knitting – Page 12

Handwoven Home

July 8, 2011 | 1 Comment

…or home away from home. My husband and I spend some weeks every summer sailing on board our sailboat Pandora. This year, just weeks before we moved on board I spent a week at Becky’s Vavstuga taking her Vavstuga Basics class. This is an absolute prerequisite for any of her other classes, her way of making sure that students have the same basic training before moving on to her more specific classes. This session’s basic class had five projects: a false damask small table square, a small (30″ x 30″) tablecloth, a dishtowel, a bathmat, and a blanket. I decided that all these projects, except the bathmat, would be used on Pandora!

Vavstuga 020 — one of the small tablecloths

Vavstuga 017 — one of two dishtowel warps

Vavstuga 019 — second dish towel with blue blanket in background

Vavstuga 022 — Student Susan sleying reed for Blue blanket

Vavstuga 023 — Ilona working on the green blanket

Becky Ashenden’s lovely studio and student residence is furnished entirely in Swedish style (mostly from IKEA) with her handwovens adorning every horizontal surface as well as all the windows! The whole place could be a scene from a Carl Larsson painting. In our bedrooms we each had a handwoven coverlet for our bed and handwoven curtains. In the main sitting room/dining room/kitchenette, there were wool blankets on the backs of the comfy chairs, a tablecloth on the side table in the sitting area, and curtains on the windows. All the curtains had handwoven tapes as tie-backs. We had breakfast each morning up in the residence dining room. Breakfast was made and delivered by Susan (Becky’s business partner), who brought up a different tablecloth each morning, while wearing a matching apron. I have a new appreciation for aprons!

Vavstuga 025 — Breakfast with one of many handwoven tablecloths!

Class started each morning at 9am after breakfast at 8. Monday we made color wrappings for dishtowels and chose the two designs we liked best. Then we began warping for them and also making the warps for the other projects. By the afternoon we were putting the warps on the looms. I will put details of Becky’s Swedish warping techniques on the weaving page. At 11am each day we gathered at a large table in the studio for drafting exercises. All of us except one student were experienced weavers. Some of us had been weaving for decades, and one student had even spent a year at a Swedish handcraft school just like the one where Becky herself had studied. Still, making drafts by hand on graph paper was a useful exercise for all of us!

The studio lights went off promptly at noon signalling lunch. There was one hour to enjoy an amazing lunch with lots of choices served smorgasbord-style. The class information stated that while Becky could not accommodate specific diets, most people on restricted diets could still get plenty to eat. It was true! Each lunch included a platter of raw vegetables, like radish and cucumber, a green salad, a cheese tray, a basket of crackers, a basket of Susan’s still-warm homemade bread, a plate of sliced deli meats and various dishes that were freshly made for that day’s lunch. These main courses included shrimp/fennel salad one day, a wheat berry salad with vegetable and dried fruit another day. It was a feast!

Vavstuga 012 — The dining room table set for lunch

Dinner always included the same assortment of platters holding cheeses, raw veggies, sliced meats, etc. And there would also be a hot main course. There was another loaf of Susan’s delicious bread. We loved it so much that we demanded a photo of her with bread before she sliced it! Becky made a fresh dessert each day to serve after dinner.

Vavstuga 005 — Susan with her homemade bread, wearing a handwoven apron

The studio re-opened at 1pm each day, so after lunch there was time for a short walk or for perusing the extensive library of weaving books….or shopping in the retail section of Vavstuga! We re-gathered at the table at 3pm each afternoon for another session of instruction which included looking at innumerable handwoven items. I have never seen so many handwoven items in one location. It was exhilarating!

Vavstuga 026 — Afternoon class examining some of Becky's handwoven tablecloths

Dinner was at 6pm each evening, and again the studio lights were turned off to bring us all to the table together. The studio re-opened from 7.30 -9 pm for evening weaving.

Our days had a definite rhythm because of Becky and Susan’s hard work and organization. After working together to warp four of the five projects, we were all weaving by Wednesday morning. We warped each project in groups of two which made beaming, threading and sleying a breeze. It is really quite enjoyable to warp with another person (and I’m someone who loves the warping process and looks forward to that time alone!). I want to see if I can institute a warping group when I return home in late summer.

Vavstuga 024 — Warping mill with view of the Deerfield River

Each day Becky wore a handwoven dress, and we all enjoyed hearing the plans for her summer solstice wedding, including her handwoven fabric design for her wedding dress. She was to be married just a week after our class ended, and I hope there will be photos on her site when she returns! While we did not get to see the dress, we saw the fabric leftovers after the pattern pieces were cut….stunning!

Becky’s studio sits at the entrance to the Bridge of Flowers which is an incredible place in mid-June.

Vavstuga 036 — Students' work on Friday afternoon

Vavstuga 038 — The class with our finished projects!

So…..back to Pandora and my handwoven home on the water…..

: False Damask table square on cockpit table

: Handwoven tablecloth and blanket from my week at Vavstuga

Ooops! I think I left the hand towel at home, and the bathmat was made for our upstairs guest bathroom.

>Maine Fiber Artists’ Open Studios

August 11, 2010 | 3 Comments

Well, it’s another beautiful summer in Maine, and I’m so lucky to visit other amazing fiber farmers and fiber artists’ studios!

This year’s plan was a bit more involved than previous years, and it was a fun adventure! My husband wanted to attend a rendevous for the Seven Seas Cruising Association on Islesboro so we worked out a plan to take the ferry to Lincolnville on two of the weekend mornings. The first morning we hitchhiked partway and got a cab partway to get back to our car in Rockland. Then, at the end of the day, I left the car at the ferry terminal so it would be handy for our second day of sightseeing.

This is the eating area of the snack bar at the ferry terminal on Islesboro. It’s about 7am, and the fog bank is rolling away to reveal the Camden Hills and the beautiful day ahead! It took two hours from the time the ferry left ‘til we had our car, although the ferry ride was only 20 minutes! We also got picked up hitchhiking a lot faster than when we waited for the cab in downtown Camden!

Day one of fiber sightseeing included Eolian Farm where no one was home, too bad for me!

These photos were taken outside Swans Island Blankets on Rte. 1, just outside of Lincolnville. What a stunning 18th century farmhouse they use for their showroom! We saw the looms as well as the dyeing room.

Two Sons Alpaca Farm in Damariscotta was the farm highlight of the weekend for me! Owner Ricki Waltz was very happy to talk about her animals to us, a fascinating blend of alpaca husbandry and tales of the various personalities in her herd. The babies were adorable and had quite distinct personalities right from the start!

Timberdoodle 2 (alas! no website!) is a lovely studio overlooking the water near Cushing. It’s a tiny, perfectly appointed showcase of Kathryn Woodstock-Lynn’s lace spinning and knitting! Using traditional Shetland techniques, learned from such venerated knitters as Gladys Almedro, Sharon Miller and others, she knits lace shawls and wraps of her own design. Her spinning is exquisite and so is her dyeing! There were two large hatboxes of yarns for sale, each with enough to make either a shawl or a scarf. One box held natural colored yarn, the other was full of her hand dyed creations. She blends acid dyes into a stunning array of colors. I dearly wanted a ‘red’ but did not have the pocketbook for it this summer. I did buy a Shetland/Oxford mix dyed an indescribable mix of pink/lavender/tan ….just a small ball that will make a lovely scarf.

Katharine Cobey. When I entered this studio I instinctively knew that I was in the presence of an artist, and that her studio was probably going to be the highlight of all our travels this summer! Her studio and its setting along the water is as artistic as Katharine herself. The wall of glass that faces the water must provide an ever changing inspiration to her spinning and knitting. When I entered Katharine was reclining in an overstuffed chair with ottoman, knitting away on a current project. Her large Rio Grande ‘sitting great wheel’ was nearby, and one of the first things she did was give me a demonstration on how it works! I’ve always wondered how one could sit and spin at a great wheel, and after seeing Rachel Brown’s simple technique which Katherine does so well, I am awestruck by what a simple feat it is to change from spinning off the spindle to winding on without stopping the wheel. Thank heaven for Rachel Brown! Katharine made it look utterly simple, but when she encouraged me to try it I quickly learned that I’d need several hours (or days!) to get the hang of it!

Part of Katharine’s studio is a showcase for some of her work. There was a display of knitted mantles arranged in a circle and exquisitely lighted called Ritual against Homelessness. They were beautifully moving. There was also a wire-knitted form on the wall that was wonderful. The form itself was interesting and was greatly enhanced by its shadow. The combination of real form and shadow were terrific together.

On leaving, Katharine handed me one of her postcards which is when I realized I knew of her! I had seen Boat with Four Figures at the Portland Museum a few years back, but didn’t realize she was the artist! I’m thrilled to have met her!

>Making a list…

December 29, 2009 | 2 Comments

The winter holidays always bring out the list-making, goal -oriented part of my personality. Here is this year’s list of goals, all unrealistically slated to be accomplished during the week between Christmas and New Year!

1. Texsolv tie-ups to be applied to my 60” Toika loom

2. Choose pattern for napkins which will be woven as test samples for future tablecloth project on the Toika . Warp the loom!

2. Taka dai to be made by Bob according to Rodrick’s plans. Naturally I will be turning out my first braid within hours of the taka dai’s completion.

3. Dyeing with my avocado pit brew which has been steeping for almost 3 months now. This means spinning some white wool to dye.

4. Weave the small test tapestry for the medieval spinner with the wonderful wools that have arrived from Renaissance Dyeing in France.

Won’t I have a busy week! And somehow I imagine myself sharing delicious meals with my visiting family, lounging on the sofa reading all the fiber magazines that never got opened during the course of this year, continuing to knit my handspun Fair Isle sweater project, and starting a new baby sweater for the upcoming Feb. birth.

I need a dose of reality!…but then dreaming is so much more fun!

>H1N1

November 5, 2009 | 9 Comments

In the last 10 days of October I was on quite a roll, getting a lot of things done…weaving off a 16S network twill scarf, making progress on my current tapestry, knitting various things, and even spinning. I felt unstoppable!….

“Shadow Baby” by Joan Somerville, using 2 shades of Tofutsies yarn. Check out the cute Gita Maria buttons! This sweater is for my new niece who will arrive in Dec!

My biggest accomplishment this month was tackling the details on Rob’s face! I’m at the halfway point of the cartoon, but have completed more than 50% of the difficult areas now. (Lots of ‘hand-holding’ from Soyoo Park to choose skin colors and to work three interlocking sections on five warps for Rob’s mouth!)

A few other things with no photos: a pair of jaywalker socks where I tried to get the pattern part out of one ball of Regia Color Effekt, by using a solid color yarn for the cuff, heel, and toe. Didn’t work! I ran out of the Regia before I got to the toe, so part of the foot is done in solid color. Bummer. At least that won’t show when I have shoes on!

I’m also brewing another avocado pit dye. This time I’m attempting patience, how novel! Each time we eat an avocado I finely chop the pit and add it to the brew. Every second or third day I heat the dyepot to a simmer for 30 minutes as per Carol Lee’s instructions. She says this goes on for months before actually dyeing. It’s a luscious red!

Then, on the penultimate day of the month I began to malfunction…and by the end of the day I was in bed with the flu! Seven days later I can barely get out of my own way. I’ve lost momentum…. and I”m in a funk….

The last time I had the flu (12 years ago), I ran to my LYS and bought some lace weight merino (Grignasco?) and got in bed with a Eugene Buehler pattern from Knitter’s Magazine. This time I’d been eyeing the recently arrived box of Icelandic unspun yarn in six colors from Schoolhouse Press. So I went to bed with my little laptop tuned in on Schoolhouse Press’s current shawl KAL by Maria Von Keppel.

Sleep, knit, drink tea…..sleep, knit, drink tea…. 4 days later:

I was able to get out of bed on the day I did the crochet loops. I graduated to sitting in a chair!

>Safflower and Cochineal Shibori

October 20, 2009 | 2 Comments

I may not get things done in a timely fashion, but it seems to me that I’m always juggling too many diverse things. In the midst of my shibori ideas, I went sailing with my husband for five days over the Columbus holiday down in the Chesapeake. I also got quite a bad cold which slowed me down…

So…back to shibori!

My safflower dyed sock blank pleated and bound with four rubber bands, ready for the cochineal bath!

The safflower dyed silk scarf ‘scrunched and wrapped around a soda bottle, ready for the cochineal bath…

sock blank and wool/mohair skein after the cochineal bath.

The finished items. The silk scarf did not take the cochineal well. It was not mordanted, which did not matter for the safflower, but certain must have for the cochineal.

Sock blank wound onto niddy-noddy, with silk scarf in background.

skein of doubled sock blank yarn! I can’t wait to knit with this, but it might have to wait ‘til the near year, after all the holiday knitting is done!

Next step (someday!) will be to mordant the scarf, then stitch some designs, and re-dye it! I don’t think I’ll hold my breath waiting to get it done!