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Frolic with Fiber

1/3/2020

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The Winnipeg group that is the Norwood Naughty Knitters is hosting their annual event called Frolic with Fiber. Participating in the event, I'm offering a class on the subject of interlacing. It's one of the techniques used in some fingerweaving, It's also a stitch used in sprang. If you're interested, check out https://www.facebook.com/groups/158092544265553/events/
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Fingerweaving instructions go LIVE

12/20/2019

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Rainer says the video is now live on Taprootvideo.com. Watch the preview at  https://www.taprootvideo.com/preview_class.jsf?iid=7&cid=3
Check out the PDF handout that accompanies the video. The handout gives you a pretty good idea of the content. For instructions on how to actually do the fingerweaving, how to use the patterns in the handout .... you'll have to watch the video.
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The PDF handout that accompanies the DVD
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Instructions begin at a no-experience-necessary level. Make a friendship bracelet, and twist the fringes to finish. Projects are ordered stepwise, from simple to more complex, and are sufficiently  interesting to keep expert weavers occupied. As in the book Fingerweaving Untangled, you get help with tips to check your work, how to identify "irregularities" (aka mistakes), what to do about them, how to avoid them in the future. Make bags, belts, and scarves without a loom!

The announcement is that live-streaming is available starting now. For those with slow internet, or who would just prefer the DVD, well, they are making them as I type this, but the process is rather slow. The hard-copy DVDs will not be available until late January ... I am taking pre-orders.
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DVD release date

12/17/2019

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Announcing a release date for the DVD titled Fingerweaving Instructions. You will be able to live-stream this video on the Taprootvideo.com site starting sometime on Saturday, December 21. The information is being transfered as I write this to a company that will print the video onto DVD discs. Unfortunately that takes a bit longer. The printing company says I should have DVDs ready to mail to you by January 30. To pre-order the DVD click here. Pre-orders will receive a discount, and delivery will happen as soon as the discs arrive.
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The video is almost 2 1/2 hours long, because it covers so much material: how to set up, how to manipulate the threads, how to check for errors (how to avoid errors in the first place) and a variety of patterns .... all the patterns in the photo are covered. The video also provides instruction on reading patterns. Yes there's a PDF with printed versions of the patterns.
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Once you've made it through the initial set of patterns, the video shows you how to work the arrow-and-lightning pattern, as well as the bulls eye pattern at the center.
Now, fingerweaving usually results in a flat rectangular shape ... as a bonus, the video shows you how to make a curly neckscarf.
Log in to Taprootvideo.com to register for the on-line streaming. Limited time as well as lifetime streaming options will be available this weekend.
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Fingerweaving Instructions

12/13/2019

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The video instructions for fingerweaving is getting ever closer to reality. Now to unveil the cover design:
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Final edits are presently happening. The master disc will soon be sent for duplication, and I'll be taking orders.
If you want to see what all is covered in the movie, have a look at the table of contents.
Accompanying the DVD is a 13 page PDF handout, containing printed versions of the patterns discussed (the movie tells you how to read the patterns). I'll be posting the handout soon.
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Braid Conference in Iga, Japan

10/27/2019

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I was invited to teach sprang at the 4th International Braid Society Conference, held in Japan.
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Morning address at the Braid Society Conference
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The view from my hotel window in Iga, Japan
The conference was held in Iga, known for its kumihimo.
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I taught a class in sprang at the conference, assisted by my lovely daughter Claire. Yes, I am wore sprang shirts, a different one every day.
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A surprise: At the AGM I was given a gift, a sprang bonnet replica made by Noemi Speiser. What a treasure!

Also at the AGM, I received a research bursary, to attend a sprang lace conference in Croatia next May. This means I will write an article for Strands Magazine, describing what I learned on that trip.
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Summer2019

8/29/2019

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It's been a busy summer, and I now realize I've not been posting. I suppose you're wondering what all I've been doing. Well .... here are some snapshots ....
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Scene along the highway through the prairies between Iowa and Manitoba
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Puget Sound
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New Mexico: river, desert, mesa
Yes, I travelled. I drove across the prairies to Grinnell Iowa, for the Midwest Weavers conference. Went to a family wedding in Washington State, and visited with friends and family there. I spent time with the Romatkas, of Taproot Video fame, working on that Fingerweaving video. Great work Marilyn and Rainer.
I also stopped in at Port Townsend. Thanks for the hospitality Linda and Rick.
Then on to Massachusetts for the NEWS conference.
At NEWS I taught fingerweaving and sprang to eager students. Great bunch of weavers, lovely to share with you! I also chatted up the vendors including Vävstuga and Lunatic Fringe.
Look for my class in the Vävstuga catalogue in November 2020.
Lunatic Fringe invited me to help them create kits. She gave me several cones of her 5/2 mercerized cotton to play with.
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When I got home from Massachusetts, I tucked in to work with that lovely Lunatic Fringe cotton, making several items, and writing the instructions, so they will become kits.
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Circular warp cowls
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Cellphone bags
I had enough yarn to also make a sprang shirt
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Shirt in progress. I am making it in strips, assembling as I go along.
In between time, I've been working on another pair of sprang leggings. I'm trying to replicate the design worn by that gondolier in a painting by Carpaccio. The material is wool, Möbelatta from the Lone Star Loom Room.
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There was another family wedding in August, this time in California. I took the opportunity to visit with more weaving friends.
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Had a delightful day, driving the California coast with friends Ruth and Barb
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Stopped in at a meeting of a Sprang Study Group in Denver.
While in the SouthWest, I also was able to visit with the very talented textile artist Tyra Shackleford, and see her piece in the IAIA Museum of Contemporary Arts exhibit Visual Voices Contemporary Chickasaw Art. Well done Tyra! If any of you readers have the chance, do go see Tyra's work.



Back home from my travels, time for laundry, and also time to deal with all those zucchini and tomatoes in the garden.
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Learning from students

6/30/2019

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.I've been travelling, teaching in Quebec and Iowa. It's lovely to meet people, share what I know, and learn from so many talented people. As a consequence I've updated the contents of the twining patterns on my website, tweaking the directions, hopefully making them easier to understand.

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The Midwest Handweavers Conference took place in Grinnell, Iowa recently, and I had the privilege of sharing with several very talented people. One of them, Jason, made it all the way through my twining patterns, and gave me some excellent suggestions. I've now edited those twining patterns on my website. Anyone who has already downloaded them, and who wants an update ... please contact me and I'll send you the new-and-improved version.
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I taught sprang at the assembly of Quebec Handweavers in St George, Quebec. There I met some extraordinary fingerweavers.
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Yvette's hat band ... made for her by a friend
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bag and the yoke of a coat in fingerweaving
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Nicole's scarf
I also met Monique Dumas, who had taken a sprang class from Peter Collingwood years ago (her first encounter with someone speaking with a British accent), and who  went on to be the very first to teach sprang at the Maison Routhier. She showed me her lovely sprang shrug.
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My students at my class at Maison Routhier did me proud.
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Vertical stripes
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Basic twining
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Cables
Lovely meeting every one of you. I wish you many happy hours of sprang.
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The making of a sprang pullover

6/26/2019

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I was talking today with members of a Colorado-based sprang study group. They had some questions, and I was wanting to refer them to a blog post of mine ... and then I realized that I never posted those pictures, never told that story on my blog. So here it is, the making of that shirt that was on display at HGA's Convergence last summer.
PictureA front and back of the garment begins as a very large rectangular flat warp.

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Here you see me separating the false circular warp after the piece was finished.
I have been exploring different ways to create a sprang shirt.
The obvious way to create the neckline is to make a slit for a V-neckline.
When I did this, I found that there is stress on the stitch at the bottom of that V, and it does not look nice. Because of this, I have begun to look for other ways to create that neckline.
This pullover began with a false-circular warp to create a large rectangle for the front and back. The loops will sit near the hem of the garment. There is a chain line at the shoulders.
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Red thread traces the shape of the neck hole.
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Cut across the stitches within the circle.
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Unravelled stitches, and knots.
I laid the piece out flat, and traced a circle (basting stitch) with a red thread at the place that I thought should be the hole for the neck. The hole must be as large as the circumference of my head. I then cut across the stitches inside this hole, being careful to leave threads long enough to tie knots. I unravelled the stitches to the place of the red thread, and tied knots.
This gave me a neck opening, with unsightly knots all around. I covered the knots with a collar.
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The collar started out as a long flat warp. I chose a 2-2 interlacing stitch for the collar.
For the sleeves, I wanted to try making them narrower at the wrist, wider at the shoulder. To make the cloth wider, you must add threads.
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I added a loop of yarn every second row. This gave me two sleeves, that are wider at the shoulder, narrower at the wrist. I cut the sleeves apart, and tied knots. The knots are hidden on the inside of the garment.
The finished pullover was judged worthy of the fashion show at the Handweavers Guild of America conference Convergence in 2018 in Reno, Nevada.
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Linen Shirt

5/18/2019

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While in Vancouver earlier this year, I stopped in at Maiwa on Granville Island. I will be teaching a sprang class there next year. I wanted to have a look at their yarns, to evaluate their use for my students. I saw some lovely linen yarn.
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I decided to try to make yet another sprang shirt, using this linen yarn. OK, I purchased seven skeins.
Wanting to use some of those colorful motifs from Coptic bonnets, I set up a multicolored warp.
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This piece will be the center back of the shirt.
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Right off the frame, the piece curled up.
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To un-curl the piece, I blocked it ... that is, I got it wet, and then pinned it to my ironing board.
Now for two pieces to go on either side of the center back. These pieces will go over the shoulder, starting and ending at the hem of the shirt.
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I decided these side panels would be a more solid color. And I decided to try an interlacing stitch.
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Starting to assemble the shirt.
Now for the front of the shirt. I decided to use the lighter green as the background for the front of the shirt. The first time I sewed the front into the shirt, there was a clear difference in tension (rows per inch) between the lower part of the front, and the side pieces. I re-sewed it a couple of times before getting it right.
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The first time I sewed the front panel in, there was unacceptable puckering in the lower half.
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I un-sewed and re-sewed several times, until acceptable. The secret was to disobey those rules about a completely invisible seam ... and not always align up rows, but rather to avoid puckering.
Now for two narrow pieces to go under the arms.
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Two narrow bands, to go along the sides, under the arms.
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The collar is a narrow piece of circular warp.
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And lastly, sleeves. I shaped the sleeves as I went along.
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I made the two sleeves at the same time, one sleeve at the top, the other at the bottom of the frame.
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Once cut apart, I blocked the sleeves before sewing them into the shirt.
I chained around the hem, to give a firmer edge to the shirt.
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Chaining across the loops at the hem to make it a bit more firm.
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The firmer quality of the hem will mean I will be less likely to snag on things when I wear the shirt.
I finished assembling the shirt, and washed it.
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The shirt, lying flat to dry.
Look for me this summer, sporting my new sprang shirt.
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Completed shawl

4/24/2019

1 Comment

 
 And here's a better image of that shawl I made last month, demonstrating perhaps some of the drape and flexibility of the fabric
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Photo by Chris Black
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Carol acknowledges that we are on Treaty 1 territory, the traditional gathering place of the Anishinaabe, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota and Dene people and the traditional homeland of the Métis people. Carol also acknowledges that sprang is part a meany indigenous tradition and fuond in various forms all over the world. Let us re-discover this tecking together.
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