Changes in the works

It was with great sadness that we said good-bye to the Fiber Loft last week. My “Happy Place” and primary teaching center is closed. The Fiber Loft is where I took my first weaving class back in 2001 with Reba Maisel. It’s where the Nashoba Valley Weavers’ Guild met for many years (until we outgrew the space.) And it’s where the Weavers’ Study Group met on Tuesday mornings for over 2 decades to talk about our latest projects, share ideas, and socialize. I keep thinking of that song from Les Mis, “Empty chairs and empty tables, where my friend will meet no more.”

Another LYS casualty
“Empty chairs and empty tables, where my friends will meet no more.”

But I still have yarn left, so what’s next? Definitely more weaving! And a ramping up of classes at A Place to Weave and The Unruly Stitch.

A Place to Weave is now carrying spinning wheels and fiber! So in addition to my usual classes there, I’m adding Beginning Spinning, Drop Spindle, Color Palettes, and a new Beginning Weaving class. More will be coming in the fall. I’m excited about all the new offerings there!

At The Unruly Stitch, I’m continuing with the 2nd and 4th Mondays. On 12 May, I’m offering Creating Color Palettes twice – once in the afternoon and once in the evening. Other Mondays I’m offering private spinning lessons by appointment. Contact me to schedule something.

And what about in my personal weaving life? Oh, so much! There are a couple scarves in the works and some twill fabric to be used for a surprise coming next spring.

Braided twill scarf
Twill blocks fabric

Also, as my kitchen is undergoing a complete redo, I’m making new potholders. I purchased 5 bags of loopers for my son’s Pro potholder loom, enough to make 10 potholders, and have been trying out all sorts of patterns – color and weave, twill, split-loop, clasped-weft and more. Now if the Fairy Godmother of Kitchen Renovations would just wave her wand in the vicinity of my house, we’d be all set!

Black, gray, white and blue potholders for my new kitchen

With closure comes opportunity. I’m onboard.

Updates from my studio

Life is good!

As demonstrated in the past year, I am not a great blogger. However, I can be found on Instagram, where I post about my fiber arts activities and important things in life, most of which circle back to fiber arts in one way or another. Here are a few highlights.

Elise wrapped in her blanket

The single outstanding highlight of my year was that I became a granny! Friends have told me how life-changing this is. Now I know. Of course, I wove a blanket. Preparing for a Guild workshop on lace, I spent many hours playing with designs and sampling. In the end, I decided on a lace name draft in organic cotton. The number of lace blocks is the letter’s place in the alphabet: E had 5 blocks, L had 12, I had 9, S had 19, and then back to 5 for E. It was mirrored and then woven as drawn in. Of course Baby Elise is getting plenty of fiber exposure already!

ELISE lace name draft

On our trip to Scotland last fall, we visited The Weaver’s Cottage in Kilbarchan, and I had the pleasure of meeting two weaving friends. I had pre-arranged to visit Cally Booker in her studio in Dundee – we had tea and talked (of course) about weaving! Plus, in a totally random encounter, I bumped into tapestry weaver Louise Abbott (who lives two towns away from me!) on the street in Edinburgh – such an unexpected highlight of our trip!

Loom in a weaver’s cottage museum in Kilbarchan, Scotland. It is recessed into the floor.

On a roadtrip to my dad’s house in Colorado, I hemmed a bunch of towels I’d woven in the spring. Plus, I found several textiles that I had woven over the years and gave to my dad. I think it’s so awesome that my parents still keep things that I make for them! While there, we stumbled into a gallery exhibit that was a knitted life-size replica of the room in the children’s book “Goodnight, Moon”. To help with the scale, the rocking chair is big enough for a human to sit in!

Life-size replica of the “goodnight, Moon” room. The entire set is knit!

Extra Large wool blanket woven for an 18th c. reenactor. I wove it in 2 panels on my 110 cm Glimåkra loom and then sewed them together before wet finishing.
On a field trip to Harrisville Yarns with my weavers’ guild, I spotted a picking machine made by C.G. Sargent, which operated right here in Westford (in Graniteville.)
My son received (from me, of course) a pot holder loom for his 29th birthday. He loved playing with the color & weave effects. (His is the green log cabin one in the middle.) After our trip to Harrisville, my study group got into making pot holders in all kinds of patterns!
Since no post would be complete without a funny animal photo… Here’s Fergus thinking that my loom is a jungle gym and climbing under my gebrochene warp. The 8-shaft gebrochene warp was a real challenge, even without Fergus’ help.
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