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Mar 8

Studio

Studio workshop ready!

I’m really excited about my next small workshop weekend tomorrow. You can see the looms and studio set up just waiting for the explorers to arrive. It’s a small personalised workshop for only four participants but I think this will allow freedom and togetherness. Not too small, not too big. The participants are coming from Sydney and Newcastle areas so they’ll also enjoy the weekend in Old Bar. I must say the looms look a little lonely without their weaver but the studio is very tidy too! Read more

Mar 6

weaving
4 Comments

Weaver Philosopher’s Paradise

Luckily for me I’ve been to Lord Howe Island. To say that it is a most pristine and extraordinary place doesn’t do it justice at all. It is an experience way beyond that, at least for me. The island gave me a completely restorative and hopeful, alive feeling. A feeling that I can be connected to the earth in a very deep way. Just walking on it’s ground was sort of like a drug! It probably helps that there were no snakes and I didn’t encounter any mozzies, flies or leeches.

I just felt that if I died and was buried there I’d be alright in that ground. Something I don’t usually feel here. I felt completely connected even though I barely spoke to anyone local, but everyone was friendly because its such a small and isolated place.

It’s a place with no mobile network so I was forced to be without that constancy of contact. It is a place of thinking and discovery. It’s a place where the heart can relax. I know that just being on holidays invites this surreal situation, away from other everyday demands and it does re-enforce the importance of having a complete break at times…to get perspective back into sync. After a week of thinking and walking it came to me – philosophers winds from Lord Howe – too much introspection is unhealthy. The weather worked to help me out as we were marooned on the island for an extra three days when the planes were cancelled. How lucky is that! Read more

Feb 28

winner

Giveaway winner

I’ve just drawn the winner of the Saori loom owners giveaway and the winner is Mandie Chandler from Ewe Give Me The Knits.

Everyone who has purchased a loom from me was entered in a draw today for the V&A Kimono pattern book with CD promoted in my newsletter. Don’t worry anyone who has purchased two looms got two chances! Congratulations Mandie. May many ideas and fun flow your way via Saori weaving.

Thank you to all who have joined in with Saori over the past year. Lots more fun and ideas coming up.

Feb 28

kerryn4

Where did you get that scarf from?

I’ll be facilitating a 2 day Saori workshop at the Manning Regional Art Gallery, Taree on Friday 5 April and Saturday 6 April. Everything supplied  and you get to weave on a beautiful Saori floor loom, just immersing yourself in pattern, design, colour and texture for two relaxing days. See here for more information or contact me  directly. Sorry this workshop has been cancelled. More workshops are being organised for August 2013.

I’ve included a photo of Kerryn here because she had never woven before, hardly knew what it was and has never shown particular interest in yarn arts previously. At Christmas she sat down at a Saori loom at her mother-in-laws home and just wove. She wove and wove constantly for two full days completing two magnificent scarves. They really were beautifully woven and designed in every way.  It was easy to just sit down and weave because the loom was all ready to go and nothing had to be learnt or remembered before the creating begun. Just straight into it. Kerryn was thrilled and couldn’t wait until her friends or colleagues asked “Where did you get that scarf from?“.

Feb 14

narrow

Warps on holiday

Dear weavers, don’t you just love a warp going on holiday. The way you can take a warp off the Saori loom, whilst in action, is surely the BEST feature of the looms. The warp pictured has a woven couple of metres in progress but was taken off the loom to make way for another little weave job and ended up travelling away from the studio to another loom…sort of like a holiday for the warp.

Weaving isn’t always the most portable of activities so this option  makes me imagine that weaving has more in common with its extremely portable cousins ‘knitting’ and ”crochet”. Maybe I can join in with others doing their art/craft with my loom. Read more

Jan 30

colour warp
3 Comments

Still being a back to front girl

I’m happy to say that the colours are appearing again and my Toika loom is warped, threaded and tied up ready for an 8 shaft woven shibori affair. The warp is 13 metres long and I wonder if that will be too long for me on this loom at the moment but it is done.

I experimented with warping from front to back like the Saori looms prefer instead of my old traditional back to front technique. However I’ve found some issues which don’t work for me as well on the bigger loom. Some of these are just a change of habit, and although the warp beamed nicely with the reed and heddles already threaded I’ll remain a back to front girl for the Toika.

This newest batch of weaves has been mirrored by my Weaver to Weaver mails, the second which brought me a lovely colourful reminder of why I love colour from Jo at Knit One Weave One  in Cornwall, UK. Read more

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