makes some lovely-looking worsted wool yarn in this color. And then I stumbled upon this knitter's blog because she mentioned having used this very yarn. I inquired to see how she liked it and was rewarded with a friendly message and prompt analysis! Too bad I never heard back from this customer; it would have been fun!
2) A representative of a very large textile manufacturer in North Carolina contacted me to see if I could weave 350 bracelets using some of their yarn in time for a trade show. I responded somewhat hesitantly to this request. Did I really want to do it? But, they do big business in this country and others, too, so I thought it might be interesting. Actually, I'm rather relieved that this order did not materialize, though.
3) A Canadian woman contacted me though to inquire if I would ship to Canada. This led to a long discussion of what she liked in my Etsy shops and ultimately, we agreed that a custom order was called for. I'm not going to go into detail about the project because I've asked her to take photos and write a guest post for the blog about it when we are done. I bet most of you, except maybe some Canadians have never heard of this one.

I've been working on some widget ads to promote new products and think if I had lots more time, I'd take up computer graphic design. My friend, Laverne, helped me out with this and referred me to the software she uses. Here I go downloading pure graphic potential! You can see one of the ads here on her blog. Scroll down until it appears in the sidebar.

Here's another one.

One of my small works is in a small show at the Santa Cruz Art League, and I think I'll tell you more about that next time. We went to the show opening, but it was too crowded to get good photos.

Guitar Strap Kits

2011-12-01T23:00:00.000-08:00

Over time many weavers have asked me "Where do you get the ends for your guitar straps?"
Well, I could never find them either. So, many years ago I began making my own and have gotten smarter along the way, had tools made and become more efficient at producing them.
Now I think I'd like to offer them to others to save them the trouble.

Last week, I listed several "Guitar Strap Kits" for sale in my Etsy shop.
The first 3 sold overnight!

It's All About Guitar Straps

2011-11-27T11:24:00.000-08:00

Lately, my focus has been on weaving guitar straps. Over time, this has been the item that I've sold the most of. It's good for me to focus on one type of item at a time. Then I begin to think in terms of heavy cotton and 2" widths and what can be done in that format. Here is a whole Flickr album devoted to guitar straps that I've woven and it only documents some of the ones in the last couple of years!

Of the recently woven collection, here are a few of my favorites.

The pattern reminded me of ancient pueblo pottery with incised designs.

This one sold quickly from my Etsy shop.

This one also evokes the Southwest with it's terra cotta and turquoise. Another quick sale on Etsy.

When I posted photos of this one on my Facebook page, it garnered many comments with a wide range of associations for people. At any rate, it is one that I think is uncommonly nice. After having it listed in my Etsy shop for a while and not selling, my husband asked if we could keep it. He likes it so much that he wants to take up playing guitar. I love him and whether or not he plays guitar, I am happy to have an excuse to keep this one around.

Because of the lucky Etsy sales, it took me longer to amass a collection for sending off to a gallery. Finally, I selected what I thought was an interesting group, wrapped them up and put them in the mail to the Espanola Valley Fiber Arts Center, in Espanola, New Mexico. As a member of the center, I am able to offer my work for sale in their lovely little shop. Over the years, I have sold several pieces from the shop and am just happy to participate in any way that I can and contribute to this gem of a fiber arts center.

Radical Craft Night

2011-11-20T20:39:00.000-08:00

The Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History held what many of us hope will be only the first "Radical Craft Night". This article in the local newspaper explains the concept pretty well. It was the most hands on kind of event. Each of the museum's three levels and the stairwell in between had multiple things happening and everyone was encouraged to join in. And they did. All ages crafting together.

Outside the entrance, the stage was set. The dark evening was lit by the blazing of two forges and the sounds of steel being hammered.

Inside I met Jim Sloane who was having a ball helping crafty hands to make assemblages of small wooden bits. An example on the wall showcased what he calls his art, "City Scapes & Art Wierdness".
Gotta love it!

I helped with this giant wine bottle cork glue-by- number project. Grab a glue gun, The corks are numbered and so are the squares on the "canvas". We were creating a likeness of the Santa Cruz Lighthouse.

This gentleman was conducting a cardboard tube orchestra!

In one room, people were hammering texture into these aluminum fish, which were then added to a large wire framework which spanned several stories in the center of the museum's winding staircase, creating a giant school of swirling fish.

Simultaneously, a host of women with crochet hooks and knitting needles were "yarn bombing" the stairwell's railing. The ringleader was Debby from a local yarn shop, The Swift Stitch.

The fiber arts were well represented with Rebecca Hiatt weaving on a triangle loom.

Bill working on a twined rag rug.

Members of a local Community Textile Arts & Salvage Workshop, The Fabrica, were on hand with embroidery, sewing and a giant looper loom. The loops were cut from old sweaters.

Help! Google+ Photo Destruction!

2011-11-16T07:17:00.000-08:00

This is partly an announcement, partly a complaint, but mostly an ask for help.
Maybe someone out there has a solution. You see, I've accidentally deleted all of the photos from my blog for the last 2 1/2 years worth of posts. The ones on the first page have been replaced, but if you look back to any post earlier than October 30th of this year, there are ugly black boxes where my photos used to be.
It all started when I thought I'd be cool and start myself a Google+ page. When I did that, a photo album showed up there with all of my blog photos in it. I didn't want it there, so I deleted it.
Oh, BAD MOVE! With the patient help of my daughter, we concluded that it was the album where all of my blog photos were hosted. So, when I deleted the album it left nothing for my blog to reference, and the result is black holes all over the place. Like this. The post is sort of hilarious without photos.

Thanks to Marsha (Pandula Arts Creations) for sending me an e-mail and alerting me that there was a problem.
Does anyone have any idea about how to recover a deleted Picasa Web Album? I've posted the question in the Google help forums. Although, I did send a message to Google, they tell you that they do not respond individually to these messages. Ugh!

You Meet the Most Interesting People in This Line of Work! Nathan Taylor of Taylor Knives

2011-11-10T22:10:00.000-08:00

I first met Nathan on the World Wide Web when he purchased a powder horn strap from my Etsy shop. I absolutely love it when customers tell me how they intend to use what they buy. For many it is a costume piece or goes hand in hand with what they make themselves. For Nathan, this strap was to go with his Revolutionary War uniform. We struck up a conversation that has been going back and forth ever since. Recently I asked him if he would write about his craft, knife-making for my blog. I really enjoyed reading his response and hope you will, too.

What is it that you love to make? I make knives the same way they have been made for centuries. Period pieces are my favorite blades to make and I am fascinated by the craftsmen of old who made blades with far less equipment than I have. They were the true masters and to emulate their craft is exciting and challenging to me.

How long have you been doing this and how did you get started? I started in 1997 after my father-in-law showed me how he made knives. After that I got some training from some of the South’s top master smiths and started doing my own “thing”. There was a lot of experimenting the first few years until I realized there was no gimmick or shortcut to knife making and I practiced until I got it right.

What inspires you? Inspiration comes from quite a few things. Sometimes a piece of material has a feel or look that gives me an idea for a project and I build the knife from that. Researching older swords and blades gives me ideas for knives and I often mix and match guards, blades, and handle shapes from old pieces.

7 1/2" Boxwood and bronze sgain dubh made for a Canadian customer

What is the trickiest part of what you make? I guess the hardest thing to do is not to repeat a knife. Each knife needs to have a unique feature for me to feel good about making it. Coming up with different patterns or ideas is what keeps me interested.

What have you made that was most memorable? A good friend of mine who is a constable here in Texas wanted a custom knife with .45 Auto shell cases in the guard. It took a day and a half designing and building the guard out of one piece of steel. I think it was my most memorable build just because of the time it took to make that guard.

American Riflemans Knife made with steel fittings and an Axis deer horn picked up off the ground after a brush fire. The fire gave the horn that deep brown look. 16" long

Do you do custom work? I do some custom work but honestly prefer not to have strict guidelines in making them. Some customers have exacting guidelines ( CAD drawings, etc..) or want a knife just like another makers, those type of request I usually decline since I like to have some “artistic license” in what I do. I go more by the feel and look of the knife and how the materials work out during the process instead of specific measurements.

Nathan at the forge.

What would you like to make? Just recently I acquired a welder from a friend with the intention of making Scottish basket hilted swords. One I made with an antique basket that I keep in my collection, however now I plan to make the whole sword in my shop. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_broadsword#Scottish_broadsword

You can find Nathan and his work on the web in the following places:

Website: https://sites.google.com/site/taylorknives/home

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Taylor-Knives/118232621593669

Etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/TaylorKnives?ref=ss_profile

Ebay: seller- taygrd

Workshop Day 3 Wrap Up

2011-11-07T08:13:00.000-08:00

What a great time we all had! There was humor, color, and lots of learning. The table in the center of the studio reflects our state of creative mayhem!

Each day's lessons built up layers of understanding, one thing leading into the next.

By the end of our three days we had worked through several variations of warp substitution, culminating in a patterned double weave.

Martha Stanley, who lent us her studio for the workshop, spent some time showing her projects which reproduced Anasazi textiles. She is a treasure! How lucky we were to have this as a bonus!

Beautiful and amazing. We hope to see this in a museum one day so others can benefit from her years of research and re-construction of this blanket design.

At the end of the workshop we all gathered 'round to view each others accomplishments, marvel at each person's creativity with color and pattern. What a awesome time we had! Thanks to all for making it so!

Ingrid Crickmore had a sampling of her braids on hand for us to look at.

You can see more of her work here on her blog, http://loopbraider.wordpress.com/

Many of us are looking forward to a workshop in January or February with Ingrid to learn her braiding technique. And it will be good to get the group together again!

And there was talk about scheduling Laverne back for another workshop in the Spring. What do we want her to teach us next? As I go forth into my workaday world, I carry the sweet memories of our time and visions of patterns dance in my head. I can't seem to stop thinking about this beautiful backstrap that I have been using. Maybe I should spend some time on the lessons from Laverne's book, Andean Pebble Weave.

Backstrap Weaving Workshop Day 1

2011-11-04T20:30:00.000-07:00

In April, Laverne Waddington came to teach a backstrap weaving workshop for the Santa Cruz Handweavers Guild. I wrote about that here. After it was over, we decided that a second one in the Fall to follow up would be a good idea. Today, we began our three day workshop, learning new patterning techniques. Wow!

First of all, when you take a class from Laverne, she lets you use one of these beautiful backstraps that she's woven. What a great way to start off.

We are going to learn some Bedouin patterns and techniques.

We started the morning with weft twining. It was fun! Here are my efforts.

Everyone did something completely different. Yonat's work was really nice! (Sorry the photo is fuzzy.)


And Ingrid's was amazing, too!

If you want to know more about weft twining, Laverne has written about it and made some video tutorials here on her blog.

It was a busy day. Here we are making new warps in the afternoon.

The warp substitution was surprisingly easy and enjoyable. I liked this pattern, which is a common element in the Bedouin weavings. It is certain to turn up in a guitar strap at sometime in my future. There is a tutorial for this here.

Tomorrow there is more to come.

Local Girls Make Good

2011-10-30T20:23:00.000-07:00

It's been an exciting week at our house!
My daughter Natasha has one of her photographs in a show called "Works on Paper" at the Santa Cruz Art League. This is a juried show and the first time she has ever submitted any of her photos to a show. Out of three submissions, this one made the grade. Good job, Natasha!

Here she is at the opening reception on Saturday with her photo. Judging by the other artists we saw at the reception, she is quite a bit younger than the rest. I hope that this experience will encourage her to do more with her lovely photography.

Also this week "The Wheel" magazine went out to 36,000 people world-wide with my article in it!
This publication is from Ashford Wheels & Looms of New Zealand. I was thrilled last year to meet Richard Ashford at Convergence and was invited to weave in the Ashford booth there.
You may remember seeing some of the photos like this one on the blog previously.

One thing led to another and I soon received an e-mail from his wife, Elizabeth asking me to write an article. She does a wonderful job of editing this magazine which is published but once a year. It is a feast for the eyes! Fiber lovers will get lost in it. I am very happy with how my two-page article appears. It has two parts. One is about me and my inkle weaving life and one is a description of how to weave letters. If you are a member of the Ashford Club, you will already have your copy. If not, check your local yarn shop. If they carry Ashford products, they will have it.

What Makes a Good Photo?

2011-10-27T20:32:00.000-07:00

Some of my photos turn out well, and some just don't. Why? I enjoy setting up the shot, using props and arranging the woven piece to show it off. My biggest challenges are how to get the color to show up correctly and the lighting to be even across the piece. A light box, you say? Maybe I'll try this one day. For now, I photograph outside under shade, usually at the beginning or end of the day. (Like before and after work.)

A few weeks ago, I took a one-day digital photography class at the local junior college. The instructor, Jeff Luhn, has a super-impressive resume and was an excellent instructor! The biggest lesson I got was about setting the white balance on my camera.

Here is one of the guitar straps that I made last week. I did a great photo shoot one evening. Loved the composition of the photos and most of them came out crisp and clear. But, the color was much too blue (see above photo). The next day I tried it again after setting the white balance on my camera. The photo at right is a much more accurate representation.

Also, in this example, it is obvious that the first one (on the left) is much more blue than the second one (on the right). The one on the right is more accurate.
Although my camera (Canon PowerShot A560) has many lighting presets that I use, this one "Custom White Balance" allows me to get a reading from a piece of white paper and tells the camera to use this as the basis for it's information. Each time that I set up to shoot some product photos, I need to repeat this process for the exact lighting situation that I am in at that moment.

I also plan to experiment with the location to get the lighting more even. Mr. Luhn demonstrated several ways to get better lighting and one of the things I think might be affecting my shots is the reflection from the white stucco walls when I set up to close to them on the front patio. I'll let you know.

These are two of the six new guitar straps listed in my Etsy shop this week and it feels good to re-stock.

Happy Customers are a Great Reward

2011-10-22T16:37:00.000-07:00

Google is my friend. It helps people find me and my weaving and I like that.
Gene did a Google search for "blue jean guitar strap" and was led to my etsy shop.

Closeup of a guitar strap woven with "Riveting" a yarn from Kollage Yarns

That particular guitar strap had already been sold, but he got to looking around and here is what he found and purchased. When I sent him an e-mail to let him know I was shipping the order, I asked how he found me.
His beautiful message was an affirmation that I am doing the right thing. Here are some excerpts:

"I have a couple of guitars that are special to me.

After looking at the prices on Musicians Friend and some other sites for guitar straps, I decided your inkle loomed straps were for me and my special guitars.

I love your art and somehow, I feel your sprit is in tune with what my artist wife and I are into.

Plus I just could not stop looking at the pattern, and how well it was made.

So basically I spent way more for guitar straps than I planned, but I am sure every penny was worth it.

You are producing ART, keep up the good work!"

An unusual type of motif for me which I made up as I went along.

This one was called "Radiating Reds" because of the gradation of colors going from light in the center to dark on the borders.

When is a Piece of Cheese Like a Brick Wall?

2011-10-17T23:04:00.000-07:00

United by a common pattern:

cheese, a guitar strap, a brick wall, tweed, and shoes!

The conversation started with a fellow weaver telling me that she had seen this pattern on a piece of cheese and was thinking about how to weave it.

Which reminded me of this guitar strap that I wove.

Which was inspired by this brick wall that I saw.

It reminded someone of a twill pattern.

(This photo was taken from a tutorial on how to do a diagonal weave on a Weave-It loom. You can read the tutorial here on this blog. http://abmatic.wordpress.com/2007/09/03/diagonal-weave-on-a-weave-it/ )

And reminded someone else of the tread on his shoes.

When I posted the cheese photo on Facebook, the rest of this just sort of unfolded naturally with the help of my Facebook friends! What say you, Blogger friends?

A Day at the Ren Faire

2011-10-13T22:10:00.000-07:00

Here in Northern California, there is a Renaissance Faire that runs for 6 consecutive weekends.

My oldest daughter had a birthday last weekend, so off we went to celebrate in another time.

She took this picture of me wandering through the crowd.

The costumes are always amazing, either by their boldness or by their great attention to detail.
This weekend, the theme was "Fantasy" which led to a greater variety of costumes than is typical.

This gentleman, who I passed in the crowd, was wearing one of my woven sashes and allowed me to take a photo. Great smile!

I love seeing handmade things from near and far that appear for sale in the tents of traders.

Like these shoes from Africa. (Morocco, I think.)

Hand-tinted straw was used to make this intricate picture on a small wooden cross

by Maria Salome of Baja, Mexico. Stupendous!

In the Mountains

2011-10-08T09:27:00.000-07:00

A couple of weekends ago, my daughter and I hopped in the truck early Saturday morning to drive the five hours up to the Sierras to visit my son in South Lake Tahoe . This is such a lovely place with many beautiful lakes, streams and waterfalls and an abundance of pine forests. By the time we arrived, we had half the day left and then half of Sunday before we had to head home again.

We made the most of our daylight hours with easy walks in stunning scenery. The sun shone and the temperature was ideal. Here we are in Emerald Bay State Park.

Some locals gave us good advice about places to go. This time of year, the Kokanee salmon return to Taylor Creek to spawn. We saw a few of the bright orange fish near the surface of the super clear water!

The groves of Aspen trees near the creek were beautiful, too.

Glen Alpine Falls was amazing; we had a picnic lunch and scrambled all over the rocks.

And I did some weaving on my Ashford Inklette. With this mini loom, you can weave anywhere!

My son took this video.

Our timing was excellent! Here's what it looks like at Lake Tahoe this week!

Beautiful place, beautiful people, a fabulous trip!

2011-09-27T22:05:00.000-07:00

Here is the painting mentioned in the last post. Darlene Boyd painted myself and Linda Bjornson happily doing our thing and visiting in the garden. Here is a little bit about Darlene from her website:
“I am a sculptor, who also enjoys painting and drawing. I am not
tied to any particular medium, and I thrive in experimenting and
blending many materials. I am interested in forms, surfaces, visual
metaphors and the emotional responses that my art work evokes.
I particularly enjoy teaching art and using these processes both
as forms as self-expression and as a means to heal oneself. ”
You can explore her website here: http://www.darleneboyd.com

I've been so busy running around and having fun! Here is a link to my photos of last weekend's adventure. California's Lake Tahoe and surrounding areas are full of amazing scenery and great places to hike. My son lives there. It was totally worth driving for 5 hours up on Saturday and 5 hours back on Sunday, 'cause we got about 28 hours there to go exploring. If the video came out, I'll show you that later. Extreme weaving!
Also, this week is about furthering my education. Last night I took a class from graphic designer and Facebook wizard, Judi Oyama. Tomorrow, it's "Retailer Workshop" with Robert Gibbs and on Saturday, I'll be taking a class on Digital Photography at Cabrillo College.
Whew! Hope you are all having as much fun as I am!

Paint Out

2011-09-22T07:54:00.000-07:00

A group that I belong to, the Aromas Hills Artisans, has a monthly informal get-together we call "Paint Out". It is always held in some scenic place, often the yard or garden of a member. The idea is that we all just hang out and create art on the spot. Most of those who come can draw or paint, unlike myself.

When I show up, I bring along a loom and do what I do. Since I already have my loom warped up, I'm not creating spontaneously, inspired by what I see. However, I may find a pattern somewhere or color combination and use it later.

Mostly, it's just fun to hang out and chat. I sat with my friend Linda Bjornson, who makes her living with her stained glass art, but also likes to sketch and paint with watercolors. Linda is quite accomplished in her stained glass work which you can see here on her website.

I also had the pleasure of chatting with a newer member, also a professional artist. Trudy Karl got my attention by saying "I love patterns." A kindred spirit! Trudy showed me some of the illustration and design work which she sells through her website and others. I was particularly drawn to some of the Celtic knot patterns she has created.

I loved this picture of Katherine Stutz-Taylor with her paints and smile! She is a printmaker extraordinaire and art teacher. You can visit her website here. http://www.stutztaylor.com/index.php.

At the end of the day, as we were leaving Linda said to me, "Did you see Darlene's painting? She was painting us!" Sure enough, there on Darlene's easel was a painting of Linda and I, which I loved. My camera batteries gave up before I could capture this. I hope to work something out later with Darlene to purchase it, and I'll show you then.

Loom With A View

2011-09-12T21:51:00.000-07:00

This is what it looked like from my side of the loom.

From ASpinnerWeaver

And here's from the other side of the loom. My husband took this one. We spent a night in this little tent cabin in Pescadero, Ca last weekend. It was a romantic getaway to celebrate our 11th wedding anniversary.

In the morning we sat, drank tea and became part of the scenery. My sweet husband read to me while I wove.

This is the finished piece. It is a custom order to be used as a handfasting cord in an upcoming wedding ceremony. I hope the lucky couple are as lucky as we are! Refer to this post to read about the tradition of handfasting.

I highly recommend the Coastanoa Resort.

Our cabin was nestled in this cypress forest and we had the one with the best view out over the valley.

In the afternoon, we went on a really nice hike over across the valley.

I was entertained by things we saw along the way.

I learned how to tell coyote scat from fox scat. And this pile of dry plants that looked like nothing to me, is really a wood rat's nest.

Here is the view out over the Pacific Ocean with Ano Nuevo Island in the distance.
Happy Anniversary to US!

My New Kick- The Utility Bracelet

2011-09-06T07:47:00.000-07:00

I love jewelry and have been wanting to find a way to use my weaving to create something fun in the jewelry category for quite a long time. Every idea I've come up with so far has been too complicated. Until now, none of them have come to fruition. An accidental discovery of these small side release buckles recently gave me what I was looking for.

These bracelets are super lightweight and soft against your arm.

They are nice to wear, in pairs or groups even.

But that's not all, oh no, that's not all. You can use them for 100 other things (still working on the list).

If you think of them as a tiny utility strap (like you can buy at the camping store) or perhaps a soft and flexible carabiner, you will be able to come up with several uses right off the top of your head, I bet.

Here are the first ones that come to my mind:
keys to belt loop
keys to purse strap
water bottle to backpack
kids lunchbox to backpack
umbrella to briefcase
I'd love to hear your ideas! Please leave a comment!
The first few have been listed in my Etsy shop here. http://www.etsy.com/shop/ASpinnerWeaver?section_id=10374886

The Colorful Art of George Colin of Salisbury, Illinois

2011-08-31T21:30:00.000-07:00

Sign outside the Colin Art Gallery in Salisbury, Illinois.

Inside, every nook and cranny was filled with art.

My dad, his friend Mabel and I had a lovely visit with Mrs. Colin while soaking in the colorful atmosphere that Mr. Colin's art provided. What a treat! George, 82, is represented by the Art Stop Gallery and you can see more of his work here on the Art Stop website. The self-taught artist began drawing in the 1950's on paper gleaned from dumpsters and amassed a collection of more than 7,000 paintings before he was
"discovered" a few years ago. His body of work includes over 10,000 drawings and paintings as well as more than 4,000 pieces of wooden folk art furniture and sculpture.

One of my favorite George Colin pastels, although representative of New Mexico, not Illinois.

I loved all of the bright colors, and want to weave some pieces using some of George's color combinations.

His use of color was truly inspirational!

This one keeps popping into my mind even though it's more than a week later. I don't usually like abstract paintings. I'm thinking about a guitar strap with these colors.

What I Did on My Summer Vacation

2011-08-28T19:54:00.000-07:00

My hometown is Springfield, Illinois; I left for California when I was about twenty. Every year or two I try to go for a visit. It is a pleasure to see my family, as they are a truly a wonderful bunch of people, and old friends welcome me back.

The state of Illinois as represented in cheese at the Illinois State Fair.

This year I had 11 days including travel each way and no particular plan. My schedule filled in as soon as I hit Illinois dirt. What a great trip! I got to spend quality time with each of my family members, see some places that I had not previously, gaze upon miles of corn fields and found time to weave in between activities.

I packed my Ashford Inklette in it's cute little suitcase and took it on the plane as carry-on luggage. When they told me that the overhead compartments were full, and I'd have to check it, I told them it contained something fragile. They found a spot for it in First Class! Not wanting to pack a lot of yarn along, I had sorted through the stash of crochet cottons and grabbed everything in a ball smaller than a golf ball. Two sandwich baggies full of color bits provided what I needed to work on a new product, a utility bracelet.

Weaving was a great way to stay grounded while traveling. A regular daily activity mixed in between the assorted places I visited, both new and familiar. My goal for the vacation: 33 bracelets. I finished about 46.

Finished the weaving, that is. Each piece should provide 4-6 limited edition bracelets. I'll get them stitched up and show you what my plans are for them a little bit later.

Meanwhile, here are a few pictures from my travels.

Clayville Historical Site, where I was first introduced to inkle weaving.
This "tavern" building was erected in 1824 from brick produced on site from the local clay.
The site has recently undergone some restoration and is looking beautiful!

These two photos were taken at Rockome Gardens in Arcola, IL, a truly unique sort of place.

A couple with a dream of having the largest flower garden in Douglas County purchased this 208 acre farm and chose to devote 7 acres to flower gardens, rock formations and their summer cottage. Work toward development of the gardens began in 1937. When work at his company was slow do to the war and the depression, the owner, instead of letting his workers become unemployed, sent them out to construct rock formations and fences on his property.

These are many and peculiarly entertaining. After some time, they opened it to the public at no charge, saying "It is merely our donation to your happiness to make us both forget war, strife, jealousy, death and destruction".

Arcola is in the heart of the Illinois Amish community, and proved an interesting place to visit.

I brought home some corn cob jelly and other culinary delights.

One brother, one sister and I set off for a short trip to Southern Illinois to visit Giant City State Park, which I've been wanting to see since I was a teenager. It provided two days worth of hiking on lush green forested trails with interesting rock formations. I highly recommend it. If you go, take a couple of family comedians with you to enhance your experience. I did!

Campfires, Full Moon, Musical Saws, Laughter (And Weaving, of Course)

2011-08-17T16:55:00.000-07:00

It was beautiful summer weather for camping out last weekend at the Summer Gathering of Mountain Men. Since this is a great time to see "shooting stars", I chose not to sleep in a tent, but tossed my bedroll right out on the grass under the stars. The full moon was at it's best, which was enjoyable, but unfortunately cut down on visibility of the stars.

The campfire was beautiful and the company was really entertaining. Sometimes I think that I just go to these events to get a good laugh!

An outdoor store always suits my sashes. The silent windchimes got a nice breeze.

My friend, Troy was set up across from me. His camp always looks great. He finds nice stuff, but most of it he makes himself after careful study of museum pieces and drawings.

Troy is also very knowledgeable about history of the Fur Trade AND an amazing painter.

Here were the yarns that I packed for the weekend. Finely spun two ply wool. These little lovlies were sent to me by Janet of Aunt Janet's Fibermill.

Since I had forgotton to bring a shuttle, I looked to my next door neighbor for help. Joe can make anything! We looked through the scrap pile of wood next to his tent, selected a piece, drew the shuttle shape on it, and 15 minutes later it was finished and ready to weave with.

These are the two straps that I wove while I was there. The yarn really felt nice to weave with.

On Sunday, we listened to some very unusual music which was provided by the Musical Saw Festival!

If you have never heard the sound a saw makes, you should give this a listen. Amazing!

Recycled Sari Silk, My Favorite Yarn

2011-08-13T08:03:00.000-07:00

The colors in these yarns are so vibrant. They are exciting just to look at! You can read about how they are made and see photos of the process here, at the website for The Wool Peddler.

I've a whole stash of recycled sari silk skeins and last week decided to get some out and play.

By viewing this photo of the yarn as warp on the loom, you can see just how fuzzy some of it is. This causes a lot of sticking and it is very slow to weave when this happens. I still think that the result is worth the effort.

When surrounded by solid black warps, it reminds me of stained glass.

Then, it also reminds me of melted crayons. Did you ever put crayon shavings in between sheets of waxed paper and iron them together? You know how all those little bits of color run together? I like it.

San Jose Renaissance Faire

2011-08-09T22:48:00.000-07:00

What a great weekend; I spent two days enjoying the company and lively entertainment at the

first annual San Jose Renaissance Faire.

Laura Wilkerson of Primitive Adornments had invited me to share her booth and it was a great place to be.

Her best selling item is a clever little necklace with lavender flowers and lavender essential oils encapsulated in a tiny hand-blown glass vial. Each is strung on a colored ribbon along with Venetian glass beads and/or semi-precious stones and a charm. They sparkled in the sun, and filled the area with a pleasant scent which drew in customers.

Laura also makes these hair sticks and after seeing her demonstrate how to use them, I acquired a pair and found them to be most effective in holding my hair firmly in a bun all day. I've seen others wear them, but have never thought of myself as having enough hair to make a bun. It is an amusing new decoration for me to wear!

My sashes fluttered in the wind and got some attention.

But the real attention-getters were the stage shows.
We had the good fortune to be set up right next to the stage.

Meet Captain Jack Spareribs. He presented his "Razor Sharp Danger Show of Flaming Doom".

He was talented and captivating. "A pirate magician, juggler, ventriloquist, comedian and Jack Sparrow look a like all rolled into one." I saw the show six times over the course of the two days and giggled each time.

There was live jousting which I did not get to see. Photographer, Derek Shaw took some excellent shots and posted them here on his website. It is amazing to think that all of this took place in a city park right downtown.
Many thanks to Renaissance Productions and all the vendors and performers for making it a great weekend!

A Week in Annie's Wonderful World of Weaving

2011-08-03T21:19:00.000-07:00

There's all sorts of fun in Annie's weaving world this week!

I'm in a contest on this here website. It's full of stuff with a lovely colored theme of "Desert Sunset".

This sash was chosen for the contest. If you want to go have a look, the voting box is in the lower left. Warning: there is other cool stuff that you might want to vote for there, too.

http://madeformebyoaklie.com/greatfinds.html

Today I mailed off the custom shirt trim that I've been working on. All 20 feet of it. My husband said that this just might be one of the coolest things I've ever woven. Big words from a big fan. I agree that it's beautiful.

I got the 4 skeins of handspun yarn in the mail from BlitzKnits and set to work straight away using the "Teal Dreams" silk. Blended with these other three yarns, it makes for a nice sash, but gets a little lost in the mix. I had to put it with other stuff as it was a small skein and I used it all. It was a nice addition to the Etsy shop. Great colors!

This is what the skein looked like.

This weekend, I'll be at the San Jose Renaissance Faire! I'm sharing a booth with Laura of Primitive Adornments. I look forward to spending some time with her and taking in the fun and festive atmosphere that characterizes Faire!

Garters

2011-07-30T07:12:00.000-07:00

Woven bands are very useful for holding up your socks. They are worn by Scotsmen for keeping the handknit hose in place. This has been a tradition since before there was elastic, which some now use instead.

Mountain Men wore woven garters to keep the leggins tight around the leg.

Recently, I was asked by a gentleman in Wyoming to make a pair of garters for his kilt hose. He sent me some links to websites which carry all manner of fancy stuff for Scotsmen. Some of the garters there had nice thick and fluffy tassels on the ends, which he liked very much. After puzzling over how I might achieve this same look, I settled on rya knots, which are usually added during the weaving to make pile (as on carpets). I devised a method using a yarn needle to add them in after the fact and think that it all turned out pretty well.

First I cut some pieces of red yarn to 9" in length.

Then, I threaded one through the needle and inserted it behind 3 or 4 warps.

The yarn was then pulled out at center between two warps to form a loop.

The two ends went over the top and then down through the loop and were pulled tight.

After adding four of these on one side, I then flipped the garter over and repeated the process on the second side. Effectively, this added 16 new ends and increased the number by half of it's original number. 32 warp ends were supplemented by 16 additional ends, making a nice fluffy tassel.

Before (left) and After (right)

Beautiful Blues for You!

2011-07-28T06:21:00.000-07:00

'Beautiful Blues for you!' by madeformebyoaklie

Richest shades of blues in this On Fire for Handamde Treasury!!!

Icy Winter Heat - Original A... hardartkustoms $150.00	Rich Blue Rectangular Lapis ... dmweldin $38.00	White Flowers and Organza Bu... darlkay52 $22.00
Bluebird in the Hydrangea Pa... misseskwittys $7.50	Blue Elegance - Cat's E... enchantedbeads $25.00	OOAK Seaside Natural Stone B... CallOfEarth $35.00
Headband Royal Blue Organza ... MishMashStore $8.70	Navy Blue White Delftware-Lo... vintagebeadnut $5.00	Recycled Bird Seed Tote Bag ... BlueberryBeth $12.99
Bumble Bump Ball Lampwork Gl... WildAppleDesig... $18.00	Fish are Jumping Fine Art pr... TheJoyofColor $20.00	Colorado Night Sky Cloud Pho... JulieMagersSou... $18.00
Large adjustable ring-Polyme... valeriatelier $17.00	Raw Silk Blue Sash iWeaveSashes $26.00	Sterling silver and Cobalt b... NEWD $14.00
Spring Floral Arrangement Su... SandyNewhartDe... $65.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

Cobalt blue is one of my favorite colors and this Etsy treasury has lots of it.
Well done!

Celebrating Life - The Extraordinary in the Ordinary

2011-07-23T14:24:00.000-07:00

This morning I took off on foot with my backpack and re-usable produce bags to the local farmers market.

The market itself is great entertainment. Lovely arrangements of live plants, cut flowers, piles of colorful fruits and vegetables always make me happy. If you didn't see this previous post about the farmers market, don't miss it. The photo mosaic is something that I'm really proud of! I usually run into someone interesting to chat with. Today there were 3 different people/groups playing live music. It was the 35th anniversary of the market. They were serving cake!

Let me introduce you to the Great Morgani, who is a Santa Cruz icon. This man is a great accordion player and a master of costume-making. Today he was wearing a bug suit. He could wear anything to play the accordion, but his presence is always impressive because of the extraordinary costumes which he sews himself. You can check out his website here (and prepare to be AMUSED!)

I stopped briefly to chat and ask permission to take his photo. He's not shy, as you may have guessed.

Also, I listened for a bit to the Farmers Market String Band who plays there every Saturday morning, weather permitting through the spring, summer and fall months. This time I bought a CD. They're good!

Celebrate shopping for fruits and veggies with music!

On my way to the market, I stopped to photograph these traffic light control boxes.This one in particular amazes me every time I see it and I took the camera along just because I wanted to show you. Why not take something ugly like these big control boxes and transform it into a work of art that everyone can enjoy! Visit the website of Bruce Harman to see the collection of light boxes that he's painted, as well as other artwork.

This one, about a block away, is wonderful and whimsical. It depicts, in addition to the "Blue Dog, Red Cat" for which it is titled, one of Soquel's great landmarks. "The little white church" (Soquel Congregational Church) even has a Facebook fan page! Love the colors chosen by the artist, Ket Tom-Conway whose website you can view here.

And just because this stunning little Morning Glory peeked through the fence to cheer me along the way, I thought I'd include it, too. I love being able to talk about the things in life that excite me and am glad that you are here to cheer me on and share in the things that make life special.

Thank you! I hope that you have an extraordinary day!

Tough Enough to Wear Pink

2011-07-21T10:51:00.000-07:00

While pink is not typically associated with rough and rugged cowboys and cowgirls, the "Tough Enough to Wear Pink" program has been a phenomenal success. It was created by entrepreneur and breast cancer survivor, Terry Wheatley, to bring the sport of professional rodeo and the western community together to rally against breast cancer. Since its inception in 2004, TETWP has empowered rodeos and western events in the U.S. and Canada to focus attention on the need for a cure. To date, the campaign has raised $5 million dollars for breast cancer charities, much of which stays right in the community. The grassroots movement has inspired other sports communities to mount their own TETWP campaigns, spreading a message of hope and support that reaches beyond the rodeo arena to competitors, families and fans across America.

Recently I met a rancher who is involved locally in the California Rodeo Salinas. She asked me if I could make some pink bracelets to be sold at the event to raise money for the TETWP campaign. I had not made bracelets before and puzzled over how to fasten them. Etsy came through for me again when I found Sewing Supplies shop selling 1/2" and 5/8" clasps. I think that they turned out great and am looking forward to making them in all sorts of colors in the future. In the meantime, this basket of 25 bracelets is off to the Rodeo. And so are my husband and I on Sunday. Maybe I'll snap a few photos to share with you!

Annie Went Shopping Again (on Etsy!)

2011-07-18T07:52:00.000-07:00

Last week was good for weaving sales, so I decided to share the wealth. I've been admiring the work of many of my fellow EtsyWeavers Team members. I've had my eye on this vest from RiverWeaveStudio for a while.

This vest is such a great color of tencel with the beautiful drape and sheen that tencel delivers.

Kathleen of RiverWeaveStudios says of her work "I want my work to be fascinating, beautiful and functional. The shimmer of silk , the drape of Tencel, the crispness of cotton and the warmth of wool fibers are motivation enough to propel my enthusiasm for this craft. Creating new design and pattern is satisfying and stimulating." She has certainly created a unique garment. The construction is so simple, yet the shape of this vest is very exciting! I'd say that she has accomplished her goal with this one. Fascinating, beautiful, functional.

And then there was this sweet little coin purse from ThreadbareDesigns. The colors of variegated blues and purples are lovely. It is well constructed, woven from tencel with a cotton muslin lining. Karen also makes some beautiful scarves, shawls, placemats and towels. She says of herself "A long time ago, a young girl sat at her mother’s knee and watched as loose yarn magically became hats, mittens, and sweaters." She began knitting herself and then progressed through embroidery, needlepoint, quilting, rug-hooking, weaving and recently spinning. I loved her statement "I am enthralled by the act of creating cloth, designing each piece with color and texture to suit its purpose. I love that I am able to use a craft that has been around for generations and create items that are not only beautiful but will also become part of a family’s home." I am happy to have this little piece of her work and will find many uses for it. I was thinking of business cards, but have already used it as a coin purse.

This week I put to use some super soft and fabulously colored handspun yarn from Gail of BlitzKnits on Etsy. She called this colorway "Desert". You can see the skein here in an older post. http://aspinnerweaver.blogspot.com/2011/01/handspun-yarn.html
This sash was a pleasure to weave because of the feel of the yarn. Watching as the two ply variegated yarn created it's own pattern in rich shades of purples and burnt orange was a treat. Love these colors!
I just looked at her shop and she has several skeins that I am now hankering for. Prices are great and she has a variety of fibers: silk, hemp, and all breeds of wool in a rainbow of colors.

Color Challenge- Yellow!

2011-07-12T08:11:00.000-07:00

Recently I received a message asking if I had any yellow sashes for sale. Hmm. No.

I don't use a lot of yellow in my weaving, personal wardrobe or surroundings. It's a perfectly good color that I maybe ought to pay more attention to.

So, I took this as a challenge, adding yellow (or it's cousins yellow-gold and straw) to several pieces. Here they are in a collection. I like them.

Then, since I had yellow on the brain, I decided to look for it when I was out on my morning walk. Guess what? It's all over the place in very interesting shades on a multitude of objects that I see every day. I walked around the block where I live and in that short distance I photographed 58 yellow objects, 28 manmade and 30 in nature. The mosaic below is a random representation of these objects.

There are some terrific pieces that I've woven in the past in which the yellow dominates.

Even though there is a lot of purple in this dance sash, the yellow really stands out, right?

This custom strap was woven to match the gentleman's hatband which had "greasy yellow" beads. This color was commonly used in the old west and particularly favored by the Sioux.

And here is someone who just makes yellow look cool, my daughter, Natasha.

You Meet the Most Interesting People in This Line of Work! (Tim of Alaska)

2011-07-07T20:48:00.000-07:00

One of my two Etsy shops,the one called, iWeaveSashes, is focused on costume accessories for historic re-enactors. The sashes, straps, garters and ribbons which are offered for sale there are appropriate for living history of the Medieval period or American Fur Trade era. The shop gets an interesting group of folks as visitors.
This is not your typical Etsy crowd; they are often historians. Many of them find me by the good graces of Google or other search engines and haven't even heard of Etsy.

Tim of Alaska (Seated on Left)

Some customers are looking for very specific materials, patterns, colors or construction. They send me their ideas and I create a custom item for their particular needs. Recently, I have had the pleasure of working with a customer who I call "Tim of Alaska". He has done a lot of research and sent me interesting photos and articles about powder horn straps from the 1700's-1800's. This was a period when one carried, along with their rifle, a cow's horn plugged at each end and used as a reservoir for holding the black powder that the rifle needed as a charge.
Tim makes powder horns and leather shooting bags and accessories. His careful attention to accuracy and detail makes his pieces really look authentic. He employs techniques to give his fabric, leather and horns an antique look.

He had me make this raw silk strap. It is shown here attached to a "Sibley Carolina" horn. The "Southern" pouch was made by Tim. He told me that he aged the leather and used blueberries to dye the linen for the bag's lining. Raw silk has been documented as a trade item in the Colonies and Great Lakes areas in the 18th Century.


Here are two hemp straps, one attached to the pouch and one attached to another Sibley horn. This horn was custom-made for him by the Sibleys. It is engraved with a map of the Great Lakes and French forts along with ships and Indian captives, circa 1700-1730. Hemp was the most common fiber used for centuries for making canvas, sails, webbing, cords and ropes, etc.

Cathy and Scott Sibley are very well-known for their reproduction powder horns. Click here to read an article about this interesting couple and to see photos of their work.They have published a how-to book called "Re-Creating the 18th Century Powder Horn" which many re-enactors have in their libraries.

I found this interesting website where you can see a photo gallery of pouches and powder horns of the era.

What's on (and off) the Looms This Week

2011-06-27T08:31:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I finished this strap. It started out to be a belt, but, since I didn't calculate epi very well, it will now have swivel hooks sewn on the ends and become a shoulder strap for a laptop bag, briefcase, or luggage.

The question is which side do I want to show on top?

Please leave me a comment and tell me which side you like better.

This is what a finished shoulder strap looks like with my briefcase.

These two pieces are samples for a project that will become pocket trim for shirts. If it works out, you will be hearing more about it. It's kind of exciting, really, The one on the left is two inches wide, what the customer originally asked for, and the one on the right is one inch wide, what we agreed would work better. This is a winning color combination and I like both pieces very much. The one on the right uses #10 crochet cotton for the background and 5/2 pearle cotton for the black pattern. My time test this morning told me that I can weave about 18 inches in an hour. I think I underbid the job. I've gotta stop doing that!

After digging around in my handspun stash, I decided to use some of this yarn. I wonder who made it and what they thought it would be. It is a single ply made from two colors of rather coarse wool blended together at random. They didn't bother to take out burrs and other plant matter. I pulled about a half dozen large burrs out as I wove, and have been picking little sticks out after the fact.

Don't you think it's pretty, though?

It went into the Etsy shop and I think someone will like it to wear as part of an historic costume.

Scottish Renaissance Festival

2011-06-23T22:09:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I had a great time at the Scottish Renaissance Festival. It is an event that started small a few years ago and is growing. This year it was a two day event and was in conjunction with the Loch Lomond Highland Games. The music and comedy was great! The costumes fabulous!

I set up with my sashes and straps in the open air and they enjoyed a nice breeze all weekend. My friend, Troy, refers to them when they are on display like this as "silent wind chimes."

While I was sitting there, I wove a strap a day, each with Celtic knot pattern,

in keeping with the spirit of the event.

My friend Carla was there selling her beautiful lapidary work. She was wearing this bright blue dress that just happened to match the sash I wove on day 1. So, here she is modeling it on day 2. You can see some of Carla's cut stone jewelry on her website, here.

Early on day 1, I decided to patronize some of my neighboring vendors. First, I got my hair braided by Grace at Brenda the Braider's booth. Love it!

Then Lady Kaitlyn read the Tarot cards for me. She confirmed that my love life was in very good shape and gave me some good advice in other areas. I continued to enjoy visiting with her and her husband throughout the weekend.

This friendly dragon came by and flirted with me. He was very sweet.

A gentleman was elevated to knighthood during an elaborate ceremony.

This man was arrested and brought before the Queen for trial on the grounds of offensive attire. He was wearing a "utili-kilt" with a rather questionable Hawaiian-style shirt. I think it was a valid charge.

The atmosphere at this type of event is always playful. There are performers everywhere. I'm sorry that I didn't get to roam around and see more of them and take more photos. I hope to be going to more of these in the future!

The Best Kind of Day

2011-06-13T07:22:00.000-07:00

Recently I was invited to teach an inkle weaving workshop for the Carmel Crafters Guild. Ann, who is a member of that group as well as the Santa Cruz Handweavers Guild to which I belong, organized it all and hosted us in her lovely home.

With 11 weavers we filled two sunny rooms, covering every available table. Most of those present had experience weaving on other types of looms and made good students.

I wish I had taken more closeup photos of each person's weaving, as the choice of colors and patterns ran a whole range and was interesting to see. Some of the pattern charts which I colored in last week turned out to be helpful visual tools for some. Others were just sort of willing to do experiments and see what happened, which was great. Thanks to Somerlynn in the Inkle Weaving Yahoo Group for sharing this pattern page!

We had an assortment of looms, new and old, home-made, second-hand and newly manufactured. It is always interesting to see looms, too. Sometimes the looms present a challenge for me to figure out the intended warp path. I'm glad no one this time had a two-sided loom so we were all able to set up continuous warps.

We spent 6 happy hours; everyone got warped and weaving and I demonstrated how to do pickups and weave letters. By the end of the day one student tried her hand at weaving letters on my loom and did a good job of it!

We discussed yarn weights, which I am not very good at. Ann pulled some 10/2 pearle cotton out of her stash and gave it to me to try out for the project I am working on below. The pattern is great, now I need to reduce the width by 100% and see if I can make it work. This yarn should help. Lucky me!

On the way home, I made a stop at the always interesting Monarch Knitting and Quilts in Pacific Grove and picked up some DMC pearle cotton to compliment what I got from Ann. Lucky again!

And to top off the day, I attended the opening reception for the art exhibit "Sculpture Is" at the Sierra Azul Nursery in Watsonville. There was a real crowd, including many artists of all varieties and I got to visit with some very cool people. I'll have to go back when there is not a crowd to see more of the art, and highly recommend it to anyone in the area.
What a day!!!

Inkle Weaving Pattern Generator

2011-06-04T11:28:00.000-07:00

How did I miss this until now?

Thanks to a thread in the Yahoo Inkle Weaving Group, I discovered this website today. A very clever person has made it easy to play with plain weave patterns and preview them before you set up your loom. This is way better than the paper and color markers method. Try it out! I can't even tell you how excited I am about this and wish that I could show you what it looks like, but you'll just have to visit the website yourself.

http://www.carolingianrealm.info/PatternGenerator.php

And here for show 'n tell, are a few things that have come off the looms recently.
I like this group photo.

These were all started or finished at the rendezvous a couple of weeks ago. From left to right: Blue Raw Silk Strap, Brown & Gold Linen Strap, Handspun Wool Strap and Handspun Wide Wool Sash.

This guitar strap was made as a custom order, but the customer changed her mind before it was finished. It has been in limbo on one of the looms for weeks, so I decided to finish it and list it for sale in the Etsy shop.

It will join this other one, made for the same customer earlier. They are both inspired by album covers from the popular band, MGMT. Check out the album cover for "Electric Feel" on which this second one is based.

A Rick Trick and a Beautiful Purple Sash

2011-05-30T18:53:00.000-07:00

My husband, long a fan of my weaving, is very helpful and supportive. For this project which required twisting long fringes, he got in on the action with a power drill because he said he was afraid my arms would fall off if I had to do them by hand. Since he always has a way of making things work out, the rest of us have come to refer to such things around here as "a Rick Trick". To see the way I usually twist fringes by hand, you can look at this previous post.

These particular fringes measure about 16" finished length.

Here is what the action looked like.

I had to show you a close-up so you can see where the Rick Trick came in. In order for him to make the alligator clip fit into the chuck of the drill without being crushed when tightened, he inserted a .22 caliber shell casing.

This beautiful sash is a custom order for Native American dance regalia. The customer said that he loves purple and is not afraid of colors. He even sent me a photo of fabric used in the rest of his regalia. Lots of bright colors! When he told me to go ahead and use whatever I thought looked good, I was thrilled! So many colors to chose from that I had to narrow it down. There are two purples, two blues, gold and a deep red. It's bright!

Outdoor Living

2011-05-23T19:37:00.000-07:00

For the last 4 days, I have been camping on a ranch near Hollister, Ca, about an hour and a half from where I live. It was a small gathering of Mountain Men, much smaller than anticipated. We were welcomed by a very kind rancher to set up on her spread. This was a rare opportunity to experience being far away from it all in California's rolling hills.

I took a couple of days off work and drove over on Thursday morning. I walked all around and selected this spot to set up my tent because the view from here made me feel happy.

Although there were not a lot of people there, among the few there were some real gems and I was well entertained for the 4 days!
I had the pleasure of meeting two men from Colorado and my life feels greatly enriched for it. Bill Cunningham is an author of several books, including one on skills of the mountain man, in which he is well-versed. He's also written several novels involving characters with these skills living in the modern world, and one called "Rendezvous: Back to a Simpler Time" about re-enactments and re-enactors from recent times. He tells a good story in person and I am anxious to get my hands on these books! You can find them here.
Howdy Davis regaled us with stories of his life's adventures including cattle drives, hunting trips, primitive archery and childhood mischief in the Blueridge Mountains of Pennsylvania. You can find a little about him here on the North American Frontiersman website and read some of his articles.
Several mornings and evenings were spent around the campfires sharing meals and stories. I sampled some tasty wild hog sausage made right there on the ranch and booshway, Mark, baked some yummy cherry cobbler in a cast iron dutch oven using hot coals from the campfire. I'm not much of a cook at home or in the field and was mightily impressed by the cooking talents of these folks!

My sweetie making breakfast on the portable barbeque.

During the greater part of the days, I spent my time weaving and happily lost in conversation with Mary and Joe Fatula. They travel to many types of events selling their line of "innovative, educational, inspirational, fun items at a fair price" from the Lumenaris Group. Mary has created felt kits for her old-fashioned penny rugs, needle cases and other accessories for the home. Then there are wooden puzzles, leather bags, jewelry, cast toy soldiers and other curiosities. The premier item for re-enactors is a portable barbeque based on an old Shaker design. To read more and browse their catalog, visit their website here. They are clever folks and each possess many crafty skills. We dreamed up lots of ideas together and had a great time doing it. I'm excited about future collaborations!!

Joe & Mary's shop with my weaving set up off the front corner.

We even had a Sunday morning prayer service and a friendly conversation to follow.

My fiber stash for the weekend, tossed into a cloth bag the day before I left, included mostly hemp and linen and some handspun wool. My weaving spot was a sheepskin tossed on the ground in the shade.

After I had begun weaving this pink linen sash, I realized that the clover flowers growing at my feet were just the same colors! Meant to be, right?

Published!

2011-05-08T15:51:00.000-07:00

Wow! The last couple of weeks have been so busy that it is hard to find time to write detailed posts here.

On May 1st, an article which I wrote was published here in the online magazine CNCHnet.
CNCH is the Conference of Northern California Handweavers. The website includes information about the annual conference as well as a calendar of events, resources, photo gallery, and the quarterly CNCHnet.
There is a lot of talent here in Northern California! I was honored to be asked to write about my world of inkle weaving. I like the article. Let me know what you think.

There has been a fair amount of work coming off the looms. A couple of custom orders went out last week and so I am ready to start two more.


Seat straps, 4 pairs. Each pair is different, but they all look good together.

A Sash for Medieval Costume

And I managed to weave a sash and two straps for inventory. I've got a Rendezvous event coming up in two weeks and want to have a good selection to offer.

The color of the rust wool in this one really got my attention. I've been wanting to do something with this for weeks. It paired up well with the sort of charcoal brown wool.

Soft blue and gray colors look great in this powder horn strap.

Look at how pretty this gray silk is!

Can you tell that I'm having fun?

Hempy Hippy Oooh La La

2011-05-06T20:40:00.000-07:00

This is a fun name for an Etsy Treasury, I think!
The curator did a great job of rounding up interesting and different things made of hemp. I especially love the color progression in the photos from top to bottom. One of my straps is on the bottom left.
It's a pleasure to be included in such a well done treasury. Thank you, AllTogetherLovely!

'Hempy Hippy.... Oooh la la.....' by AllTogetherLovely

For the all natural user who love the feel of free. Lets enjoy what nature has given us and hemp it out and feel groovy!

Pretty Birdie's... stephanieteagu... $220.00	Hand Molded Pottery... naturesadornme... $23.95	Eco friendly Hemp B... hippiekingdom $19.00	MOTHERS DAY SALE - ... DopeOnARopeSoa... $3.99
Soft Sunshine Yello... knottyandnyce $18.00	Mustard Canvas Pump... tippythai $39.00	Perfume Oil - 3 Bot... longwinterfarm $	Hemp silk Andrea br... Nyika $39.00
Orange Double Pleat... ickadybag $29.00	Burnt Orange Hemp T... HempHut $5.99	Shine On Pants (hem... gaiaconception... $85.00	Beach Babe Bronzer ... SobeBotanicals $7.99
Handwoven Hemp and ... iWeaveSashes $30.00	Hemp and Organic Co... mtnlotus $80.00	Scandinavian Wonder... olofsdaughters $20.00	Hemp Drawstring Pro... TheArtofReZen $11.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

This is a live treasury, so click on any item to see it's listing on Etsy.

Weekend Art Show in a Garden

2011-05-03T08:17:00.000-07:00

What a fun weekend! I always enjoy hanging out with other artists/crafters. Sometimes the best part of doing a show is the neighbors.This show is held twice a year in the backyard garden of a couple of crafty women.

For some years there has been an evolving group of artists who come and show here. Everyone invites their friends and followers. Some members have moved away and return to town to do the show. It has the feel of a family reunion and party with art. We have delicious snacks and live music.

Come on in. I'll introduce you to some of my neighbors.

These gourd girls are the work of Wendy Simon who was positioned opposite me along the driveway. I got to watch many people admire and purchase her work throughout the weekend. Her gourd masks, felted pieces and dolls made from seed pods all have a playful nature.

Jena Massengill (Grateful Threads) combines denim clothing and Hawaiian shirts with beautiful results. By the end of the weekend, several of the other artists were wearing her irresistible pieces.

Kathy Sinnott (Beads on a Wire) not only makes these lampworked beads one at a time, but will use them to create a custom bracelet, necklace or earrings for you on the spot. You can sort through her baskets and select the individual beads you want because no two are exactly alike.

The beads sparkled so beautifully in the sun. Each one has amazing detail. And, oh, the colors!


Laurie Mount makes bath salts, body lotions, and a variety of delicious things to eat: jams, jellies, chutney, and candies. Her toffee is to die for! I think everyone who has ever been to this show has walked away with some of Laurie's creations. You can read her food blog here: http://laurieslittlekitchen.blogspot.com/


This beautiful mosaic table is the work of Nadja Stanchfield, who is one of our hostesses for this event. The garden is full of color with her delightful Pique Assiette mosaics.

Nadja's mosaic license plate frames are very popular.


Nancy Worden was new to the show this time, but fit right in with the garden. Her fun handknit market bags seemed right at home here.

Bev Wesley entertained us with her ukulele music and songs. She has a good sense of humor and always has something new to sing for the group, which we really enjoy!

Here are a few of Bev's pendants. She has a great eye for combining stones and beads into her jewelry.

This little bird flew in from next door and roosted in my tent. It is the work of Jeannette Jennings (Firecat Pottery) and inspired by Mayan bird designs. Jeannette makes an array of ornaments, tableware, and tiles. You can visit her website here: www.FirecatPottery.com

Many thanks to all of the artists and their friends and family who came to visit for making this a great weekend. I'm sorry that I couldn't include every one of them in this post. I didn't get nearly enough photos, but that will leave some for next time. Our fall show has already been scheduled for November 12 &13.

Surprise! I won!

2011-04-26T20:18:00.000-07:00

I don't enter a lot of contests, buy raffle tickets, or lottery tickets or anything like that. I'm one of those people who say "I never win anything." Last week, I entered two contests and asked my Facebook fans and friends to help me out. This one was worthy of entering whether or not I won, because I wanted to help out a business that I like.

A blend of Angora and Wool. I've never had real Angora yarn before!

Ashford Handicrafts is a business that has been around for over 75 years and almost everyone who weaves or spins has heard of them. But they are relatively new on Facebook and wanted to get the word out about their page. So they offered a fiber pack to the first 5 people who could encourage 5 friends to "Like" their page. I immediately fired off messages to all of my fiber friends on Facebook and that is a large number! While I did see that several of my friends answered the call, I never saw an announcement of the contest winners.

This blend of acrylic, alpaca and polyester feels dreamy!

But yesterday when I arrived home from work, there it was! My fiber pack! I won!
Anxious to see what was inside, I didn't waste any time. As I cut into the envelope, it burst open and out popped an amazing array of yarns! Just like they were anxious to see me, too.

Contents of my "Fiber Pack" Winnings

Thank you , Ashford Handicrafts! And now to dream up some projects for all of these!

The Ashfords are nice folks. You may remember that I met Richard last year at Convergence.

He had a great smile and enthusiastic attitude that was infectious. He seemed to create a good time around him wherever he went. His wife, Elizabeth, is very sweet. Although we haven't yet met, I've enjoyed communicating via e-mail with her. Among other things, she maintains the "Ashford Club" and writes a periodical, "The Wheel". I highly recommend that you join the club, read the magazine and keep up with them on Facebook. Ashford Handicrafts is a business which seems to be endlessly creative, coming out with new products all the time. They also hold fiber retreats and have a whole thriving community of fiber artists which they are the center of. One day, I hope to get to New Zealand for a visit.

Backstrapping

2011-04-16T20:24:00.000-07:00

Today concluded three days of backstrap weaving fun with a great group of ladies!

I'm sorry that the party is over, but so am glad to have had this experience.

We met in the weaving studio of Martha Stanley, which is in itself an inspiring place. Martha is an extremely talented rug weaver and a gracious hostess. The space was welcoming.

This little Peruvian lady watched over us all.

At last, the backstrap loom that I bought in Guatemala 8 years ago came out of it's wrapping

and was put to use!!!

While my previous attempts to do weft floats (brocade) had not been successful, I now believe that I can make it work after producing a couple of samples in this technique.

Yonat's Weft Brocade Piece

Pebble weave is no longer a mystery to me and I am looking forward to doing more experiments with it.

I am grateful to have a copy of this book to refer back to.

Laverne is a very good teacher, both in person and in her written lessons.

Inspirational Pieces Woven by Laverne Illustrating Warp Float Patterns
You can learn this technique on Laverne's blog tutorial here.

Here's what I have to show for my 3 days of weaving. The ones on the left and right are weft brocade. The green and white one is the first sample in plain weave. The brown one is my pebble weave piece.

To read more about the workshop and see more photos, look at Laverne's blog here.