Fiber Artists Gathering--SE Asian Textiles

At our recent Fiber Artists meeting, Our guest speaker-- Donna Durbin brought numerous textiles that she purchased while living in SE Asia.  She had a treasure trove of interesting fiber techniques in her collection.

Reverse applique

More Reverse applique, ikat dyeing

Warp and weft ikat

Knotting with hemp

Another hemp knotted bag

 

Warp that has been tied for weaving

These were cotton fibers with weft ikat

This was a silk weft ikat

Pick-up weave structure

Shibori tied indigo dyed

Hemp yardage

I liked the contrast of these two rolls of yardage

In this fiber you can see the subtle differences in the warp.  It is always an interesting time when you can touch and feel textiles from another country.

CHUNKY YARN TIME

I don't know about you, but I have a basket full of Chunky Yarns!

And I never know what to do with them.

Some of these yarns have been naturally dyed, others are just there waiting for a creation of some kind

So I was thrilled when I saw a group on my favorite knitting site, Ravelry, that was doing a KAL (knit along) with chunky yarns.  There was a mystery knitting project for a felted bag from Marigolds Loft.  Needless to say, I'm behind but it's a start and mindless knitting that can be done while watching TV, listening to a book or waiting in doctor's offices, etc. 

 

The other thing about chunky yarns--you use chunky needles!  Size 11-17 and how often do you do that?  This pattern is from Meagheen Ryan Designs.  Gauge 3 stitches and 5 rows per inch.  This yarn is Noro, Kochoran--a blend of wool, angora and silk--a definite aged yarn!!

 

This is part of Christmas in 12 months project.  You get the pattern the first month (cut off date to enroll was December 31, 2013) and if you finish it, you get the pattern for the next month, and so on and so on.  Otherwise, the pattern can be purchased. 

You can find several of Meagheen Ryan's patterns on Ravelry.  This will be a nice gift for someone on my list. 

Weavers' Delight--WOW!

Our WOW (Way Out West) Weavers meeting for January was a discussion on our year long project--Traditional Swedish Weaving.  Members brought books, photos, ideas to the meeting. What shall we weave--can it be non-traditional colors or should we stick to the traditional colors?  What about yarns?  What about..................  We SO do not want to be confined to one set of rules--these are non-traditional weavers!

Then our leader, Marian, pulls out her samples with linen

She has decided on the weave structure but now deciding on what weft to use

 

Then on this sample she had hemstitching to finish off

Karen brought her window pane Swedish lace

Gerry had other lace pieces to show

These pieces were woven for a previous state conference

An interesting traditional Swedish weaving with traditional colors

Then there is Monk Belts weave structure

This shows another technique to add interest to the woven cloth

 

How about Swedish rug weaving?

And then there was the opportunity to present other weaving that were not Swedish

Karen used beads in the weft

Here is M & O's weaving cloth

Then Boundweave on Rosepath threading

More samples of absolutely wonderful weaving!

Here is a composite of Karen's Boundweave along with some textiles she bought in Philippines

Another composite with colorful weaves on the bottom and Turkish rug at the top (a gift from Barbara's daughter's travel to Turkey)  So glad we have trained our kids right to look for interesting textiles on their worldly travels!!

 

Weavers' Awakening!

Our first Westside weavers meeting of 2014--we are wakening from a long holiday and ready to plunge back into our textiles. At our January meeting, we usually do not have much to show from our looms; but we share whatever we can.

Connie was gifted a class in a fused glass studio

Very creative and lovely

 

Rosemary was our January hostess and she pulled out her Christmas card selection for 2013.  She has been making cards for 30+ years and decided that she would use the bits and pieces from the ends of the warps

She didn't really like the red, pink, green striped cards but this works very well with her weavings

Another card from a member's stash

close-up view of the weaving pattern

This cute fellow came from a distance--even though he isn't woven, he was a hit with the recipient.

I think that's a handspun ribbon about his neck!  Our meetings are always encouraging and enlightening.