I really enjoyed teaching a three-day workshop for Taos Wools Festival in October. I taught in this same room last year but they’ve expanded it and now there are some windows. The class was fun and funny and they wove a lot in three days.
We were working with Taos Wools Chica yarn. This is a gorgeous churro yarn that is hand-dyed by Joe Barry himself. For this workshop there were piles of little skeins in all sorts of colors. It was definitely like being in a candy shop!
In the class we were working with color and blending. There was a little color theory and a lot of experimentation.
Taos Wools Chica yarn ready for the tapestry workshop
Carol and Ann talking about Carol’s colors (this is a Chloe loom)
The best thing about in-person workshops is the collaboration that goes on between participants. It most definitely is not all about what I have to teach. A huge portion of what is learned comes from interactions with other students, seeing their ideas, and building your own from those collaborations.
As always I was surprised (I shouldn’t be surprised any more) that every person including myself had Mirrix looms. Some of us had more than one with us. There were a lot of Chloes this year along with a good contingent of Little Guys. These looms hold great tension and are super portable so they are fantastic for workshops. I have really enjoyed using the Chloe when traveling to teach because that stand works so well. I get the portability of the loom plus the ability to stand it up which is important when demonstrating for students.
Carol’s balls of yarn and her tapestry in progress
We had a lot of fun talking about and playing with color. Chica is a yarn that you can use two strands at 8 epi so we did a lot of weft bundling and playing with how to make colors we didn’t have by mixing two we did.
Ann’s box of beautiful Taos Wools Chica yarns
We made good use of the ball winders and swifts to turn those adorable skeins of yarn into cakes for weaving. Everyone went home with a lovely color selection for continued work.
Julie using the ball winder with Taos Wools Chica in the foreground.
There were so many marvelous weaving experiments that happened this week. In the photo below Cathy is doing a color study with complements, hatching, and bundling.
Cathy’s color studies
Claudia and Doris were enjoying the beautiful October weather as well as the great light on the porch. I heard a lot of laughing out there…
Doris and Claudia working on their Taos pieces
And the group produced a wide variety of tapestries! Some were finished, others were waiting to be finished at home. I loved seeing all the various ways people used the very same colors.
Taos tapestry class with Rebecca Mezoff, student work
It was a fabulous group. They were funny and kind and generous and they wove a lot!
Tapestry weavers L -> R: Ann, Carol, Cathy, Marty, Doris, Elizabeth, Claudia, Sonya, Eva, Julie, Louise, and Rebecca
And as always I love seeing my book in use during a class. And besides books, my other favorite thing in the world is yarn. Speaking of yarn, I’ve been using Taos Wools Chica for some experiments with wedge weave this year and I love it so much. What a beautiful material this churro wool is and it is dyed so beautifully. Thanks Joe! (You can buy your own from Taos Wools. They ship!)
Rebecca Mezoff’s The Art of Tapestry Weaving put to good use during the workshop
Piles of yarn were everywhere. What fun!
March 2025 learning opportunity in Taos: Color Gradation
I’ll be teaching another class for Taos Wools in March, 2025. We’ll be meeting in the beautiful new classroom space in Arroyo Seco and I was able to visit it recently. If you’d like to sign up there are a few spots left. It is a color gradation workshop and Joe is going to dye his beautiful chica yarns in gradation for us to use. It is a rare opportunity to learn gradation techniques for tapestry using a specially dyed yarn.
The stairway to weaving fun!
Inside the classroom. We won’t be using the walking looms, but we will have the advantage of all the wonderful light in this room.
I know I posted a very similar photo of me and this statue last year when I taught for Taos Wools Festival, but this year there were chickens running around under it! I laughed and laughed. I couldn’t get a photo of the tiny chickens and the giant statue, but it was funny… perhaps only to me. The artwork is Fledgling by Christian Ristow.
Rebecca being a goof next to a very impressive piece of art by Christian Ristow.
Chickens making themselves at home. They’d escaped a neighbor’s yard… or maybe they just love the big bird statue!