Daryl's Blog

I’m furiously printing, binding, cutting, packaging, labeling, and packing for my five day stint in Harrisville, NH, I leave tomorrow for the 5 hour drive north.  I had the trusty 12 year old Honda car serviced, affectionately known by the residents of my basement as the “Red Swoosh”, and I’m also looking ahead to when I return and have to immediately ship up to Washington Island Wisconsin, all the materials for the five day class I am teaching at Siever’s Fiber School starting on the 30th.  Use to be I could bring all this stuff in my suitcases on the plane.  No more.  I have to ship more and more, and that means being ready with handouts and product about 8-10 days ahead, depending on how far away the workshop is.  This is a little tricky when there are only 5-7 days between workshops…

So with all this in mind, I have decided on a new press photo, Anne Marie Soto, Editorial Director of Notions Magazine, a publication of the American Sewing Guild was gracious enough to capture this classic shot during the American Sewing Guild conference last weekend in Atlanta.  Thanks Anne Marie, for being in the right place at the right time, rumor has it the flash didn’t even wake me.

Anne did follow up with this shot of me actually looking awake and pretending to teach, and we had quite the laugh sitting together in Atlanta airport waiting to board the flight back to Newark last Sunday night.

On a completely different note, and just for fun because I needed a fun kind of break, my daughter has continued on her quest for all things Japanese, she is studying Japanese, and exploring Japanese cuisine, and decided while I was working hard in the studio, to make dinner for us the other night.

Bless her, the smells coming from the kitchen were intoxicating, probably fueled by the sake, but never-the-less, I finally wandered down to see what was cooking.  She had Japanese cook books spread out, and all my counters were completely covered.  I couldn’t tell you what she was cooking, something about fish cakes and egg baskets, and creamed spinach.

Can I tell you how much I adore this child and the way she dives into everything she discovers with an abandon that I completely envy?

Undaunted by missteps, like the fried tofu something that didn’t quite work, Brianna valiantly surged forward, filling my sink with dishes, and making a complete mess, but having a blast!

When she was all finished, we poured the sake, OK I drank the sake, she isn’t old enough and her face puckered up in distaste anyway when she tried it, and we both sat down to a most wonderful creative, beautiful, gentle meal.  I’m so going to miss my daughter when she heads off to college next year…

Barely unpacked from the last trip, I’m making lists and tying up loose ends and getting ready for Sunday’s drive to New Hampshire, where I’ll be teaching a five day Wearable Extravaganza class in the beautiful historic town of Harrisville, staying in a cottage on the water, and generally enjoying New England in the summer.  Oh, and yes, I’m teaching a five day workshop.  Did I mention that?  So I’m printing handouts, and organizing and packing suitcases that never made it to the attic the whole summer, I just unpack and repack.  I am so longing for the late fall/winter when the traveling will be finished and I can get into some serious studio work, and I can post something other than my airplane escapades (or in this case interstate).

Opportunities are beginning to come in from my last two conferences, inquiries about teaching, inquiries about my books, and a wonderful and unexpected opportunity in the form of Jill Heppenheimer, owner of the Santa Fe Weaving Gallery, probably the most well known gallery of handweaving in the country.  Jill gave a breakfast keynote address at Convergence about getting into a gallery, I attended, not because I every thought I’ve be selling in a gallery again, I did that in the 1980’s (but never managed to make it into Santa Fe Weaving Gallery), I attend things like this because I am an educator and students ask me questions all the time about things unrelated to sewing, and the more knowledge I bring to the table, the better teacher I can be.

Anyway, Jill contacted me after Convergence, and asked to carry my scarves in her gallery.  She had seen the one accepted to the Convergence multimedia exhibit “Eye Dazzlers”, and loved it, and since it was finally returned from the  Convergence exhibit only yesterday, I was able to box it up along with it’s sister, woven from the same warp, and ship it off to her, back to New Mexico.  Can I say I’m thrilled she contacted me?  Can I say I’m already trying to figure out how to weave between 4-5am (about the only time I sleep) because, guess what?  She wants more in different color ways.  I say yes to things like this, even though I know I’m completely nuts, because I’m so busy doing all the things that make a business, that I am losing sight of my looms, and I loved making those scarves, they were so playful and random and fun, that I want to do more, and maybe even expand the idea into yardage for garments, what I do best, and here is a ready encouraging audience.

So if you are in the Santa Fe area, and want one of my scarves, there are only two so far, stop in and take a look.

Last night I had about a half hour to kill before my daughter was ready to curl up with me to watch episode two of Project Runway that we had taped because we were both away.  So I went online to find a tutorial for grafting the toe of handknitted socks, and I found this site.   I love that you can Google something and have the answer instantly.  Anyway, I sat with my almost finished socks, grafted the toe following the terrific photos, and I have now completed my first pair of socks ever.  🙂

The mail came today, and in it was the back to school packet for my daughter, addressed “To the Parents Of…”.  It was her schedule and all the other 37 pages of information from PTA membership to forms for reduced lunches.  In there was the blessed parking decal page reserved for seniors, which she gleefully stole from the packet.  My daughter is a senior this year, and she is my youngest.  So it was sort of bittersweet as I sat down to fill out the pile of Emergency Contact Cards, and Student Information Cards, this is my last time.  For more than 15 years I’ve been filling out those little cards, every start of the new school year, and this is my last.  I plan to grab a glass of wine to celebrate tonight, but I’m not sure if I’m also not mourning the end of the school years…  Nah, definitely time to celebrate, I hate filling out those cards…  Plus after November, she will be 18 and I won’t be allowed to fill anything out for her anymore…  🙂

There were two acceptances to exhibits in my mail/email yesterday.  One was for a show in The Plains, VA, called Live an Artful Life® presents Fashion and Fiber Art 2010.  Three of my garments were accepted, and the show runs October 9-October 23, 2010.  I would love to be at the opening, but I’ll be in Boulder, CO.  🙁  One of my pieces even made the promo page for the show on the Live an Artful Life website!

The other exhibit was sort of a surprise.  I had one of my art pieces accepted, “Survivor” to the National Art Encounter 2010 at The von Liebig Art Center in Naples, FL.  (I’m only giving the link and not posting the photo since it is a pretty graphic piece, and very personal, and many of you read this blog at work.)  The juror Denise Gerson is the Associate Director of the Lowe Art Museum at the University of Miami.  She has an almost 30 year career in the visual arts.  I am thrilled to have been selected.  The Preview Reception is September 10th, and once again, I won’t be able to attend, since I’ll be giving a keynote address in Syracuse, NY.  Tough to be in two places at the same time.  The show runs September 13-October 30.

It has been a busy eventful reentry, my husband is hopefully at the airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, ready to board a plane for the trek home, he will be here a week while he gets a new visa.  My son is out on National Guard Drills near Harrisburg, PA, he called in today, regaling me with tales of driving Humvee’s.  He is smitten…  🙂  And my daughter polished off one of her summer assignments, a paper on one of the tragic heroes of King Lear.  It is good to have her back and have her all to myself this week.  Oh, and I managed to clear the drain in the airconditioning unit that backed up while I was in Atlanta, causing water damage in the ceiling in my husband’s office and water to drip down behind the shingles in the front wall of the newly painted house, all over the hood of one of our cars.  Don’t ask…

Stay tuned…

What a wild and wonderful week I’ve had at the American Sewing Guild National Conference in Atlanta. Though I long for my own bed, I’ve been on the road for so long I rarely get to actually sleep in my own bed, I was so glad for this opportunity to attend, and to teach for the American Sewing Guild conference.  To say this is a completely different audience then I am accustomed too would be an understatement, yet there was still sameness about a group of strong talented women who share a passion of fiber.  And there was a comfortable feel to the conference, the fashion show, the speakers, the vendor hall, soon I felt like I fit right in.

This is my first experience teaching for the American Sewing Guild, and I will say it was really really positive.  An extremely organized conference, there was a rhythm to this event that never seemed to miss a heartbeat.  Every bit of the conference occurred in the Atlanta Hilton, a gracious and accommodating venue, and all the volunteers and staff at the ASG worked hard at their jobs,  no detail was missed.   I did have to change classrooms, but that was to be expected because all four of my classes had very different needs.  Since I was staying right above the exhibit halls and classroom space, it wasn’t hard to store my teaching materials in my hotel room.

The ASG provided breakfast and lunch meetings every day of the conference, great opportunities for more inspiration like Connie Crawford’s breakfast talk on the 2010-2011 fashion forecast.  The fashion show was well done, I almost wished I hadn’t been modeling, I would have loved to have sat in the audience. It was open to everyone, there were 76 entries, and some pretty proud models.  Most garments were modeled by the maker, and there were wedding gowns, and antebellum costumes, celebrating Atlanta’s heritage, there were all kinds of garments on all kinds of shapes, and it was a pleasure to mill around back stage getting a close up look at all the fine details.  I think my two garments were pretty much the only hand woven garments there, and that was quite the novelty.  I’m not use to that.  I’m use to being part of a crowd of handweavers who are all wearing gorgeous textiles and no one is surprised that you wove everything you’ve had on at the conference.

The first class I taught on Thursday was particularly special to me, I shipped a bunch of Inkle Looms and taught a one day workshop titled “Weave your own Trim“.  The inkle loom is perfect for non weavers to begin to play with the medium, instant gratification, by lunch time they were all weaving away on their bands, chatting about practical applications for making Chanel type braids and French Passementerie.   They picked up Pick-Up techniques very quickly, and I sold eleven looms.  So there are eleven new weavers out there!  I’m so proud.

I even discovered YLI decorative Pearl Crown Rayon Serger thread, in miniature cones, perfect for fine bands and braids.  They have a Candlelight Metallic yarn as well.  There were also some wonderful yarns imported from Germany, fine perle cottons, and embroidery cottons, on very small skeins, perfect for Inkle Weaving, all handpainted in joyous names relating to famous painters.  I have one called Frida!  The yarns are from Tentakulum and available from the YLI website.

My Friday morning lecture was particularly special to me.  I gave a talk on the collaborative process and my experience working with Loretta Phipps whom I had never met using yarns I would have never picked on the 2008 Convergence Challenge in Tampa Bay.  Loretta and I designed and created a runway ensemble which has been traveling since the 2008 conference, this is the first I’ve seen it since June more than two years ago.  I had since made a dress from the leftover scraps from the coat, and I wore it to the presentation, and the actual garments, with many thanks to the HGA, made it to the conference having been on tour with the Original Sewing and Quilt Expos.

I had a full class for my afternoon lecture on Seams and Edge Finishes, I was worried that participants from the Sewing world would find the material too basic, doesn’t everyone know how to do a French seam or a Hong Kong seam, doesn’t everyone know how to do a mitered corner on a bound edge?  I was thrilled when so many participants came up to me and thanked me for my full color handout, slide for slide of the presentation, and for my thorough details explaining each of the techniques, and I got a hug from someone who wasn’t sure what Stitch in the Ditch meant, I was happy to explain it to her, we all come from different backgrounds and levels and training, and I was so pleased at all the kind words for my presentation.

The vendor hall was so different than what I’m use to at handweaving conferences.  It was packed full of fabrics, independent pattern designers, sewing machine vendors, irons, cutting mats, pattern making software, and stuff for embellishment of just about anything you can fit under a sewing machine.  This was craft project central!  It was colorful, full of excited women, and sometimes hard to maneuver through the aisles.  I stopped at Linda Lee’s booth, The Sewing Workshop, she asked to see the tote bag I wetfelted, stitched with Ultrasuede trim, and wove the Inkle trim for the handle.  The pattern is from The Sewing Workshop, called the Daily News Bag.

I also spent some time at Susan Lazear’s booth Cochenille Design Studio.  Susan attended Convergence in Albuquerque, and was one of the designers from the 2010 Challenge paired with Robyn Spady.  Susan is the creator of “Garment Designer” software, and she spent some time demonstrating the product.  I was very impressed by the software, I had had some earlier experience years ago with software from Dress Shop 2, and hadn’t found it very helpful.  We’ve come a long way with computers, and I took the plunge and invested in the Garment Designer software taking advantage of the show bundle price.  This software will also create the patterns for knitted garments, my jaw just fell on the ground when I saw the demo on that.

My last class was a fun hands on project, this was the first time I’ve taught this particular project and I worried about the timing.  It was perfect.  The students had four hours, and they jumped right in and most finished their mats with enough time to spare.

It was really fun to see all the bright fabrics and bias tubes come together at the end.

I am pretty exhausted.  And I only have a week to get ready for my five day class at Harrisville Designs in New Hampshire.  I hit the ground running this morning, dealing with the dead plants, from no rain and no water, nearly empty ponds and fountains, dealing with trash and recycling, yard waste and laundry.  The drain on the airconditioning unit backed up, causing water damage in one of my ceilings, I managed to get that unplugged, and the one good thing about 100 degree temps with no rain in site, there is a chance the exterior walls will actually dry out and not mildew.  I’m crossing my fingers.

Meanwhile, the flight home to Newark was easy and uneventful.  I sat tucked in my little seat by the window on an Embraer Jet, watching the sun set, finishing up knitting  my first pair of socks.  I just have to graft the toes together, and I’m ready for winter.  I’ve already put in an order to Webs for more sock yarn…

Largely because I want a record of these lyrics, and because I’ve never tried to embed a YouTube video into my blog, I thought I’ve give you a post Convergence treat.  Soprano Emma Kirby sings John Dowland’s “Fine Knacks for Ladies” just so you know what the melody should sound like. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dabqyiJZN0c

Fine Knacks for Ladies

Fine knacks for ladies, cheap, choice, brave and new,
Good pennyworths but money cannot move,
I keep a fair but for the fair to view,
A beggar may be liberal of love.
Though all my wares be trash, the heart is true.

Great gifts are guiles and look for gifts again,
My trifles come as treasures from my mind,
It is a precious jewel to be plain,
Sometimes in shell the Orient’s pearls we find.
Of others take a sheaf, of me a grain.

Within this pack pins, points, laces and gloves,
And divers toys fitting a country fair,
But in my heart, where duty serves and loves,
Turtles and twins, Court’s brood, a heav’nly pair.
Happy the man that thinks of no removes.

With liberties taken by Daryl Lancaster & Amy Morris, Convergence 2010

Fine yarns for ladies, cheap, choice, brave and new,
Good pennyworths but bring your plastic too,
Bright colored yarns, and looms for all to view,
A weaver may fall thoroughly in love.
Though I don’t need more stash, I shop on cue.

Workshops and lecture, ideas flow again,
Surprises that we least expect to find,
Cloth from my loom no longer to be plain,
All my designs are treasures from my mind.
When inspiration comes, excitement reigns.

Draft, threading, treadling, sett, beat, structure too,
And divers toys that make a fabric fair,
But in my heart, where threads may not undo,
Sometimes I must unweave because I care.
Skipped wefts and broken threads, the cloth holds true.

And in the final installment of Kevin and Daryl’s Excellent New Mexico Adventure, we leave our weary couple riding off into the sunset, literally, with some of the most spectacular evening skies they have ever seen.  They are the kind of skies that make you pull over into the nearest parking lot, or side road, or even the shoulder of the road because it is too risky to keep driving.  Talk about distraction!

So Wednesday morning, my wonderful vacation partner and husband Kevin,  flew back to New Jersey for something like 36 hours before boarding a plane for Riyadh.  He is still there, in Saudi Arabia, and due back for a few days in mid August.

Meanwhile, Convergence begins!  Like I said, no cameras allowed in most of the venues, so I left mine in my purse, you’ll have to be content with descriptions.

I spent Wednesday morning previewing all of the fashion show garments.  I get to carefully look up inside, try on if necessary, touch and read about and generally familiarize myself with as much of the details of the garments as I can.  The fashion show was that night, and the garments would then be installed in the middle of the night, into a gallery setting.  This would be my only opportunity to preview the garments alone, and I would be lecturing about them on Saturday morning with a group of 50 participants.  I’ve been doing this technical critique for the last six Convergence’s and many other conference fashion shows in between.  I love doing it, there is never enough time, but each body of work gives me new and interesting things to discuss, and this was one of the strongest.  I’ve seen a lot of fashion shows, and a lot of fashion show garments.  There was a consistency in the overall Southwest theme of the show, the color palettes, and the silhouettes presented a tight point of view from the judges.  It was an original and technically proficient body of work, and I was pleased to have had two pieces of my own included for exhibit.

The fashion show was fun.  There were lighting difficulties, using a stage instead of a runway, a stage with a strongly lit back wall, as beautiful as it was, created back lighting, and I’m guessing the models were too far forward of the stage to be properly lit from the front.  Usually there are spot lights for those sort of things, but there weren’t any in this production.  The models were lovely, and seemed to be enjoying the garments, there were rumors of one of the models falling right before the production started and breaking her arm, but whoever was back stage in charge, pulled it off, without a hitch, substituting another model, and no one was the wiser.

There was a Fiber Trust reception back in the exhibits after the fashion show, and I was able to see all of my pieces in the other exhibits hung in a gallery like setting, and see the work of the other instructors, as well as the juried exhibits.  I did get one photo on the way to the reception, two of my favorite people, John Mullarkey, from the St. Louis Guild of card weaving fame, and Angela Schneider from the recent Mississippi trip, where I taught a jacket workshop while dodging tornadoes.  Both were wearing their “Daryl Jackets” from workshops with me.

And so I crawled into bed Wednesday night, having shared the evening with my best buddy and roommate Robyn Spady, who had already finished the first day of her three day workshop with 31 participants in a Round Robin, and passed out from sheer exhaustion.  I had done my best to make sure everything I had control of would run as smoothly as possible.  The rest was completely out of my hands.

Thursday morning began the marathon, I had two three hour lectures, one on Color and Inspiration, and one on multiple thread warping techniques titled Warp Fast, I had procured equipment from the vendor hall for demo purposes, and most of the students had pre purchased the handout from my website since the proofing error in the brochure meant I couldn’t provide one in the class.  It turns out I was the one who missed the error, and for that I am embarrassed and apologetic.  I am usually really really good at making sure details like that don’t get by me.  On this one I goofed.  In spite of all the challenges and large numbers of students, I was delighted with the response and how well the classes went.  I want to send a huge thank you to the HGA for giving me one of the best classrooms I’ve ever worked with.  I had a large neutral unbroken wall for projecting my presentations, and plenty of chairs for the large lectures, and plenty of tables for the hands on sessions.  The temperature in the room stayed consistent, not too hot, not too cold, and the lighting was flexible enough to dim for PowerPoint presentations, but stay bright enough for those who wanted to follow in their handout, take notes, or just knit.

Friday I had another pair of three hour sessions, one in Closures, ways to close a handwoven garment, and another in Website Design.  My brain was starting to fry…  I can’t imagine how the students felt, but watching their faces, they all seemed to stay awake and alert, and I did my best to entertain, and keep them in good humor, actually we were occasionally rolling on the floor laughing out loud, because listening to anybody for three hours straight can be really painful!

Saturday morning was my technical critique, and that went way better than I could have ever dreamed.  Huge thank you’s to all who helped me pull it off.  It was definitely a team effort, I couldn’t have done it alone.  Saturday afternoon was another three hour lecture, this one on Seams and Edge Finishes.  There were public appearances at the Weavolution booth, selling and signing my books, and there were breakfast lectures one of which I actually got to attend, with gallery owner Jill Heppenheimer of the Santa Fe Weaving Gallery.  There were dinners, which we signed up for ahead of time, and another thank you to the HGA for realizing that there were not a lot of opportunities to dine around the convention center, and for thinking to provide as many meals as possible to those who wanted them without the hassle of finding a restaurant.  It seems the Hyatt and the surrounding areas largely cater to the courthouse, keeping hours based on the courthouse in session.  Subway if you can believe it, was closed on the weekends.  How perfectly odd…

Sunday, I spent the whole day teaching a workshop in Inkle Loom Weaving.  I have to give it to the students for sticking with me until the bitter end, they wove their little hearts out, most of them were able to understand pick up work by mid afternoon, and my two star students who grasped the concept immediately, had never woven before.  I just got the loveliest thank you note I’ve ever read in the mail today from one of my students, I can’t tell you what it means when someone feels so inspired that they actually sit down and write an old fashioned thank you note.

I did manage to find some down time at the conference, one of my friends from Southern California, fiber and felting enthusiast Amy Morris, and I would disappear in the evenings and play music.  I brought my alto recorder, and Amy, who has a lovely voice, sang along as I played some wonderful Baroque pieces, some John Dowland from the 1500’s and some French songs, there was even one attributed to Henry VIII.  We even spent time with our heads together on the trip back from the Ghost Ranch in Santa Fe, re-writing the words to Dowland’s “Fine Knacks for Ladies”, retitling it “Fine Yarns for Ladies”.  We laughed ourselves silly.  Thanks Amy for always finding me when I needed help the most!

So, here are some of my impressions of Convergence.  The numbers were huge.  I heard more than 2000 attendees, more than 400 first timers.  There were young people, and there were those that have been coming to Convergence since the beginning of time.  A special shout out to Eva Walsh from the Orlando guild who celebrated her 88th birthday taking two classes with me on Thursday.  I want to be Eva when I grow up, still taking classes and attending Convergence when I’m 88.

Whenever you have that many people in one place, there are bound to be complaints.  There are expectations that can’t always be met, and there are last minute changes and issues that come up, and everyone can get overloaded and tired and cranky, and in spite of it all, HGA pulled off a major event, for the most part seamless, and considering that the entire conference was organized and run by almost all volunteers who have given up two years of their lives, this was really really well done.  The exhibits were classy, the work inspirational, the classrooms adequate, in my case exceptional.  The vendor hall was not as full with all of the usual players, Schacht, Webs, Louet, they were all missing, but these are difficult times and it is really really costly to ship all kinds of looms and equipment to vendor halls across the country and sometimes across the border, and many of the vendors are pulling back and rethinking their presence there.  It is a shame, but understandable.

There was a fresh enthusiasm everywhere, though I will say I was locked in a classroom for most of it, hiding in the evenings to save my voice, so I am probably not the best to evaluate the mood of the crowd.  I came back energized and inspired, the tours on the front end of the conference opened up my world, the lectures were interesting and gave me some new material to think about, and I walked away seeing a future for handweaving and for the HGA.  I appreciate their tolerance of my occasional bouts of diva-ness…

I wish I could say I arrived home to a well earned rest.  Sadly I have one week to retool, reclaim my house from the National Guard who took up residence in my basement while we were gone, work with the house painters who have had control over the exterior of my house for a month, (doing a spectacular job I might add), and get ready for the American Sewing Guild National Conference in Atlanta, I leave on Thursday.  Yep, that would be three days from now…

So I cranked up the printer, started on the handouts, adjusted lectures for the audience, and built a whole new hands on workshop making a pieced mat.  I shot the production photos, created the new handout, made a couple of samples, and shipped all the looms for the inkle weaving class and the handouts for those classes that required them (one has 66 participants) off to the Hilton in Atlanta.

Oh, and the socks?  I’m slowly and steadily reaching the end, who would have thought, I’m even looking around for more sock yarn to make another pair. I had the foresight to actually knit both socks at the same time, so the second sock is just a few hours behind the first one.  I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to finally make a pair of socks and understand how the heel turns and the sock is shaped to the foot.  Thanks Ann, for getting me through the gusset!