March 2022 Newsletter

​Crocuses, daffodils, Inkle Weaving! That is what’s coming up around here.

The upstairs room that has been a catchment area since December’s wrapping tornado got a cleanup tornado last week. Because a few of the Inkle weavers scheduled a warping date, and… table space for four people* and looms… you get the picture. Spring Cleaning Gets Real. Making space to learn and practice. *Yes, four of us decided we can meet in person, in a small group indoors. Masked and vaccinated, with a hepa-filter air purifier going.
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Andean Pebble Weave on a four-shaft floor loom is a revelation. Not sure how to do it, I started with a narrow band and followed the instructions carefully. That worked! Next, a project with three objectives: 1) use my plant-dyed yarn. 2) try a wool warp and weft. 3) go wide, hopefully wide enough to sew a little pouch. Starting with blanket-weight wool dyed with Marigold, Cochineal, and Madder, paired with three shades of natural gray, I measured a section for a patterned stripe, and border stripes that I hoped would give me a five-inch-wide band. Learning as I go: This is a very warp faced weave. 140 ends weave up just under 3 inches wide. The pattern is coming out well though, and this experience will support planning of the next piece. Eventually, I hope to weave an Andean Pebble Weave pick-up patterned cloth on a backstrap loom.

Tracy Hudson, a textile artist living in Port Townsend, weaves all her cloth using a backstrap loom, after spinning much of the yarn she weaves with! Tracy’s loom rolls up and goes where she goes. The photo here shows Tracy’s loom on display at the Quilt and Fiber Arts Museum in La Conner. Her exhibit, titled “Yarn, Cloth, and the Pull of the Earth: Spun and Woven Interactions” will be up until April 30. On occasion, Tracy will be there in person, weaving and answering questions. Tracy has presented her collection of Ladakhi textiles in a Program for the Whatcom Guild a few years ago, and it was lovely to see her again at QFAM. I hope you can get out and see the show! For information click here.


​Warmly,
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​Carol Berry
WWG President
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