Guest Post - Lorraine W

 One of my students decided to get some hard data for herself so she could better gauge her beating.  She kindly agreed to write up what she did.  Here is part 1.

How hard am I beating ?

 I was weaving today and I noticed as I looked at my web, that there was this periodic line across the width of my cloth. I thought to myself this line is occurring with a regularity that resembles the frequency of my warp advancement. Is it possible that I am beating too hard at the start, after each time I advance the warp? I left the loom and I said to myself, there has to be a way that this can be measured so I can teach my body what the acceptable beat is for this project. What I was looking for was to establish a  biofeedback loop, so I could learn fast from real data.

 Sitting at my desk, I began  to consider the first principles. The force of the beater hitting the fell of the cloth may be resulting in this variable density that I am observing, or at least it is one of the parameters. I began  scribbling, F=ma (force= mass x acceleration). I know that the mass of the beater is fixed and constant . The exact beater mass value is not relevant, since on each beat the mass will be the same, so all I need to do is measure the acceleration of the beater as I move it towards the fell line. If I can get that measurement in a reoccurring manner and record it, I can use the data to help me confidently refine my beat to the desired range, for that project and all others in the future.

 As an engineer I know that there are measuring devices for everything, so I started to look for an accelerometer that I could strap to my loom. I wanted it to be inexpensive, since I was only going to use it for a short period of time to increase my mindfulness. I then had another idea, what about my Garmin watch that I use for running , that has an accelerometer. If my watch has it then perhaps there is an app that I can load on my smart phone. Of course there was an app, many in fact and I chose one called G Accelerometer and the price was right, it was free.

 

After uploading the app , I went into the settings and zeroed the gravity component ,we don’t really need it since I am only interested in the horizontal displacement of the beater. If you leave the gravity component on it is ok, but not necessary. I strapped my phone with the accelerometer app on to my beater and I began to weave. The picture below shows the simplicity of the setup.

 

 What I found was that I had a very sporadic beat after each advancement of the warp, the value of which ranged by an order of magnitude. This graph below was plotted using the numbers that were exported from the app. The absolute magnitude is not of importance, I was looking for feedback on my beating pattern and trends. The Y axis is measured in Gravity units (Gs) and the X axis is seconds. You may recall that one G is 9.8 meters/ sec ² or 386 inches/sec ². If I eyeball this graph and take out the extreme high beat values, I can see a trend line around 0.05 Gs or 19 inches/ sec ²

 

 

 

I repeated this process several more times and I plotted my progress throughout the following days and I eventually got a much improved beat consistency at a lower beat, that gave me the picks per inch I was looking for.  In the graph below, recorded for a longer period of time, you can see  a trend line around 0.015Gs, which is approximately  6 inches/sec ². There are still variances and there always will be, since I am not a machine, however I have learned that a simple app can give timely feedback into our body movements that can be used to improve weaving .  I hope you will give this a try for yourselves, it may be interesting to see how many Gs you are putting on any given project.

 

Guest Post - Tanya

From time to time I offer students a chance to write a guest post.  Tanya took me up on my offer to share her experience with the Olds program:

“What could I possibly tell people about the Olds Master Weaver Level 1 class that is not already outlined very clearly in the course materials?” This question has been on my mind since Laura so kindly offered me space in her blog to write about my experience.  I could write about how amazing it was to learn from LAURA FRY!   I could tell people about how the homework is exactly as simple as is outlined in the manual and how long it took me to complete (84 hours if anyone is interested).  It would be fun to tell all the things I did wrong and how I fell in love with a new to me edge finish (double twining).  I could probably write a book about all the things I learned.  The longer I thought about it (over a month)  the more I realized that what I really wanted to talk about  was the way my learning happened both in class and in the homework.

 I am a teacher by vocation and by inclination - I teach elementary music, continuing education weaving classes, piano lessons and children’s church classes.  I am also the oldest daughter in a family of four.  You can imagine the incredible potential for not only bossiness but “stick your nose into everyone’s business” edness that those statements imply. On the very first day of class I said to myself “You have spent 800.00 and driven 650 miles to learn from LAURA FRY - not to teach, not to expound your opinions, not to show off what you know - to learn from LAURA FRY!”  That became my mantra.  Don’t get me wrong, I helped when I was asked and participated where I should but I really, really tried hard to be a learner and get whatever information I could from the expert in the room.  When Laura presented her way to wind the warp I tried it.  When she demonstrated craziness with holding 4 threads and threading heddles with a hook - tried it.  

When she only tied one choke tie on the warp  and I figured there was no way in the seven levels of Hades that that would end in anything but disaster - yep, I tried it.  Some things she taught came easy, some shocked me in their simplicity, many were physically awkward and many times I had to remind myself of why I was there - to learn from LAURA FRY!  I was not always successful (there was the disaster when someone asked about overshot and I explained it exactly backwards) but at the end of the week I was full to the brim with things I had learned from LAURA FRY!

I began the homework within days of getting home. As I read through the assignments I made some deliberate choices about what I was interested in learning.  A classmate had stated he didn’t think the homework could possibly take 100 hours - I decided to keep track.  Laura explained over and over that her processes were developed in the context of becoming as efficient as possible “micro seconds people”.  I wanted to know if switching from my method of dressing the loom to hers would cut down on my time so not only did I write down my own process for the assignment, I timed it.  I then warped the loom as close to her way as I could and timed it.

I used color in the swatch assignment because I was interested to see what happened.  I researched end finishes from tapestry weaving books to see if there was something beyond hem stitch and plied fringe.  For my final project I based the plaid I used on the winter coat a second grader wore at Christmas. 

 I molded each assignment to not only complete the requirements but to learn what I wanted to learn from it.  As I boxed it all up to send off I felt like I had had a rich learning experience tailored to my own interests.

The Master Weaver Level 1 class has elevated my weaving process to a very different level. No longer do I see myself as a person who weaves but rather as a learner who is immersed in the craft of weaving.  Thanks Laura!"

While emailing back and forth with Tanya over her post I asked if I could include the numbers she sent re: time spent dressing the loom.  She said yes, but that her efficiency continues to improve so she is even faster now than when she did the original time study.

She used exactly the same parameters for her study a warp of 58 ends, same materials, same length.

Previous method:  124 minutes

New method:  95 minutes

Efficiency is not to be fast as you can, just to be the fastest person around, but to be more productive and get to the 'fun' part - the weaving - with less stress to the body.  

Everyone has to find the best practice for themselves because change one thing and everything can change.

I'm Aiming for a Masters! - Dianne Q

Value gamp by Barbara S

I’m aiming for a Masters.....not in golf or after getting my Baccalaureate....no, I’m working on the Master Weavers Certificate Program. The program comes from Olds College in Alberta but I’m able to get instruction at the Gaelic College (GC). Last June, eight otherwise experienced weavers took the leap into the 5 year program being held in Cape Breton for the first time. We lived for one week at the GC with our instructor, Laura Fry. Most of us had experience with Laura as an instructor before - her tour de force called Magic in the Water and a workshop about Lace Weaves - so her style of practical tips and in depth instructing was not new but, as always, welcome. 

I am a teacher myself. I am the weaving instructor at the GC where the busy summer classes demand an efficiency of style not unlike Laura’s. I’ve incorporated several of her techniques in my practice (using a weaving trapeze/valet, using my hand as a ‘claw’ to thread and sley). The Master Weavers program would, I assumed, test my proficiency to a new level. It didn’t fail.

The week at the GC was jam packed with weaving exercises, lecture time, practice communicating with others, weaving samples, group discussions, weaving colour value samples and, of course, wet finishing. 

The group got to know each other better. Five of us came from the island of Cape Breton, one from the Annapolis Valley on the “mainland” of NS, one from the west side of Newfoundland and one from southern Ontario. 

We were all experienced weavers but it wasn’t crucial to take the course. Indeed, the way the course is set up, a nearly new weaver would gain yards of practical knowledge. You need to know a loom, you need to have dressed looms in the past, you need to be able to work within a time constraint getting those samples done. It was fun, a bit challenging, while reinforcing skills. 

At the end of the week, we went home a bit weary, inspired, focused and ready to take on the homework. Homework! For the next while, the “homework” was frequently on my mind while I did my usual....teaching at the college, preparing for my guild’s fibre festival, attending a workshop on tapestry, selling at market, preparing for Christmas and then finally.....the time slot was there for the homework.

The homework is laid out in a way that takes you step by step through the entire process of making one handwoven piece: tell us how you dress your loom, which of these authors books is good for what you are doing, show a study of colour and your skill at plotting to get what you want when you weave, take a yarn and weave it at several setts to see how it works, look at plain weave and straight twill and how they respond to different finishing techniques, make a scarf or shawl to show how well you have learned all these lessons.

It’s trial and error, it’s stimulating, it’s frustrating, it’s running out of the one yarn you thought would do the job, it’s challenging, it means you have to communicate in writing what you do without thought after years of weaving, it means you have to stay focused....watch every weft shot, make it fit just like all the other weft shots, drive the family a bit off the rails while you natter on and on about tiny incidentals of your work, it makes you want to do the absolute best, it’s disheartening when the washing machine won’t open at 10 minutes, it’s exciting when the samples and records are all gathered together ready to send for marking....it’s even a bit fearful when the package goes into the mail - did I remember everything, did I do it well enough? And then you wait to hear - did I pass?? 

For now I am ready and waiting for next year...1 down and 4 to go.....I’m aiming for my Masters!

 Dianne's final project

Guest Post - Mary Underwood

Cautionary Tale:  Beware of Little Old Ladies Weaving Dishtowels

Mary (left) and Alice 

In the summer of 1998 I would sit next to Alice Griswold in a class for 'advanced weavers' taught by Randy Darwall.  I wasn't in the advanced ball park -- not even in the parking lot - but because we were evaluating each other's work, I figured I wouldn't hurt anybody.  In fact, I'd get to see what advanced weaving looked like.  And…they needed people to fill the workshop.  Win/win.  Make that win/win/win.  At the end of the day Alice (then 86 years old) told me she was starting a new weaving class that fall.  Would I like to come?  Of course I would!!  I imagined I'd be learning to weave dishtowels from a little old lady -- and that was just fine.  I noticed that Darwall kept deferring to Alice, but I didn't put anything together at the time.  I also would come to realize that weaving dishtowels can be really hard.

That fall my father came to the end of his life and I was consumed with trips home to Ohio.  I couldn't think about weaving.  And didn't, until the League of Michigan Handweavers conference in the summer of 1999.  I signed up for a course called "Weaving Solutions":  a weaver with 50 years experience explains problems and how to fix them.  Mistake is my middle name.  Perfect course.  I didn't recognize the instructor's name until I ended up in the cafeteria line the night before -- right behind Alice.  And realized I was in her class.  The amount of information she offered was stunning.  At the first break I rushed up to her and said, "I need you."

Monday morning I got a call.  "Mary, how can I help you?"  It was Alice.  By September I'd found 5 weavers to start a weaving class, coming to Alice's house all day Saturday, every Saturday for one year.  The first day of class Alice gave us a tour of her basement, and set the 90" Crompton and Knowles power loom into action.  We were blown away.  And Randy Darwall?  Alice was a primary source of silk for him.  She wove couture fabric, reproduction blankets (for the Smithsonian), short runs (600 yards) for interior designers and would have draperies in the Twin Towers.  She and her husband, Howard, in their later years, created a weaving business.  Alice would go on to share her self-taught weaving knowledge by teaching.  Two of us would continue as students, and we recruited two other weavers.  Alice was our mother hen.  We were the chicks.  The Chicks (Ellen Willson, Nancy Hedberg, and Pat Peters) would continue studying with Alice until she passed at the age of 97, in 2008.

It was during one of those classes that Alice, whose library is now in the Michigan State museum archives, pulled out an Oscar Beriau book:  "Home Weaving", published in 1947.  She found one of the projects there very helpful in designing leggings for a voyageur event at Fort Michilimackinac, in Michigan.  There was something about the book.  Can't even say now what it was, but I loved it.  Alice's Canadian neighbor gave it to her in 1950, when Alice was beginning to learn weaving.  It was her first weaving book.  I wanted one badly, and when Alice and I traveled together we always stopped at used bookstores, looking for more books for her library.  I was searching for Beriau, with no luck.

In 2001 I took a "weave of absence" from my speech pathology job to study with Alice.  During that fall I discovered eBay and found a Beriau book.  Sent for it.  Excited to find some of the patterns I loved in Alice's book, I found none of the ones I liked.  It was an earlier edition.  I got on line again and found another.  Got it, and there were the drafts I loved.  I kept searching.  It must have been the time when many old weavers were downsizing -- because I was able to find entire collections along with many mangles to rescue.  The French editions had a few colored or tinted photographs of fabrics and there were some differences in the drafts offered and/or the threadings.  I got sucked into research.  (Never got much past plain weave with Alice….)

From the start, with advice from Alice, I wanted to gather people together to reproduce the Beriau drafts and to then make their own 'new' drafts.  And my research started in earnest.  I began finding and interviewing individuals in Québec.  Without the help of Annette Duchesne Robitaille and François Brassard, in Québec, I would have gone nowhere.  My research has been aided by many, many individuals, with a healthy dose of dumb luck.  I put everything on hold to go after anyone I thought might still be living.  The story of that alone would be a book.  In fact, it will be.  I'll include the journey and the history in the book I'm now ready to start writing.

I would take Alice along to Quebec for my first interview with M. Leclerc.  She was 91 then.

It was with great joy that I got the news from Beryl Moody that my proposal to start a Beriau sampling group through Complex Weavers was accepted.  That will launch with the spring journal.  And Laura Fry, who early on jumped in to offer a sample, will be the very first!  Thank you Laura!!!

Guest Post - Victoria

New language I learned in class from the teacher:

raw griege: unfinished cloth

sleazy: cloth lacking structural integrity

voluntold: Offering someone else as a resource; and then informing them of their impending generosity. Usually refers to spouse or offspring.

p.i.t.a.: Polite Canadian acronym for a pain in the a**.

ADOPT WHAT I CAN ADAPT

I planned on taking the felting class at EGLFC 2013. The incentive behind my primary plan was to be able to do the conference without having to drag a loom along. For all the right reasons, I changed my mind at the last minute and signed on for The Efficient Weaver with Laura Fry. I took comfort in the thought that we only needed to bring a warp and loom; not a warped loom. I did briefly agonize over the vague parameters of the instructions: scarf warp, 16 to 20 epi, about 10” wide. Too many possible choices! Luckily we had just acquired Ann Dixon's book of 4 harness patterns. I picked out a simple Bird's Eye twill, fed it wrong into my Fiberworks PCW and got something I liked much better. I made my warp with 161 threads of aqua marine 5/2 pearl, printed out my pattern and packed my bags.

Our teacher described herself as “stern looking at rest”. Her towering height demands she look down on most everyone. The corners of her mouth fall into a natural frown unless engaged. Laura Fry makes her living at the loom. A true production weaver, she can't waste time or resources. She weaves rectangles all day, every day; and she weaves to sell. An impressive number of years at the loom have given her the wisdom of self awareness as to what works for her and what became an alterable “p.i.t.a.” The Efficient Weaver was all about developing efficiency through our own self awareness. Most of the time we were all laughing.

Written neatly on the board when we came in was “If you are happy with your results, there is no need to change anything.” I know I am barely past my “if it's cloth, it counts” stage of study, but I had not thought myself unhappy. I know parts of the process hurt more than others, but in my ignorance, I didn't know enough to know I could do more about it than ache. Happily for me the dawning awareness of my discontent coincided with it's cure; the little tweaks and changes that could lead to the bliss of conscious control.

The first day she showed us how she wound and warped, and she explained the why behind the way she did everything. All had been thought out to eliminate wasted time or unnecessary discomfort. Laura explained that every rule ever made, fit somebody, at sometime, in a specific instance, but it's not always true or necessary for everybody all the time. The key is to knowing what works best in the current time, place and situation. She distilled what she found worked for her and wrote it on the board.

Laura's Studio Rules

Never tie a knot where a bow will do.

It isn't finished till it's wet finished.

If you can't be perfect, be consistent.

A thread under tension is a thread under control.

All else depends.

She advised that we would still need to answer to our own personal perfection police, but then she granted permission to throw most of the rule book out the window stressing that we were to “Choose your expert; then learn enough to become your own expert.” It was like having a big sister wrap her arm around my shoulder and share the wisdom of her experience; telling me what to watch out for, but letting me know that some rules could be broken without the likelihood of incarceration.

The second day those of us who had not cheated and done so in advance, got warped. She showed us a nifty way of securing lease sticks for use in warping to eliminate any possibility of dropping the cross. I initially failed to grasp this lesson; along with the sticks as they fell to the floor and pulled out the pourey as they went. It turned out my personal disaster simply produced another teaching moment for Laura. With a pick-up stick and 5 minutes time I was back in business. It took longer to confess my disaster than to fix it. I learned to keep tension. I learned a better way to thread heddles and lash on. Most of the warping process went much faster and was under much better control. I won't embrace all of it for my Brown, but I will cheerfully adopt what I can adapt to my best use. I saw my threading error early and choose to accept it's annoyance in trade for the time it would take to repair. It was a workshop warp, and I wanted to weave. I spent most of the the rest of my time practicing my thumbs-up shuttle throwing. The combination of my easily memorized pattern repeats and the new techniques made the yards I wove on the last day almost meditative. I was working at least three times my normal speed. I'll have to improve my bobbin winding if I'm gonna weave this fast.

I won't share the long list of hints, cheats and suggestions offered during class time as there is too much for a single report. Luckily for all, Laura Fry is all over the internet. Find her website at LauraFry.com, or her blog at http.//laurasloom.blogspot.com. She has made over 20 video clips available on YouTube and is active on Ravelry and Weaveolution. We have her book Magic in the Water in our library. It's all worth the look.

(Victoria wrote this up for her local guild newsletter and shared it with me.)

Victoria's blue sample

my b*tchy resting face

I'm not the only one who talks with her hands  ;)

lots of inter-student consultation

Guest Post - Nancy C

Ergonomics of the Mind

I’m Nancy Curtiss, and I needed some help.  Well, as weavers, we know that we’re each a little warped, but when I attended the Eastern Great Lakes Fiber Conference in Chautauqua, New York over the weekend, I thought that I would mostly do just fine in my class called “The Efficient Weaver” with Laura Fry.  After all, Laura was going to teach us about how we could weave with minimal wear and tear on our bodies.  Didn’t I have a canted bench?  And I was all ready with my knee pad for tie-ups.  Not much more to it, is there?

Not so surprising to you, the answer was yes, there is more.  Much more!

Over the course of three days we practiced our catch and send of the shuttle 

and learned how to properly wind a stick shuttle.  Notice the perfect figure eight?

We learned a lot more than that, but you’ll have to attend Laura’s class or check out her You Tube videos for that.  We gained knowledge of how our bodies affected our weaving experience, and the fact that our choices could inflict either pleasure or pain over the long haul really brought home the need for proper physical ergonomics.

What I didn’t expect, and what I really needed, was mental ergonomics... getting my mind in the sweet spot to be willing to try something new – rather than staying in safe territory.

When I showed up at the workshop, did I try an easy set up like this?

Or this?

No.  I decided to test all of the ergonomic waters by setting up this shadow weave pattern...

... which is like telling a knitter to come to a party to work on the middle of a complicated lace pattern.  Not a good idea.

Efficiency comes in many forms, and for me it was looking at a long treadling sequence, seeing the clarity of the draft – even noting how the treadling outlined the actual design elements... and yet sitting there weaving and unweaving the same 4 picks for an entire morning.  Laura saw my funk, and knew just what I needed to get over that hump to begin the outflow of production.  A life saver! (and something that she can tell you about, herself!)  *see below

Right then and there I realized that what was uncovered was my fear of complicated treadlings. For every skeleton tie-up there are many more that need to be what they are... and I was afraid to go near them.  I unwittingly chose to limit my weaving choices.

Now -  medical science tells us that as we age we need to open our mental pathways by trying new things and by challenging our mental and physical acuity in different ways.  With a fresh lesson in the ergonomics of the mind I open myself up to the hope of infinite possibilities that I started with in weaving, and with the right tools I can accomplish them once again.

As a weaver I need to be unafraid to get down on the floor and change the tie-ups on my countermarch loom.  I have aids to help me with that.  I now know that I need to be unafraid to try complex treadling.  That dance on the loom will help my dance through life.  I think I’m ready for the next song.

* With Nancy's very complex shadow weave treadling and all the distractions in the room I loaned her my iPad with iWeaveit loaded onto it.  I bought the iPad and iWeaveit specifically for students trying to follow complicated treadlings in class - and yes, it really does help.  :)

Guest Post - Mary L

Channeling my Inner Laura

I traveled to J.C. Campbell in North Carolina in February of 2012 to learn
Efficient Weaving techniques. I already enjoyed designing and planning, I
enjoyed weaving, I didn't even mind warping. I knew if I could get the warp
on faster and weave with ergonomics I'd advance from enjoy to love. 

Each time I warped the loom I practiced the techniques I learned. Each time
I dressed the loom the winding on, threading and sleying got easier. As I
became more at ease I saw where I was able to tweak to fit my funky back and
hold my hands to make it more comfortable. 

As I was becoming adept dressing the loom I could pay more attention to
ergonomics while weaving. One warp was dedicated to catching and throwing
the shuttle. Now it is automatic. My hands and wrists easily weave for
several hours in a day. No heating pads needed! Shuttle catching on
something? It was quick seeing the cause and fixing it. Posture and correct
height at a loom? Check. Dancing over the treadles? Check.

I've enjoyed helping warp looms for a workshop. Three in two days! I have
been able to weave 4 and 5 yard warps before they get dusty.

I think I'm like a lot of weavers. Partway through the warp you start
dreaming of the next one. With the skills I've learned and practice I know
it won't be long before I'll be weaving that textile I'm dreaming about.
It's easy peasy.

It is stories like Mary's that keep me travelling long distances to teach.  I live a long way from - well - everywhere.  It's 500 miles (nearly) just to get to the border.  And from the Pacific Northwest, it is a long way to the central part of the continent, never mind the east coast.

The trip coming up next week is a case in point.  My flight departs here at 7 am.  I arrive in Buffalo at 11:30 PM.  And I teach the next day.  In Rochester.  Coming home isn't much better - I leave Buffalo at 6:10 am arriving home in time for dinner.  If all goes well.

But then I get feedback like Mary's.  And it is all worth it.

Speaking of teaching, San Diego is interested in having me come down to southern California, perhaps in February of 2015.  Of course the travel is expensive, so they are looking for other guilds to help share the cost of getting me down there.  If there are guilds in the general area interested in having me at the same time, let me know and I can put you in touch with my contact.

Help rescue me from winter weather?

Guest Post - Betz

Winston Church once said “If you have knowledge, let others light their candles with it” and that’s what Laura Fry did during the five days I spent with her at her studio in Prince George, Canada.  I wanted to learn how to be a more productive weaver and how to design projects and that is exactly what I did.  When I arrived, the loom was warped so that I could immediately begin to weave. She videotaped me at various times when I wasn’t paying attention and we watched the video on the last day.  It was obvious how much my weaving had improved.  I was amazed. 
 
It is difficult to put into words all that I learned, but below is a short list that I think you might be interested in:

·     The shuttle should be brought above the beater not in front of it so that the thread doesn’t get caught in the selvedge. 

·     Grab the beater so that your arm is perpendicular to it not in the middle of it

·     Push the treadle with your entire foot, not the ball of your foot

·     Use a rocking motion when weaving, i.e., lean forward to throw the shuttle & push the treadle then lean back

·     If using two shuttles, put stripes on the edges using the color that is being carried so it doesn’t show

·     Minimum input, maximum output

·     Perfection kills good

 
During the five days I made one towel and 4 beautiful scarves.  My weaving skills improved, I used a trapeze to warp the loom and how to use a reed rather than a raddle.   I learned a few of Laura’s secrets about how to design my own projects. In addition, Laura showed me how to wet finish and cold hard press my projects.   It was a wonderful experience and one I will never forget.  Thank you Laura to being an outstanding teacher and allowing me to light my candle in your knowledge.

  Betz Frederick

Guest Post - Peg Cherre

 Warping valet update:  After my first use of the valet with rayon (that was my blog post), I did another rayon warp.  Partly because I was into a rayon weaving mode, and partly because I specifically wanted to do another 'easy' warp while I continued to get the hang of the new process.  It felt less 'wrong' than the first, although still odd.

Then I decided it was time to try something more challenging -- after all, I really want to get to using the valet with rayon chenille, but didn't want to jump right to the RC shawl I have in mind (what if it messed up with all that yarn?!).  So I went with an unmercerized cotton warp.  170 ends, 9 yards long.  Not only was it an 8/2 unmercerized, it wasn't highly twisted, and was a tiny bit nubbly.  What better test than that?!

No surprise to you, I'm sure, but that unmercerized cotton went on like a dream!!  Not a snag, a twist, a snarl, or a frustration.  It wound as quickly as that smooth, shiny rayon had.  You KNOW that wouldn't have happened if I was working in my pre-valet, no-tension beaming mode!

Needless to say, I am a warping valet convert.  I'm getting out my screw gun and installing those hooks & eyes on my breast beam so I can lose the street brick.  And moving one of the eye hooks in my ceiling that I didn't place well, unfortunately - as I think I mentioned, I hate making big holes in lovely wood.  Maybe I can figure out how to put some wood putty up there in the old hole so it doesn't look nasty.  (Actually, I should probably move both hooks to make the valet be the best, but I can't bring myself to do that.)

You mentioned that you prepare your rayon chenille warps for the valet 1 thread at a time vs. 2, but you said you often have thin stripes that make this work best, as well as the specifics of RC yarn.  Is it safe to assume that you've tried 2 threads at a time and 1 works better?  Obviously twice as much time at the warping board, but it'd be time well spent if the RC beams as smoothly as the unmercerized cotton!

THANK YOU FOR YOUR UNCEASING WILLINGNESS TO SHARE YOUR EXPERTISE!

Peg

Guest Post

Rhonda was a student in 2011 at the John C. Campbell Folk School and recently emailed me:

Hi Laura,


I wanted to show you the paraments I made for our church. It wouldn't have been possible without the 'fast weaving' skills I learned from you last year. And I amazed my friends and first weaving instructor by saying that I did NOT have to fuss with the edges - there wasn't enough time! I did the whole project in just over 2 weeks, finishing the banner at 3am Ash Wednesday. Fortunately, I have all summer to make another set for Advent.

Although I don't have a photo of the full altar piece, it's 4" x 102" attached (by hand) to a 'ground cloth' that covers the altar. It's solid purple except for the detail at either end. The color varies in these photos - the pieces are Amethyst with Gold accents, all 8/2 Tencel from WEBS (30 epi). The most accurate color is in the pulpit photo.

As the trauma of the short deadline begins to fade, I can enjoy them more. (The priest is delighted with them.) I used Brooks Bouquet for the lace, and people are amazed -- "how did you get all those little crosses in the windows?" Ha ha - that was an unexpected 'design feature!'

Thanks for continuing to pass on your experience and knowledge.

Happy weaving!

Rhonda

Guest Blog

Teena has written out some thoughts about her experience at John C. Campbell:

I was thrilled to get the announcement of Laura's class so close to my home and signed up right away for a recent one at the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC.

I had already been weaving for a long time but knew from reading Laura's blog regularly that I could probably learn a lot from her.

Though I have woven since the mid 70's, I never really tried to make a living at it. I was mostly self-taught, so I did not develop my skills in any consistent manner.

I was, however, interested in selling my work and realized that I had to be as efficient as possible so was not averse to learning new ways of doing things when I had the opportunity.

I had worked in an apparel company and near the factories and sometimes with the industrial engineers so I was aware of time and motion studies and tried to apply whatever I could get from other weavers and books, especially Allen Fannin's and later Peggy Ostercamp's books on the skills of warping the loom and weaving.

I tried Allen Fannin's method of threading but have never gotten to the point of being able to thread 800 in an hour. Threading is a large portion of the time of setting up the loom and even if that was the only thing I improved on, it would be worth it.

I also had retired a few years ago and am trying to market my work in a more serious way than I have for many years and wanted to be as efficient as I could to accomplish that.

Taking Laura's class was going to be the first time that I had ever concentrated on those technical skills all at once, as opposed to picking up tips here and there. Laura was a very good teacher. She has abundant knowledge. She is able to give her students instruction that will help them no matter what their equipment constraints or weaving interests since those are also factors in efficiency.

I realized, for example, that I might become able to thread 700-800 threads an hour in a straight draft, but maybe not if the threading was very complicated. Laura also made the point that there is a commitment in learning a more efficient skill if you already have muscle memory doing it some other way. I was ready for that, though I was surprised at her rule of thumb, that it might take seven warps to become accomplished! Made me realize the amount of perseverance required and not give up too soon, just because a different way of working is awkward at first.

Laura also warped and wove during the time of the class while we were working. This was very helpful to see how it could be possible. Just watching her body in motion was helpful.

Just to prove the effectiveness of the class, I was able to warp and weave 10 yards total in three days. (Snow covered roads kept me from the first two days of the class. But because of a lot of individual instruction, I was able to get two warps done in the time that I had left.)

Also the others in the class produced a lot of work. When we had our exhibit of student work at the end of the session, we had by far the largest amount of work to show off of any of the other classes there.

Back home I am still enthusiastic about my new way of threading and am using it exclusively. It is still awkward for me but I'm improving and I'm looking forward to beating my past self. (I have been keeping records all this time to price my work.) It makes it more pleasurable to get to the weaving as fast as possible.

I would recommend Laura's class for those who are just beginning to weave. Better to start at once learning good habits, than to wait 40 years to be your most efficient! But she had much for me to learn, as well.

Teena T.

Guest Post - Katie

My name is Katie Rivas and I met Laura Fry in January '09 while taking a class she did for my weaving guild in Southern California. I liked Laura off the bat and even though the class was round-robin, I spent way more time asking Laura about a million questions I had stored up regarding weaving.

You see, I live in Lancaster, California which is about an hour northeast of L.A. in the high desert. It's a great area to live in but is isolated when it comes to things like weaving (and shopping and finding good gelati - you get the idea).

I learned to weave while living in the Washington DC area, and then moved back home and was like, "Hey - I'm a weaving lone wolf out here!" There aren't any teachers for about an hour radius from me. So I joined the guild and took Laura's class - and by then my list of questions had grown to several pages!

So meeting Laura was GREAT for me! We also talked about her health issues, my mom's health issues, and other stuff.

So when Laura invited me to come to Canada to visit her and weave, I jumped at the chance. I had been emailing her and had told her my long sob story about my love/hate relationship with rayon chenille. Very long story but basically I felt rayon chenille to be the Darth Vader of the yarn world!!

No matter what techniques I tried to get a consistent, even warp on - I could never accomplish this. One side of the warp would always loosen (or both sides), and my back would hurt just trying to get the thing on the loom. It usually took me about 7-9 hours to do one scarf. So when Laura asked me what I wanted to focus on in my 3 days weaving in her studio, I told her - "Learning your technique for getting a good rayon chenille warp on the loom!!" Talk about a no-brainer for me!

I also wanted to learn more about how to do things faster, since I have very limited time in the week to weave. And I wanted to learn about how to do things in an ergonomically correct way, so I'm not tweaking my back out more.

Well - Laura is AWESOME - is all I have to say!!! She taught me how to warp from Back to Front - which I actually had never done. A little hard to get, since am not used to it - but after weaving 5 rayon chenille scarves in a 2 day period (can you believe that?!) - I truly believe B2F is much better with this particular fiber.

Laura's CDWeaver has all of her B2F steps in it if you have that. I can't express what a BREEZE it is warping in this way! We're talking about 1-2 hours to thread the loom and warp on, compared to about 4 hours before. And the warp goes on like a dream - is evenly tensioned and very effortless to weave on.

Laura wanted her rayon chenille stash used up some - twist my arm - so I did 3 different scarf designs. After the last one was done today I was pretty wiped out - am not as tough as Laura - you should feel how strong her forearms are!

Doug and Laura have been WONDERFUL hosts to me the past few days. They are the most generous people with their time, and I got a good look around Prince George - very green with TALL trees. If you're ever here, Connaught Restaurant serves the best salisbury steak dinner I've ever had. Wish I could stay longer, but leave tomorrow for 105 degree heat.

I did purchase a Laura Fry Weaving Studio t-shirt that I've already worn. When someone asked me who I was going to visit in Canada, I said, "You know Yoda from Star Wars? Well, this is the Yoda of the Weaving World" - and she really is :)

Guest Post - Jane Evans

I invited Jane Evans to talk a little bit about her research into Latvian textiles.

Jane was in the spotlight in the most recent issue of Handwoven and since her research resulted in a pretty amazing book, thought people would like to know a little bit more about it.

To see her own artistic statement in cloth, visit Jane's website: http://janeeveans.ca



A Joy Forever: Latvian Weaving - Traditional and Modified Uses
A Book by Jane A. Evans

"Occasionally people ask why I wrote a book about Latvian weaving when I am not Latvian. I explain that on encountering some woven blankets from Latvia I became captivated by the beauty and spirit evident in both the fabrics and the people who made them. In fact, I felt so intrigued that for the next 14 years I studied pre-1940 household textiles from Latvia.

In 1977, 2,000 miles from my Saskatchewan home, Peter Collingwood's famous knowledge drew me to my first major weaving conference. While in Toronto, Ontario, I also studied textiles briefly at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM). There I encountered my first Latvian weavings and was so lucky as to have Dorothy Burnham show me how to analyze them. Although new to textile research I realized some of those household textiles used weave structures unfamiliar to weavers in North America.

Hearing in my classes of the research, weavers wanted more written information. So in 1985 I wrote about one particular weave structure for my Guild of Canadian Weavers’ Master Weaver research paper, “Tied Latvian Weave," now known as the "paired-tie" weave. Loads of other information was not included.

Fortunately in 1986, at Convergence in Toronto, the revolutionary new Patternland computer program arrived. It could analyze the fabric analysis diagrams I made of Latvian fabrics and reveal the drafting information! So that year began my computer dependency as I initiated writing a book with a PC and DOS.

Things rather mushroomed as Latvian people generously contributed fabrics, books, knowledge, stories, accommodations, encouragement, and friendship. Sometimes boxes arrived out of the blue, full of wonderful items. Latvians from Canada, the United States, and Australia desired to preserve their weaving heritage and urged me to help them record it in English. ("Print this soon, as Volume I, then write more.") I felt honored and strove to do justice to the wealth of valuable information.(I also felt inadequate and exhausted!)

Latvians tend to expect lots of themselves, nonetheless their English far surpassed my non-existent Latvian. Although I compiled a Latvian/English dictionary of basic weaving terms, I could not read general text. At home in Saskatoon I was very fortunate to locate a Latvian/Australian/Canadian who read English, Latvian, and German. She was not a weaver but was immensely capable and supportive. Together we spent months translating writings, and Vija and I are still close friends.

Research trips continued as did the seemingly endless weaving of samples, reading, writing, and proofing. Two small Canada Council for the Arts grants went toward my costs. Thrillingly, Dos Tejedoras press became the publisher.

At Christmas, 1991, A Joy Forever: Latvian Weaving - Traditional and Modified Uses finally was printed. Thanks to numerous sources it is an enduring record of the heritage of Latvian textiles, people, and stories. It also is, for me, an incomparable, life-altering experience. "




I will post a review of A Joy Forever in a couple of days......