Okay, here's my inkle at the airport on the way to NM—
(I'm starting to meet Weavolution folks, and it's amazing!)
Your posts about Convergence mean a great deal to me as I was supposed to attend this year, but life-circumstances got in the way. Have a wonderful time!
I met Sally yesterday! And a whole bunch of other Weavolution folks.
I'm at Complex Weavers today and tomorrow, and going to Convergence on Thursday to see the exhibits and the vendor hall! If you're at CW, stop by and say hi!
Tien
Yep, we are here and done with Complex Weavers Seminar, my head is full of info but still have room for Convergence vender hall tomorrow! I have my scarf and Weavo pin ready!
Had a blast today. We just stayed put and the world came by to see us. I have to admit I got totally goofy when Linda Hendrickson dropped by. Between talking to people and running and back and forth from my backstrap loom the day just flew by. Tomorrow is the big long one so I am "home" recharging the batteries. I have the let the Weavolution guys party on alone!
Hey there! Just a quick photo from Kati Meek's flax presentation at Complex Weaver's Seminars. Here we all are, kneeling over a linen table cloth (of course!) and gently working the outer core of the retted flax away from the fine fibers lodged inside, trying to preserve the full length of the fibers. I can't wait to tell Cordelia, our 95+ year old guild member who grew, harvested, and demonstrated flax production for visitors at a historic site in New Jersey for many years.
More posts after a good night's sleep...
OMG! Helen Bress is here! This is my roomie from Complex Weavers Seminar with Helen.
Oh, and by the way, I believe Laverne sold out of her book by mid-day today!
Photos and news from Convergence also in the News section. Here is one more photo from Alison of the Weavolution booth #329 at Convergence.
I am afraid I bailed on the Weavolution meetup. I showed up and then went home to nap before the twilight madness session. The altitude gives me insomnia. Alison was spotted running about with a bag of silk scarves. I got to weave on one of Sara von Tresckow's looms today-very cool! my first time ever on a big guy like that! Sara and her husband are practically our neighbors in the vendor hall so we float back and forth visiting. Linda Hendrickson sat in for a while and Annie MacHale (aspinnerweaver) demonstrated inkle weaving and got a visit from Helene Bress and the Ashford crew as she had her Ashford inklette. I got a pair of real bamboo reeds just the perfect width for my loom from a lady who has a stand with antique Asian weavings and tools. I wasn't going to buy anything but there you go. Sara has tempted me with a couple of lovely books too. Ruth who is working on the Glimakra stand gave me some homework..her backstrap loom with a gorgeous warp of naturally dyed wool (I think it is also her handspun). Anyway it is gorgeous and I am sorting out some weft packing issues for her. She also showed me her pebble weave bands.
Yesterday my very dear first ever weaving teacher who lives in Colorado and who I hadn't seen in 14 years showed up! She taught me Navajo weaving in 1995 and set me on my way.
I managed to weave a key fob on my demo loom and then promptly sold it! Kati Meek came to do a book signing and we all oohed and ahed over her fabulous pieces. Oh, and Betty Davenport visited during the Twilght Madness which really wasn't that mad over our way and gave me a warp that she had bought in Bolivia with a crinkle weaving on it as well as some nice articles on Andean weaving. She has the new reprint of her rigid heddle textures book. And I still haven't seen even a quarter of the vendor hall.....
I've had a conflict between vacationing with my friends and trying to get as much out of Convergence as possible. So I couldn't attend the meetup either. I did have a nice visit at the Weavolution booth. I got my picture taken with Laverne and Alison.
I found SOPAPILLIAS! (Finally!) Tremendous thanks to Deborah and her Ravelry-buddies (one of whom was Cindy, who is a local). We consumed these head-sized monsters at Monroe's. Steamy hot. Pillowy-soft. With honey.
Oh, and I almost forgot.
The whole reason I am in New Mexico for this conference is to try two days of weaving on the Rio Grande style loom with Karen Martinez. I took a quick peek this morning, and here is what the looms look like. Yes. You *stand* and weave. As Lisa (a fellow conference attendee) pointed out, why not give up the cardio machine at the gym and get one of these looms instead?
ok, now you did it. So Jealous!! This is the loom I lusted after for a year before I gave up and bought the new-to-me-used Glimakra Standard. My only consolation being I have 8 shafts, countermarche and counterbalance. With the Rio Grande loom, although you walk the treadles, which I loved when I did it, they are limited to 4 shafts and counterbalance. Notwithstanding, I am green with envy. jealous, jealous, jealous. Lucky you. Please send pictures while weaving and of your weaving. I also want a long, detailed description of the experience of two days of weaving standing up. So lucky!!
Claudia
(and I LOVE sopapillas, too)
I finally have a chance to post. I have been having a great time in New Mexico. My husband and I flew in last week Friday and have been touring the southern part of the state before ending back in ABQ. I had a lot of fun wo-manning the Weavolution booth Thursday morning with Allison and Laverne and I got to watch Inge Dam in action cardweaving. I had a lot of fun meeting people and talking about Weavolution. And, of course, I had to get Laverne's book!
Yesterday I took Viking Wire Knitting from Tracey Jackson of The Lacemakers. In the morning I wove a wire bracelet and in the afternoon I made a small bowl out of wire. When I get home I will post pics. And yesterday I WON a prize from dje handwovens in booth #204. My husband was waiting for me in the car but I thought that I would just check and shouted "I WON" when I saw my name. She had just written my name when I came by. My wonderful prize is a kit with warp and weft for two crackle weave towels. WOO HOO!
I love the new Julia loom and want it!
Ladies, thank you so much for taking the time to post about your adventures! Sally, your roommate looks so familiar I must have met her at Complex in Tampa. It was wonderful to see a photo of Smiling Alison, she is one of my favorite people in the world! The Rio Grande looms look very aerobic, for sure, I will look forward to hearing more about them. I love Sara von Tresckow and her DH, they are so cute together, and she is so knowledgeable. Susan I would love to see photos of your wire woven bracelet- at FIT we were allowed to weave anything on the looms EXCEPT wire, so I am fascinated with that.
To console myself over staying home, I downloaded LaVerne's book and i have been Andean Pebble Weaving- more to come on that on WEAVEFAIL group :) XO Gail & Fog
Wow Sally! Looks like you are having a wonderful time. I'm sure you are filling your head with new ideas and making new friends! I'm jealous. Jersey has been hot while you are away. I'm still working onmy saddle blanket - fill you in when you get back...
Be safe... Margaret
Okay, I am back home, and sadly, had trouble posting photos these last few days. I hope I am successful tonight. Here are some of the highlights of the last few days.
Here is the result of my first day of Rio Grande weaving. I LOVED interacting with these looms. It was an amazing experience, and I will admit to unweaving a bit during the last day (just to make the experience last a bit longer!) The weave looks simple, but actually the wefting techniques took concentration, as any of our rug weaving members can verify.
I learned from a fellow classmate that you can take a weekend class with Karen Martinez's husband, and build your OWN Rio Grande style loom.
Oh, I almost forgot. Here's what a traditional shuttle for this loom looks like. And we used a piece of air-conditioner tubing for a pirn. (Try winding a nice tight pirn on a plastic tube that went whappa-whappa on the half that wasn't affixed to the shaft of the bobbin winder!)
While I was taking the Rio Grande class on Saturday and Sunday, our 16th floor hotel hallmate, Elaine, was taking the Diversified Plain Weave class with AVL's Jannie Taylor. Elaine stopped by Saturday afternoon for a glass of wine and to share the results of her sampling. (I think this class will be on my radar for the future!)
Along the lines of seeing interesting rugs...ABQ is certainly the place!
There was an informal rug "show and tell" in the vendor hall on Friday afternoon at 4:15. I was SO glad I stopped by to see some of the projects. I think the quality of the rugs was some of the best I have seen at this open participant event.
Pikko Karvonen (from Canada) shared some very beautiful and interesting rug techniques from regional ethnic traditions, and I am not sure if I heard right, but I think she is working on a book. Also, Linda Hendrickson shared some of her new split-ply ideas with the experienced rug weavers, to get their input on some finishing questions. As it sounds like Linda is also contemplating a book, I am refraining from posting photos...you just had to be there!
Here is new rug weaver Dorrie, sharing the story of her "Serendipity" Pendleton remanent rug. It was so cool to see newbies and experienced rug weavers swapping the weaving stories of their projects!
In conclusion, it was a fantastic week of conferences, but in a different way than all the rest I have attended. (I have been attending Convergence since 1998).
This one was special because of all the people I met. And a lot of that happened through WeaveTech and Weavolution.
At one point, when I was in a crowded hotel elevator, I realized that I had corresponded "virtually" with everyone in the room, but they had become real acquaintances and friends during the course of the week.
So, who needs social networking, especially if you already have wonderful guild mates? I guess I did!
And I couldn't resist this shot on my way back to New Jersey as I was traveling though George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston. I am pretty sure #41 would have been carrying an Ashford Inklette if his hands weren't already full with that book and jacket. (And if I had been carrying a quick clamp, I could have affixed the loom to the book already under his arm before I took the photo!)
Nice reports, Sally! It was great fun meeting you at CW and suddenly realizing who you were (thanks to the avatar) at the Weavo booth. My head is still swimming from all the sights and sounds and ideas and textures -- but I'll be ready to do it again in two years, absolutely for sure!
I love the Inklette airport photos. :-)
Ruth
Sally,
Please keep us posted, perhaps in the Weaving forum, when you learn more about the classes with Karen's and building your own Rio Grande loom. I am very interested in that one.
Love the inklette/airport photos,too. Great fun. Thanks for the update.
Claudia
Thanks to everyone for all the wonderful photos and comments from this Convergence! What great fun! I've just registered as a new user here, and am hopeful that someone knows the location of Convergence 2012--sure would love plan ahead to attend!
Jocelyn
Hey Sally,
Glad to hear you had such a good time at Convergence. Maybe someday I will get to go. Things too unsettled this year with moving. Nice to see that your inkle had been travelling. First look at newsletter was hard to tell if it was you or Daryl doing all that travelling. Bummed I will have to miss the picnic. Enjoy as Silver Lake is a really pretty spot. ML
Hey....that's MY rug on the loom that is the first row near the upper right hand corner of the first image of Karen Martinez's class! Does these mean I am famous now? Seriously...this was the best class EVER and I want to build a walking loom ASAP!
P.S. I have LOVED sopapillas for years...my mother lives in Santa Fe, so I can never get enough of them or of New Mexico GREEN chile!
Hey Susan,
Yes, you are now famous! Were you in the Thu-Fri class, or the Sat-Sun session?
Convergence is long long over but I only just got my blog post done and it was a bit of a marathon...way too long to post here with tons of photos of textiles and weaving personalities including a bunch of friendly and familiar Weavolution faces. If you like one more hit of Convergence craziness, visit my blog!
Thurs/Fri class. An unexpected payoff of this class was my new appreciation of all the Rio Grande style weaving I saw at Spanish Market that weekend in Santa Fe. I am able to look at the work with a very different eye now. Met an amazing weaver at the Market named Rita Padilla Haufmann from Tesuque, NM. She preps her raw Churro fleece, spins, dyes (with natural dyes only) and weaves her rugs and they are incredibly beautiful. Such exquisite work.
The class is taught by Karen's husband through Northern New Mexico Community College in El Rito (about an hour north of Santa Fe). It is a one unit class, taking place over a Friday and Saturday. You build your own loom to fit YOU. It requires a building buddy and a truck to schlep home your new toy. I do not know what the materials fees are, but out of state tuition and fees for a one unit class are about $120. Unfortunately, they are not offering the class Fall 2010, and I don't have any feedback yet about Spring 2011. I do know the last class was cancelled because not enough students signed up for it.
The class is taught by Karen's husband through Northern New Mexico Community College in El Rito (about an hour north of Santa Fe). It is a one unit class, taking place over a Friday and Saturday. You build your own loom to fit YOU. It requires a building buddy and a truck to schlep home your new toy. I do not know what the materials fees are, but out of state tuition and fees for a one unit class are about $120. Unfortunately, they are not offering the class Fall 2010, and I don't have any feedback yet about Spring 2011. I do know the last class was cancelled because not enough students signed up for it.
