 Feels just like starting over…
September, to me, more than January, feels like the ending and beginning of the year’s cycle. This week, ripe plums on a neighborhood tree and a bag of spring rhubarb from the freezer resulted in 16 half-pints of garnet-red jam! Then, a bit of time in the pantry, bringing the last jars of preserves from 2020 to the front so we can be sure to eat them on yogurt or toast before we get into the freshly made stuff. Another colorful “harvest” is the completion of a full range of yarn and fabric samples from plant dyes. After the weeks of intensive dye work of this summer, it is time to measure warps, scour, mordant, and decide on colors! Time to start the planning, set-up and weaving cycle again, using what’s in the “pantry” of undyed yarns in cotton, wool and silk. Our August meet-up was a small but lively sharing of recent work and discussion of study groups. It was fun to welcome Jan Nilssen, a former Guild member now living in Eastern Washington, who brought materials and books to contribute to the Library, and shared stories of her weaving career. Several members were there who knew Jan from that time, newer members enjoyed learning about those early years as well. Not to boast, but the 2021 Wool and Weaving Entries at the NW WA Fair looked very nice this year. Sheila Atwater’s woven tapestries took home several prizes! I know more of you entered and took ribbons. I am eager to see photos. The judge provided excellent feedback on the evaluation card for each entry. A few members demonstrated weaving on a floor loom during the Fair, and next year it is hoped we can all participate more. In the cooler weather, I still must remember to water the garden between the drizzly days we are getting at last. I’m hoping for a few more ripe tomatoes and cucumbers before the season is over. Bumble bees are still visiting the blooming plants, birds are going after the seeds on the nine-bark and fennel. I have a volunteer sunflower that is over six feet tall, and, as always, plenty of weld for yellow dye. It’s time to plant some spring bulbs, spread mulch, and enjoy those intermittent sunny days in September! There is still time to get out and see the Fashion show and other exhibits at the Whatcom Museum and enjoy a treat at a sidewalk café. With the September meeting, the Guild year opens. Many exciting programs are planned for this year, starting with Kris Bruland and Handweaving.net on September 18. The meeting and program will be online, via Zoom. Look for the link in an email message the week before the meeting. I look forward to seeing you soon! Carol Berry WWG President To read the entire newsletter please click here. To see details about our upcoming meetings and events please click here. To see who our board members are please click here. To browse through our "Resources" page please click here.
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 The Colors of Summer
Pale yellow-green lemon cucumbers, a blush of red on a green cherry tomato, brilliant pink zinnias with tiny yellow crowns, red Canna lilies. It was a joy to come back to the colors in my home garden, after a road trip through Yakima to Boise, Idaho. This was a work trip for my husband, on a tight schedule. We were rolling with the Big Rigs! As navigator, I got a great view out the passenger window, but sadly, no yarn-related stops. Still, there was plenty of inspiration. Near Richland, we saw truckloads of onions – think of all those onion skins for dyeing. Once in Boise, we had a rest day, strolled through the Simplot Plaza – a city block of indoor and outdoor event and play space, liberally decorated with complex, brightly painted antique tractors – and visited the Boise Art Museum. Textile works by Artists Marie Watt, Lisa Kokin, Rudy Kovacs, Kathryn Spence, and prints by Gee’s Bend Quilt Artists Louisiana and Mary Lee Bendolph thrilled and inspired me. The textile-based work of Suchitra Mattai, installed in the large hall, is stunning! Visit the Museum website to see for yourself! Back home now, catching up with my Natural Dye workshop homework. The colors of summer, indeed! I had not done iron shift before, and the changes are amazing. Next is indigo overdye, then labeling every sample for reference. By the time our August meeting rolls around there will be a complete set of color options to share for show and tell. Study Groups are the program for August, and you will not want to miss it! We will meet in person at Fairhaven Park again with the opportunity to stay after the meeting to spin, knit, weave with small looms, talk, share and plan what we might like to learn and do during the indoor days of Fall and Winter. Starting up or joining a study group is simple, and a great way to expand your options for fiber connections, learning and fun all year long. Warmly, Carol Berry WWG President To read the entire newsletter please click here. To see details about our upcoming meetings and events please click here. To see who our board members are please click here. To browse through our "Resources" page please click here.  Stepping Into Color with Both Feet
You know the saying about today being the first day of the rest of your life? It feels like I am stepping into a new life journey, in technicolor. This is a journey I have dreamed of for decades! Having carried and stored a jar of cochineal bugs for almost 40 years, I am now, with trepidation, learning how to use them. Madder, Marigold and Cochineal are the first three colors to emerge from my dye pots! When learning to weave on a table or floor loom, it can feel like it takes forever to do all the little things necessary to get the warp set up before doing the “real” weaving. And then, once truly bitten by the weaving bug, one realizes the planning, winding, warping, and of course the finishing, are all satisfying pieces of the weaving process. And so it is, I am finding, with natural dyeing. Planning and preparation make for an experience that is satisfying and successful. Upon opening the third week module in the Maiwa online Natural Dyeing workshop, I was beyond excited to start going for color! Winding, tying, scouring, mordanting, had taken two full weeks. I had examined all the yarns and fabrics, affixed un-dyed samples in a journal, scoured each and every one according to the recipes for their fiber type. What a revelation. Just as in weaving, the set-up process takes time, and taking that time makes all the difference in the success of the next steps. And what a success! The colors are rich, deep and saturated. At last, I am setting out on the journey of natural dyes with a proper map. Maybe I could dye and felt some “ruby slippers?” Carol Berry WWG President To read the entire newsletter please click here. To see details about our upcoming meetings and events please click here. To see who our board members are please click here. To browse through our "Resources" page please click here.  Each One Teach One
Yesterday I had a visitor in my studio! A close friend, also a Guild member, who understands that yarn on every surface, surrounding piles of books, topped with graph paper and colored pencils is not really a “mess.” Still, I tidied up a bit before she got here, so we could both sit down at the table for a visit. I wound sample skeins for my upcoming online Natural Dye workshop, and she looked through the stack of older VAV magazines while we had a good chat. These particular magazines from the 1980’s are written in Swedish. Even though neither of us read or speak Swedish, the photos are gorgeous, the weaving seems very contemporary, and the drafts are possible to figure out! As weavers, we know the code. Translate few key words, (i.e. bomullsgarn means cotton, varp is warp, sett is, well, sett) convert centimeters to inches, and we can do this! (Tip. divide the number of centimeters by 2.5, and you get inches. Multiply ends per CM by 2.5, and you get EPI. Round up or down to get a whole number.) This is how we keep our brains going right? And when we don’t get it, or aren’t sure, we ask another weaver. Looking back to June 2020, we were just figuring out how to connect with each other and our creativity in a pandemic that showed little real sign of slowing down. That summer, with precautions, we were able to get together in small groups outdoors, to connect, learn, share our fiber work and show off our cute masks. By that Fall, we were figuring out online Guild meetings and dialing into online workshops and classes. One year later, as a Guild we have formalized support for Study Groups, both in person and virtual, and committed to safety and inclusivity with monthly Zoom meetings and occasional outdoor gatherings. Driveway warping demos have become a thing. Inkle loom, tray table, folding chair in the car? Check, check and check. There are plans for larger outdoor meetings in the Summer! Unfinished projects and new starts. I have looms that are warped, dye pots ready, strawberries and peas are getting ripe, baby zucchini plants that need watering. I am excited for our June meeting, to share what is ahead for the Summer and Fall. See you soon, Carol Berry WWG President To read the entire newsletter please click here. To see details about our upcoming meetings and events please click here. To see who our board members are please click here. To browse through our "Resources" page please click here.  Weather to Weave?
Even after 40 years of making my home in the Pacific Northwest, I am still a fool for this time of year. I am so glad I got those bulbs in the ground in November, because I crave the spring flowers, but it is just too cold and wet to get outside in March. And then, as of now - though things will probably have changed by the time you read this - it’s been sunny for a number of days. I have actually been outside without a sweater. Snap pea starts are in the ground, and weeds are suddenly huge. And yet, I know in another week the weather will turn back to “normal” and the question of whether to garden or to weave won’t be a conflict. This season is always a new beginning, even more so this year. As a Guild, we have navigated new ways to communicate and support our common interests. Missing in-person connections, we have developed online interest groups. Small groups are meeting in settings that provide levels of safety the members are comfortable with. Wanting to learn and improve our skills, we have signed up for online workshops and classes, and redoubled our efforts to learn from books and videos. In 2021, it is the aim of the Whatcom Weavers Guild Board to ensure that each member is able to connect and continue our shared interests in the Textile Arts in settings that are safe, healthy and inclusive. How will we connect this year while protecting our own health, that of loved ones, and what about those of us that are kept apart by closed national borders? The plan is to continue monthly all-member meetings and programs via Zoom for the immediate and foreseeable future. Small groups, meeting in person, or online, as decided by the small group membership, are providing additional learning and community connections. Several groups have formed, and new groups are being asked for! Read the full newsletter to see the list of study & interest groups, and groups that are forming. Whether you want to learn to warp an inkle, borrow a rigid heddle loom, or meet up with others who share your current textile passion, let it be known. Warmly, Carol Berry WWG President To read the entire newsletter please click here. To see details about our upcoming meetings and events please click here. To see who our board members are please click here. To browse through our "Resources" page please click here.  Mood Indigo
March marks the one-year mark of Pandemic semi-isolation, uncertainty, plenty of time in the studio, a decided reduction in outside contact and no travel adventures. It’s been a long year, and here we are in March again, AKA the NW annual cold, wet, winter-into-spring slump. Then today the sun came out! For a minute. There are crocuses of three different colors in the back as well as the front garden. Tulips are poking their points up, and daffodils too. Entering the season of – okay, this isn’t spring yet, but with intermittent sunshine, daily vitamin D supplements, and indoor fiber projects, I’m going to make it. “Am I Blue…” What to do? Indigo. In the middle of the dark and wet, I am now in the middle of an online Journey into Indigo workshop! Due to Covid, this class, normally a two-day on-site workshop, limited to 20 students, has been re-created online, opened up to 60 people, joining in from all over the world, over a period of 7 weeks. This is a great time to get into blue! Banana Vat, Date Vat. White cotton yarn. The first wrapped and dyed warp is on the loom at last! It’s very basic, and it took quite a process to get to this point. I am looking forward to doing more, and planning more intricate pieces, but that’s the future. I have learned a lot so far, not the least of which is, this is a time-consuming multi-step process. There are no shortcuts. Having learned about Ikats in Uzbekistan, that each family workshop masters one step in the entire process, I am starting to get it. Any aspect of the fiber arts can be a pleasing pastime, an engaging hobby, and much more… this is a lifestyle, and it is changing my definition of Blue. To be sure, I am following safety protocols and have not turned my hands blue. I am creating organic vats, reduced with plant material, not harsh chemicals. Confident that once summer comes and we can safely meet outdoors, I look forward to sharing the process in small groups, so we can all be Blue, in the best possible way! See you soon, Carol Berry WWG President To read the entire newsletter please click here. To see details about our upcoming meetings and events please click here. To see who our board members are please click here. To browse through our "Resources" page please click here.  A Weavers Valentine
Almost 40 years ago, in a tiny yarn shop in Victoria, four skeins of fine silk yarn were purchased by a young man for his new bride. Soon after, in a small apartment in Seattle, she measured a warp from one of the skeins, tied some resists, and dyed the yarns. She intended to use four colors, but never got further than the first dyebath. Later on, the warp was unwrapped and the web woven. Pale and disappointing, her weaving and the three remaining skeins were kept with other textile treasures, the glimmer of a dream to make Ikat. Within a year, the young woman’s activities changed focus, with the necessary intent of contributing to the costs of rent and groceries. Time went on. Thread and ideas continued to accumulate, even as the days were filled with other worthwhile work. Money was saved, plans were laid, looms were acquired, dye pots materialized…. This morning I measured a warp, tied resists, and prepared to scour the yarns, before preparing an Indigo vat. 2021 is the Golden Anniversary year for the Whatcom Weavers Guild. Our group started in 1971, as the Whatcom Textile Guild. The name changed in 1998 to Whatcom Weavers Guild, due to the majority of members being weavers. The WWG textile community continues, welcoming anyone with an interest in fiber/textile arts. When I joined in 2009 or so I was not sure if I could still remember how to weave, but persisted, inspired by a spinning, knitting, basketry, felting and weaving community. The Guild keeps going this year, as we manage pandemic precautions, organize zoom and email study groups, sign up for online courses, weave one at a time at the Jansen Center, make appointments to check out books from the Guild Library, and touch base with one another through phone calls, emails, social media, Zoom meetings, and this newsletter. For me, Ikat Dream 2.0 is assisted by a book and an online workshop. Artist, Dyer, Weaver, Professor Mary Zicafoose, interviewed in the first “Textiles & Tea” program aired by the Handweavers Guild of America, has written “Ikat, The Essential Handbook to Weaving with Resists.” This new book provides the guidance I needed so many years ago – when I didn’t have the space, the time, or the focus to fully realize my Ikat dreams. And the Maiwa School of Textiles has transitioned to offering workshops online. “Journey Into Indigo” is leading me through all the steps necessary for successful Indigo vats for dying, on silk, wool, cotton and linen. My textile practice commitment this year is to planning and follow-through, attention to all the necessary procedures, learning from the experts, keeping track and keeping notes. Giving it the time it takes. Taking breaks to look around, be inspired, touch base with friends. Perseverance, Patience. Yarn, Dye, Weave, Textile. Commitment. Practice. Fifty Years of the Whatcom Weavers Guild. I am so glad to be here with all of you! Carol Berry WWG President To read the entire newsletter please click here. To see details about our upcoming meetings and events please click here. To see who our board members are please click here. To browse through our "Resources" page please click here.  Endings, Beginnings, and a year that has been “A Bit Wonky”
The January Newsletter heralds not just a month and season, but also a New year. Every year we look to the turning over, what’s been accomplished, what events have passed, what are our goals, what do we anticipate? This little time between the two mid-winter holidays is more than ever, a time for some reflection. Gratitude: I am well, with enough food, a warm, dry place to live and plenty of string! Gratitude for the work I am able to do with my hands, which occupies my mind, pleases my senses, and keeps my loved ones warm or dries their hands when it’s finished. The past month has seen the passing of two long-time weavers associated with the Whatcom Weavers Guild. Linda Rees, a founding member and career tapestry weaver, passed away in December. A few of Linda’s remaining tapestries, including one simple and charming piece titled “A Bit Wonky” are looking for homes. Rowlanda Hughes, limited by a life-long disability, found satisfaction in weaving, assisted in recent years by Weavers Guild members who dressed her table loom regularly, passed in December also. Gratitude that there is still some warp left on my loom(s) figuratively, and literally. I received two lovely weaving books as gifts recently, and I am inspired by what I am reading to approach familiar weaves in a new way! But First… Two looms have the remainders of scarf warps on them – in each case, the first scarf has been woven, cut off, finished and gone to a happy recipient. Now, time to re-tie, and weave the second half of each. Nice to have some weaving to do without having to make big new decisions before getting started. But then…I get to start a new program of color and cloth for the year. By the time you read this, I will be finished with a 12-thread Andean Pebble Weave band, and have a wider, more ambitious band on the inkle loom. A small portable project is a welcome break, and I am so pleased to have braved the world of online learning this past year. It’s something I would not have done if I didn’t have to – and I am so glad I tried it! With my new-found tech-ish confidence, I have signed up for two new projects in 2021. The Maiwa School of Textiles Indigo Course – taught online for the first time ever. And FiberWorks Weaving Software. Yes, I’m getting started with drafting software, thanks to the gentle persuasion and awesome support of a wonderful mentor. Also still learning in the old-fashioned way, looking at new and old weaving books, and experimenting with “what-if’s” on the loom, adapting known structures to try them out in new ways. Looking forward to seeing you, via Zoom – and maybe at the front porch or garden gate – remember, you can request a book from the Guild Library, anytime, and pick it up curbside! Between online resources, mentors, ongoing projects, and the books and videos in our Guild Library, the Public Library, and on your own shelves, I hope there is inspiration enough for all of us, to keep our spirits up as we enter into a new and hopeful year. Carol Berry WWG President To read the entire newsletter please click here. To see details about our upcoming meetings and events please click here. To see who our board members are please click here. To browse through our "Resources" page please click here.  Some years ago, possibly during a previous administration, I put 25 yards of 16/2 cotton at 60 epi on my big loom with the Drawloom attachment and 20 pattern shafts. It is a magical loom, and I love it, but it does not weave itself. Last week, I finished that warp! It will get a new warp in December, or maybe January, but for now I have draped it with colored twinkle lights for some winter cheer and I’m letting the sock monkeys play on it. This warp produced numerous quirky Damask tea towel experiments including birds, flowers, little dogs, and a copy of a Swedish ladybug design. I worked these designs out on graph paper, because, although I look up weaving drafts and project ideas on the internet, I still don’t have weaving software. Pencil, graph paper, and a big eraser from the art supply store. At some point, I will take the plunge into the advantages of weaving software, (this will require a new computer) but for now I have everything I need, even if it is slower and a bit messier.
This year I broke my own rule about not decorating the house before Thanksgiving. A pandemic calls for extra measures. Colored twinkle lights on the porch in early November. LED lights, so they can be left on 24/7 without running up the electric bill. I also made molasses sandwich cookies with cream cheese frosting. Weaving patterns aren’t the recipes you can find on the internet. Our Zoom meetings and programs continue, with popular approval! A first for me this month has been taking a weaving workshop online! Laverne Waddington’s Andean Pebble Weave Pick-up on Inkle Loom workshop was awesome! I didn’t think I would be able to do it, and I can. Laverne sent out handouts ahead of time, we pre-warped our looms, and she went through the techniques step by step, on Zoom – with video slides and in person instruction. This works. Our Zoom visit to the Ikat workshops in Uzbekistan in November was beyond inspiring. I am grateful for the roof over my head, friends and loved ones staying sensibly safe, plenty of string waiting to be transformed. As we head into the darkening winter, I am also thinking of those in need. I am embarassed to realize that our Guild “Snow Cap” project had fallen below my radar in the pandemic. There is plenty of need, and plenty of time before spring, to make use of the extra odd bits of yarn and keep hands busy making scarves and hats for folks who need them. Read the announcement in this newsletter for where to drop off contributions for local distribution. Need yarn – or have too much? Ragfinery is open again, by appointment only for drop off, and socially distant shopping! Or list your fiber-related extra stuff in the WWG Newsletter Classifieds. My “extra” 8-shaft table loom found a good home with a new weaver, who is now a new member of our Guild! And finally, believe it or not, spring may be sleeping but it will soon be on its way! Neighbor Joan was out planting last-minute daffodil bulbs this morning. Wendy saved seeds from her gorgeous fluffy Salmon pink poppies to sprinkle in late fall, for blooms next year. Mine are spread in the garden now, and I still have more, if you would like some! Hoping you are warm and safe, with just enough of everything you need, Carol Berry 2019-2020 WWG President To read the entire newsletter please click here. To see details about our upcoming meetings and events please click here. To see who our board members are please click here. To browse through our "Resources" page please click here.  I am so relieved to have the temperatures “warming up” to the 50’s (Farenheit) this week! That bracing blast of freezing temps was a wake-up call. Where did I put the gloves and mittens when we cleaned out and re-painted the pantry/coatroom last summer? I found half a pair of fingerless mitts and two different halves of those dime store one-size fits all glovies. Luckily, the rights and lefts are interchangeable, but really! I am a weaver, but I knit some, too. It is time to get out the sock yarn remnants and get some mittens made, because we are going to need them full-time, soon!
Another benefit to the (brief) weather warm-up: I can dig up the Madder roots. I have been putting it off so the seeds can mature on the plant. I have a lot of seed this year and will share, whenever you are ready. Madder is a gangly plant and takes three years for the roots to mature into dye-quantity and quality. If you have a spot where it can be propped up on a trellis and grow for three years, contact me for seeds in early spring. I’ll also start little plants to put out again in 2021 and am sure to have extras to share. A pair of deflected double weave scarves came off the loom earlier in the month. The yarn is Harrisville Shetland and Highland wool, which I had not used before. I worked up the nerve, and after soaking one in the sink overnight, agitated it in the washing machine for 3 minutes (set the timer, like they say to do) then, moved the dial to SPIN to extract the water. I laid the damp scarf out on the laundry table, and gently pushed, pulled, and patted it into shape. When it was dry, I gave it a good steam pressing. It worked! What came off the loom stiff and somewhat fragile (though in lovely colors and patterns) is now thick, soft, and cuddly. The deflected double weave patterning is even more distinct, and the angles have turned into curves and circles. Lots of treadling variations to try out with this weave. Did I mention that the Shetland has a quick to thread sett of 12 EPI in this weave? I am not the only happy weaver around here. You will enjoy the photos of Sophie, a protégé of Sharon Allen, who is learning to weave – or I should say, burning up the warp – on a structo loom! Sophie will be done with her set of mug rugs by the time you read this and is graduating to a larger artcraft table loom. Maybe a Twill Gamp is next? I can’t wait to see what Sophie, and all of you, will have to share with us next month. I am getting used to our Zoom meetings and programs, and looking forward to joining all of you in the coming months without having to brave icy streets in the bitter cold! – Having presenters from far away, without the travel issues is awesome! I may be a little late getting to the (virtual) party, and I am still more of a hands-on person – but more and more grateful for online communication. I hope it is working for you as well. Gift-giving season is getting close. I hope you will all remember to shoot photos of your work as it comes off the loom, needles, felting table… and share them with all of us via the newsletter. Warm woollies to all, Carol Berry 2019-2020 WWG President To read the entire newsletter please click here. To see details about our upcoming meetings and events please click here. To see who our board members are please click here. To browse through our "Resources" page please click here. |
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