Convergence Report, Part 2: S’more Stash

Caption: From top left, clockwise: silk boucle and silk-cashmere from Redfish Dyeworks; silk and stainless steel from Giovanna Imperia Designs; Cotton Kasuri and Kasuri bamboo tape from Habu; and 32 gauge copper coated wire and jump (elastic) viscose from Giovanna Imperia Designs.

Oh hooey, so what if I have 35 plus years of stash in my closet. And so what if I’ve solemnly sworn not to get sucked in by yet another pretty yarn without a plan for it. But doing what I say and doing what I do is definitely not the same thing when I’m confronted with a new yarn I just simply can’t resist.

The thing is I NEED this yarn. I’m not the kind of designer who knows in my head what I want to make and just the yarn that will get me there. When I have an idea, I have to sample a lot before I get to where I want to be. Readily available materials help me work out design problems and can even be the starting point. Therefore, when I see new or unusual yarns that spark of an idea, I must, right then and there—BUY.

Links:

www.habutextiles.com
www.giovannaimperiadesigns.com
www.redfishdyeworks.com

Off to Tampa

I’m off to Tampa for Convergence, hosted by the Tropical Weavers Guild under the umbrella of the Handweavers Guild of America (HGA). Schacht will have a booth in the commercials and I hope that if you are in attendance you will stop by and say “hi”.

We’ll be kicking off Schacht’s 40^th anniversary, so come visit us just to chat, congratulate my hubby Barry Schacht on all of his many contributions, and also watch him demonstrate his pet product, the Incredible Rope Machine (we’re not sure he knows he’s doing this yet…!), register for our product give aways—which we’ll be doing on the final day.

Every other year I look forward to seeing weavers and industry folk I’ve known for years both as Handwoven’s editor and currently as sales and service manager for Schacht Spindle. It’s also wonderful to meet new people. I like to hear about and see what you are excited about. Hope to see you in Tampa.

TNNA Report—It’s All Good

Some of the luscious yarns I picked up at the end of the show. All are from Berroco, left to right: Inca Gold, Seduce (and I am "seduced" by this yarn--can't wait to try it as an accent with a fine wool or silk), Inca Gold (really soft, great colors), Ultra Alpaca Fine (going to try felting this), Ultra Alpaca, Soft Twist (wool-rayon blend), and Lumina (when a little shine is needed). Though these yarns are designed for knitting, I'm sure going to play around with them at my loom.

Just back and recovering from a fabulous TNNA show. I’m not just making it up when I say that there was actually a “weaving buzz”! My “Weave Now Class-how to introduce weaving to your shop” was sold out and I had enthusiastic students in my rigid heddle weaving all-day workshop. Melissa (sales and marketing), Stephanie (sales and customer service), and I talked our heads off in our Schacht booth and had a great time doing it. We enjoyed meeting and chatting with our current customers, new dealers, and curious knit shop owners who just wanted to know more about weaving and spinning. Our new Cricket loom received rave reviews.

Melissa, Stephanie, and I all wove skirts to wear in the booth (too bad we forgot to take pictures) and we are pretty sure we were “hot”. (If you think you are, you are? Right?) Anyway, our little trio will be at Convergence next week and we’ll really, really, try to get a picture to share.

The news from TNNA: “real” yarn is back. Thank God. Beautiful piled yarns in sport and fingering weights were in abundance and will show off the new interest in stitch pattern knitting. Indie dyers were plentiful with their gorgeous painted and hand-dyed pallets. I’ve shown some of my favorite finds above, all from Berocco.

Links:

www.TNNA.org

www.spinweavedye.org

www.schachtspindle.com

Sewing My Dibby Dabs Skirt

Good thing for friends. Thank God for friends who sew (thanks MK). Except for the occasional napkin hemming and pants shortening, I’m PJHHE (pre-junior high home ec) when it comes to sewing. This little handicap, however, didn’t stop me from going along with my staff’s idea to weave and sew skirts to wear to our summer conferences.

I wanted to show off novelty yarns and created what I call my Dibby Dabs skirt, a potpourri of novelty yarns and pearl cotton in a variety of colors and textures. Though we went to the store to buy most of the novelty yarns, this project would be a wonderful way to create cloth from all those odds and ends you have leftover from other projects.

I elicited the assistance of my good friend Mary Kay Stoehr (former designer for Handwoven magazine during my tenure as editor), who was an accomplished seamstress by 12 and a home ec major in college. Here are a few tips from our sewing session:

1. Because the fabric was fairly loosely woven, we took the fabric immediately to the machine after cutting out the pieces and used a broad and long zigzag stitch around all of the pieces.

2. To reduce bulk, we cut the facings from a lightweight cotton fabric.

3. We lined the skirt, and to further reduce bulk, Mary Kay attached the facing to the top of the skirt and the lining to the facing.

4. Mary Kay cut bias strips, about 1 ½” wide from the lining fabric and bound all of the raw seam edges.

5. Before hemming, we let the skirt hang overnight to find its natural drape.

6. For a bit of fun and accent we added a silk ruffle along the bottom edge.

If you’re at TNNA or Convergence, stop by the booth to see our creations. Besides my sewing lesson, I learned that cutting into that handwoven fabric isn’t so scary after all—especially under the tutelage of an experienced friend.