Monthly Archives: March 2012

Yay! The Check Is in the Mail!

30 Friday Mar 2012

Posted by in Design, Teaching, Travel

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I have never been so happy to mail a check. Ok, that is a bit of an exaggeration, but I had a smile on my face when I dropped it in the box.

Not long after I learned how to inkle weave I ran across this picture.

Anne Dixon inkle woven bands. The Braid Society

The orange and white band stumped my limited knowledge of inkle design, as did the others actually, but that orange one… How was that done?! I did a little internet slouthing and found it was woven by the gifted weaver Anne Dixon. So, I emailed Ms. Dixon – and she replied with a great email outlining the process. I was ecstatic. But the funny thing is, I had no idea she was the Anne Dixon, author of “The Handweaver’s Pattern Directory: Over 600 Weaves for 4-Shaft Looms”. And now the author of the soon to be released “The Weaver’s Inkle Pattern Directory: 400 Warp-Faced Weaves”. Woohoo, I’ve already preordered mine!

So where did I send the check? To the Western North Carolina Fibers/Handweavers Guild to become a member of the guild and to attend an Anne Dixon inkle 3-day workshop in July in beautiful Hendersonville, NC! I met a lovely bunch of ladies from the guild last weekend and I am so glad to join their group.

Is it July yet? This is going to be an amazing birthday present to me and if all works out we will be able to make it a family trip. Does it get any better than that? Yeah, I don’t think so either.

warp, weave, be happy!

Shuttles Fly Again

23 Friday Mar 2012

Posted by in Projects, Teaching, Travel

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Weaving shuttles that is, and spinning wheels, knitting needles, crochet hooks, and kumihimo bobbins, too. Last weekend was the Florida Tropical Weaver’s Guild Annual Conference; a three and a half day unbelievably fun weekend filled with over 45 mini-workshops, laughing, chatting, eating, learning, and creating, not necessarily in that order. This was my first time attending the FTWG conference and boy will I be there next year. Are the registration forms ready yet?

I taught my first inkle project class this weekend! “Beyond Belts and Bookmarks” was my inaugural class. What do you do with an inkle band after you weave it other than turn it into a belt or a bookmark? Well, eight lovely ladies allowed me to show them how to make a necklace, wristlet keyfob, and a coaster out of inkle bands. Inkle project samples

Some brought their own bands and others used bands I provided.

Inkle coaster Inkle Necklace

Everyone said they enjoyed the class, and I am so glad, because I had such a great time!  Busy prepping for the class, I only got five hours of sleep in two nights. I was sooo tired, but the excitement and friendly students kept me awake – and lots of coffee.

I also took a kumihimo class from the talented Jennifer Wiles . We learned how to make a kumihimo lariat with beaded tassels.

Inkled Pink Kumihimo Super fun!

The conference was held at the beautiful Lake Yale Baptist Center, in Leesburg, FL. It is such an aesthetically inspiring place. Spanish moss covered trees provide shady viewing spots to take in the lake.

Florida Tropical Weavers Guild Conference Florida Tropical Weavers Guild Conference

Florida Tropical Weavers Guild Conference

I met such wonderful people this weekend and got to spend more time with the ladies from my own guild; I was reminded again what a special community the weaving community is. I can’t wait until next year’s conference!

warp, weave, be happy!

Inkle Nothing into Something

15 Thursday Mar 2012

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“Jennifer, what is that going to be?”

My mother-in-law asked me this yesterday while I was weaving an inkle band in preparation to teach my first class on inkle band projects at Florida Tropical Weavers Guild Mini-Extravaganza this weekend. How timely!

The potential of what it is going to be is exactly what I love about inkle weaving. I’ve always been amazed at the idea of taking “nothing” and turning it into something like sewing fabric into a dress or crocheting or knitting a ball of yarn into a sweater.

With inkle, weaving the band is just the first step of the creative process. Once it is woven, you get to turn nothing into something again. How about bangle bracelets, a handle for a handbag, a belt, or roses (the header for this blog!)? Truly you are only limited by your imagination. Fellow blogger and highly talented weaver A Spinner Weaver shares a great idea list of uses for inkle bands.

So, a bit about what I was weaving. The band really was woven to make samples of the projects I’m going to teach. I used a varigate cotton yarn that is out of my color comfort zone, but something I bought trying to stretch my color horizons. The new heddles I made for the loom are made out of a rainbow variegated nylon crochet yarn, also out of my color comfort zone.

Oh how fun it was to look down and see those little dots of color! Feeling the comfort zone stretching . . . inkle rainbow heddlesDon’t they look like rainbow sprinkles?Inkle heddles rainbow sprinkles on pinkEye-candy for sure!Inkle heddleswarp, weave, be happy!

Inspiration at My Fingertips

06 Tuesday Mar 2012

Posted by in Design, Inspiration

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While having a cup of tea the other day I glanced down at my nails and thought, “It is time to take this polish off.” Then I thought, “I wonder what this color would look like in an inkle band.” Inspiration at my finger tips.

It may be hard to see in the picture, but the color is an iredescent deep purple created by blending charcoal gray and pinkish iridescent pearl. I enjoyed that manicure. . .

I’d never worked with metallic yarn so I was really intrigued by this bit of inspiration. As soon as my son was up from his nap, I packed him in the car and off to Jo Ann Fabrics we went.

I bought purple, lavender, and pearl DMC metallic embroidery thread, without a coupon (sigh). Curious what the metallic yarn would look like next to a cotton yarn, I chose 3 perle cotton yarns from my stash that were very close in color to the metallic yarns.

Then I designed a simple pattern with stripes, horizontal bars, and dots to see what the effect was in different pattens. I used all 6 strands of the embroidery thread so it would match the weight of the perle cotton yarn. And ended up with . . .

Inkle Band Metallic

  1. Bars
  2. Dots
  3. Metallic dots next to a metallic line
  4. Line

Lesson learned: the closer in color the metallic yarn is to the the cotton yarn the harder it is to achieve a patterned effect. Instead, the metallic acts as a highlight, not a standalone element.

It’s going to be fun to incorporate this into future projects now that I know what I know. And knowing is half the battle. Isn’t it?

What inspires your craft?

warp, weave, be happy.