Huck Luck Adventure Workshop

Our Weaving Chicks Study Group had a workshop this past weekend on Huck Variations, 12 different patterns using the same threading and tieup, just changing the treadling.

My friend Bonnie organized and presented it. We did two sets of the 12 samples, one set to wash and one set to leave as-is for comparison. We used a thick 8/3 white cotton as both warp and weft, and some people used color for one repeat of each pattern to make the design more visible.

1” cardboard strips were used for separators between samples, and we either used Fray-Chek or hemstitched the ends of each sample. I hemstitched mine.

Here's Bonnie's already washed sample - the texture is so different from the cloth on the loom!

We learned a lot about huck and its different textures, and are already dreaming about different uses/projects for different designs. A great time was had by all!

Rainbow Towels in Progress...

I spent the weekend in the company of wonderful friends, the Weavin' Chicks - learning to weave Advancing Twill. We wove a scarf from bamboo, and learned that "Advancing Twill" means "a zillion picks per repeat"! We managed to get some lovely scarves woven - here's mine, before fringe-twisting and washing (I promise a better picture when it's done):

Happy to be able to report some progress on the Rainbow towel warp. Since I have 12 towels on this warp, I decided to weave 6 pairs of weft colors. The first two towels are PINK:

The second set of two towels is PURPLE:

And the third set is BURGUNDY:

I'll weave more tomorrow - I'm hoping to finish the whole warp tomorrow and Wednesday, so I can bring it to show off at the Saori retreat this weekend. A group of us are meeting at my friend Cheryl's Weavin' Place Saori-Style studio-in-the-woods for a Saori "Kai" ("sharing time") retreat, and as a special treat, my dearest friend Sherie is coming from Amarillo for the weekend! I can't wait to see her again.

I've also made great progress on my husband's sweater yarn - I've got two 4-ounce bobbins spun, and am working on the third (of four). This will be my first 4-ply yarn, and I can't wait to start plying, because the colors are gorgeous (pictures tomorrow, I hope!)

Handwoven: Rep Weave runner

I love my New Orleans Weavers/Spinners Guild. Creative women encouraging one another in the fiber arts - I'm so very glad to have found them! A smaller group of us meets once every two months to weave a different structure together - many are new weavers who need more experience warping their looms and have never tried some of the warp structures we're experimenting with, so this is great for them. I have fun too, and get to do some mentoring (and I learn a lot too - there are lots of things I haven't yet tried!) We call ourselves "Weavin' Chicks" and have a great time together.

Our focus this weekend was Rep Weave, and we used a draft from Weaver's Craft magazine (highly recommended - really good info) for rep weave placemats. I chose to weave a runner instead, and had some interesting moments when trying to make sure it was mirrored on each end. I like this structure - had fun weaving it, and will definitely do it again. I used 5/2 cotton in red and blue for the warp and the binder weft, and 8/8 white cotton for the heavy weft.

Here's my runner - I'll cut the ends off and turn under the hems and then wash it, and I'd better do it tomorrow, because I used red/white/blue so I could have it for the 4th of July, and that's Wednesday!