Colorado Weavers Day 2008, Part 1

I just returned from Pueblo, Colorado where I attended Colorado Weavers Day (CWD) with a few of my fellow Handweavers Guild of Boulder friends. Held every other year, CWD aims to bring together weavers from across the state for a day of lectures, exhibits, and getting to know each other.

Colorado Springs

As it turned out, one of the highlights of the trip was stopping in Colorado Springs on the way to view the “Beyond Bedspreads: American Heritage Through Historic and Contemporary Weavings” at the Colorado Springs Pioneer Museum (a stunning building for all you architecture freaks). The exhibit is an outgrowth of the guild’s work in assisting the museum with documenting and photographing their extensive coverlet collection. As part of their study, PPWG members wove interpretations of coverlets and coverlet motifs. Two memorable pieces were woven by Sandra Hutton and Susan Bowman. The show runs from April 26-August 17, 2008. It’s a worthwhile visit.

A further extension of the guild’s focus on functional textiles is their upcoming internationally juried show, “Living With Beauty: Handwoven Textiles for the Home” which will open June 13^th in Manitou Springs. The show closes July 26^th, 2008.

In talking with Sandra Hutton, one of PPWG driving forces, she explained that her intent is to raise the awareness and prestige of textiles, in particular handweaving, through exhibitions and public demonstrations. I agree with her and thank her and PPWG for their passion and pursuit of textiles. Other guilds would do well to follow their excellent example.

Check out their useful and beautiful website, besides information about the guild, it includes a gallery of guild member work, a weave drafting program, and a list of programs and projects: www.pikespeakweavers.org

Inkle Weaving Video

Today marked a technology evolution for us at Schacht. We published our first how-to video: Weaving on the Inkle Loom. It is a short, 10-minute no frills how-to lesson on warping and weaving on our Schacht Inkle Loom with instructions for weaving a band. You’ll also find the complete instructions for this band in our Spring 2008 on-line newsletter.

Why are we entering the world of video? Because there just isn’t enough information out there for the general public. If you don’t have a local yarn store, where can you see this technique demonstrated? Now, we too are on YouTube.

Check back from time to time to see what video we’ve come up with next. Better yet, send in your requests and we’ll ad your wishes to our list of future videos.

Truths and a Lesson

After 30 some years of weaving you think I’d know better. This is what I DO know.

Your mother was right, “Haste makes waste”.

Shortcuts almost always get you in trouble.

The six ‘P’s (Prior Preparation Prevents Pretty Poor Performance--I’ve often inserted another word here for “pretty”, you can guess what it might be) help insure good results.

So, what you ask, was my “crime”? Not testing the color fastness of a yarn I used to weave a sampler for my upcoming rigid heddle pattern book. The reason I’m so disgusted with myself is that I should know better. What would have been a perfectly wonderful piece, ended up with splotches from yarn that ran. Because I was in a hurry, eager to get weaving, I didn’t take the five minutes (max!) to boil up some water, pour it into a white cup, and drop in a length of the offending yarn to see if the water stayed clear or turned a lovely (yuk!) shade of pink.

Here again, I come back to my mantra, “sample, sample, sample.” Oh, it gets you out of so much trouble. And take it from me, if you don’t know the yarn, if it’s red, purple, a dark color, or of uncertain origin, just take a moment to test it in some hot water—and make a cup of hot tea while you’re at it.

Road Trip to Chadron—the Olde Main Street Inn

When was the last time you stayed at an inn and found a spinning wheel in the bar—and it wasn’t just window dressing?

At the Olde Main Street Inn in Chadron, innkeeper Jeanne Goetzinger keeps her wheel right out in front at the ready for a quiet moment when she might sit and spin—although it was unclear when those down times might be. Jeanne is one busy lady, serving breakfast early in the morning, catering lunches mid-day, dealing with all her guests in the rooms upstairs, and pulling beers late at night—remaining cheerful and helpful and welcoming throughout it all.

But there must be time, because Jeanne managed this year to spin a lofty alpaca 2-ply yarn that she skillfully crocheted into the beautiful shawl you see her wearing in the photo above. If Jeanne has time to spin, we all certainly must be able to find a few quiet moments each day. I bet keeping her wheel right where she can see it is key to her productivity.

The Olde Main Street Inn is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is a charming old building with character. The reason we stay at the Inn is for the welcoming hospitality of its innkeeper and the company of the conference luminaries who stay there (that would NOT be our group—though we did attain mild notoriety for our miraculous arrival last year through a raging blizzard). Staying at the Olde Main Street Inn is like going to camp where we make new friends and one year and look forward to reuniting with them the next.

www.chadron.com/oldemain
oldemainmadam@yahoo.com

Confessions of a Novice Weaver - The Final Week

The final installment from new weaver, Melissa Ludden.

Our final project was to weave overshot.

Confession #10

My first impression of overshot was that it seemed a bit fuddy duddy. Not very nice, I know, but this is a confession, and confessions are generally a bit controversial by nature. Then Judy showed us a shawl that her husband had woven for her that was elegant in its simplicity. It was mostly plain weave with a band of overshot at each end. Again, the light went on. Of course I didn’t need to weave a queen size bedspread with matching shams. Overshot could simply be another way to incorporate texture and visual interest into my weaving.

Being that I bike to work each day, thanks in part to an astoundingly extensive system of trails maintained by the City of Boulder, I thought it would be nice to add a bit of flair to my basket by weaving a bag that could serve as a liner and carryall. I opted to use a bit of Cascade 220 in two shades that remind me of the pine trees back home in Maine.

As you can see, my overshot is quite overshot, but I love it, and it fits the bike basket perfectly. I still have a flap and a handle to whip up, but am really happy to have made something that I know I’ll get so much use from.

I am now ready to weave up a storm. I have recently acquired an eight shaft Baby Wolf, and not a day has passed since setting it up that I haven’t at least sat down in front of it and professed my love. We will be making sweet weaving together in the not-too-distant future, and with my basic weaving skill set in tow, I am off to break the rules.

--Melissa Ludden

Road Trip to Chadron—Alliance

Alliance is a railroad town in western Nebraska. It is where my dad grew up, but the reason we go to Alliance is to visit Carhenge—a replica—in cars—to the real Stonehenge. Built by Jim Reinders in 1987 with the help of his family, Carhenge is known as the Car Art Reserve. I call it fun Funk Art. After Carhenge head to the Fireside Grille in downtown Alliance for lunch or dinner. If it’s lunch order the grilled cheese, peanut butter, and bacon sandwich. It’s worth every single calorie. For dinner you ‘gotta indulge in an unforgettable Nebraska steak.

http://www.carhenge.com

Road Trip to Chadron--Cabela's

This is the second year I’ve driven with three friends from my book group to Chadron, Nebraska for the Mari Sandoz Heritage Society Conference. It was a wonderful journey and I want to share some of it with you.

Even though I’ve lived in Boulder, Colorado (a not too-shabby place to live) a decade longer than the length of time I spent growing up in Nebraska, when I exit I-76 at Sterling and head north to the sandhills, I feel I’m entering my homeland. This is where my heart and soul live. But as eager as I was to be in this familiar landscape, we just had to stop at Cabela’s in Sidney.

If you fish or hunt or camp you should know about Cabela’s, stategically located on I-80 just outside of Sidney. Cabela’s, founded in 1961 when Dick Cabela tried to sell some fishing flies through classified ads in outdoor magazines, has grown into an impressive mail-order business with over 20 store locations nationwide. The 80,000 square foot showroom at Sidney is a reason to take exit the interstate. (After you’ve finished shopping take a detour and drive instead along highway 30—and start discovering the beauty of Nebraska!)

So, what can I say, we spent a lot of time browsing and shopping at Cabela’s. As a textile person the thing I couldn't leave alone was the huge display of camo wear. I now have officially declared myself gaga over what they call 3-D clothing. If they’d had a jacket or pants in my size in their “leafy wear” I’d have come home looking like a tree. I settled instead for camo shooting gloves (and a skirt and sweatshirt…!) which I wore with my dress-up clothes and declared myself “quite fashionable”….!

The idea of creating a 3-D fabric is something I want to explore in either a sewn fabric or a woven one. It won’t be camo, something more fitting to my urban environment. Perhaps Kentucky bluegrass, or city concrete…Once a textile person, always a textile person.

www.cabelas.com

Highway 30
U.S. Highway 30 was the first paved coast-to-coast highway. Completed in 1935, it travels 3, 073 miles between Atlantic City and Astoria, Oregon. In Nebraska, U.S. 30 is kept completely separate from the parallel I-80, much of the route running along the South Platte and Platte Rivers, meaning you can still travel across the state and really see it—something that doesn't happen on the interstate. The State of Nebraska has given U.S. 30 the designation of Lincoln Highway Scenic and Historic Byway. Recommended.

www.theuntraveledroad.com

www.visitnebraska.org