Little looms, great burgers, and some amazing students...

My classes are rolling along at Convergence 2014 in Providence, Rhode Island. The sun came out yesterday and everything was much less damp.

Yesterday was my new class, The Mobile Tapestry Weaver: Weaving Tapestry on a Hokett Loom. If you don't know, Jim Hokett makes some beautiful weaving equipment. Much of it is small--for little looms. I sold all the looms I brought and wish I had brought twice as many at least... or better yet, that Jim himself had been able to be at the conference!

The classes are classic conference center ballroom style. Deep skinny rooms, horrible lighting, no windows (though we could hear the rain hammering on the roof), and that special sound-deadening quality those rooms have which make you feel a little drugged by the end of the day. Despite all that, the creativity swelling around all the classes on the fifth floor this week has been astounding.
The class working on their Hokett looms.
I had several sizes of looms in the class, some 6 dent and some 8 dent. This allowed me to present various warping options. Here was a beautiful example in progress of using the loom warped double with part of the weaving in a finer sett. I can't wait to see Karen's piece finished.
I was fortunate in both of the classes I've taught so far to have amazing assistants. The Handweavers Guild of America offers scholarship to fiber students to come to Convergence in return for some very hard work on their part not only helping teachers like me, but setting up shows and generally making things run smoothly. A HUGE thanks to Mandy and Abby. You two were miracles.

Here are a few more explorations from the Hokett class. I can't wait to teach this class again somewhere. So many ideas!
 
I loved the effect in the yellow/orange bar in the piece below. This student was using some pearl cotton for weft and she changed the sett in the middle of that bar. The cotton was shiny and the sett change made that texture change look so beautiful. I'm thinking silk... (Didn't I see that RedFish was in the vendor hall?)
I wish I had photos of everyone's work in my classes. There were some beautiful color gradations done in the Hokett class and the blur of 52 students in three days sort of washed out the names that went with the tapestries that I can still see in my head. I woke up thinking about a beautiful orange/yellow one where the weaver had used bits of demi-duite which gave the piece amazing variety and interest and made it glow. Maybe she'll send me a photo.

And after three intense days of teaching, I stumbled out into the Providence night and with the help of some good friends, found some tapestry shows to enjoy... and a good burger.
Today is vendor hall and exhibition day. I have a one day break from teaching and I intend to use it well.


Landing in Providence... Convergence 2014

This is the land of water, but the only boat I've seen so far is this one in the Providence airport.
I almost needed a boat in Chicago. As the prior flight was deplaning and I thought I was on my way to Providence and dinner, the dreaded, "Folks, we just need to let you know that the ramp has just closed for lightening" announcement crackled over the loudspeaker. Fortunately, the storm was short and we were on our way soon, but my luggage apparently got to experience the lightening first hand in a deluge of water in an unprotected luggage cart on the tarmac. Because when I got to my hotel room, I realized that everything in both bags except the yarn Emily had encouraged me to put in plastic bags, was soaked. Every piece of clothing. Every book. Every woven sample. Every handout for my Thursday class (sorry about that class). Soaked.
The first day of my Color Gradation Techniques for Tapestry class at Convergence 2014 went well despite the damp clothing and tapestries. Out of 25 students, 16 had Mirrix looms. I think that might indicate a success for that particular loom company. But who is surprised? They are great little looms.
I am off for another day of teaching.

PS. Today it is raining.

On my way... somewhere anyway.

I'm off today on a plane for Rhode Island. I've never been to Rhode Island and when I held up my little squatty umbrella that I dug out from under a pile of shopping bags in the back seat of my car where NOBODY ever sits and asked Emily if she thought I was going to need it, she looked at me like I was crazy. "It is the ocean! Of COURSE it is going to rain. Yes, you should bring it." I grew up in New Mexico and these things are difficult for me. I put the umbrella in the suitcase. She should be impressed that I even own an umbrella.

I also put a metric ton of yarn (in addition to the boxes that I mailed), some clothes (because I mailed stuff I have room to take clothes! I am sure my students will appreciate that.), the important bits of this and that like the yarn scale and the digital projector... and I'm thinking there is still something missing. Knitting?

I am thinking of leaving the knitting home. Is that crazy? After all, knitting is what keeps me from killing the crazy person that is ALWAYS seated next to me on the plane. I must look like that nice-skinnyish-lady-of-indeterminate-age-who-doesn't-smell-and-has-experience-with-mental-illness and they always pick me. Darn those Southwest flights with open seating. If they weren't better in every other way, I'd go with some more rigid airline just because my odds would be better. Anyway, I have been working on these little Hokett looms for the class I'm teaching and I'm kind of into them. But what if I get tired of the little weaving looms and need my knitting to keep me from armrest rage? these are the dilemmas that face me in the coming hours.

Fortunately I'm not flying through Dallas. I always get stuck there. Without fail, if I'm on a plane that stops in Dallas, there will be a major storm and no planes will be leaving. It know it is my fault. Chicago is perfect this time of year, right?


Who is ready for Convergence 2014?

I have been frantically rationally and consistently getting all my materials prepared for two brand-new classes and one old favorite. Next time I am going to a conference where I am teaching more than one class, please remind me to make sure they are classes with similar tools and materials. Packing has been a nightmare! I bought a rolling duffel big enough to put two of these in:
But fortunately I don't need to bring a two-year-old. Just huge quantities of a great variety of yarn. And thank goodness for the US Postal Service and Priority Mail!

Massive pile of handouts: check (mailed! Cha-ching!).
Three hour lecture written: check.
Yarn skeined, dyed, balled, partially mailed: check.
Massive luggage problem: fixed.
Hotel scheduling goof-up: fixed.
Rental car reserved so I can visit my grandmother: check.
Transportation found to various amazing fiber exhibits: check.
Sanity: still missing, might be permanent.

I hope to see a few of you at Convergence. But if I don't, you can feel sure I will post photos of the event in all it's crazy glory right here.

Online class updates: You can still register for the All-Three-in-One class (or the Self-directed version of the same material). The class goes until December 31st. And if you were waiting for Part 2 to open, it is up and rolling! (Next offering of Part 2 is in January 2015 just as a gentle reminder.) All the information you need is HERE, and if you don't find your questions answered there, contact me and I'll fill you in!
Newsletter sign-up: If you'd like to get updates of my crazy adventures and teaching/lecture schedule sent straight to your inbox, you can sign up for my bimonthly newsletter HERE!

Magic carpets and Hokett looms


I am teaching a new class at Convergence 2014. It is called The Mobile Tapestry Weaver: Weaving Tapestry on a Hokett Loom.

I proposed this class because it was a way to play. And as I've worked on the class the past year, I've been able to live in my imagination a little more.

Despite the background studded with upstanding members of the Dutch Reformed church, a bevy of professional-type relatives, 17 years in healthcare service, and a fair amount of innate perfectionism, I still dream of magic carpets and tree houses.

I still believe my grandmother had garden trolls--I saw them in her Tulsa garden when I was 6.
I remember riding on the bathmat in the orange and green bathroom at home when I was 8. It was green shag. (The bathmat is new but the bathroom is still orange and green... maybe I can ride the new bathmat)

And I loved the huge dollhouse we had when I was little (Yes, Auntie ML, I know it was yours when you were a kid)... the perfect spot for magic carpets and little mouse-house inhabitants. Now that I have little looms to weave on, perhaps I should weave some doll house magic carpets.

So creating tiny tapestries, not small format works of art, just tiny tapestries on beautiful little looms appealed to me suddenly. This is a place I can make things that don't have to be sold to a gallery. No one even has to see them. They are just little things to play with... tiny magic carpets for garden trolls perhaps. And the loom fits in my backpack.
 
Jim Hokett's small looms and tools are beautiful and a lot of fun to work with. If you ever get the chance to go to a conference where he is a vendor, make sure to stop at his booth. It is a treasure trove. You can find out more about him on his blog: http://wouldworkifhewantedto.wordpress.com/
Yes, that is "Hokett Would Work". He is a funny guy, that Jim.

James Koehler Weft Interlock Video

James Koehler was my teacher for many years before his death in 2011. He used a particular weft interlock join in his tapestries which I have called the James Koehler Weft Interlock (how original am I?). This join is set up a particular way so that when you are making the join, the interlocked wefts are snugged against a raised warp which helps keep the interlocks straight and uniform.

James most often used this join every other sequence for long straight verticals. His technique created a very flat join which you can see in this detail from his Ceremonial Masks pieces which are on display at the New Mexico State Archive in Santa Fe.
James Koehler, Ceremonial Masks, detail
These pieces are in an atrium with various light sources and are covered with plexiglass so they are very difficult to photograph, but this photo gives you a peek (just in case you're not bumping around Santa Fe right at the moment).
James Koehler, Ceremonial Masks
I recently made a new video about how to do this join and you can watch it! Sign up for my bimonthly newsletter in the boxes directly below and I'll send you an email with the link to the video within the hour.

And if you're already a subscriber, I sent you a newsletter today with this video in it. But even if you sign up again, my mail provider gets rid of duplicate addresses, so you're safe from the inbox overflow. And thanks so much for following my shenanigans! For the best shenanigans, take my online class!

UPDATE 1/19/15: I'm adding the video for everyone to see here. It is too hard to reference for people who are already signed up for my newsletter and haven't thought to look at my YouTube channel (you can do that by clicking HERE). Please still sign up for my newsletter below though. I send two a month with updates about my classes, thoughts about weaving, and sometimes videos I don't put on the blog.

Here is the James Koehler weft interlock video.

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