Are you ever puzzled by – or a little shaky on – reading weaving drafts? Then set aside some time on Saturday, April 27, to focus on drafts.

Our own Kathleen Dickey will be giving a workshop to help you out.  It will be at Amazing Yarns, 2559 Woodland Pl, Emerald Hills, CA 94062, from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM.

Please bring along a draft or two that puzzle you. You may also want to bring your copy of Marguerite Davison’s A Handweaver’s Pattern Book, or Mary Black’s New Key to Weaving if you have one.

To get an idea of how many of you will take advantage of this workshop, please let Betsy Blosser (bblosser [at] sfsu [dot] edu) know by email if you plan to be there.

This workshop is the first of some within-guild workshops we’re doing to focus on the interests and needs of our members. Stay tuned for more offerings!

Michael Rohde, renowned tapestry weaver, has plied and taught his art for more than 40 years (see his website www.michaelrohde.com). He will teach “Four Selvedge” and “Wedge Weaving” techniques.

The location will be the studio of Barbara Shapiro, 510 Darrell Road, Hillsborough, CA 94010. (Please park ON the sidewalk, and DO NOT block the mailbox!)

The workshop is full. Please bring a small (tapestry or rigid heddle or bead type) loom – unwarped. If you ordered a loom from Micael, he will bring it.

Bring also:  scissors, tapestry or Navaho beater or an old kitchen fork, note taking materials.

Optional equipment: tapestry or blunt needles, small shuttles or tapestry bobbins, small bits of colorful tapestry weight yarn, 900-1200 yds/lb.

Barbara will have tea and hot water. Bring bottled water if you like, instant coffee if you like, snacks if you want something other than trail-mixes. And bring a lunch since there is nothing close by. It will be Passover.

Design Your Own Felted Purse

Class Description

Make your own template and design your very own purse while learning to wet felt.

We will use the “make the handle and purse as one piece” method. Inside and outside pockets, embedding stones, beading, lumpy yarn embellishment and closures will be covered.

6 hour class

Maximum # of students-15

Room requirements-2 students per 6’ table. We need to be close to water. A big sink for rinsing is very helpful.

Beginners welcome but some experience is nice.

Materials provided by instructor

Approx. 7 ounces of Corriedale wool, depending on individual design.

Template material and all tools needed to complete project.

Material fee-approx. $25.00

Students need to bring

2 old towels

sharp pointed scissors

bar soap-Kiss My Face olive works well

Lumpy or fuzzy wool yarn for embellishment-optional

Note: Because this is a design class and everyone will be making different purses and using different amounts of wool can they pay the material fee directly to me after the class?

Introduction to Nuno Felting

Explore the magical technique of Nuno felting. This will introduce you to the tools, materials and methods used to make this amazing process happen. It’s like painting with fibers. During the process the fibers actually migrate through the fabric. If you don’t cover the entire fabric with fiber a secondary pattern happens because the wool fibers shrink but the fabric doesn’t, creating lots of pucker.

Class length-4 hours

Material provided:

Silk scarf

Extra fine Merino Top

Bombyx Silk Roving

Detailed instruction sheet

Material fee-$30.00

Students need to bring;

2 old towels

plastic dish pan

scissors

scraps of yarn if they wish

Classroom requirements;

Each student needs a table at least 6’ long.

We need to be close to hot water.

I need 2 tables for supplies and demos.

August 2-3
The purpose of this workshop is to understand how drape can be created in a handwoven fabric. It is a combination of fiber characteristics, yarn twist, the sett (ends per inch), the weave structure or the number of intersections of yarn per inch and the finish of the fabric. All of the factors contribute to the drape of the fabric.
This workshop would be held the first weekend in August at Amazing Yarns in Redwood City.  Total cost would be about $200-$250 (includes $95 material fee) depending on the number of participants.  Please contact Barbara O’Connor (mailto:barbara_oconnor [at] earthlink [dot] net) if you are interested or need more information.

See Teresa website at http://www.teresaruchdesigns.com/ for some examples of her work.

It’s not too soon to put it on your calendar, we are having a Beginning Rug Weaving workshop with Jason Collingwood on October 10, 11-12, 2014. Learn the basics and when he returns for CNCH in 2015, you’ll be ready to take his more advanced class.

The workshop will be held at the home of Paula Dennis in La Honda, Ca. We will be accepting a deposit of $100 starting at the Guild meeting in April, with the final cost determined by the number of attendees.

To see more about Jason, please see his website: http://www.rugweaver.co.uk/