There are five of you, Mary. Cathie, Peggy, Sharon and Ximena,  and me, for a total of six people. 

.Group discussion and sharing is a very important part of the learning process.  I expect most of the discussion will take place here in this group. You will need to show us pictures of what you are talking about even if colors are different on each monitor.  I'm going to put your reading material here too as attachments.    Interactions are easier if we know a bit about each other.  So write a paragraph about your fiber life-- what kind of weaving, dyeing do you do? what are your reasons/ goals for the class?

 

A few relevant facts: Cathie's Mother died  earlier this week and she is away from home for this and next week- no dye studio.  She will try to join us on Thurs. and try to catch up once she gets home. I will record each session on Webex as a backup.  Ximena ( pronounced Himena for those non-Spanish speakers) is in Santiago, Chile and her passion is shibori so I think she will be dyeing silk fabric.  Mary, Sharon and Cathie will be dyeing silk yarn and Peggy wool yarn.

All materials from the course, printed or recorded, is for your use only.  Share your knowledge not your materials. 

 

I have been a fiber enthusiast for all of my life that I can remember.  I've collected scraps of fabric since I was a child. Made things from Highlights magazine with them,  doll clothes then soon my own clothes.  Talked the neighbor's  grandmother into teaching me to embroider.  One of the things I got to take to college was a sewing machine and during my first year I taught myself to knit.  It kept me quiet during the required 2 hours of "Chapel" each week and then thru many long faculty meetings in my subsequent life as a college professor of Chemistry. I started weaving in 1976 after I meet some pasionate weavers in New Mexico. My dye teacher was Michele Wipplinger.   I took a break from weaving in the 90's and 00's to make and sell shibori.  The looms came back in 2007 and I am current ear deep in tweeds--hand-dyed, hand-spun, hand-woven, Harris, Bernat Klein mohair and velvet tweeds.  My interest have always been fashion fabrics and textile design.  No images but passionate about patterns.

Comments

Artistry

I had a great aunt in Winnipeg, Manitoba who would sit me down on her weaving bench, when I was 5, and let me throw the shuttle. When I was 16 she gave me one of her floor looms and did an overshot project with me. I wove off and on until 1980 when I really was bitten by the bug.

I wove clothing and textiles for the home and for friends. After doing that for a number of years I became frustrated. My work always looked about the same and I usually had the same sort of problems. So I decided to do the HGA Certificate of Excellence, so that I could really learn what I was doing and to expose myself to all sorts of new kinds of weaving. What a journey. It was great. My specialization was Multicolored 3 Block  5 Shaft Damask. That was about 17 years ago. Now I have forgotten a lot! However I still love pattern. I love color and pattern fused in such a way that exciting new patterns are formed. I love surface design( ie, shibori, printiing etc.) on handwovens. Now having said that I just finished a tapestry a complete departure from what I had been doing. I really enjoyed it but I'm still interested in woven pattern so my next project is on the floor loom.

I have done a lot of painted warps, a little ikat,some shibori,, and imersion(sp?) dying.

My hopes for this class are to learn reproduceable dying methods and to sensitize my eyes more, so I can better mix colors that I see around me.

pjdoney (not verified)

I've been interested in art all my life, encouraged by my mother, aunt, and grandmother to pursue it.  My aunt taught me to knit when I was young and I've done it off and on.  I wouldn't ever spend a lot of money for nice yarn because of the cost.  I took spinning lessons with a neighbor who had a wheel but didn't remember how to use it.  I stuck with it but had issues with my back and shoulders so I wasn't as proficient at this skill.  A few years ago I realized that if I wanted to become good at spinning, I needed to practice.  This has now evolved into our home business that begain officially just a little over a year ago (we are still in the overwhelming stage!).

I've always been drawn to color so it was a natural step for me to learn dyeing.  The teacher used the English measuring system and had dark, medium, and pastel strength formulas worked out using three colors on wool yarn.  I went home and tried the pastel recipes which were still very intense.  Through working with different solution strengths, I realized that I needed to go to the metric system and dug out old chemistry equipment left over from homeschooling my four kids.  A copy of Linda Knutson's book "Synthetic Dyes for Natural Fibers" and a triad article in Spin-Off magazine led me down my current path.

I love doing precision color matching and have done so for a number of clients for about 4 years.  I am looking forward to gaining confidence in color theory and the chemistry of what is happening.

SharonR (not verified)

I knitted my first sweater in second grade, made Barbie doll clothes, and started sewing my clothes when I was 12. I have always been "crafty." Little did I know that as I watched my college roommate, a fine arts major, come home with dyed fabrics, that I would eventually have a passion for dying fabric. My first experience using dyes and introduction to the local fiber artists was in 1997 when I took silk painting lessons.It was at that time that I joined a newly formed surface design guild, which began my journey exploring various surface design techniques. I took a shibori workshop and decided that was more my style than intricate silk painting. Recently I have been nuno felting using fabrics that I have dyed. I have only taken one weaving class which was many years ago and have not attempted weaving since. My goal for taking this class is to have a better understanding of color theory and to become a more proficient dyer and to have the opportunity to take a class from you, Karren. I have had your book for years and have always loved your work!

ximenabc (not verified)

Hi, I´m very exiting to share this classes with you!! Well, I come from Chile, I speak spanish and a little english. I started my dyes studies since 12 years ago, for 10 years, I made pictures in Batik I have made many pictures. There  I fell in love with the color

3 years ago I knew shibori on silk, and I started to test some techniques about it. I found out about the book Of Karren and I learned of it.  After that,  I met Karren and took classes with her. I can't show you my work because my photos are so heavy and the weavolution uploader doesn't  allow them.
Now, I´m hoping to start my 1 semester in fashion design in the university.

I hope to meet with you today

See you

SharonR (not verified)

Ximena,

How exciting! That is so great! I am so jealous! If I could do it again that is what I would do too!