Written September 21, 2011
Phew!! I just completed three major weaving projects. Two for the Handweaver’s Guild of Boise Valley Challenge Show, and one which I will discuss later. No jinxing here. It is pretty fabulous, and cannot wait to crow about it. Soon - soon.
Every year our Guild creates a Challenge Show. We set Challenge parameters, then weave and spin new items to be judged by popular vote by the public. The Guild Challenge this year was to create with naturally colored fibers -- no dye lots. Several projects surfaced. One was an idea I developed a long time ago, 15-20 years. It was using a yarn called Annapolis from Henry’s Attic, and it was still in the stash. It is a shiny white cotton yarn in the neighborhood of 3/2 pearl cotton. I used it with natural colored 8/2 cotton and 20/2 cotton. The weave structure is 6 harness Lampas with two blocks. It forms what I would call a white-on-white design, in which some blocks are the natural color, and the others are the bright white of the Annapolis. I call it “Optic: The Circle Opens.” It has 9 circles that are a bit psychedelic. They move like Op Art formations.
The other project for the Challenge is a cape-like coat made of wool. It is made of a mixed warp of handspun. There were several skeins collected over the years that were those wonderful dark natural black sheep colors. To these I added some yarn purchased from Pat Ann. I even used some of my first handspun of Suffolk fleece I got free from a neighbor of a friend. I used the Aran-type yarn I got in Ireland for the weft. It make a very heavy coat - like wrapping up in a blanket, just like I wanted. It is lined with Pendleton plaid wool, a concession to the rules of the Challenge, since it is just the lining.
Note: Both of these pieces received Second Place in the Challenge Show,
Optic: The Circle Opens
The other project for the Challenge is a cape-like coat made of wool. It is made of a mixed warp of handspun. There were several skeins collected over the years that were those wonderful dark natural black sheep colors. To these I added some yarn purchased from Pat Ann. I even used some of my first handspun of Suffolk fleece I got free from a neighbor of a friend. I used the Aran-type yarn I got in Ireland for the weft. It make a very heavy coat - like wrapping up in a blanket, just like I wanted. It is lined with Pendleton plaid wool, a concession to the rules of the Challenge, since it is just the lining.
Note: Both of these pieces received Second Place in the Challenge Show,
the wall hanging in the Flat Handwoven category
and the cape in the Fiber Arts category.
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