Spring has arrived here on Vancouver Island. The rain is still with us but there are more sunny warmer days to enjoy outdoor activities. Guild members have been busy finishing up all the winter UFO’s before gardening season begins to take up time away from our needles, wheels and looms.
The Deflected Double Weave study group members shared some of their finished projects at the March meeting. Karen brought her DDW scarf woven in 2/16 cotton. Barb H and Melody used the same draft from Handwoven Jan/Feb 2007 issue. Barb’s was in 2/16 cotton sleyed at 24 epi at 2/dent in a 12 dent reed. Melody used 2/8 black and white cotton at the same sett. Both scarves are lovely examples of how one draft can be used for very different results.
Tammy finished a cozy woollen wrap using 40/60 mohair/wool that is perfect to cuddle up with on a cool evening.
Janine is a new weaver who is not afraid to tackle interesting weave structures and yarns. She wove 4 tea towels using 2/16 Venne organic linen and 2/16 Venne organic cottolin in grey, white, steel blue and anemone in 2/2 twill. The towels looked lovely and will have place of pride in her home.
Linda P shared a framed set of five tapestries using borderless tapestry technique. Her inspiration was the three flowers Dr. Bonnie Henry had carried, one inspired by a tulip vase she has at home, and one inspired by the same vase but this time she increased the difficulty and wove the tulips on the vase itself. If you look closely you might see a familiar virus woven into one tapestry.
Coleen visited a tourist market when she was in Peru. The hats for sale in the market were made from synthetic materials but the vendor’s hat caught Coleen’s eye. She told us he took months to knit the hat and that she paid handsomely to bring it home. The inside fabric is tightly knit with very short floats to keep the wearer warm and dry during Peruvian winters. She shared that some Peruvian hats form part of the ritual surrounding a marriage proposal. The prospective groom knits the hat and takes it to his beloved. Her family takes the hat to a lake and fills it with water. If the hat holds the water on the way back then the marriage is approved.
Alison is working on a project for the winter issue of Little Looms magazine. The theme is winter weaving and her inspiration is the final page of a lovely book entitled Grandpa Bear’s Fantastic Scarf. She used pickup to weave the last sentence of the book on her inkle loom in a pebble weave technique.
We are so happy to be meeting in person once again it has been wonderful sharing fellowship with each other. If you live near us and are interested in joining the guild please join us at one of our day or evening meetings.
Until next time enjoy the Spring days wherever you find yourself.
