November 2022 Newsletter
Wooly Weather
Rain at last. What a joy to spend a morning heating up the kitchen with soup on the stove and cookies baking in the oven. The two little 3-year-old apple trees in my front yard yielded 16 very nice eating apples this year! Time to think about blankets, pull the wool scarves into rotation again, and search out the fingerless mitts. Spring bulbs (the kind you plant in the fall because March is going to come and tulips will be needed for emotional support), have been ordered, and should arrive any day, so I’m hoping for a few warmish, dryish days for planting. Mostly, I am ready for the indoor activity season, excited to try new things and learn new weaves. Making a basket in a workshop at the Jansen Center is on my schedule. Delving into the weave structure known as Crackle, or Jamtlandsvav, has been a wish for a few years now, and I’m signed up for a study group. I am so glad to be approaching this complex weave in a group setting. Don’t go to a scary place all alone, right? Four blocks on four shafts, with “incidental threads”?!! Staying calm. Taking it one step at a time. Trying not to get stuck on choosing the warp yarn. Measuring and beaming the warp. Only then taking on threading the heddles (Four different blocks! Incidentals! Yikes.) Re-writing the threading by hand on large graph paper is how I tackle it, then threading the heddles one section at a time, checking off each group as I go. Paying attention to ergonomics. Protein snacks, not sugar… no podcasts or books on tape while I’m threading… Loom mechanics are not hard for me but remembering a sequence of numbers for long enough to treadle a pattern unit, especially with two shuttles, and tabbies in between… Having found that others share some of these same challenges – there has been talk of a “Dream Weavers” Study Group session or series, sharing methods for managing threading and treadling when the challenges of a busy life, household member’s needs, or brain fog make it harder to coordinate mind, eyes, hands and feet. Anyone else have a hard time with this sometimes? Let’s talk. We are in this together. Warmly, Carol Berry 2022-2023 President, Whatcom Weavers Guild |
Knitted mitts and woven scarves
Florina and Belmac apples fresh off the trees
Sock Monkeys and friend in sweaters and scarves
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P.S. Our November 19, 2022 Meeting and Program will be in-person at the Jansen Center, with a Zoom option, featuring Basketry Artist Judy Zugish. Members can expect the reminder, schedule, and Zoom link in your email inboxes a few days before the meeting. See you then!
P.P.S. Red Japanese Maple leaves are still hanging on my tree, waiting for any eco-dyer who needs them.
P.P.S. Red Japanese Maple leaves are still hanging on my tree, waiting for any eco-dyer who needs them.
Red and Gold Leaf on rusted metal glazed with rainwater
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Blueberry bush in fall color
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