MEET ME IN ASHEVILLE!

I have my ticket in hand! This will be my first trip to North Carolina, June 18th-22nd. I will be visiting an old friend who lives in Balsam, and I am most anxious to meet as many weavers as I can. I thought a "Meet Up" in Asheville on the 20th and/or the 21st would be divine. I was just checking out the restaurants and Mela's Indian Restaurant (I love Indian food!) sounded pretty good although I am more than open to suggestions.

So if you live in the general vicinity, leave a comment.

I also want to visit as many weaving studios as possible.

What I Am Doing

Both Fran and Sarah purchased their weavings using CASHMERE DOLLARS (10 cashmere sweaters equals 80% of the price). Most custom weaving ordered in this manner are in the Woven Words technique, but these ladies wanted something a little different.


Fran 's Color Horoscope Weaving is finished and ready to ship. I like it so much I am having a bit of trouble letting it go. I believe I captured the feeling of sunset with the cashmere weft. I will send it off on Monday though.

In the picture below I have the piece hanging over top of some other weavings.

Oh yes, I changed the sett on the Bambu 7 warp from 20 epi to 18 epi, and I have to say I was very pleased with the results. I wanted the weft to show up a bit more. Before laundering and drying in the dryer, the dimensions were 19" x 78" and after 18" x 72" (minus fringe). It washed like a dream and didn't seem to shrink quite as much.

Sarah's fell in love with this merino wool ikat sample I wove 10 years ago. This was a sample for a 90" x 100" blanket. Instead of using bamboo yarn for the scarf warp, Sarah wants to have a merino warp and cashmere weft.

Much to my delight, I discovered I had enough ikat dyed Jaggerspun Merino left over from the blanket to create a scarf. I certainly have enough to create yet another as well. This is what I totally love about Turned Weft Ikat. The ikat warps are pure potential until I sit down at the warping board to spontaneously create a design. Of course, I won't be able to duplicate the pattern above, but then I don't really want to.


You may notice some little tags on the balls of yarn. I know they must have meant something when I wrote them, but now I have no idea what "Q NEG" means. Plus only half of the balls have mystery tags on them. Now each ikat dyed ball is a magical surprise waiting to be revealed.

Shea's baby blanket is still in the planning stage. The yarn has been ordered, and I am awaiting its arrival.

Blog Clog

When I first began writing a web log, I never realized how satisfying it would be on many levels. I have such a deep appreciation for the connections I have made and how personally inspiring this process has been for me.

I see my flagging ability to post regularly mirrors the rest of my life.

My ideas and ambitions have outflanked my day to day reality.

Today I sat down and outlined my life (on the back of an envelope). Now that I have it down on paper (and now posted) be prepared for a flurry of posts.


WRITE ON BLOG:
1. What I am doing
a. Kathie's piece
b. Sarah's piece
c. Shea's piece
2. What I have done
a. Mercury Retrograde
b. Set up new blog
c. Set up Etsy
d. Sent out cards
e. Finished Fran's piece
3. What I will be doing
a. 50th high school reunion
b. Check out North Carolina
c. Teaching at Golden Gate Fiber Institute
d. Move "Inspired by Bonnie" posts over to my new blog

A Word About Cashmere Dollars

What are Cashmere Dollars, you might ask? Every (imperfect) cashmere sweater a person sends me gives them a $50 credit towards a custom designed scarf/shawl up to 80% of the total cost of the weaving. Most weaving purchased with Cashmere Dollars becomes a Woven Words scarf, but Fran from Calgary decided on a Color Horoscope Weaving instead.


Fran favors sunset colors, so I selected an array of 12 such hues from my cashmere stash. I matched the coral thread I used for my floating selvedge. (my spell check doesn't agree with my spelling here, but I like it)

When I weave, I triple the weft and change one of the 3 strands at regular intervals creating an interesting shading effect. I pull the knotted tails out of the shed.


And then just trim them right off. The remaining 2 strands of weft are strong enough to not compromise the cloth. I am semi-haphazard in my shading, but it is possible to be extremely precise.

Cards Ready to Send---at last

Whew! I am finally gathering my energies after getting a semblance of an Etsy Shop up an running. The experience has left me with a feeling of both satisfaction and suspense.

A huge thank you to Sandra Rude for telling me how to put type ABOVE images! It is easy. I am also having a problem with the same finger of the same hand! I guess it doesn't matter how many harnesses a person has (grin).


At least a month ago, 16 people voted for their favorite greeting cards. I said I would send each person who voted, their favorite card, if they would send me their mailing address. At last, these cards are ready to send! Alas, I can find only 4 addresses : Katherine, Fern, Charlotte, and Denyse. Your cards are pictured below and will go out in the mail tomorrow.


Here are cards below for Heidi, Deanna, Irma, Carol, Holly, Margreet, Martha, Bonnie S, Meg, Cindie, Leigh, and Valerie. I am sure that Irma sent me an address, but I can't locate it, so please resend. The rest of you, send me an address if you wish......


Now that I have completed this little project, I can begin to move forward again.

Up, Running and Published!

I have yet to figure out how to make the writing on the blog appear above the picture! There are several things I want to say before I talk about the pictures, so pretend you don't see them yet.

First and foremost, read my new article just out on WeaveZine! It is called (oddly enough) OUTSTANDING MORAL FIBER, WEAVING WITH RECYCLED CASHMERE.

And second up is my Etsy Store, Bonnie Tarses Designs! It is an ever changing work in progress, but I have cashmere and cashmere related items.

And third, I put this warp on the loom last weekend....something happened.

Most of the cloth I weave with un-knitted cashmere is warp dominated. The cashmere adds a luxurious texture, warmth, and drape but remains a subtle undertone. I wondered what would happen if I changed the sett of Bambu 7 yarn from 20 epi to 15 epi, so I did.

Here is a delightful weaving method full of surprises. First I line up as many different colored balls of yarn as I want to use. I must have collected at least 100 different shades of cashmere. In this case, I picked out light to dark neutrals. Then I pick up any light threads and wind them together on my rag shuttle. I wind to the count of 5 (It could be any number you choose). I break the lightest

of the three threads and tie on another ball of a slightly darker thread. I wind to the count of 5 and break off the now lightest thread. (Some people will do anything to not dye yarn)

Triple weft threads create subtle and rich color possibilities. There is probably a Japanese name for this method of creating yarn.

Although this technique is used in Saori Weaving, I first came upon it back in the 70’s in Peter Collingwood’s book The Techniques of Rug Weaving, p. 130, Meet and Separate Technique, B. Method Using Clasped Wefts. I am surely using the clasped wefts in a more Saori style because I am weaving without any sort of plan.

And of course I have to toss in a little variegated yarn for color.

I love the look! I haven’t cut this off the loom yet, so I can’t report on how it finishes.

Stay tuned.....

True Confessions

This has been a week of challenges, resistance and creative procrastination. There, I've said it!

Bonnie Tarses Designs, my Etsy Store is kinda up (not much on the shelves yet). My mastery of weaving sure doesn't carry over to setting up an on-line store. I am well out of my comfort zone and have hesitated to share my shortcomings.

I have found that if I do something fun first, then I can spend about a half hour working on the store before I have go run away from the computer. So HELP! Please stop by my store and give me some feedback---like prices too high, prices too low, typos, unclear descriptions.

It is certainly a work in progress. I decided to list the easiest things first, so more items will appear daily.

I know most of you are not "into" astrology and the term "Mercury Retrograde" doesn't mean much. Just let me say that starting a new venture during a retrograde Mercury would have astrology buffs shaking their heads in disbelief. Mercury is the planet that rules communication....need I say more.

TO KIMBERLY! I have not been able to email you. My messages to you keep bouncing back. (another example of Mercury Retrograde)