A Towel Exchange to Start the New Year

I don't know how many remember my ongoing Towel Exchange---it goes like this: You send me a towel of your own creation, and I will send you a towel of mine. Imagine my surprise and delight on the Solstice to receive a package from Syne Mitchell! Among the delightful goodies was a towel (and what a splendid towel it is!) (details of Syne's towel will be featured when I finish my towel for her) All of this has made me remember just how long I have been blogging and how long it has been since I've written anything above and beyond the blog. Here is the last time I did ikat dyeing and taught a turned weft ikat workshop

So pulling the remaining threads together (so to speak), and using Syne's towel as an inspiration


I begin a new year of weaving.


Grace is chosen for the project.

The loom gets dressed.

But wait! I have a rush commission! So towels will have to wait (half-dressed) while Gary steps forward to receive an interesting new warp----

New Years Picnic Anyone?

I snapped this picture on New Years Day (out my back window) on my way to bed with a winter cold. I am well over it now, but I couldn't resist showing this picture.

My looms are almost dressed and ready to roll. Pictures and story to follow.

Origami Boxorama

In searching for the perfect little square box to house the 72 mini self portraits, I recalled some little folded boxes I learned to make at a Seattle Weavers Guild (hands-on) meeting. Interestingly enough, I brought one with me in my recent move. I must have known I would need to know how to make them, so make them I did. I printed some of my weaving images on regular computer paper, and it worked just fine.

Then I discovered that I couldn't stop making boxes---until I had made over a hundred of them.

So here is my holiday tree (grin). I know there is a reason I have entered into box-making madness, and I will tell you as soon as it is revealed to me.

The looms have been resting up for another round of weaving. The snow continues to pile up, and real winter is setting in. I have selected a word for the coming year---SIMPLICITY. (more on that later). If you are interested in selecting your own word for 2011, click here.

Have a meaningful New Year (grin)

Facebook Holiday Greetings

The warmest holiday greetings to all! May my smiles brighten the season! I look forward to sharing my latest projects, ideas and inspirations with you in the coming year!

What do you get for your 92 year old mother who has everything?--a photograph of ME! In trying to decide on the perfect picture to send (and incidentally the perfect facebook image), I began searching through every picture of myself (scanning in old photographs) . Here are 54 of the 72 images I gathered. I cropped the pictures to just my face (2" x 2") and then arranged them in chronological order. I taped them together into a long strip (144" long) , folded them in accordion pleats , and placed them in a handmade box with the most recent picture facing out. It doesn't pop open like a jack-in-the-box, but it does come spilling out of the box---the years slipping backwards until I am 6 months old.

Making this montage was as good as a year of therapy! Hey folks, I had a happy childhood, my young adult years were a nightmare, and I am growing old gracefully.

A Fabulous Big Blanket for an Amazing Little Person

What a wonderful way to celebrate a day of gratitude!

I don't really have words, but I just had to share this picture with you. Imagine sleeping wrapped in the blessings of your family.

Parents report that Maya goes right to sleep as soon as she is wrapped up in her blanket.

Color Horoscope Weaving Meets Almost Ikat

As I settle into my new life in Montana, I notice each new weaving has moved up a notch (at least in my eyes). When I deliver a weaving to a client (and they totally love their weaving and I am trying out something a little different), I am very happy indeed.

Another test is if I can't wait to make one for myself. You would think that having at least a dozen version of my horoscope would be enough, but I justify it by saying I need it as a teaching tool. (and it is mostly true)
Although it is big enough to around, I don't think Toni is going to share her shawl with daughter, Stephanie.

A Wonderful Workshop

I always think my workshops are wonderful, but I really believe they get more wonderful each time. I also believe that a more accurate title for this workshop would be Creating a Personal Color Gamp. Since many of the students decided to use bamboo yarn, I thought it would be helpful for me to bring my current Bambu 12 shawl. I manage to cut it off the loom at 10:30 PM the night before the workshop. I brought it unfinished and measured it---28" x 104".

Then I took it home, finished it, and brought it back the second day. It was great to be able to demo the change not only in size (27" x 96") but in the amazing change in drape and hand.

I had taught an earlier version of Color Horoscope Weaving to the Missoula Guild several years ago. Three of the students from before came back to do it again. Here they are: Karla, Vanetta, and Coby showing off their horoscope shawls in 20/2 cotton (tripled and sett at 24 epi).
I can't wait until they finish their new weavings. They all agreed that the new improved workshop was more fun.



One of the things that made the workshop fun were the color exercises. Creating a personal palette and the introduction to Woven Words made me wish we had at least one more day to further our color exploration. The Missoula Weavers Guild is a great group!


Of course, now I can't resist making a montage of the Color Horoscope Weavings in process. (although now that I look at it, I can see that I duplicated some and left out others) Ah, it is surely a work in progress.


So now I am a member of the Missoula Weavers Guild---something I didn't do when I lived here in the 70's. (grin)