Week 4 & Week 5 posts

During week 4 I lost my internet connection so I am combining my activities from both weeks into one post.

In week 4, instead of having a lesson, I went to the Seattle Weavers' Guild monthly meeting to interact with one of the largest weavers' guilds in the US. The whole experience was wonderful! I was fortunate enough to be there for John marshall's presentation of Japanese weaving and dyeing techniques. I have taken many pictures, both of what he has made and what he has collected.

Here is a picture of the projects brought and presented by guild members:





These are a few closeups of his dye work/woven products:


















This is part of his personal collection:

velvet



gold paper that is shredded and woven in (with example)







A Japanese textile in the Chinese style

A salesman's box used to promote & support a type of silkworm





One of the design templates for cloth

Embroidery

Embroidery

Week 5 Post:

Tuesday was the big day for putting together my loom:



I need to redo the tie-ups and figure out which heddles I'd like to use since I have 4 different varieties of heddles on the harnesses. I also need to tweak a few more things, but otherwise things look pretty good. I should be able to start weaving my sample soon, which will include my handspuns (some designer, some that are more focused on how colors work together). I also received my camp stove for dyeing so that I won't dye my kitchen every color of the rainbow. The next few weeks will be very busy for me, but I've almost finished the books I set out to read and now have to do the physical parts of my contract. Thursday was a review on drop spindles, but I also learned how to use the navajo spindle I mentioned in my last post. I believe it will be most helpful when I spin my bulky yarns.
This week I will be finishing my thick and thin handspun as well as my laceweight yarn. I am not sure how I will be dyeing my thick and thin yet, but I know I will leave the laceweight natural. I will also be dyeing a lot of unspun fiber since that will give me more flexibility. After dyeing my fibers I will be doing granny stacks, wrapped yarn, bulky yarn, adding objects into the fiber, and yarn with eyelashes. Dependent on time, I may try a few other techniques, but for now these will be my main focus.