Weaving Workers at Home, part 2

Hello again, Friends! As we continue to stay home and stay healthy, we will keep up sharing our projects on the blog, to stay in touch and inspire each other to create. Today's projects include lots of weaving, a little knit and crochet, and gardening:

Cassandra:

Cass has been working on some pretty crocheted baskets using a paper-type yarn. These are destined for reining in the LEGO stash, but are shown here with softer contents.

soft crocheted basket in progress, off-white with black patterned band around center

two soft baskets filled with yarn and pom poms, sitting on a counter with some plants behind

Her son will never be lacking in beautifully handknit sweaters! The latest will be a shawl-collar pullover knit in superwash wool.

knitted sweater body with yarn and needles showing progress of knitting a sleeve cuff

With warmer weather here to stay, it was also time for some seedlings to go out to the garden. Grow well, tiny plants!

an egg carton full of soil with tiny seedlings, in front of small pots with more seedlings

an outdoor raised planter bed with groups of tiny seedlings, next to a hedge

Carrie:

Carrie has warped her loom with a stunning rainbow of carpet warp, for a series of rep-weave table runners. Rainbow!

warp yarns threaded through a loom, in a rainbow of colors

weaving in progress on a loom, with a block pattern in a rainbow sequence

further weaving progress of the rainbow rep-weave block pattern

close-up image of the same rainbow rep-weave pattern in progress

Sam:

Sam has finished a long-running project! She started this rug on her 2-treadle high warp loom months ago. It's made of Pendleton selvage with a warp sett at 6 epi. Without a beater, the work was slow-going, but she made a sling to hold a reed, which helped a lot!

Let's all take a moment to admire that intricately carved shed stick, too!

finished rag-rug in shades of brown and black, lying on a carpeted floor upright rug loom with partially finished rag rug and carved shed stick in place

Lois:

Lois has embarked on an ambitious and meaningful weaving journey. She is working tablet weaving into cloth woven on a floor loom, for a complex structure of layered weaves, worked all at once. You can read about it in more detail on her blog.

floor loom set up with standard warp, plus weaving cards inserted behind the reed for decorative selvedges and decorative band running down the center overhead view of weaving in progress, showing card-woven band in the center of plain warp, reading "time to share"

Jennifer:

During quarantine, packages for the shop are being delivered to my home, which leads to more temptations than I am able to resist! This week, I treated myself to a bit of the new BFL/silk blend from Ashland Bay, after taking photos of it on the front porch and falling in love with its understated luxury. The wee skein turned out so nicely, and I definitely have plans for this fiber in the future.

soft oatmeal colored roving twisted into a neat pile two hands drafting wool onto a drop spindle, with a lawn, planter, and metal chair in the background drop spindle with wool singles spun onto it, being held in front of a planter and a lawn small skein of handspun 2-ply yarn draped over a hand

Thank you for visiting! As always, we love to hear what you are up to. Keep in touch!

-Jennifer

card weaving, coronavirus, crochet, garden, knit, news, rag rug, rainbows, rep weave, staff projects, weaving, weaving workers

Weaving Workers at Home, part 1

As we all settle into new routines, and a different world for a little while, those of us who are makers are certainly grateful for our craft. The act of making beautiful things helps sustain our spirits, and there is also a satisfaction in completing abandoned projects and making a dent in the yarn or fiber stash!

I have been checking in with our teachers, and some former Weaving Workers, so we can share what we are all up to while we can't be together. This is just a sampling of the wide variety of projects going on at home!

Sam:

Sam teaches a range of classes, including (but not limited to!) drop spindling, needle felting, wet felting, and weaving on small looms. Her enthusiasm for teaching means that she has been preparing for future classes while staying safe at home, as well as dipping into stash yarns for these lovely cushions:

four colorful handwoven cushions on a grey sofa, with a sweet tan dog resting beside them.

Sam's cheerfully-colored cushions are woven in simple tabby, so they could be made on any loom that is about 18" wide, whether rigid heddle or harness. They are machine-sewn on three sides, and then hand-stitched on the fourth, in lieu of a zipper. Sweet pup Buster is a fan!

Stacy:

Stacy never fails to amaze us with her prolific range of projects, from gardening to volunteering to performing in musical groups, to all of the fiber arts she can get her hands on. Though some of the group activities are on hold for now, she still finds plenty to fill the days.

With good weather for dyeing (until just recently), Stacy has been working on dye projects with fabric and yarn, as well as finishing knitting from last summer (oh, those ends, though!), making stuffed critters for neighborhood kids to spy in the windows, and growing some tomato seedlings to keep and share. Whew!

cart full of folded, dyed sheets in a cool rainbow of colors

knitted fair-isle patterned hat in shades of blue and brown with sheep motifs

inside of same hat, showing so many yarn ends to be woven in

carton full of tomato seedlings in tiny pots

On the weaving front, Stacy has a new (to her) little loom that is being tested with an overshot pattern in springtime shades. She's been catching up on reading some back issues of Vav, Ply, and a few other magazines, too! Stay tuned for more, I'm sure.

close up of weaving in progress with an overshot pattern in yellow and pink

darling little metal loom, with the beginnings of a new warp in pink

Marcy:

Marcy is the owner and founder of the Weaving Works, in business since 1974! She has taken full advantage of the first month of lockdown to turn a giant pile of fabric strips into a giant pile of rag rugs. Such a lot of weaving!

basket of fabric strips in variety of colors, mostly overflowing onto the floor tall stack of woven rag rugs in an assortment of colors

Jennifer:

I have been keeping busy answering emails and shipping orders (thank you!), but I'm also enjoying spinning some rainbows, and participated in a mitt-along hosted by Spin-Off magazine. I even got out my sewing machine and fabric stash, and made some face masks for friends and family.

closeup of plied handspun yarn in rainbow shades and pale grey knitting in progress, with rainbow-striped yarn in a triangle shape, with bamboo needles a finished handspun mitt in rainbow yarn, being modeled on a hand, palm up view of a Lendrum spinning wheel from above, with a basket of rainbow-dyed yarn on a table behind some face masks fanned on a table, with one opened up, and the edge of the sewing machine visible at the side

That's it for now. We would love to see what you are up to! If you would like to share, you can tag us on Facebook (The Weaving Works) or Instagram (@weavingworks), or just send me an email (info@weavingworks.com).

Stay well, be kind, and make beautiful things! We've got this, friends. <3

covid-19, cute dogs, dye, dyeing, knitting, news, rug weaving, sewing, spinning, staff projects, weaving, weaving workers

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The Impetuous Weaver Weaves a Gift

I do believe this is the first project I have woven with a specific gift recipient in mind- two recipients, in fact: my lovely niece and her new husband. As a wedding gift, I wanted this to be something special and personal, and also useful. Since I had Such Fun with the warping paddle last time, I wanted to make this a mixed-warp project, too.

snippets of mixed-warp yarns in natural white and blues

The Impetuous Weaver Plays with Texture

No longer able to resist the siren call of the Weavers Texture Sampler, I recently set out to make a simple, gauzy length of fabric featuring this array of many-textured yarns. Fuzzy, twinkling, slubbed, crisp, and diaphanous- it was going to be an adventure!

grouping of five yarns included in weavers texture sampler

The Impetuous Weaver presents: A Summertime Tote

woven bag hanging in front of shop

This quick summertime shoulder bag was inspired by sunny days and Juniper Moon Zooey, a cotton-linen blend that is crisp, strong, and soft, with an earthy, slubby texture. The medium weight makes for quick work, and the slubbed texture does not demand precision. It's the perfect formula for casual, summery weaving!

The weaving experience needed to make this bag is minimal, and the finishing techniques can be very basic, or as finicky as you wish.

Weaving Workers at Home, part 2

Weaving Workers at Home, part 1

The Impetuous Weaver Weaves a Gift

The Impetuous Weaver Plays with Texture

The Impetuous Weaver presents: A Summertime Tote

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