So... tell us where you're from and the weaving you do!

 

I live in Melbourne, Australia. I bought an Ashford Knitters Loom about three years ago and it's been barely without a warp on it ever since. Last September I bought an Ashford 4 shaft Table Loom, on which I've woven a couple of rugs and a blanket. I keep trying to get to a beginner weaving class, but my work makes getting to a night class on a regular basis near impossible. So I've been teaching myself, thanks to Handwoven magazine, books and the internet.

Comments

Sun, 06/14/2009 - 03:20

MegWeaves (not verified)

I'm Meg, in Nelson, New Zealand, and also the Blog Mum of Marlborough Weavers.  I'm Japanese, I went to school in Minnsota, USA and  have lived in NZ since 1994; I started weaving in NZ.  

I first picked up weaving in '95, but coudln't continue while I worked, so I resumed more or less seriously around 2004.  I learned from books and the earlier Internet fora, long before I had the guts to come out and attend a workshop in person, and that's where I met Marlbough Weavers, in 2002.  

I go back and forth between enjoying texture and structure.  The first thing I notice about everybody else's weaving is colors, but the first things I think of with my own work are hand structures. I have a rigid heddle, a 4-shaft jack, an 8-shaft table (on loan), a 16-shaft table, and a 16-shsaft computer-controlled, and have projects on most, most of the time.  

Some friends believe I'm more committed to blogging about weaving than weaving itself.  I sure hum/hem and haw about weaving, aesthetics, art vs. craft, guilds, and what I'm supposed to be doing right now, on my blog, Unravelling; the latest fav topic is "What is Textile/Fiber Art?"

Until rather recently, I had a very narrow range of colors, fibres and items I wove, but thanks to my blog friends, I've been able to broaden my horizons quite dramatically in a relatively short time.  I hope to do the same here.  

 

 

 

Sun, 06/14/2009 - 23:20

curiousweaver (not verified)

I'm Kaz, from Old Bar, Australia and was pleased that OZ and NZ are included here. I've been weaving since I was 19 years old (I'm now much older!) getting my husband to build my first looms and just trying every weave technique I could find out about.

I'm mainly self taught, living in an isolated area, and have a very large library of textile books and magazines. Handwoven magazine was very important in my study of weaving although it doesn't have that place for me now. I'm the author of "The Australian Weaving Book" and "Weaving Made Easy" and currently blog under curiousweaver.id.au. The internet has opened up new ways of connecting with others and learning more. Even the availablity of books from Amazon has opened up more possibilities for learning.

I have a two shaft Saori loom, 24 shaft computer Toika loom, many Inkle looms and frame looms. I'm interested in technicalities and puzzles in weaving and love colour. I dye and paint nearly all my yarns and warps and mainly weave with cellulose fibres. I also like to teach others but don't get alot of opportunities face to face so I use my blog to do this a little.

Weaving and textiles has enriched my life beyond what I thought was possible and has also provided a motivation to travel to unusual places like Bhutan. Though the lens of textiles, I can learn about other cultures and histories and build more understanding about the different ways humans live. Weaving and textiles can be approached lightly by creating small simple and useful projects or more indepth with study of old patterns and techniques, working out new structures and applying them in new ways or focussing on fibre selection and colour design. It has something for all types of minds and interests.

I hope this group will assist building weave textile knowledge and promotion in New Zealand and Australia in some way.

 

 

Mon, 06/15/2009 - 00:12

thumbelinaspins (not verified)

Hi I'm Rona from Brisbane, Australia, I found this site through Ravelry.  I've been weaving, spinning, knitting, embroidery and whatever craft sparks an interest for a very long time now.  I originally learned to weave at the University of Calgary then took some textile courses through the Textile school in St. John's, Newfoundland.  I'm not sure the school is there anymore but it was a great school--giving degrees in all sorts of craft.  But more than that it taught good basics of textile crafts.

I moved to Australia in 1988 and sold my larger looms at that time to cut down the cost of moving.  My thinking was that I would replace them when I got to Australia.  Well that has taken 20 years!  I've always had a rigid heddle loom and a few home made Salish looms to keep me going but as far as a floor loom I never did replace them until now.  I've just ordered a Saori 4 harness loom.  I'm hoping that it will prompt me to weave more and use up the stash of handspun fibers I have taking over my house.

I love to experiment and try new things so my weaving is often more of an experiment than a planned object most of the time.  Until recently I have not sold my finished products prefering to use them for gifts for family and friends.  As I settle down into this next sector of my life I plan to weave more experimental arty type things.  I have recently gone through cancer treatment and have decided to weave for the enjoyment rather than making something for somebody.   I'm looking forward to the arrival of my new loom.

At the moment on my rigid heddle loom I have an experiment in stash depletion happening.  I've taken some verigated commercial wool and thrown the colors in with no rhyme or reason.  It is actually starting to look pretty good.  I thin it will be destined for a variety of things and I plan to cut it up into little bits to add to wallhangings, garments and maybe even an interesting hat. Next project will involve cashmere for a neckwarmer for my mum.

Cheers

Mon, 06/15/2009 - 01:11

Caroline (not verified)

hi everyone, I'm Caroline from Adelaide and owned by several looms. I built my first few looms and still do, but always hankered after a floor loom; once I had the time and space to actually use it, I no longer had the physical capacity, which has given me an opportunity to experiment that I would not otherwise have had. I have several rigid heddle looms, including a brand new Knitters Loom with the 2 heddle set up, and lots of little looms, as well as a 2 metre triloom and a 1 metre square loom that has yet to be tried out. I  also have a couple of four shaft table looms so I can work out which is the easiest for me to work with.  

My current project, small tapestry MP3 player cases, are woven on a pin loom  and I am using my own handspun sari silk so I can get longer runs of the same colour. I'm not sure where that line of spinning  will take me, but I enjoy spinning my yarns up and seeing the colours and textures in the fabric come to life as I weave with them. I like my handspun to look and feel organic and hope to transfer this to my weaving so that whatever I weave begs to be touched.

Wed, 06/17/2009 - 11:37

creekview crafts (not verified)

I'm Sue from NE Arkansas in the United States.  I have a small home business with fiber/Ashford products/yarns, etc.  We raise llamas.  I've had sheep before.  I'm a self taught weaver who's been weaving for many, many years.  Always learning new things and ways!  I have a Glimarka counterbalance loom, Minerva LeClerc, and my "first loom" an older Newcomb Studio loom, along with rigid heddle, inkle, etc.  To many calling my name at once:)  I've always been interested in sheep raising/fiber, etc. from Australia so thought being linked to this group would be a good way to find out what's up down there.  I'd like to make fiber friends with people in other places....they're always such nice folks.  Hope it's okay for me to be on here?

Thu, 06/18/2009 - 00:18

Caroline (not verified)

Hi Sue, and welcome! It sounds as if you fit right in here, so consider yourself an honorary Aussie!

Its interesting that we are pretty much all self taught, and all still learning avidly! Apart from keeping us young in mind and active in body, weaving to me is a voyage of self-discovery, and at the moment when I look around Weavolution, see all the projects and read about the other weavers, I feel like I'm in a chocolate factory, lol! We are so diverse yet all travelling along similar paths.

Do you have a favourite loom or technique, or is it the one you are doing at the moment? Do you spin as well? What are your current projects? What colour are the llamas?  I'm being nosey, but I can't think of anything better than raising your own fibre. Unfortunately the powers-that-be where I live would never believe an alpaca is a guard dog, and sheep are not allowed in suburban backyards anymore. I am toying with the idea of turning over some of my backyard to flax or stinging nettles................. otherwise I have to work out how to store cat fur long enough to get sufficient to spin before it felts.

My current projects, and the ones I'm still planning, involve recycled fibres, and someone at my spinning group yesterday gave me a bundle of brightly coloured baling twine, so I'm searching for a way to recycle that. I remember somewhere online there is a weaving or knitting project using it so if someone can jog my memory, please?

Thu, 06/18/2009 - 00:19

MegWeaves (not verified)

Of course it is, Sue.  You (and others) are most welcome!

Sun, 07/05/2009 - 16:01

ShirleyTreasure (not verified)

Hi All,

My name is Shirley Treasure and I have been weaving for 22years+. I am an Irish production weaver who took a year out from weaving to backpack across Australia, met the love of my life, and now we have two wonderful little Treasures. I live in Gingin WA, which is beautiful and inspires most of my designs.

I have over 20 looms now (all various sizes ranging from tiny kids looms right up to my 16s LeClerc weavebird CAD) I also blog about my fibre related happenings here in the west. I know most of you already from your blogs which is nice, us weavers are a friendly & helpful bunch. My blog is www.shirleytreasure.wordpress.com if you would like to have a look.

I like all types of weaving and at the moment I am testing out a few new techniques which is heaps of fun. I have studied Textiles in Uni and then went onto complete two apprenticeships in weaving before I worked as a full time production weaver for seven years before I came out to Australia. I still study weaving techniques, a joy that will always interest me for the rest of my days! I also teach and tutor weaving.

I hope this will be a good melting pot of sharing knowledge, inspiring others (hopefully new weavers), and a fun fibre network space to hang out.

Cheers

Shirley Treasure

Thu, 07/09/2009 - 11:41

Cath (not verified)

Oh, Man!  Am I the baby weaver!  I'm in NSW, Aust.  I'm really a knitter and spinner who has just started weaving in the last couple of months on an Ashford knitter's loom. It's not even mine!  It's been lent to me so I can try it out and hopefully I'll be able to use it until I can afford my own.  So I'm right at the begining, just trying to keep the edges even and playing with colours.    I'm sort of learning everything from the web and the instruction booklet that came with the loom.  I'm hoping I'll be able to learn much more from this wonderful site.  Seems a bit like Ravellry!  Cool!

Thu, 07/09/2009 - 12:03

Caroline (not verified)

Hi Cath, and welcome! You can weave some marvellous stuff on a Knitters Loom. Go and ask your local library to get in the following books for you:

Betty Linn Davenport: Hands on Rigid Heddle Weaving

Sarah Howard and Elisabeth Kendrick: Creative Weaving

Liz Gipson: Weaving Made Easy

and the Ashford book on rigid heddle weaving, who's name escapes me for the moment.

The first book is one of the bibles of RH weaving, the second one shows you just what you can create using modern yarns, and the third one shows you just how little equipment you really need. I started off with a pack of playing cards, a couple of dowels, some curtain rings and a strap from a sports bag, and made a backstrap card-loom. I was very prolific on that, and learned a lot.  I'm just setting it up again, having found my old backstrap the other day, and hopefully it still fits. It'll be interesting to see how much I remember!

Its worth remembering that some of the finest weavers the world has ever known wove on what we now consider very primitive looms, so its not  the loom, but what you can make of it, and with the fabulous materials we can use today, it gets  to be fun as well!

 

Thu, 07/09/2009 - 12:09

Caroline (not verified)

Cath, as a PS, because she probably won't mention  it herself, Kaz has a very interesting website here:

http://curiousweaver.id.au/

Follow the links to her tutorials, and there are lots of interesting things to experiment with, and she used to put out a very interesting magazine thats stored in her archives.

cheers, Caroline

 

Sun, 07/12/2009 - 23:06

grannyg (not verified)

Hi all

I'm genny from auckland NZ.  I've been weaving for about 10 months although haven't woven as much as i would like to have in that time.  I have a 4 shaft table loom and 4 shaft floor loom and am in the process of looking at a 8 shaft countermarche loom.... because we all need more looms that projects completed!  It was my involvement in creative fibres which made me take the leap into weaving.

So far I've woven sampler table mats, scarves, mohair rug (very badly!) and my next project is a rag rug for the floor loom and a runner/mat set for the table loom.

I'm also a spinner, knitter and sewer which is why my output on all my crafts is low - spread myself too thin I think, if only I didn't have to work full time as well all would be good in my craft world.  oh that reminds me, better buy a lotto ticket this week!

I found out about weavolution from weavezine and ravelry although it was meg's blog which prompted me to actually have a look and post!

Hope to see lots of inspiring photo's here to make me warp my loom more often!

Tue, 07/14/2009 - 04:14

Cath (not verified)

Thanks so much for the book recomendations, Caroline.  I"m off to the library this afternoon to see if they can get them in for me.  I live up the central coast so our libraries are not partiicularly well stocked.  I did see a number of weaving books in the Interweave hurt book sale, including "Hands on..." and the "Weaving made easy" one.  Now if I can just justify the shipping costs....

Mon, 07/27/2009 - 17:00

bolivian warmi

Hi Shirley,

i have been on Weavolution for a while now and only just found this group. I think we already met at OLG, right? Nice to see you here too  and be able to keep up with Aussie and NZ stuff from all the way over in Boliva.

Laverne

Mon, 07/27/2009 - 17:04

bolivian warmi

Hi Sue,

I am Australian but Iive in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. I have bags and bags of llama fiber that I bought up on the altiplano. I have spun it on my drop spindle and made shoulder bags on my backstrap loom. Tell me, what kind of things do you and other folks in the US use your llama fiber for?

Laverne

Mon, 07/27/2009 - 17:18

bolivian warmi

Hi, my name is Laverne and, although I have been on Weavolution for a while,I only just discovered this group.

I was born in India, grew up in Australia and moved to South America in 1993. After 5 years in Patagonia, I moved here to Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Over these years I have been learning to weave with indigenous weavers on my backstrap loom. (I you think this sounds like fun, come and join the Backstrap Weaving Group here at Weavo) It is incredible the kinds of textiles these women make on these simple looms and how blaze they are about their skills. They thought it was hilarious when I wanted to ''learn'' to spin-there's nothing to learn, they said-even a 4-year old can do it!

I have learned on staked-out ground looms, backstrap looms and vertical frame looms but I only weave on a backstrap loom at home where there is little room for much else. I used to have a beautiul Navajo-style loom in Chile but it couldn't make the trip up here. I also like to spin with a drop spindle although I have an Ashord wheel,too that I bought in the Falkland Islands.

On my last trip to Astralia, I bought an Ashford rigid heddle loom to teach Andean pick-up weaves to those who can't or don't want to use a backstrap. I expect I will use continuous string heddles on the loom frame.

When time permits i would like to get Betty Davenport's book and try rigid heddle weaving.

I am taking 6 months off work starting in September to go weave with some people here in Bolivia and Chile. Hopeully I will get to the States to give some workshops too.

Laverne

Mon, 07/27/2009 - 17:21

bolivian warmi

Not to mention your new................................JOURNEY LOOM!!! Hi Caroline. Nice to see you here!

Laverne

Mon, 07/27/2009 - 17:38

bolivian warmi

Hi Kaz,

Nice to see you here. I really enjoy your blog and thanks ffor the journals that you generously made available to all.

Laverne

Thu, 08/06/2009 - 04:15

MegWeaves (not verified)

Am I the only one getting a tad confused about the order in which the posts appear?  ChocolateTrudi was the first, and hers appears at the top, then, from memory, I followed, which on my screen appears at the bottom.  Is that how it works for you?

Meg

Thu, 08/06/2009 - 05:25

Caroline (not verified)

hi Meg, The opening post appears at the top, then the responses work backwards up the page - you can see this by the times they are posted. Then if someone replies to a reply, just like I'm replying to you - it starts getting complicated, because I have found that some of my replies do not end up close to the post I'm responding to, and its only be searching the posting times that you can follow the conversation at all. If you think this all sounds Irish? It has to be, doesn't it, lol?

Thu, 08/06/2009 - 05:33

MegWeaves (not verified)

Right... Got it.  Thanks.  Not liking it, but got it.  :->

Sun, 10/11/2009 - 04:19

twistedandwarped (not verified)

Hi all,

I'm Bron, in northern NSW. I recognise a few names here from assorted blogs and forums!

I learned to weave at high school, a loooonng long time ago, but didn't pick it up again until a friend gave me a 4-shaft table loom about 16 years ago. I then acquired an old 4-shaft counterbalance floor loom, and about ten years ago acquired a 60" 12shaft countermarche loom - which unfortunately for various reasons hasn't had a lot of warps on it (yet!). I haven't woven very much in the past few years, but now that life is settling into a different sort-of rhythm due to a career change, I'm hoping to get more weaving time in.

I'm probably a pattern weaver more than a colour or structure weaver, and I tend towards fine yarns rather than thick ones.

And now I'm going to get off the computer and go and weave at least another pattern repeat of the current project!

 

Cheers,

Bron

 

Sun, 10/11/2009 - 05:10

Caroline (not verified)

Hi Bron, we probably do all know each other from other places these days, and with different ids. Its nice to land among familiar "faces".

Doesn't life sometimes get in the way of weaving! But it all works out in the end. I carted a jack-loom around the country-side for nearly 20 years, and eventually parted with it - then lo and behold, I suddenly have the time and the space to weave all I want. So I now weave on small looms, and have LOTS, hehe! And I thoroughly enjoy it, which is all that matters in the end.

Mon, 10/12/2009 - 22:05

MegWeaves (not verified)

Bron,

I've heard of color/texture weaver vs. structure weaver accredited to Madelyn V D Hoogt, but I haven't heard pattern vs structure weavers.  Can you tell me more? 

Mon, 01/11/2010 - 15:07

sweltwoman (not verified)

Hi, I'm a weaver from New York City (well, actually Brooklyn which only is of note if you know NY at all) - my husband and I will be making our first trip to Australia on February 8.  We'll be traveling for 6 weeks (oh, the privilege of being retired!) - we'll be in Melbourne,  Tasmania, briefly in Adelaide, Alice Springs, Port Douglass and (the longest stop) about nine days in Sydney.  Some of the time will be spent hiking - especially in Tasmania.  But a lot of the time will be spent looking at fiber and yarns!  So any suggestions are greatly appreciated.  Thanks, Susan

 

Sat, 02/20/2010 - 12:46

Outbackspinner (not verified)

Hi Everyone, I see I am a month late making my introduction.  I forget to get on the computer to check what is going on.  My name is Paula and I live in Kalgoorlie WA.

I am originally from West Virginia in the US.  I learned to crochet, knit and spin by the time I was 15 in WV.  At seventeen I learned to weave in Grenoble France, by accident, from a nice lady named Martine Cheradame.  I didn't have the chance to weave again until many years later and had to take a beginning weaving class to learn how in english!!!

When I moved to Australia I had to leave my looms behind so I have done a lot of knitting in the last 10 years.  Last year I had a chance to buy two looms.  One is an old four harness table loom from Petlin.  The other is a very large four harness counterbalance loom made of Jarrah.  Now I have the looms I keep hoping for time to do more weaving.  But I am still busy working.  I have one project on the table loom and a rug warp chained off waiting to be threaded on the floor loom.  I move at a snails pace!

I do a lot of mental weaving before I fall asleep at night!  In the past I spun a lot of the wool that I used to weave with even though people told me that you couldn't use handspun for warp.  the results were all good.  My only disaster was a mohair warp that kept breaking, but it wasn't handspun, it was machine spun.  I really enjoy twills and overshot.

I look forward to hearing from all of you and stories of your weaving journeys.

Sat, 03/20/2010 - 19:28

MegWeaves (not verified)

Never too late.  My dad a word for mental weaving - which he claims Mom does more of.  But don't we all?

 

Meg

Sun, 06/14/2009 - 03:20

MegWeaves (not verified)

I'm Meg, in Nelson, New Zealand, and also the Blog Mum of Marlborough Weavers.  I'm Japanese, I went to school in Minnsota, USA and  have lived in NZ since 1994; I started weaving in NZ.  

I first picked up weaving in '95, but coudln't continue while I worked, so I resumed more or less seriously around 2004.  I learned from books and the earlier Internet fora, long before I had the guts to come out and attend a workshop in person, and that's where I met Marlbough Weavers, in 2002.  

I go back and forth between enjoying texture and structure.  The first thing I notice about everybody else's weaving is colors, but the first things I think of with my own work are hand structures. I have a rigid heddle, a 4-shaft jack, an 8-shaft table (on loan), a 16-shaft table, and a 16-shsaft computer-controlled, and have projects on most, most of the time.  

Some friends believe I'm more committed to blogging about weaving than weaving itself.  I sure hum/hem and haw about weaving, aesthetics, art vs. craft, guilds, and what I'm supposed to be doing right now, on my blog, Unravelling; the latest fav topic is "What is Textile/Fiber Art?"

Until rather recently, I had a very narrow range of colors, fibres and items I wove, but thanks to my blog friends, I've been able to broaden my horizons quite dramatically in a relatively short time.  I hope to do the same here.  

 

 

 

Sun, 06/14/2009 - 23:20

curiousweaver (not verified)

I'm Kaz, from Old Bar, Australia and was pleased that OZ and NZ are included here. I've been weaving since I was 19 years old (I'm now much older!) getting my husband to build my first looms and just trying every weave technique I could find out about.

I'm mainly self taught, living in an isolated area, and have a very large library of textile books and magazines. Handwoven magazine was very important in my study of weaving although it doesn't have that place for me now. I'm the author of "The Australian Weaving Book" and "Weaving Made Easy" and currently blog under curiousweaver.id.au. The internet has opened up new ways of connecting with others and learning more. Even the availablity of books from Amazon has opened up more possibilities for learning.

I have a two shaft Saori loom, 24 shaft computer Toika loom, many Inkle looms and frame looms. I'm interested in technicalities and puzzles in weaving and love colour. I dye and paint nearly all my yarns and warps and mainly weave with cellulose fibres. I also like to teach others but don't get alot of opportunities face to face so I use my blog to do this a little.

Weaving and textiles has enriched my life beyond what I thought was possible and has also provided a motivation to travel to unusual places like Bhutan. Though the lens of textiles, I can learn about other cultures and histories and build more understanding about the different ways humans live. Weaving and textiles can be approached lightly by creating small simple and useful projects or more indepth with study of old patterns and techniques, working out new structures and applying them in new ways or focussing on fibre selection and colour design. It has something for all types of minds and interests.

I hope this group will assist building weave textile knowledge and promotion in New Zealand and Australia in some way.

 

 

Mon, 06/15/2009 - 00:12

thumbelinaspins (not verified)

Hi I'm Rona from Brisbane, Australia, I found this site through Ravelry.  I've been weaving, spinning, knitting, embroidery and whatever craft sparks an interest for a very long time now.  I originally learned to weave at the University of Calgary then took some textile courses through the Textile school in St. John's, Newfoundland.  I'm not sure the school is there anymore but it was a great school--giving degrees in all sorts of craft.  But more than that it taught good basics of textile crafts.

I moved to Australia in 1988 and sold my larger looms at that time to cut down the cost of moving.  My thinking was that I would replace them when I got to Australia.  Well that has taken 20 years!  I've always had a rigid heddle loom and a few home made Salish looms to keep me going but as far as a floor loom I never did replace them until now.  I've just ordered a Saori 4 harness loom.  I'm hoping that it will prompt me to weave more and use up the stash of handspun fibers I have taking over my house.

I love to experiment and try new things so my weaving is often more of an experiment than a planned object most of the time.  Until recently I have not sold my finished products prefering to use them for gifts for family and friends.  As I settle down into this next sector of my life I plan to weave more experimental arty type things.  I have recently gone through cancer treatment and have decided to weave for the enjoyment rather than making something for somebody.   I'm looking forward to the arrival of my new loom.

At the moment on my rigid heddle loom I have an experiment in stash depletion happening.  I've taken some verigated commercial wool and thrown the colors in with no rhyme or reason.  It is actually starting to look pretty good.  I thin it will be destined for a variety of things and I plan to cut it up into little bits to add to wallhangings, garments and maybe even an interesting hat. Next project will involve cashmere for a neckwarmer for my mum.

Cheers

Mon, 06/15/2009 - 01:11

Caroline (not verified)

hi everyone, I'm Caroline from Adelaide and owned by several looms. I built my first few looms and still do, but always hankered after a floor loom; once I had the time and space to actually use it, I no longer had the physical capacity, which has given me an opportunity to experiment that I would not otherwise have had. I have several rigid heddle looms, including a brand new Knitters Loom with the 2 heddle set up, and lots of little looms, as well as a 2 metre triloom and a 1 metre square loom that has yet to be tried out. I  also have a couple of four shaft table looms so I can work out which is the easiest for me to work with.  

My current project, small tapestry MP3 player cases, are woven on a pin loom  and I am using my own handspun sari silk so I can get longer runs of the same colour. I'm not sure where that line of spinning  will take me, but I enjoy spinning my yarns up and seeing the colours and textures in the fabric come to life as I weave with them. I like my handspun to look and feel organic and hope to transfer this to my weaving so that whatever I weave begs to be touched.

Wed, 06/17/2009 - 11:37

creekview crafts (not verified)

I'm Sue from NE Arkansas in the United States.  I have a small home business with fiber/Ashford products/yarns, etc.  We raise llamas.  I've had sheep before.  I'm a self taught weaver who's been weaving for many, many years.  Always learning new things and ways!  I have a Glimarka counterbalance loom, Minerva LeClerc, and my "first loom" an older Newcomb Studio loom, along with rigid heddle, inkle, etc.  To many calling my name at once:)  I've always been interested in sheep raising/fiber, etc. from Australia so thought being linked to this group would be a good way to find out what's up down there.  I'd like to make fiber friends with people in other places....they're always such nice folks.  Hope it's okay for me to be on here?

Thu, 06/18/2009 - 00:18

Caroline (not verified)

Hi Sue, and welcome! It sounds as if you fit right in here, so consider yourself an honorary Aussie!

Its interesting that we are pretty much all self taught, and all still learning avidly! Apart from keeping us young in mind and active in body, weaving to me is a voyage of self-discovery, and at the moment when I look around Weavolution, see all the projects and read about the other weavers, I feel like I'm in a chocolate factory, lol! We are so diverse yet all travelling along similar paths.

Do you have a favourite loom or technique, or is it the one you are doing at the moment? Do you spin as well? What are your current projects? What colour are the llamas?  I'm being nosey, but I can't think of anything better than raising your own fibre. Unfortunately the powers-that-be where I live would never believe an alpaca is a guard dog, and sheep are not allowed in suburban backyards anymore. I am toying with the idea of turning over some of my backyard to flax or stinging nettles................. otherwise I have to work out how to store cat fur long enough to get sufficient to spin before it felts.

My current projects, and the ones I'm still planning, involve recycled fibres, and someone at my spinning group yesterday gave me a bundle of brightly coloured baling twine, so I'm searching for a way to recycle that. I remember somewhere online there is a weaving or knitting project using it so if someone can jog my memory, please?

Thu, 06/18/2009 - 00:19

MegWeaves (not verified)

Of course it is, Sue.  You (and others) are most welcome!

Sun, 07/05/2009 - 16:01

ShirleyTreasure (not verified)

Hi All,

My name is Shirley Treasure and I have been weaving for 22years+. I am an Irish production weaver who took a year out from weaving to backpack across Australia, met the love of my life, and now we have two wonderful little Treasures. I live in Gingin WA, which is beautiful and inspires most of my designs.

I have over 20 looms now (all various sizes ranging from tiny kids looms right up to my 16s LeClerc weavebird CAD) I also blog about my fibre related happenings here in the west. I know most of you already from your blogs which is nice, us weavers are a friendly & helpful bunch. My blog is www.shirleytreasure.wordpress.com if you would like to have a look.

I like all types of weaving and at the moment I am testing out a few new techniques which is heaps of fun. I have studied Textiles in Uni and then went onto complete two apprenticeships in weaving before I worked as a full time production weaver for seven years before I came out to Australia. I still study weaving techniques, a joy that will always interest me for the rest of my days! I also teach and tutor weaving.

I hope this will be a good melting pot of sharing knowledge, inspiring others (hopefully new weavers), and a fun fibre network space to hang out.

Cheers

Shirley Treasure

Thu, 07/09/2009 - 11:41

Cath (not verified)

Oh, Man!  Am I the baby weaver!  I'm in NSW, Aust.  I'm really a knitter and spinner who has just started weaving in the last couple of months on an Ashford knitter's loom. It's not even mine!  It's been lent to me so I can try it out and hopefully I'll be able to use it until I can afford my own.  So I'm right at the begining, just trying to keep the edges even and playing with colours.    I'm sort of learning everything from the web and the instruction booklet that came with the loom.  I'm hoping I'll be able to learn much more from this wonderful site.  Seems a bit like Ravellry!  Cool!

Thu, 07/09/2009 - 12:03

Caroline (not verified)

Hi Cath, and welcome! You can weave some marvellous stuff on a Knitters Loom. Go and ask your local library to get in the following books for you:

Betty Linn Davenport: Hands on Rigid Heddle Weaving

Sarah Howard and Elisabeth Kendrick: Creative Weaving

Liz Gipson: Weaving Made Easy

and the Ashford book on rigid heddle weaving, who's name escapes me for the moment.

The first book is one of the bibles of RH weaving, the second one shows you just what you can create using modern yarns, and the third one shows you just how little equipment you really need. I started off with a pack of playing cards, a couple of dowels, some curtain rings and a strap from a sports bag, and made a backstrap card-loom. I was very prolific on that, and learned a lot.  I'm just setting it up again, having found my old backstrap the other day, and hopefully it still fits. It'll be interesting to see how much I remember!

Its worth remembering that some of the finest weavers the world has ever known wove on what we now consider very primitive looms, so its not  the loom, but what you can make of it, and with the fabulous materials we can use today, it gets  to be fun as well!

 

Thu, 07/09/2009 - 12:09

Caroline (not verified)

Cath, as a PS, because she probably won't mention  it herself, Kaz has a very interesting website here:

http://curiousweaver.id.au/

Follow the links to her tutorials, and there are lots of interesting things to experiment with, and she used to put out a very interesting magazine thats stored in her archives.

cheers, Caroline

 

Sun, 07/12/2009 - 23:06

grannyg (not verified)

Hi all

I'm genny from auckland NZ.  I've been weaving for about 10 months although haven't woven as much as i would like to have in that time.  I have a 4 shaft table loom and 4 shaft floor loom and am in the process of looking at a 8 shaft countermarche loom.... because we all need more looms that projects completed!  It was my involvement in creative fibres which made me take the leap into weaving.

So far I've woven sampler table mats, scarves, mohair rug (very badly!) and my next project is a rag rug for the floor loom and a runner/mat set for the table loom.

I'm also a spinner, knitter and sewer which is why my output on all my crafts is low - spread myself too thin I think, if only I didn't have to work full time as well all would be good in my craft world.  oh that reminds me, better buy a lotto ticket this week!

I found out about weavolution from weavezine and ravelry although it was meg's blog which prompted me to actually have a look and post!

Hope to see lots of inspiring photo's here to make me warp my loom more often!

Tue, 07/14/2009 - 04:14

Cath (not verified)

Thanks so much for the book recomendations, Caroline.  I"m off to the library this afternoon to see if they can get them in for me.  I live up the central coast so our libraries are not partiicularly well stocked.  I did see a number of weaving books in the Interweave hurt book sale, including "Hands on..." and the "Weaving made easy" one.  Now if I can just justify the shipping costs....

Mon, 07/27/2009 - 17:00

bolivian warmi

Hi Shirley,

i have been on Weavolution for a while now and only just found this group. I think we already met at OLG, right? Nice to see you here too  and be able to keep up with Aussie and NZ stuff from all the way over in Boliva.

Laverne

Mon, 07/27/2009 - 17:04

bolivian warmi

Hi Sue,

I am Australian but Iive in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. I have bags and bags of llama fiber that I bought up on the altiplano. I have spun it on my drop spindle and made shoulder bags on my backstrap loom. Tell me, what kind of things do you and other folks in the US use your llama fiber for?

Laverne

Mon, 07/27/2009 - 17:18

bolivian warmi

Hi, my name is Laverne and, although I have been on Weavolution for a while,I only just discovered this group.

I was born in India, grew up in Australia and moved to South America in 1993. After 5 years in Patagonia, I moved here to Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Over these years I have been learning to weave with indigenous weavers on my backstrap loom. (I you think this sounds like fun, come and join the Backstrap Weaving Group here at Weavo) It is incredible the kinds of textiles these women make on these simple looms and how blaze they are about their skills. They thought it was hilarious when I wanted to ''learn'' to spin-there's nothing to learn, they said-even a 4-year old can do it!

I have learned on staked-out ground looms, backstrap looms and vertical frame looms but I only weave on a backstrap loom at home where there is little room for much else. I used to have a beautiul Navajo-style loom in Chile but it couldn't make the trip up here. I also like to spin with a drop spindle although I have an Ashord wheel,too that I bought in the Falkland Islands.

On my last trip to Astralia, I bought an Ashford rigid heddle loom to teach Andean pick-up weaves to those who can't or don't want to use a backstrap. I expect I will use continuous string heddles on the loom frame.

When time permits i would like to get Betty Davenport's book and try rigid heddle weaving.

I am taking 6 months off work starting in September to go weave with some people here in Bolivia and Chile. Hopeully I will get to the States to give some workshops too.

Laverne

Mon, 07/27/2009 - 17:21

bolivian warmi

Not to mention your new................................JOURNEY LOOM!!! Hi Caroline. Nice to see you here!

Laverne

Mon, 07/27/2009 - 17:38

bolivian warmi

Hi Kaz,

Nice to see you here. I really enjoy your blog and thanks ffor the journals that you generously made available to all.

Laverne

Thu, 08/06/2009 - 04:15

MegWeaves (not verified)

Am I the only one getting a tad confused about the order in which the posts appear?  ChocolateTrudi was the first, and hers appears at the top, then, from memory, I followed, which on my screen appears at the bottom.  Is that how it works for you?

Meg

Thu, 08/06/2009 - 05:25

Caroline (not verified)

hi Meg, The opening post appears at the top, then the responses work backwards up the page - you can see this by the times they are posted. Then if someone replies to a reply, just like I'm replying to you - it starts getting complicated, because I have found that some of my replies do not end up close to the post I'm responding to, and its only be searching the posting times that you can follow the conversation at all. If you think this all sounds Irish? It has to be, doesn't it, lol?

Thu, 08/06/2009 - 05:33

MegWeaves (not verified)

Right... Got it.  Thanks.  Not liking it, but got it.  :->

Sun, 10/11/2009 - 04:19

twistedandwarped (not verified)

Hi all,

I'm Bron, in northern NSW. I recognise a few names here from assorted blogs and forums!

I learned to weave at high school, a loooonng long time ago, but didn't pick it up again until a friend gave me a 4-shaft table loom about 16 years ago. I then acquired an old 4-shaft counterbalance floor loom, and about ten years ago acquired a 60" 12shaft countermarche loom - which unfortunately for various reasons hasn't had a lot of warps on it (yet!). I haven't woven very much in the past few years, but now that life is settling into a different sort-of rhythm due to a career change, I'm hoping to get more weaving time in.

I'm probably a pattern weaver more than a colour or structure weaver, and I tend towards fine yarns rather than thick ones.

And now I'm going to get off the computer and go and weave at least another pattern repeat of the current project!

 

Cheers,

Bron

 

Sun, 10/11/2009 - 05:10

Caroline (not verified)

Hi Bron, we probably do all know each other from other places these days, and with different ids. Its nice to land among familiar "faces".

Doesn't life sometimes get in the way of weaving! But it all works out in the end. I carted a jack-loom around the country-side for nearly 20 years, and eventually parted with it - then lo and behold, I suddenly have the time and the space to weave all I want. So I now weave on small looms, and have LOTS, hehe! And I thoroughly enjoy it, which is all that matters in the end.