Staring at your yarn stash deciding what to weave next, your eyes land on a cone you bought at a fiber fair in 2008. You loved it then, and you love it now, but it remains on the shelf. Or you still have a small quantity of a precious, expensive yarn, but don’t know how to combine it with other yarns so it plays the starring role in the design. Maybe your yarn stash has simply reached critical mass, and you need to use it up so you can order more. This seminar will help you use the yarn you have as design inspiration. Bring a few “challenge” yarns with you, and leave with one or more project ideas. We will: -Evaluate the qualities and properties of the yarns you’ve brought. -Share ideas about the best project for them with other participants. -Learn ways to combine your stash yarns with other yarns. -Play with color mixing -Discuss weave structures that allow feature yarns to shine.

Looking for a portable form of weaving? Consider braiding - ply-split braiding to be exact. How can something associated with camels not be portable or fascinating? This weaving technique keeps your hands busy, allows you to easily complete a small project in a few hours, and makes you productive all with a gripfid and a bit of cord that practically fit in your pocket. Patterns, beginnings/finishes, and variations in cord splitting abound in this introduction to ply-split braiding.

Understanding how to incorporate profile drafts and block weaves is a powerful tool. Many old weaving books show profile drafts of weaving patterns rather than drawdowns. This can be confusing if you don’t know how to interpret profile drafts, sometimes called short drafts. Once you break the code, it’s very easy to use profile drafts. Students will learn how to read profile drafts and how to use them in designing their own cloth. We will practice by converting a profile draft into various drawdowns using a few different weave structures.

Starting to feel comfortable with a gripfid and wanting to try your hand at something other than ply-split key rings or bracelets? Using SCOT (single-course oblique twining) and a bit of POT (plain oblique twining), you’ll explore how to make a mug rug while expanding your repertoire of ply-splitting skills. Please note: There will be some overlap between this workshop and the 3-D ply-split workshop. This workshop is designed as an advanced beginner course for the student who does not have time to take the two day 3D course.

Working from Josef Albers's groundbreaking book "Interaction of Color," and Horstman's companion book "Interacting with Color: A Practical Guide to Josef Albers's Color Experiments," participants will explore ideas such as color relativity, the illusion of transparency, after-image, and more.

Network-drafted twills are a versatile method for creating flowing, curved designs in woven textiles on as few as four shafts. In this three-hour seminar, participants will learn the fundamentals of designing network-drafted patterns, including key concepts such as the initial, grid, and network. Building on this foundation, participants will engage in hands-on exercises using two different methods to explore network drafting techniques and their applications. By the end of the session, attendees will have a solid understanding of network drafting principles and the confidence to begin creating their own designs either by hand or using weaving software.

Rep weave is a very linear weave whose rib structure lends itself easily to bending and folding into useful shapes. We will review the fundamentals of rep weave and explore how to build 3-dimensional pieces using special material. The last hour will be spent building a sewing needle case or "etui". Each student will receive a bag containing all the necessary elements.  

In the weaving world, tied weaves, Beiderwand, and lampas are bewildering and sometimes mislabeled. While they can appear deceptively similar on the surface, each weave has distinct characteristics that shape its structure, design potential, and weaving approach. In this three-hour class, we’ll untangle their relationships by examining each weave on its own terms by exploring structural frameworks, advantages and limitations, and the subtle overlaps alongside the significant differences. Through side-by-side comparison and close analysis, you’ll learn to identify the structural “tells” each weave reveals on the loom and in finished cloth. By the end of the session, you’ll have a clearer understanding of how these weaves function, and the confidence to choose intentionally between them based on your design goals and loom setup.

Now that you have learned or have done some rep weave, find out the special effects and advanced possibilities that we can obtain. Using an undulating twill design, we can convert it to rep weave. Discover how to create floats in Rep weave by manipulating the fine weft. Experiment with cool variations borrowed from Shadow weave, or Honeycomb pattern. Explore warp rep Krokbragd where the pattern is in the warp. Understanding warp/weft Rep or two-ways Rep will give you insight into the versatility of this ancient technique. Do you need more shafts? How about learning pick up design!

Explore the magic of the double weave, creating two sides of the trivet at the same time, and bringing the color of the back to the front. These designs also feature a double bind off edge. Use a 10" square metal loom and your choice of color ways. You'll complete at least one in class and be able to finish the second in your studio.