MWC This Weekend!

Midwest Weavers Conference

Butler University

Indianapolis, Indiana

Marketplace:  June 16-17, 2017

http://www.midwestweavers.org/conference/

I'll have a huge booth at the show this weekend full of gorgeous yarns perfect for weaving!  Stop in and say hello and tell me what you've been creating lately.

2016 Fiber Show and Sale!

It's that time of year again - Time to think about holiday gifts and winter projects.   Next weekend is the Bloomington Spinners and Weavers Guild Show and Sale, held at the Bloomington, Indiana downtown Convention Center in conjunction with the Local Clay pottery guild and the Bloomington Glass Guild.   Fine craft at its best!

2016 Fiber Show

Friday Nov 4,    4-9pm

Saturday, Nov 5,  9am-5pm 

Bloomington Convention Center

College Ave, Downtown, Bloomington, Indiana

Free admission and free parking

I'll be in the south room again, but in a new booth spot.  I'll have a lot of hand dyed yarns for your winter projects, including a whole lot of colors in my favorite superwash wool and tencel blend. I'll also have a selection of hand-dyed, handwoven silk scarves, a selection of dyed silks and a selection of hand dyed rayon circle scarves.    Stop by and say hello!

Weaving, Weaving, Weaving...

The Bloomington Artisan Guilds show is coming up quickly.   Mark your calendars for Friday, Nov 6, 2015 from 4pm - 9pm  and Saturday, Nov 7 from 9am - 5pm at the Bloomington Convention Center on College Ave in downtown Bloomington, Indiana.   The weaving, glass and pottery guilds have joined together to create one fabulous show of the area's best fine craft.  

In preparation, I have been weaving, weaving, weaving to get ready.  

New this year:   Handwoven white alpaca shawls and fine black mohair shawls, both with glittery trim.   Also a new line of luscious bamboo and silk scarves in beautiful hand dyed colors. 

You'll find my hand-dyed yarns in silk, rayon, superwash/tencel, bamboo and a new line of organically grown cotton.   I'll have some rovings and ribbons as well.   Look for my two new colorways - Blue Peacock and Red Oak.

In addition, I'll have my regular lines of hand painted silk scarves, handwoven washcloth/soap sets and a glorious array of other weavings.

Please stop by and see us!

Saddle Pads

This is how I've been spending the majority of my time lately.   I got a new job last year weaving saddle pads and I must say I have never enjoyed a job so much before.   It's been great to learn how to weave something completely different from what I'm used to.

Show & Tell Saddle Pads is a small, family owned company in Clay City, Indiana.   There's a lot of love and laughter in every pad. 



For information on how to get a pad like these for your very own, contact:

Show & Tell Saddle Pads
Loni Rhodes
Clay City, Indiana
812 201 0192

4th St Festival of the Arts and Crafts

Next weekend [Labor Day weekend] is the 4th Street Festival of the Arts and Crafts in Bloomington, Indiana.   Two days of truly amazing fine art and fine craft all up and down 4th St. in downtown Bloomington.   It's one of the cultural highlights of the year in this area and is a nationally lauded art fair.   You don't want to miss it.  

Saturday  August 31, 2013  10 am - 6 pm
Sunday  September 1, 2013  10 am - 5 pm

I'll be there selling my hand dyed and handwoven shawls and scarves [like the ruffles in the pic]  and I'll have some hand painted silk scarves as well.    My booth is on the north side of 4th St just up from Grant Street, in front of the Mandalay restaurant.   Please stop in and say hello!

Winter Towels

I wanted to weave some winter towels - something not too Christmasy, but with some winter red and green in it.   I used two greens, two reds, a lot of winter white, plus some tan and wound a long warp.   

And then I wove these.

I love them!



8/2 cotton
15 epi as wide as you want.

An 8 yd warp makes 9 towels - enough to give some as gifts and keep a few.  

Ruffle Scarves

I've been playing around with ruffles in my weaving.   

You weave them flat.

Then wet finish them.

Then you have ruffles!

I heart ruffles!

If you didn't see these in person at the BSWG Show and Sale last weekend, then you can come and get  one at my next show! 

Unitarian Church Art Fair and Bazaar

Fri, November 30, 2011, 10am-7pm

Sat, December  1, 2011, 9am-5pm

Corner of Fee Lane and the bypass, Bloomington, Indiana

Towels!

I've been busy weaving towels this summer.   I love weaving towels.   They're beautiful and useful and beautiful.   How you not love working on something this gorgeous?

Here are pics of the ones I finished recently.  They're all on Etsy.  $20 each.  They're about 16x24 inches.  They've already been machine washed and dried.   100% cotton.

They're made to work, so don't feel like you have to be dainty with them - this is what I use at home every day.

Autumn Squares

Misty Morning Squares

Gold Party

Eggplant 

Red Party

Dk Teal 

Guy Towels

Guy towels. 

These towels turned out way brilliant.   Ideal for dudes who aren't afraid of kitchens.  Ideal for kitchens in cabins in the deep dark woods.   Or on mountains!   Or by lakes!  Or hunting cabins!

I'm definitely making more of these.

The details:
Handwoven by me of 100% cotton. $20 each.   I do them in sets of four if you want a set.  Machine washed and dried.   16"x24" right out of the dryer.   Email me if you want them before they go up on etsy.   robin at morenna dot com

Berry Prism Towels

More prism [not prison] towels in berry brights.  Purple, blue, gold and green.    These are Lily's favorite, so far.  

Details:  Handwoven in 100% cotton.  $20 each.   I do them in sets of four if you want a set.  Machine washed and dried.   16"x24" right out of the dryer.   Email me if you want them before they go up on etsy.   robin at morenna dot com

Prison Towels

Just kidding about the prison thing. 

When I posted the first set of Prism towels,  one of my friends mis-read it as Prison Towels.  We made a bunch of jokes about towels in orange stripes.

Then I made these towels and Eric said, "Hey!  You made Prison Towels!'

Because we're old enough to remember when prisoners [on TV] were dressed in loud black and white stripes.

Not orange.

It was funny!

Really.

*crickets*

Anyway....

I like them.   And I'm thinking you will, too.  And if you want them, you can buy them!

The nitty gritty details:
They're handwoven by me, myself and I out of cotton. Shades of grey and black.  $20 each.   I do them in sets of four if you want a set.  Machine washed and dried.   16"x24" right out of the dryer.   Email me if you want them before they go up on etsy.   robin at morenna dot com

Spring Towels

I've been weaving.   And weaving.   And I'm having loads of fun putting colors together. 

Here are some perfectly pastel towels in time for the Spring holidays.   Calming shades of soft blue, green, yellow and tan.  

The nitty gritty details:  
These are handwoven of all cotton.  Machine hemmed.   They've been machine washed and dried.  They measure 15" x 24" [or a little wider] right out of the dryer, so they won't shrink any more.    [These are the same types of towels that I use in my own kitchen.   They last!]

$20 each.   I weave four at a time if you want a set.    Email me if you want to get some before I put them on etsy.    email:  robin  at morenna  dot com

On the Loom

I heart washcloths.

Collapse Weave Experiments

I've been fascinated with collapse weave for a long time.   You weave it flat, then wash it and Shazam!  it's crinkly.

Crinkly is cool.

Crinkly did not come easy.



I tried all sorts of things and it all pretty much came out looking like this.

Not crinkly.

Sort of crinkly, but not really crinkly.   It was thinking about being crinkly, but not actually doing the crinkly thing. 

I got a great book on collapse weave and it helped me think about it quite a bit.  Check out Collapse Weave, by Anne Field. 

For me, though, 'thinking' wasn't nearly as a good a teacher as 'doing'.   I had to warp the loom and try some stuff out before I could figure out how the whole thing worked.   I had to make some mistakes. 

This is what I learned. 

1.  Use a fine warp.   I've been playing with lace weight alpaca and gotten some nice stuff.  I've also seen nice stuff worked up on tencel and silk warps [shoot for 20/2 or smaller].

2.  Use a wide sett.   I liked 15-18 epi.

3.  Differential setts didn't crinkle.   I tried  mixing a 24 epi with a 15 epi in the warp and it didn't do anything.

4.  Wooly nylon thread is not a good weft thread.  It doesn't collapse nearly enough.   Don't bother.

5.  Overtwisted wool crepe was the best weft I tried.    It comes in great colors from Habu and it's worth the money.   If you're local, then you'll be glad to know that Yarns Unlimited has both this yarn and the Collapse Weave book.

6.  I tried both 1/3 twill and 2/2 twill and discovered that it really doesn't make a difference.   I got good collapse with both.

7.  Don't pack the weft.   Keep it a balanced weave even though the weft is considerably smaller than the warp.    Sample until you get what you like.

In the end, I got what I was shooting for.  It collapsed a full 50%.    By changing wefts, I could get a fabric that collapsed in some places but not others. 

I need to play with this some more.    What would happen if I mixed collapse weave with shibori?   Hmm....

4th St. Festival of the Arts and Crafts

This Saturday and Sunday is the 4th St. Festival of the Arts and Crafts in downtown, Bloomington, Indiana, on 4th Street between Indiana and Lincoln St.   

Great art, great music, great restaurants along the way.   

Hours:   Saturday 10-6;  Sunday 10-5

I'll be there, so come say, 'Hi', and check out some of my hand dyed, handwoven scarves.    The ones in the pics are brand spanking new, just for you.


I'll also have hand dyed, handwoven silk scarves and some little dyed silks.   Soap sets are special order at this fair - you won't see them on the shelves, but you can order ahead of time and pick them up there if you'd like.   Email me at robin at morenna dot com. 

Winner - Cotton Sparkle Scarf

Thanks to all who played the game!  Because I love you all, I decided to give away two of these lovely scarves.   

The first winner of the cotton scarf, as generated by random.org is:
#8, Gina!

Gina said...

"I agree with you completely about the weather here in rural Illiana. Just about the time I think I can't take it any more....we will have the most absolutely beautiful day. Your scarves are so lovely. Since they are lightweight, they are perfect for the crazy seasons here. My favorite warm weather activity is the same as winter....weaving and knitting. Except in the summer I can do both on the deck outside." 

The second winner, as generated by random. org is #13, Pat!

Pat said...
"Walking in the mornings with flowers dressed in bright colors, a symphony of song birds, a new morning blue sky and spring green trees."

Gina and Pat, please contact me [robin at morenna dot com] with your mailing address and the color you want.  Colors [L-R in the photo]:  Deep Blues, June, Old Brass, Sunset, Blue Vineyard, Fiesta, Olive.  Not shown:  Pink.

Enjoy the warmer weather, everyone!

The Aurora Scarf Project

I belong to the Weaving Indiana guild.   Every other year, we do something related to the theme  for the Midwest Weavers Conference.  This year, the conference theme is 'Northern Wefts'.    Our challenge was to choose a photo of the aurora borealis and weave a scarf to go with it.    The night sky meets weaving.

I have never done a weaving challenge before.   So, my challenge was to actually do the challenge. 

I did it.  Before the deadline, too.   Yes, I'm patting myself on the back.

Photo: geology.com © iStockphoto / Shawn Waite

Here's my first inspiration photo.

Photo: absenceofblackandwhite.blogspot.com

And here's my second one.   I wanted one with blue, too.   

Warp:  8/2 tencel, dyed.
Weft: 8/2 tencel, black.

Threading:  8 harness, straight draw
Weave structure:  Undulating twill

This weave structure was a challenge for me because I wanted to learn 'how it worked', not just repeat the same treadling over and over [and over and over and over....] 


The aurora in the sky isn't perfectly regular, it varies. 

I did a small sample to get the rhythm of the treadling, then I took off and syncopated it.    As Randy Darwall told me once, "The pattern repeats, except when it doesn't repeat."

Jazz meets weaving. 

Giveaway - Cotton Sparkle Scarf

I got cocky and put all my cold weather clothes away.  It's late May!  It was over 80 degrees for several days in a row.   I got sunburned.

Dumb, dumb, dumb.   This is Indiana!  It's been 50 degrees for the last three days.  What was I thinking??

The good news is that I left all the boxes with my winter clothes in a giant pile outside the closet.   It's an irritating pile, but at least my sweats were easy to get to again.  

Also, Eric found a cute purple zippy hooded sweatshirt jacket with stripes inside the hood - on sale! while he was at Walmart grocery shopping [How cool is that?!] - and I've had a chance to wear that around.  A lot.  

Anyway, I'm having a 'Hope springeth eternal' moment.    Someday it is going to get warm and stay that way for a few months.   It's time to celebrate summer clothes.

And accessories.    So, I'm having a giveaway!

 To celebrate the arrival of warm weather, I'm giving away a hand-dyed, handwoven, summer weight scarf. 

The winner gets to choose the color.   I have these colors [L-R in the photo, left]:  Deep Blues, June, Old Brass, Sunset, Blue Vineyard, Fiesta, Olive.  Not shown:  Pink.

The scarf is 72 inches long [not including a couple of inches of fringe at each end], 6 inches wide.    The warp is a fine cotton boucle with a good drape that will continue to soften over time.   I wove these with a fine sparkle weft and the finished scarf is gauzy - you can see through it. 

If you don't win, but would like to buy one, they are $57 each plus $2 shipping.   Email me - address below.

Rules:
1.  Please follow the blog.  [Look down on the right side of the blog - below the Other Cool Sites list.]
2.  Leave a comment telling me your favorite warm weather activity.
3.  One comment per person, please.

The giveaway closes at 12:01 a.m. Monday morning.   I'll post the winner sometime on Monday.   The winner should email me [robin at morenna dot com] with a mailing address and color choice and I'll get it right out.

Good luck!

Hmmmm...

So I'm thinking of having a giveaway.    Maybe one of these cotton boucle scarves with the glittery weft. 

Whaddaya think?

Wrinkly Crinkly Linen

My husband makes fabulous bread.   Really, really fabulous bread.    When it's rising, he covers it with a damp towel.   I love looking at big bowls of rising dough.  

[Too bad I don't have a pic of one to put here.  It would have looked great.]

Anyway.   Eric uses our dish towels to cover the dough with.   Which is fine.  Great, even. 

Except that dish towels are made to be a bit fluffy and absorbent.  They need to be in order to fulfill their raison d'etre  [I have no idea if I spelled that right.]  of drying dishes.

As opposed to linen towels, which are made to be lint-free and elegant. 

Now, if I've got a choice between a fluffy towel and a lint-free towel to put on my bread, then I'm going to choose lint-free.    Yep.

The problem is that it's hard to find linen towels anymore, except in antique stores and in places that I can't afford to shop.    If I score an antique linen towel in an antique shop, there's no way I'm going to use that on bread.  

So, I decided to make my own.   

Specs:
yarn: 16/2 natural linen
sett:  20 epi  [too tight!]   Next time I'll go for 15epi. 
12-13 ppi
beat:  very firm
weave:  plainweave

For dish-type towels,  I plan on 1 yard of warp per towel.   I weave towels at 20 inches wide.    I'm never disappointed in the finished size, even with hemming and shrinkage.  

Weaving with linen is not hard at all.   It's a stiff yarn, but it doesn't take long to get used to.   Keep an eye on your selvedges, like you do for everything.    There is no give at all in linen yarn.  It winds easily and stays put.  Period.  End of subject.   This is one of the easiest warps I've ever put on a loom.

Sett:   I asked a good friend what sett to use and she recommended 15-18.   I should have just shut up and done it that way.    16/2 looks so skinny!   and when I weave cotton towels, I use a 24 epi sett with 10/2 cotton yarn.   So, I upped the sett on the linen towels to 20.    It's not a crisis - they look fine!- but you waste yarn in the warp beginnings and ends, so there's no need to pack the warp unless you really need to.   And you don't need to with plainweave linen towels.   Stick with 15-18 epi. 

When I took it off the loom it was stiff. 

As a board. 

As hardware cloth.

As that coarse stuff you do needlepoint chair seats on.

No. Drape. At. All.   It couldn't have been stiffer if I'd soaked it in starch.

Not to worry!   Everything is a bit stiff when it comes off the loom.   As my good friend and weaving teacher, Suzanne Halvorsen, says, 'It's not finished until it's washed!'.  

True, true, true.   Especially for linen.    Wash it! 

Here's a pic of a washed towel on top of an unwashed one. 

After it's washed, it's happier.   It has that wrinkly crinkly linen look. 

I love that look.

And now Eric has linen towels to cover his bread with.    The bread was happier, too.