Daryl's Blog

What a terrific week I had at the Ontario Handweavers & Spinners Biennial Conference.  The Canadians couldn’t have been more welcoming, more supportive, more good natured, and more enthusiastic.  The conference theme I’m sure, played a wonderful part in the fun.  Since the conference itself was centered at the Quality Inn in Woodstock, Ontario, about an hour and a half west of Toronto, it wasn’t hard to come up with the theme, “Going back to Woodstock…  you’ve come a long way!”  “Bruce” was there to greet us with the love bus, in the lobby of the hotel.  The hotel staff were all pretty good natured about the invasion of the fiber enthusiasts.

Ann Field and I were selected as the keynote speakers, Ann opened the conference, and I closed it yesterday morning.  In between, there were pre-conference workshops, seminars and lectures, vendors, guild exhibits, a fashion show, and a juried show.  That’s a lot for a regional conference with only 150 people.  My two day pre-conference workshop went really well, the 18 women in the class learned to dust off their sewing machines and dive in and be creative in how they approach handwoven clothing.  There were a lot of Hong Kong seam finish and triangular bound buttonhole samples floating around!

Of course the two sessions on Color and Inspiration that I led, were in stark contrast to the horrific rainy windy and occasional snowy weather.  We all hunkered down and played with color, this is always one of my favorite classes as I watch participants make “really ugly warps” on purpose, and go on to make spectacular wrappings influenced and inspired by images they have brought to class.  Here are some of my favorites…

The 60’s theme inspired all the guild displays, and I’m not sure which I loved more, the recreation of Yasgur’s Farm (where the actual 1969 Woodstock took place) complete with cow, or Penelope “Happy in the Grass…”  The felted life size Penelope was smoking something, and she sure looked really happy lying in that grass…

Yasgur Farm was created by Oxford Weavers and Spinners, Penelope was created by Shuttlebug Guild of Weavers and Spinners, and “NOT” Alice’s Restaurant was created by Nottawasaga Handweavers and Spinners.

Sadly I didn’t have my camera with me for the fashion show, the first half was devoted to closet cleaning retro pieces members dug out from the back of their closets, and room erupted in thunderous applause every time a model came out in some classic 60’s oddity, from Jackie Kennedy look a-likes to ponchos and love beads.  Projected behind the moderator were images from the real Woodstock, the 60’s, Peter Max graphics, and a whole slew of wonderful memories…  We all sat at tables labeled with music groups that actually played at Woodstock, I sat at the head table of course, labeled “The Who”!

My keynote counterpart, Ann Field, was an absolute delight, our paths had crossed at previous conferences, but I never got to actually spend quality time with her.  Ann is the definition of true grace in an individual, I was completely humbled by how one individual can carry on in spite of odds that would have completely crushed my spirit I think.  One doesn’t know how one would react to and be able to more forward in such horrific circumstances, but Ann did carry on, rewinding 90 warps for her nine weeks on the road and all of her classes using donated yarn and borrowed equipment.

You see, Ann lives in New Zealand.  With the earthquakes and tsunami in Japan hogging most of the front page of our newspapers in the last month, most of us have forgotten that New Zealand experienced a devastating earthquake February 22 of this year.  Ann has her studio in the Art Centre, a spectacular gothic historical building in Christchurch, New Zealand, along with the local weaving guild.  Both studios were more than likely destroyed by the earthquake, trouble is, no one can get into the building to even assess if there is anything left, and with missing roofs and winter setting in, anything left more than likely won’t survive the elements.  The weaving guild has probably lost all of their looms and spinning and weaving equipment used for classes. Fortunately all got out of the building in time, no one was hurt, but I can’t imagine carrying on after such devastation, heading off around the world for nine weeks of workshops, knowing there is nothing you can do about all of your samples, equipment, work, files, everything left behind and more than likely destroyed.  Here is a PDF file showing some of the devastation, from what I understood from Ann, the guild rooms were in the building pictured on the left.

So I came back very humbled, even my return flight from hell last night and finding my town flooded yet again, from a freak and horrific storm that occurred the night before I returned, have made me incredibly grateful for today, and for the gift of those who possess the gift of grace and can show us how to carry on no matter what happens.  Thank you Ann, for your contribution to the conference, and for your message of strength.

J’adore les Canadiens, and a New Zealander as well….

I’m sitting at the airport, one conference down, one more next weekend in Ontario, Canada.  I had a blast.  What a wonderful group of friendly southerners, always a treat coming from anonymous NY, and Arrowmont Craft School couldn’t have been more accomodating.  The conference was housed at Arrowmont, and the food was worth the trip.  I’ve never had so many well prepared vegetables at every meal.

Carol, one of the Tuesday Weavers from Tennessee, picked me up at the airport last Thursday and took me to lunch at a lovely restaurant, along with other members of the Tuesday Weavers who were available, considering it was Thursday, called CourtYard Grille in Alcoa, TN.

I gave the keynote address to open the conference Thursday night, and I got lots of positive feedback through the weekend.  Conference attendees came up to me and shared their personal stories, which are always heartwarming, everyone has a story, and I try in my keynote to give everyone permission to own those stories, even the painful ones and use them to make their lives more creative, more positive, and more meaningful.

For the workshop, I taught my class called Vested Interest, where participants bring bags full of scraps of handwoven cloth, vintage textiles, scraps of cloth that mean something to them, thrift store finds, old garments that don’t work, and anything else they can fit in the car.  It is always fun to see what everyone brings.

Then the fun begins.  Each participant traces my vest pattern, to fit them, and then begins to assemble the pieces into something that pleases them and uses up some of the acquired stash.  Alice Schlein, one of the other instructors, dear Alice, cleaned out her studio, and asked it we would like a couple of large garbage bags filled with odd samples, old work, industrially woven fabric cuts from her jacquard designs, etc.  The class jumped on it like termites and made quick work of those fabric scraps, many of the students incorporating a bit of Alice into their vests.  Alice was thrilled, and so were the students.  I even took a couple of small samples for my own files.

The workspace was well lit and comfortable to work in, and the students really bonded, it was a pleasure working with all of them, watching them carefully edit and push out of their comfort zone.  There is of course never enough time in a class like this, if I had two weeks, they would all still need more, but there was a beautiful sampling of gorgeous vests in pieces, all over the room, by the end of the conference.

I hit the vendor hall briefly Thursday night, sadly I was too busy to return, but I did purchase the most unusual drop spindle, called a Trindle, of course all the information and the actual spindle are in my checked bags, in the belly of the plane, so I can’t show you, but here is the Etsy site.

Enjoy photos of some of the vest under construction during the workshop!  You all did a wonderful job!

OK, I finally caved.  But considering the cost of variegated yarn from Silk City Fibers, minimum of a pound plus each cone, assuming you have a wholesale account with them, the idea of creating a kit from the five yarns needed to create the project I featured in the current issue of Handwoven Magazine, you could have a new loom!  Irene Schmoller from Cotton Clouds has created a kit form, in her words:

You’ll save by ordering this kit, because we’ve wound just the right amount (plus some) of the yarns you’ll need to complete this project; without having to purchase full cones of each yarn!

Anyway, for just under $40, Irene has wound enough yarn for one scarf (four or eight shaft), and for $70, you can purchase enough yarn to make two.  Additional options include the magazine (necessary for the directions) if you don’t already own a copy.  Considering the yarn in this scarf, which is mostly warp face, that’s a great price.

Here is the link for the page for ordering kits…  Click here…

And for those of you who haven’t seen the scarves, here are detail photos, there is a four shaft version, without the twill, and an eight shaft version with additional twill.  There is a supplemental ribbon in both versions.

Sadly my five months of down and dirty studio time is coming to an end.  I get on a plane Thursday for the Southeast Fiber Forum in Gatlinburg, TN, and the following week I head to my Canadian friends and give the keynote address to the Ontario Handweavers and Spinners Biennial Conference.  I am also giving a keynote at Southeast Fiber Forum so there is absolutely no pressure in the next week and a half…

Anyway, it was a productive few months, I accomplished a lot of things I didn’t originally set out to do, like dye 50+ pounds of assorted rayon yarns, and hand weave the trim on a suit.  Of course many of the things I wanted to accomplish never saw the light of day.  One thing I did focus on was a gift for my husband’s 60th birthday.  Since he flew back from Saudi Arabia only to turn around and head to a warmer climate to golf for a week, we never actually got to celebrate his birthday until last weekend.  I decided to forgo all the usual requisite gifts, we have so much stuff anyway, and I wanted it to be a milestone birthday, so I set out to begin a digital scrapbook of our life together since 1974.  And what a life we have had.  Fortunately you know, if you’ve been following my blog, that my husband (then boyfriend) is/was quite the picture taker, I managed to cull through 10+ carousels of slides  (the kind that held 140 slides in each) and create 110+ pages which only took me to somewhere around the early 1980’s.  I still have a lot to go.  But what a grand adventure.  Sorting through out trips, our parties, our gatherings, our family events, it was such a blast, and the clothes.  I wore some pretty interesting clothing for the time period.  Mostly I celebrated being a handweaver, so major events I wore something handwoven if I could.  Here are a couple of my favorite shots I pulled, the first wasn’t a handwoven dress, but the classic 70’s Gunne Sax dress.  We were dressed for a friend’s wedding, I believe my husband was actually in the wedding party, hence the tux.  The other shot I thought was completely hilarious, I’m standing on the SS Norway Cruise ship, 1984, dressed in a handwoven suit and my famous pink hat.  I have a lot more trips and years to cull through, and I’m having so much fun working on it, but I’ll have to put the whole project aside for awhile since I’m back out on the road again.  I presented him with the first 10 years, but there are a lot more years to go…

The big news in our household is my lovely Brianna has decided on a college.  I’m thrilled with her choice,  University of Webs, Oops, I mean University of Massachusetts Amherst (which if you are a weaver or knitter you’d know that WEBS is mecca for yarn, and only 15 minutes from the campus).  She is majoring in Animal Science, pre-vet concentration, with a minor in Japanese.  My only fear for her  is too many things to do and only four years to do it in.  Speaking of, she has already picked out the small folding 8 shaft loom she wants for a graduation present, having already scouted out the dorm room arrangement and knowing it will slide under the bead.  (An Ashford folding 16″ 8 shaft loom).  She has spring break this week and spent the last day and a half doing marathon warp winding so she can get moving on the dish towel exchange for the guild (due the beginning of June) and getting a different loom set up for a workshop with Robyn Spady the beginning of May.  That’s my girl…  Bri is threading up the Sheep Towels from Handwoven Magazines eBook Top Ten Towels on Eight Shafts.  Of course she is weaving them in Purple!

Meanwhile, I attended a couple of openings, Uncommon Threads at Artworks in Trenton, NJ (through April 16, 2011) and the Blank Canvas Benefit for the NJ Center for the Visual Arts in Summit, NJ. I was able to speak about my piece at the Uncommon Threads opening, which is why I have such an animated odd expression on my face, and it is always fun to see what artists do, in the case of the Blank Canvas Benefit, when given a blank 16 x 20″ canvas.  I was thrilled to see Archie Brennan had donated one of his tapestries.

I finished up the skirt for the suit I made that featured handwoven trim.  I only have the handwork left on the skirt.  I’m thinking it would be fun to wear to give at least one of the keynote addresses.  The hem might still be basted up, but I’m probably behind a podium, so who would know?  I really love how this suit turned out, the fit is wonderful, and the skirt, which I had reservations about,  has this interesting detail, the funnel waist is supported by stays in each of the panels.  The pattern called for boning, but I thought that was overkill, especially since I no longer have a slim waist (trust me) at 55 years old.  So I made cloth inserts and used small cable ties with the box end cut off, which worked perfectly and had a bit more flexibility than regular boning.  Worked for me!

And I finished up all the prep for my fibers class at County College of Morris.  Tomorrow is a two part class on Tapestry weaving, and the last three weeks of the semester will be devoted to shaft loom weaving.  I’m pairing up the students, and using my five small Structo, Structo Wannabee looms (the Wannabee is from Leclerc, a 10″ wide wooden version, I’d love to get my hands on more of them…)  Each loom had to be refurbished, aprons installed, additional heddles added where needed, and a warp wound for each of the five.  Bri helped with that yesterday.  They will do a sampler of structures from a straight draw threading, learning to set up the loom and then taking turns to weave on it.  I love teaching this class, I have 10 terrific  students who all bring something personal and special to the group.  The college is planning to run the 15 week class next fall, I’m waiting confirmation on the Tuesday night time slot.  I’ll post it on my schedule once it is officially on the roster and sign ups begin.  If you live anywhere near CCM, in Randolph, NJ, you will learn so much, from spinning, dyeing, felting, braiding, and all different types of weaving that you’ll never want for something to do again!  There is a life time of techniques to explore beyond just the 15 weeks of class.  And if you are an art teacher, everything I teach in this class can be used to teach your own students.

One final note, there is still room in the Mountain Retreat in the Shenandoah’s in western Virginia at the end of the month,  April 28-May1.  This is a four day intensive, garment construction class, all levels are welcome, bring your own agenda or follow mine, the surroundings are breathtaking and the camaraderie really wonderful.  Details are on my website under schedule.  Look for the class in Monterey.  I wrote about my experience there last year, in this blog post.

So I’m off again, the next post will probably come from somewhere warmer, at least I’m hoping…

Stay tuned…