Yarn Bits

Burlington Take Down

Today was the day to take down the "Solstice" wearable art exhibit at the Burlington Art Centre. www.burlingtonartcentre.on.ca  It's always amazing how quickly the exhibit or sales booth can be dismantled compared to the time it takes to arrange and setup the show.  We had been asked to arrange a window display in the same centre to help advertise their upcoming wearable art show in November, so we did most of that display today.  Lucy Slykerman, www.lucyslykerman.ca , weaver and dyer from Grimsby, is going to contribute a couple of scarves that will coordinate with the work already in the window and then I think she will send us a photo which I can pass along to you.  The show was well received with many complimentary  comments written in the exhibition journal.  You can view many of the pieces in an earlier blog entry.

Bronte Harbour

Don and I spent a wonderful afternoon working and playing.  I wanted to go out to Bronte to distribute some posters and postcards for the Just for Us Originals wearable art show www.just-for-us.biz , so I dragged Don along and treated him to a lovely lunch on the shores of Lake Ontario at the Harbour Banquet and Conference Centre.  www.harbourbanquet.ca  I had a scrumptious Caesar salad and Don had a great reuben sandwich with yummy fries.  We shared each other's luncheon selections and then indulged in an amazing "Turtle" cheesecake that was truly to die for.  Then came the work of distributing posters and postcards to some of the local merchants who have been very supportive of our event.  Of couse, while in a couple of the shops I did succumb to some purchases--a necklace from Lana's (who is one of our major sponsors, and a new bra, expertly fitted at the specialty bra shop on Bronte Road, called "Good Night, Good Morning" www.goodnightgoodmorning.ca As we drove home along the Lakeshore we stopped at a couple of Mississauga parks to check on splash pads for our grandson, since the Toronto strike has closed such facilities there and found a couple of great possibilities.  So, all in all, a varied but very productive afternoon.

Textile Terms in Everyday Language

I recently received the latest issue of "Selvedge" magazine, published in Britain, so it has quite a different slant on the textile field.  It is rather an expensive publication, but makes a wonderful Christmas gift or gift for any occasion really.  Each issue is themed and this particular issue has all the articles relating to language and literature.  Just thought I would pass along some of the everyday phrases and their roots from the textile field.

shoddy---poor quality workmanship, a textile factory term for the waste thrown off or 'shed' during the process of wool manufacture

on tenterhooks---a state of uneasiness, anxiety or suspense.  Tenterhooks were used as far back as the 14th century in the process of making woollen cloth.  After the cloth had been woven it still contained oil and dirt.  To prevent shrinkage after washing the cloth would be hooked on a large wooden frame, a 'tenter', and left to dry outside.

at sixes and sevens---a state of confusion, disorder or disagreement.  The medieval Livery Companies were established in London and include The Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors(Tailors) and The Worshipful Company of Skinners (Fur Traders). The precedence of the Companies was set in 1515, but these particular two disputed their positions until a compromise was agreed by which they exchange sixth and seventh place each year at Easter.

Hundreds of textile terms are woven into our everyday language.  Just to name a few......

button your lips, put a sock in it, zip it, bright as a button, sharp as a pin, by the seat of your pants, dressed to the nines, dyed-in-the-wool, throw down the gauntlet, eat my hat, bee in your bonnet, feather in your cap, laugh up your sleeve, big wig, and on and on it goes.

Golden

Download Fibonacci_and_the_Golden_Mean 

I have been designing some new woven shibori scarves for the Fall and wanted to refresh my ideas about the "golden rectangle" or Fibonacci series of numbers that lead to pleasing and well-balanced design.  The series begins with 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, and on and on as you add together the last 2 numbers in the series.  So, of course, I went to Google and looked for some references and, indeed, found many, a lot of which were videos of varying lengths. I have saved one which is quite beautiful and will try to insert that reference for you to have a look at.  It takes a few seconds to begin but seems to work.  If your interest is piqued, then have your own "google" time.  I watched several related videos.  I have come up with a few new designs which have woven shibori in various widths of stripes mixed with some solid colour areas.  I'll have to actually weave and dye a couple before I'm sure I'll be happy with the results, but that will have to wait until I'm finished the series of polyester shibori scarves I'm now working on, using  painted warps.  I have 3 different shows to prepare for this Fall, so I'm trying to build up a stock of different scarves.  Pictures will come later as I'm just finishing the first couple of the polyester pieces.

Knitting Art

I have just finished reading this exciting and inspirational knitting book.  Everything in this book could also be translated into weaving ideas as well.  "Knitting Art-150 Innovative Works from 18 Contemporary Artists" by Karen Searle is well worth a read.  I purchased my copy online through Amazon, along with a couple of other knitting books, and saved enough that one book was actually free.  As long as you order more than $39. worth of product the shipping is free.  What a great excuse to order more than one book at a time!!  It sure works for me.  Most artists described in Karen's book have websites and I'll list a few here that I found interesting.

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kathryn alexander  

arlene fisch

www.kathrynalexander.net

www.katharinecobey.com

www.libeado-designs.com

www.lbostudio.com

www.barbhunt.com

www.karensearle.com

Have fun exploring these truly inspiring websites.

Solstice-wearable art exhibition

ArtWear Network, the group of textile artists that I am a part of, opened their first official wearable art exhibition today at the Burlington Art Centre in the Perry Gallery.  The show will be hanging until June 28 and is worth a visit, if I do say so myself.  I was able to get a few photos to share. I hope many of you will be able to see the work before the show closes.  Enjoy the photos and remember that you can enlarge them with a click.

 

Mothers and Flowers

      Happy Mother's Day to all.  I have just been playing on the computer for a while, probably too long, as I do have a deadline looming, but I'll share a little of my play.  I received some flowers by e-mail and began to play with them in my Photoshop Elements program.  It is a smaller and less expensive version of the regular Photoshop software, but you have almost all the same techniques at your fingertips. I'll begin with the original coloured image and then show some of my play versions.  Don't forget that you can enlarge all the photos for better viewing.  You especially need to see a larger version of the solid gray image.  It's the embossing technique. I'm thinking they will make fabulous images for note cards. The last, most luminous is my favourite so far.  

OHS Conference

Don and I spent last Friday and Saturday in the vendors' room at the lovely Nottawasaga Inn at Alliston, Ontario.  Thanks are due all the many volunteers who made this conference possible.  We spent loads of time chatting and catching up with many of our weaving customers, although Don had a bothersome cold and talking became a challenge toward the end of each sales day.  Karen Fowler dropped by the Yarns Plus booth  www.yarnsplus.com  and showed us a beautiful woven shibori tencel scarf she had created.  Thanks, Karen.  It is always rewarding for us to see exactly what our customers design with their purchases.  We will d efi nitely get these photos into the Yarns Plus gallery as soon as we do our next website update.  More tencel was woven into a stunning jacket and skirt by Diane Woods that was part of the juried show.  Diane chose to weave iris and navy tencel together with some very fine black silk which resulted in a gorgeous fabric. In her jacket she highlighted some thicker pink silk threads.  Congratulations, Diane!  Yarns Plus always donates a monetary award for excellence in weaving and in this juried show, Kathleen Kitchen won the prize for her charming tapestry, "African Violets".  Congratulations, Kathleen!  A few other pieces that caught my eye in the show were also award winners.  A scrumptious scarf woven with silk and stainless steel by Nathalia Sugden, "My Pond", received the "Complex Weavers Award" and two exquisite baskets designed and made by Wendy Durfey .  "Lace Shawl II" received "Best Interpretation of the Theme" and an "OHS Scholarship Award", while the other basket, "Spiral Wire", won the OHS Merit Pin and the "Treenway Silks Award".  Both baskets used archival paper for the inner basket with silk fusion fiber covering that and then each had wire embellishment encircling the body of the basket with some decorative beadwork as well. Congratulations to all those textile artists who exhibited their work in the juried show.  I have always found it rewarding to push myself to enter exhibitions and create some extra special pieces that otherwise would never have seen the light of day. I would encourage everyone to enter shows and exhibits.  It's always a worthwhile learning experience on many levels.  Enjoy the photos I was able to get before my camera's batteries died on me and, of course, I didn't have any backup batteries with me.  Lesson learned.

Just a reminder that all the photos can be enlarged with a click.

Knitters' Frolic

What an excellent day at the Japanese Cultural Centre yesterday.  So much excitement and enthusiasm for yarn and all related accessories!!  This is an exceptionally well organized and well run show. Kudos to Joan Kass and all her volunteers for their hard work.  Don and I greeted many of our valued customers along with meeting new yarn enthusiasts.  It's always encouraging to meet so many young people who have caught the knitting and weaving fever.  Yes, there were many weavers visiting the show this year.  Don and I will definitely bring more weaving related materials along next time.  I certainly felt a bit of a resurgence in weaving coming forth.  This show is always in the Spring, and only in the Spring, so be sure to come, indulge yourself in a day devoted to yarn.  There are several workshops offered during the sale on Saturday and more are run on Sunday.  To see the offerings from this past show visit their site at www.downtownknitcollective.ca 

Conference Special

Six years ago Yarns Plus www.yarnsplus.com  designed a special hand-painted tencel warp for participants at the OHS semi-annual conference. It seems we began a tradition and each conference since I have designed a warp incorporating the logo colours for that year.  This year is no exception. I have been busy dyeing a limited number of special conference warps for this year.  The conference details and logo can be viewed on the Ontario Handweavers and Spinners Guild website  www.ohs.on.ca There were many hues present in the current conference logo.  Essentially I was working with the primary colours and came up with this combination-wine, mid-blue, turquoise and gold.  Of course, as always, incidental subtle colour mixing occurs naturally as the warps are painted which just makes the final combo a little more interesting and unique. I have woven one of the warps which provides two scarves.  One of the scarves was woven with a tencel navy weft and the other with a grey blue weft. Both variations are gorgeous and there are several other weft choices that would work beautifully as well.

Don and I hope to see many of you at the conference, next weekend, May 1 & 2.