Beechwood Crafts

I've discovered a lovely new website, published by Cath Snape, with lots of interesting blog posts.  Wish I'd seen it before Christmas as she has a blog about a very stylish wreath crafted from plants in her garden.  You can see the post here, in readiness for next year. (Wink!)

Although it's a new website, there's still some interesting content for you to poke around it and I look forward to seeing what else Cath has to offer in the future.

Cath has a Distinction in the Association of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers Certificate of Achievement in spinning and has been spinning over 10 years.  She now mentors spinners wanting to try their hand at the Certificate in spinning and teachers new spinners.

Design Workshops

Those of you who know me well realise that "design" is my motivator.  I love the process of design and more than that I love to teach it.  It really lifts my soul to see those who are terrified that they can't paint and draw work with paper, pencil and paint, cutting and sticking and working through the processes to develop something beautiful.

About 18 months ago I visited a group of spinners near York who are working towards the National Association of Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers Certificate of Achievement in spinning to teach a Design for the Terrified 2 hour Masterclass!  As usual I got the same remarks I get in most classes: "I can't paint or draw", "science was my thing at school", "my art teacher kicked me out of the art class", etc., etc.  I find it so sad to hear these tales of woe.  I start by saying that the design process begins with observation and how may people in the group have to use that skill at work?

After a very intense 2 hours we had a group of spinners with some lovely design work from which they could design yarn, knitwear, weave, crochet, etc.  One student, Cath Snape, went on to gain a Distinction in her Certificate of Achievement in Spinning and produced an amazing sketchbook for her final project, a beautiful shawl.

Some of Cath's work produced in the Masterclass can be seen below.

Creative Spinning

In June I was invited to visit York and District Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers to tutor a Creative Spinning Workshop.

It was a beautiful day at the Museum of Farming, Murton, just outside the city, where the Guild meet and I had a group of 9 spinners keen to look at yarn design.  They all brought a lovely picture for inspiration and lots and lots of fibres.  The idea is that each spinner uses a picture that inspires them with regard to colour and texture and they learn a range of "fancy" yarn techniques that could be used to produce a range of yarns.

It was such a busy day that I forgot to take photographs of the amazing yarns that were produced, but two of the spinners sent me images of their yarns, for which I'm grateful!

This is the image that Bev Baldry used to inspire her yarns.

The two images below are the same picture with the two yarns Bev produced to be used in her lounge where the picture hangs.  Bev captured the texture of the deep plum flowers in the top picture and the softness of the misty sections in the lower image.

The image below shows Jean Stother's image and yarns that were inspired by it.

Make Works

This time last year I had been selected to be part of the new Derby and Derbyshire section of Make Works Website.  I was interviewed and filmed along with other makers and manufacturers from our region and the section is now live! 

Make Works has been live for a number of years and running successfully in Scotland and Birmingham and you can find out all about the organisation via their Blog here and Derby and Derbyshire in particular here.

If your interested in my listing please take a look by following this link and scroll down to see the video.

The team who interviewed and filmed me last year were so kind and put me at ease during the whole process and I'm pleased with the result.

Deflected Double Weave on a Rigid Heddle Loom

I've just been developing a simple deflected double weave that can be woven on a rigid heddle, so I thought I'd give you a series of short video's that will help to explain how it's done.
The warping is relatively simple using two rigid heddles of the same dpi that are suitable for your yarn.  I used a  2/6's wool yarn and so used two 7.5dpi heddles.

Warp in colour groups of four, that is 4 red ends, 4 black ends repeated across the loom ending with 4 red ends.  In this example the red ends are passed 2 at a time through the slits of both heddles, followed by the black ends 2 at a time through the slits of both heddles, until you have the width of scarf you want.  Wind the warp onto the back beam ready to thread as follow:

• The first 2 red ends go through the front heddle slit and are threaded normally through the back heddle, slit, hole.  Repeat with the second 2 red ends in the next front heddle slit and threaded normally through the back heddle, slit, hole.
• The 2 black ends are threaded normally through the front heddle and through the slits only, through the back heddle.  Repeat with the next to black ends.
• Continue across the warp in this way threading 4 red ends followed by 4 black ends, finishing with 4 red ends.

Here is a link to my YouTube video showing how the warped loom looks:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7TAUBmkGhQ

Now comes the weaving, starting with the red ends.   Always pick up the red warps to make the down shed when both rigid heddles are in the down or lower position.  Always pick up the black warps to make their down shed when both rigid heddles are also in the down or lower position.

Here's a link to the whole process of weaving deflected double weave:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MIRBUjR9dM

I hope you enjoy trying this technique on your rigid heddle loom.  I'd love to hear how you get on!

Pantone's Top 10 Colours for Spring 2017

I recently posted my Colour Palette for March with 5 lovely colours and while browsing the "net" earlier today I spotted a post on Design Taxi about Pantone's top 10 colours for Spring 2017 and noted some similarities to my colour palette!

The Pantone colours 13-0755, 14-1315, 17-4123 and 19-4045 are the ones I think are particularly close to my chosen colours.  Two of the other colours, 17-4123 and  18-0107 are close to two of my chosen colours for February 2017's Colour Palette, what do you think?

A Years Free Sewing Patterns from McCalls!

Follow the following link to enter the Love Sewing competition to get a years supply of sewing patterns from McCalls!  All you'll need to sew your handwoven fabric.
http://swee.ps/STzUArPg

Colour Palette of the Month - March 2017

We are just five days into the Month and Spring is beginning to show in my garden with a few miniature daffodils and the last of my snowdrops.  There is a little warmth in the sun when it does shine, so I'm going to continue this cheer with my Palette of the month.

This photograph was taken a few years ago in the evening and the light gave the blue background which I love against the pale yellow of the flowers.  It would make some lovely striped fabric or an unusual and interesting tweed.
I used a quick Stripe Generator to produce the following pattern.  The colours aren't strictly true, but it gives you a good idea of what can be produced.

With the tweed design I wanted something a little different, not true checks or diagonal stripes, but a bit more broken.

I hope you like the ideas I've developed and I'd like to hear if you've had a go at reproducing your own designs or even these.

Colour Palette of the Month - February 2017

I felt it was about time that I re-instated the Colour Palette of the Month Series, so I'm kicking it off with February's palette.  This image is of Darrynane Beach in Kerry, Ireland.  It was a fabulously sunny day and I had to shoot into the sun to get this image, which was quite tricky.   I got the sparkle on the sea and the very strong shadows which in turn gave me the lovely smoky colours for this palette.

I hope you like this Palette, it's a good one for Colour Blending with fleece dyed in the basic colours of Red, Blue, Yellow, Black and White for a striped jumper, Fair Isle knitting or as a nice muted tweed fabric.  I'd love your feedback so leave a comment if you feel like it.

Alison

My Workshop Programme for 2017

I've been booked for quite a few workshops this year, so take a look at my Courses, Talks, Workshops and Exhibition Page above to see where I'll be teaching.  There are a number of Design for the Terrified Workshops this year, including two Master Classes for Wonderwool Wales.  I've not been back to Wonderwool Wales since I gave up Pure Tinctorial, so I'm really looking forward to going back.

Lace Weave Workshop

Since my last post about the Lace Weave Workshop the date has changed.  It is now Saturday and Sunday 3 and 4 December.  So if you were interested but couldn't make the date in September you've another change to join us.  The contact details are the same, Janet Ellison, of Fibre East.

I'm really looking forward to tutoring this workshop, so hopefully I'll see you there.

Lace Weave Workshop

Since my last post about the Lace Weave Workshop the date has changed.  It is now Saturday and Sunday 3 and 4 December.  So if you were interested but couldn't make the date in September you've another change to join us.  The contact details are the same, Janet Ellison, of Fibre East.

I'm really looking forward to tutoring this workshop, so hopefully I'll see you there.

Lace Weave Workshop in September

After the success of the Block Weave workshop in June, the lovely Fibre East team have booked me for another workshop, this time Lace Weaves, in September.  This workshop explores up to five lace weaves in either cotton or wool (yes, wool!), so if you're interested in the beautiful Scandinavian textiles that use these structures then why not book on this course?

Yes, wool!  Most lace weave fabrics are woven in linen, cotton or a mix of them both, but it's equally beautiful in wool for soft draped scarves, striking cushions, blankets, etc.  Don't let your pre-conceived ideas prevent you from having a go at weaving them in wool, the UK's most versatile fibres.  The course is designed so that every student will pre-warp their own loom in one of the structures and in the workshop will share their looms with each other, in a "round robin", so that everyone goes home with swatches in each structure, some in cotton and some in wool.

Below are two shawls I was commissioned to make a few years ago, in Huck Lace.  Both are hand woven in silk and cashmere.

The Journal for Weavers, Spinners & Dyers

My copy of The Journal arrived just before I went off the Flitwick on Friday, so didn't have time to look through it even though I'd taken it with me to peruse.   Tuesday morning while sitting in the garden having my breakfast I decided to have a quick look and to my surprise there was an article in "Guild Highlights" section about the workshop I tutored last year at the Mid-Essex Guild.

The Journal for Weavers, Spinners and Dyers

Guild Highlights with my course review

The workshop was on Art Yarn and was obviously very well received, so I am thrilled!  The Mid-Essex Guild was very welcoming and I really enjoyed tutoring it, so thank you to them for ending such a lovely review to The Journal.

Fibre East Block Weave Workshop Week-End

Last week-end I tutored a successful workshop in Flitwick.  Fibre East organised a two day workshop studying Block Weaves and 10 weavers shared their looms and warps so that they could experience Monks Belt, Honeycomb, Overshot, Crackle and Summer and Winter.  Here are a selection of images of all the swatches they produced over the two days.
I am extremely proud of how the tackled the course, some new to weaving, and some with only two years experience.  Well done everyone!

Derby University Textile Design - The Big Show

I spent a lovely morning at Derby University today taking a look at the current batch of 2016 graduates of the BA (Hons) Textile Design.  I've not had any work placement students over the last three years so I've got a little out of touch with what's going on in the University world and I was pleasantly surprised!

The woven and knitted textiles were superb, although I was a little disappointed in the print.  My most favourite work was from Sophia Reed, who'd interpreted Polish folk art into the most beautiful knitted textiles.

Sophia's coat was so beautiful, with the motifs graduating to nothing from the bottom to the top.  I can see her charming little scarves sold in Liberty's, too!

Katie Mills' knitted scarves, inspired by mushrooms, were very interesting, using different weights of yarn to create areas of texture.

Other designers I liked were Jan Bell's 'Morocco' inspired woven textiles, Sammy Bertrams' 'Night Night Sleep Tight' childrens fabrics, Miriam Murgatroyd's 'Under the Microscope' knitted textiles and Florence Carr's brightly coloured knits, 'Coastal Roaming'.

Eglise du Château

The church that the Michel Degand tapestries were exhibited in was as inspiring as the tapestries themselves, the windows were stunning as was the roof and the carvings.  It was a stunning, light church and a perfect place to exhibit the tapestries.

Aubusson and Felliton

After the Echo and Iris workshop Jane and I went to Aubusson and Felletin to see the tapestry weavers.    Aubusson is famous for it's low warp tapestries or use of horizontal looms.

It was rather late in the day when we arrived so we couldn't go to see Manufacturer St Jean and sadly the Museum was closed for the change over from the old museum to the brand new Museum to celebrate the status of International city of Tapestry.   So we went to see the weavers at Studio A2 where we purchased a beautiful little tapestry beater.

We had been recommended by the Tourist Information Office to go to Felletin to see the exhibition in the Church of the Chateau and we weren't disappointed.  The tapestries designed by Michel Degard were on display with a few others by Sonia Delauney, Henri Guérin, Le Corbusier and Alexander Calder.  All were woven by the Pinton Studio situated in Felletin.

Below are just a sample of the amazing selection of tapestries we saw with details of some of them.  What I particularly liked were the different setts that were used in the same tapestries.