THE Wedding Shawl

My daughter Nora is getting married this summer and I’m thrilled that she has asked me to weave a shawl for the occasion. (I’m honored that she wants me to make something for her special day and completely relieved that it is NOT THE DRESS she wants me to weave—that would be way, way too stressful.)

Since I’m exploring the rigid heddle loom in depth these days, I have taken up the challenge to create THE WEDDING SHAWL on my 25” Flip loom. I’m using two 12-dent heddles together for a 24 e.p.i. sett. I want the fabric to have some weight to it, as her dress is a smooth, heavy satin. I’m using tencel in the warp along with a 24/2 wool. For easy textural vertical stripes, I’ve threaded stripes of tencel then skipped about an inch of dents and then threaded the next stripe of tencel. Sampling told me that I wanted to control the yarns at the edge of the tencel stripes somewhat, so I’m bordering each stripe with 2 ends of a 24/2 wool. This felts up a bit in the washing, allowing the threaded stripes to move into the open space somewhat but also containing them a bit.

For the weft, I’ve decided on Glacé, a rayon ribbon yarn, as well as tencel. I like what I’m going to do in the weft: weave a variety of variations along the length. I’ll have no set pattern for these, but rather just watch what is happening in the cloth and respond—a real advantage of handweaving over commercial cloth! A reason to weave! And no two fabrics alike.

Some of the combinations you see in the sample at left are alternating Glacé and tencel, weaving two ends of Glacé and two ends of tencel, 2-3” long stripes of tencel, and broad stripes of Glacé. I’ve also taken advantage of the two-heddle options and woven with just heddle 1 to create a basket weave variation (1 end vs 3 ends), as well as alternating heddle 1 up and heddle 2 up with a plain weave tabby background (both heddles up and down alternately).

The samples shown here are blue and green because that’s what I had on hand. The green is tencel, the dark blue is 2-ply wool, and the aqua weft stripes are Glacé. For the fabric on the left, I used tencel only for the weft. While this fabric has a lovely drape, it is too lightweight for what I intend for the shawl. For the fabric on the right, I tried wool in the weft and then I vigorously washed the sample in the washing machine and then threw it into the dryer with other laundry. Although there are elements of this sample I like, I determined that it shrank too much for this use. For the shawl, I’ll work from the results of the ideas I sampled in the center swatch. My next sample will be with the white yarns I’ll use for the shawl, as well as experiments with a beaded edge finish. I’ll keep you posted on the sampling process…

What I'll Be Watching

Life Becomes Art: Craft in Amercia

This three-part PBS series begins airing on Wednesday, May 30, 2007 with Part I—Memory. This 60-minute documentary will explore craft history in America. Part II—Landscape and Part III—Community will follow. Check your local listings for details. www.craftinamerica.org

Shuttle Talk

My current explorations are weaving on the rigid heddle loom. This swatch is one I made on a leftover warp for a project I designed for the May-June issue of Handwoven. The project features fine weaving on the rigid heddle loom using 2 heddles. I really like how the pillows turned out—and I love how two heddles extend your weaving options. The warp threading for this swatch is the same as my project in the May-June 2007 issue of Handwoven, page 64.

Swatch - Left side of the image is the front of the sample, at right is the back.

Pick-up: With a pick-up stick, pick up every brown warp thread.

Weaving:

1. Up (Beige)
2. Pattern stick (turned on edge, heddle in neutral, Brown)
3. Up (Beige)
4. Pattern stick (turned on edge, heddle in neutral, Brown)
5. Up (Beige)
6. Down (Beige)
7. Up and pattern stick (used flat, slid up against back of heddle, Beige)
8. Down (Beige)
9. Up and pattern stick (use flat, slid up against back of heddle, Beige)

Repeat

Visit the Schacht Booth at TNNA

Dateline: TNNA May 31-June 4, Columbus, Ohio
If you have a yarn shop, then TNNA is a great place to see all that’s new in the yarn industry. TNNA (The National Needlework Association) hosts two shows a year, one in January in San Diego and the summer show in Columbus. This wholesale, members-only show features classes on running a business, techniques, and how to be a more successful shop. Since every major yarn company is there, TNNA is a great way to see what you want to stock next fall in your shop. We’ll have a Schacht booth and will show our small looms and spinning equipment. We’ll also have a prototype of our new entry-level take-along spinning wheel. We call it the Ladybug—because it is so cute and adorable. Spins great, too. Attractive price point. I’m teaching two classes: weaving a scarf in a day on the rigid heddle loom and introducing weaving to your shop.

Just Who in the Heck is Violet Rose?

Many moons ago when I was editor of Handwoven I needed a pen name for an in-house article. The reasons for this are too long to relay here, but essentially that’s how Violet Rose was born. What I’ve never revealed until now is just who Violet Rose is. You might guess that she is an imaginary character, although a very likeable one, I must say.

Violet Rose is a compilation of the sort of women I was surrounded by in the small Nebraska town where I spent my childhood. She is a tribute to these 60-something women with names like Daisy and June and Violet and Rose who lived modest lives, contributed to their communities in quiet ways, valued friendships and family, and whose stitching and knitting and gardening and baking were both practical and practiced.

Violet Rose took on a new role in the early ‘90s when I used the VR initials for some emotional and politically charged stitched pieces I entered in art shows. Most recently, Violet Rose has hosted a question and answer column in the Schacht Spindle e-newsletter where she’s dispensed words of weaving and spinning wisdom. Today, it only seems fitting to bring Violet Rose into the realm of blogging.

So, who am I and what do I have to say?
Since 1971, when I first wove in Iceland as an exchange student, to today, some 36 years later, weaving (to a large degree) and spinning (lesser so) have increasingly taken over my life. My first official weaving classes were at the Weaving Shop on Walnut Street in Boulder, Colorado. (Little did I know that I would meet my future husband there only a few hot summers later.) After dabbling in tapestry and cardweaving, I finally took a 4-shaft weaving class from Deborah Chandler (then Deborah Redding) of Learning to Weave fame. From Deborah, I really GOT weaving, and I got it with a passion. It was Deborah who suggested I call Linda Ligon at Interweave Press to apply for a job. I started there as her assistant, and a few years later I became Handwoven editor (still my most-favorite job ever).

Shortly after starting at Interweave I married Barry Schacht, founder and president of Schacht Spindle Company. Now I was in equipment heaven, never lacking for loom or shuttle! When my daughter entered school, I left Interweave to be closer to home, weaving when possible. Later, I agreed to temporarily help out at Schacht and have been here ever since. I enjoy this involvement with weaving and spinning and the community surrounding it. I continue to weave, write about weaving, and spin a little from time to time.

Recently, I entered another realm of weaving by becoming the author of a weaving book, Time to Weave, published by my Interweave Press friends.

My goals with this blog are to help extend the community of weavers and spinners, to help others feel connected to the craft, and to offer insights, advice, and encouragement. I hope to hear from you along the way.