Category Archives: Show and Tell

Show and Tell posts

Show and Tell, Jan 2021

Show and Tell

Ange:  Twill Blanket & Overshot

55 x 62 finished, not including fringe. It’s Timm Ranch wool from Meridian Jacobs, 10 EPI in a straight twill. I got about 25% shrinkage when I wet finished so it was ginormous on the loom but it went from a gauzy fabric on the loom to a beautifully soft and cohesive fabric off the loom. It’s natural white warp and white weft so hard to see any pattern on the photos… I attached one of it on the couch for size and another closeup of the twill.
I had two problems that I’ll note here…. One was the yarn was pretty lively twist wise so it wanted to kink up on me; I didn’t watch for that closely enough on the bottom layer so ended up with some parts where the weft doubles back on itself a bit. I fixed a bunch of them before wet finishing but left a few to see how they would look and now wish I’d fixed them. The second issue was that I was so afraid of pulling too tight at the fold that I didn’t pull tight enough so some of the threads there are a little loose; most of that came out in the wet finishing but not enough. Stripes would probably have hidden it 🙂

 

8/2 unmercerized cotton warp sett at 16 EPI and ground weft in pale green grey and 5/2 mercerized cotton pattern weft. I’m making it as part of Janet Dawson’s online overshot class.

 

 

Cathy DiBenedetto:  Coiled Rope Baskets
I was inspired to learn about these coiled rope baskets when I saw one
that was shared on the website in May. Although that one was held
together be weaving, mine are sewn on the sewing machine. I have done
many while sheltering in place this past year.I use clothesline covered with strips of fabric. I fold over the top edge of the strip so it eliminates the raw edge. I think it makes a
nicer looking basket. It’s a great way to use leftover yardage or fat
quarters. I’ve also experimented with Macrame cording. It works well but
the basket is not as sturdy. My sewing machine appreciates the less
dense macrame cording though. Much easier to sew through!  The fun part
is creating different patterns with colors and prints. Also doing a
variety of finishing with flowers or tassels, beads and buttons.

 

 

Show and Tell, Dec 2020

Show and Tell

Sharolene:  Vest

Daryl Lancaster designed vest. I used my hand woven fabric that I made with Kathryn Weber’s hand painted warps. Yarn is 100% cotton from 8/2 hand painted and 5/2 black. Weave structure is turned taquete. I am in the last stages of putting it together now. I still have to put on the trim and the zipper and a good press and I’ll be done.

 

 

Teddie:  Placemats and Table Runner

Four place mats and a table runner in rep weave. The pattern is from
Handwoven Sept/Oct 2005.

Show and Tell, Nov 2020

Show and Tell

Johanna:

Double width log cabin blanket from Jennifer Moore’s book p. 77-78.  It is woven with Shetland wool purchased from Eugene Textiles and is incredibly soft.  I altered the design a bit but kept it the same width on the loom of 40 inches, and wove 87 inches in length.  There is a total of 800 threads and is sett at 20 epi. I used a floor mirror to the side of my loom to check the side to make sure it remained open as I wove and this helped some.  I am pleased with how it turned out and will now work on finishing the twisted fringe and do a wet finish to give it more fullness and softness.

 

 

Gail:

Crackle Scarf, 7.5” x 71” on the loom, fringe twists and wet finishing still to be done.
8/2 tencel, warp and ground weft. Pattern wefts: shantung silk yaspee (dark brown) and a silk/wool blend (orange and tan). Also some picks in a metallic yarn for a little sparkle.

 

Betsy B:

Blanket, cardigan, hat and booties that I knit for my first grandchild.

Rag rug woven with cotton strips.

 

 

Show and Tell, Oct 2020

Show and Tell

Gudrun:  Hucklace Scarf

20/2 Perle Cotton with some iridescence, Sett 30 EPI

 

Ann: Lace Collar

Crocheted collar using handspun lace weight Bombyx yarn. Singles were spun S and plied Z in an effort to keep the yarn crisp through the hooking action. The collar weighs a mere 7 grams and measures 12″ across.

 

 

 

Damon: Floor Rug in progress

Finished  Dimensions:  46” x 70”.
Warp: 12/9 Egyptian Cotton
Weft:  primarily wool of varied weights, some heavy sewing thread in a few places

Loom: vertical tapestry loom

 

Joan: 

I’ve been practicing a little on my spinning wheel. I spun and plyed some off-white wool with colored wool (roving purchased already dyed). I’ll use it to make something with the pretty green wool I got from John H.

The other pictures are of Deer Hollow Farm wool I recently received back from Valley Oak Wool & Fiber Mill. This year I tried a blend of Finn fleece (dark brown) and off-white from a Romney cross sheep. It was fun to twist up all of the skeins – 68 this year.

The pictures are: a sample of the three types of yarn; a few skeins of Finn sheep breed only – dark brown; several dark brown with a little white blended in; lots of skeins with a balanced blend of dark brown and white. Contact Joan if you are interested in purchasing any yarn.

 

 

Terry:  Recent completed projects include a knit shawl and woven Shadow Weave kitchen towels.

Show and Tell, Sep 2020

Show and Tell

Kathy S:  Work in progress

Turned Taquete project done in silk 20/2 warp and 60/2 weft.

Jodi: New work off my loom

8/2 Tencel. The color is hand-dyed by me, except the purple gradients which were from Kathrin Weber.

 

Ulla:  Dear friend Gisela Evitt remembered,  weavings of her beautiful stash

My dear friend Gisela Evitt died in July.  She was one of the founders of Trampornas Guild and a contributor to Fabrication.  Gisela stopped weaving (but not spinning and knitting) when her husband Bill died in 2009.  She has slowly been passing her stash of yarns to me and I now almost exclusively use it in my work.  We are standing in front of “Gisela’s Linen”, an installation of 23 panels showing the different colors of a 50/2 Knott’s linen she gave me.

Last week was a week for finishing projects.  I had a long warp of linen curtains for our corner bay windows on the loom for a couple of months.  48″ wide, 24 epi and 50/2 linen from Gisela’s stash of Knox linen.  This linen comes in small spools with about 900 yards per spool. The curtains were to let in the light and provide us with privacy.  I wanted the fabric to be quite plain but with some small point of interest.  I saw John’s place mats in 6 shaft spot weave and loved the meeting of “hands” the spots suggested to me.

     

The other project I finished was two Tallits for family twins who are to Bar Mitzvah in October. The boys are identical twins and have since birth been identified by the color blue and green.  The Tallits are in silk (from Gisela), a grey warp and I dyed the weft.  My daughter who loves to cross-stitch sewed the initials for the two boys.

   

And here is August.
I have been working on Ply-Split Twining since I took a class with Linda Hendrickson last fall.  I like the SCOT Single-Course Oblique Twining and have been wanting to make rugs in that technique.  This rug is 27″x 84″ and made from 274 cords.  The cords are wool, 40 strands of Maypole 2ply,  a very old yarn, not in production any more.  I had two boxes of it, given to me by Gisela Evitt and Kathryn Coleman in many colors.  I used up a lot of them in this rug.  The rug is thick and springy and will never wear out – I think

         

Show and Tell, Aug 2020

Show and Tell

Betsy: Experiments using Abaca fiber.

I tried using the Abaca fiber from you to make bottle brush crafts… a tree and flower… I need to work on the technique… but it may give you some ideas.

Barbara:  Burning Bush: Conflagration but not Consumed.

Rediscovered and finally finished, here are  three handwoven ikat silk squares with gold leaf (or gold textile paint?) shibori motif. Only one of them had the painted flames. I matched the paint and did the other two to create a series called Burning Bush: Conflagration but not Consumed. Hung with tiny magnets painted to disappear. Hung above the bed in my new studio.

Show and Tell, July 2020

Show and Tell

Johanna: Color and Weave/Shadow Weave shirt and skirt.

 

Here is my Color and Weave/Shadow Weave shirt and skirt I originally created in 1991 with the guidance of Cyrena Wilson (Guild member). It is a pattern from Margaret and Thomas Windeknecht, p. 149 of their Color and Weave Book. While I first made it into a dress, I never did wear it, so I had it re-created into a shirt and skirt just today and do hope to get more use out of it.

 

 

       

Gail:  4-shaft Crackle scarf in process.

The warp is 8/2 tencel and the pattern wefts are Shantung silk and silk/wool blends in brown, taupe and orange. Since I don’t have enough of any one of the three colors for the whole scarf, I’ve had to get creative about color division. I worked up a diagram in Adobe Illustrator that has helped me try ideas out. I plan to feature a border design at each end of the scarf and possibly one at the center as well. The diamond draft is from a 1957 “Practical Weaving Suggestions” article by Rupert Peters. Click here for the article.

 

Sandy: finished rep rug in time for her son’s birthday.

 

Ange: Woven jacket with knitted sleeves

Vest warp is all of my blue and green sock yarn oddballs and leftovers; weft is Zephyr, woven in a plaited twill. Sleeves are knitted from DK weight MCN.

 

 

 

John:  Sashiko-ori and the 12-shaft Countermarch loom in action

I successfully wove sashiko stitch. It turns out there is a name for this: sashiko-ori. I will try again with some changes to see if I can get better at it.

 

 

I assembled my 12-shaft countermarch loom and it seems to work well. I still need to tweak the tie-up to get a clean shed.

Johanna: Pillows matching a painting

 

 

These pillows were created on my 8 harness loom and it is a Strickler Plaited Twill pattern all in cotton. The pillows were made for my couch in the living room where the painting my girl friend made for me is displayed nearby.

 

 

 

 

       

 

Anonymous: Mystery warp, mostly 20/2 cotton, some linen

Betsy: Jacket and Vest

What you see is a “jacket” made from some weaving and knitting I must have picked up at an estate sale. (Or maybe someone in the guild did it. I have no idea where I picked it up.) The assembly – and colors – are mine; the knitting and weaving belong to someone else. The body is plain weave, probably done on a rigid heddle (about 20″ wide), and the colors make a wonderful plaid. The sleeves are moss (seed?) stitch, and when this yarn is knitted, it comes out as stripes.

    

Here is my third “sweater” knitted during shelter in place. It is a vest made with Noro yarn picked up at Fengari in Half Moon Bay. I believe it is Noro’s pattern, too, although it may be Fengari’s.

 

Show and Tell, June 2020

Show and Tell

John:   Loom and scarf

I found this 12-shaft countermarch loom a couple of months ago on Craigslist and only just recently cleared out enough space to set it up. I just need more texsolv cord for the tie-up. Eventually I will expand it to 16 shafts and maybe make a DIY electronic dobby.


I’m taking Tien’s stash scarf online class.

The threading is similar to the broken twill threading in Carol Strickler’s book “8-Shaft Patterns” but not quite like anything in her book. It started out as a four-shaft broken twill, but spread out to eight shafts. I’m using the tie-up from Tien’s class. So the pattern is a mashup.

The weft is Crystal Palace Mini Mochi and the warp is various fingering weight wool yarns.

 

 

Kitty:  Water bottle holder exchange with Sandra Rude

Sandra’s bottle holder is a double weave, padded for the shoulder, and has beautiful attention to detail.

Kitty’s bottle holder is Andean backstrap weaving with plain weave and a traditional motif in pebble weave.

              

 

Ann: 3 day online indigo workshop with Aboubakar Fofana

 

He had us work on creating 7 shades of blue from our vats.

 

 

 



Then taught us how to create even colors on large pieces.

 

 

 

 

Barbara S:    Hex plaited Globe – 14 x 14 x 14″,  dyed Sedori cane.

I hung it on the wall and like the view to the base. I am not sure just where this one will go next, but the shape is nice as it is.

 

Barbara O:    I bought the Glimakra when I knew nothing about weaving – it was a good deal! It is wonderful to weave on once it is set up! But the counterbalance is much easier than countermarche to tie up. Glad I tried it!

On the loom is a shawl-warp in 8/2 cotton and weft is Zephyr – 50% Merino, 50% silk.

This piece is all 8/2 cotton – dish towels

Cathy D:  Felted Flower Bowl

My process was to wet felt the basic bowl and pink rim. I added the green leaves by needle felting them onto the outside along with touching up the pink rim. The flowers were cut from a felted fabric I made and then attached by needling them to the outside. Beads were added to each flower for interest.
It was a fun project. I really like adding beads to felted items. It’s given me many more ideas!

 

 

Cookie: 9 Squares for Bojo Bag,  a Tapestry, Back Strap Loom, a Pouch and a Scarf

     

   

Show and Tell, May 2020

Show and Tell

Ange: Shadow Weave       The warp is 20/2 cotton and some mystery fiber; weft is all 20/2 cotton, sett at 36 EPI. The pattern is copied from a shirt that Johanna had woven. I wove 3.5 yards 15 inches wide.

 

Gail: Wandering Vine in Honeycomb 

 

Cookie: Intermesh Lattice Crochet

I’m refreshing my skills in lattice filet mesh using 2 colors that contrast from each other. Each row you start you work color A only in color A and color B only in color B. In other words, you don’t crochet on the opposing color each time you start a new row. I’m trying to design my own patterns or converting cross stitch patterns into intermesh crocheted designs.  I’m doing a larger more complex square of leaves.

 

 

 

 

Cheryl: some of her work over the course of the quarantine

I was trying a new technique that involved having multiple yarns and materials going at the same time to get the effect of outlines and sort of a zigzag pattern.
Small hand-woven tapestry that I made one rainy day from materials I had in my stash
I’ve been making no-sew baskets, but I thought I’d try sewing one, and this is how it came out. I’ve also been experimenting with how to finish them off, and this is the best I’ve come up with yet.
This was based on something I saw online in white. It’s really simple macrame – only one type of knot and some wrapping – and I like it in teal better than white.

 

 

Based on something I’d seen online, but it came out better than expected – sort of bohemian looking.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sandy: Rep Weaving    5/2 perle cotton, 40epi. The loom is a 12 shaft Leclerc.

Kathy:  Shadow weave scarf, Jaggerspun zypher

Sandy:  Masks     Made from my collection of yellow left-over quilt scraps.
Moving on to browns next.  I’ve just completed my 203rd mask and haven’t even made a dent in my stashed fabric supply – think I have too much?

Betsy: Alpaca Bolero             This is an alpaca bolero I just finished knitting, with yarn dyed by Andrea Niehuis and a pattern called, “Debby’s Bolero,” created by Debby Domm and sold by Andrea, as well. The yarn color is “Friends,” intended to reflect skin colors around the world. The range is chocolate brown into peach.

Gudrun: Napkins  in  10/2 foxfibre colorganic        When Sally Fox came to the guild last time I bought three cones of her 10/2 foxfibre colorganic yarn: white, green, brown. I wove towels and lots of napkins in a three color shadow weave pattern.

 

Show and Tell, April 2020

Show and Tell

Johanna: 8-H Shadow Weave top in cotton from the Structures Group

Gloria: Scarf in 4 shaft shadow weave with chenille yarn picked up at guild sale.

Gloria: Samples in 16/2 cotton for towels in turned Monk’s Belt (supplementary warp).

I wanted to check the sett (30 epi), colors and size of yarn for the supplementary warp. I like the finer version. Now to plan out the colors!

Ann: Handspun for a woven value study.

John: Sashiko Mending.

John: 3-color Runners in six-shaft spot weave

Teddie: Rep Weave Placemats

Gudrun: Reviving a Double Weave Design from 2012

Two scarves are woven simultaneous, then separated after fulling.

Face Masks: The Token of our Times

 

Barbara: Five Twisted Boxes 

The paper is from a stack of prints by an artist friend of my mom’s that I inherited years ago. She acquired a good quantity of his first print edition. I suppose this was 50 years ago. I had cut some of these into strips with a manual pasta cutter (Ulla helped!) They were intended to be used by my students at CNCH 2020. It is a bit thinner than the heavy water color paper I usually use for plaited paper baskets, but it still worked fine. Every here and there, you see a little face looking out at you.

               

Betsy: Finished Rep Rug  – first shown in February                                             

                                   

Betsy: Shadow Weave

               

 

Ulla: Split-Ply Twining – Small Rug and Braid

I am working on a small rug in wool, Willamette wool 5,600 ypp, old yarns I got from Gisela Evitt and Cathryn Coleman many years ago. I make the cords out of 16 strands of the wool, using a cord maker I bought at Lacis (one of the advantages to living in Berkeley). Cordmaking is crucial and quite time-consuming. This rug has two hundred cords and is only 13 inches wide. I meant it to make it bigger but gave up. I am looking at other ways to make them.

I took a Split-Ply class from Linda Hendrickson last fall and learned several different techniques. This one is called SCOT = Single Course Oblique Twining. I find the way the colors interact and move wonderful and can’t wait until I see what comes next.

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The second braid is done in 50/2 linen 7,500 ypp, 16 ends, 48 cords.  It is 2 1/4″ wide.  I finished the braid by sewing the cords together and then painting them with Matte Medium so that they would not unravel. I felt that a bushy fringe would distract from the pattern.

Marjorie:  Vest project on my 8 harness Mountain Loom using the first six skeins I spun on my Alden Amos wheel back in 2015.