October 2020 Meeting

A smaller group this time . . . a busy time of the year for many. Here's what we got up to:

Topic for the day was Shadow Weave and again we had a great collection of Cross Country samples to study.

Who is that always comes up with some luscious yarn? Nancy of course. We will be watching to see what she does with it.

Rosemary often comes up with a surprise. This time she has woven sets of coasters in crochet cotton and very neatly hemstitched the ends.

The photo does not do justice to this soft, soft, soft scarf woven by Betty in cashmere she was gifted. Lucky lady!

In this case is will be Lucky Chester! Anne was the only person who had brought along shadow weave she had woven. The plan is to make special coats for her delightful dog.

Joan was wearing this huck lace scarf woven in rayon. We had a brief discussion on various types of plant based threads and synthetics. We hope our new weavers learn something at every meeting.

High on the priority list at the moment is our Guild Handworks exhibition coming up in November. Forms need to be in now and exhibits labelled and ready to deliver next week. It should be a really good show. Don't miss it.

September 20/20 Meeting

 What a wonderful turnout we had for our meeting this week . . . fourteen of us attended and there were a few apologies as well. It's good to know that weaving is alive and well in Marlborough. It's also great to see so many new weavers, getting active and producing work using their own ideas. Good work everyone and don't be afraid to ask for help or advice if you need it. 

This month we spent some time studying waffle weave, again making use of the Cross Country Weavers' library samples.  What a great service it is.

We also had our bulk purchase of linen-cotton mix from DEA to distribute. It was fun trying to remember what colours we had ordered! We had been drafted into groups of three to work together on tea towels. If Covid19 had not intervened we would have been making them by now and exchanging them at the end of the year. However, the year's disruptions have delayed that to a "to be advised" date in 2021.

As usual, show and tell items varied widely. Here are some of the exhibits:

What fun! New weaver Joy has been active with a rigid heddle loom and along the way has learned some techniques.

As well as the tufts of inlay Joy has handled the clasped weft technique with no trouble at all

Betty couldn't wait for the tea towel project; she had a preliminary practice.

Betty's second tea towel. No, it doesn't have a fringe along the side. . .the person holding it is wearing a striped top!

Rose experimented with a two-colour huck pattern from what is now a new library book. It covers many colour and weave combinations in what we normally think of as a one-colour weave.

Chris set off an interesting discussion about what to do with thrums from the loom. She has tied hers together in multi-strands and would them into a ball. Suggestions ranged from knitting with the knotted yarn (if cotton or linen it would make a dishcloth) to making a wool felt ball in the washing machine, to putting the short lengths outside for the birds to incorporate into their nests or otherwise the compost bin. Any more ideas?

Jolet is another new weaver who obviously has a flair for colour which she has used in her warp and woven with a white weft.

Rosemary tried out waffle weave on a large scale. What a cosy blanket this will make!

And on a smaller scale she wove cottons (above and below) in several variations

Big and beautiful! The photo does not do this justice. It is not the work of one of our weavers but was brought along for advice. It is woven in a combination of quite thick unspun roving with pairs of very fine thread between making a lovely pebble texture. Until now its use has been restricted because it sheds the wool fibres too easily. The question was how to stablise it without felting it and losing the surface texture. Advice given by a couple of "old hands" was to "waulk" it in warm water in the bath, treading gently till it "fulls" to just the right amount without turning it into felt.

There were other items also on show but as they are destined for the Handworks exhibition in November they will be kept under wraps for now. They will be shown here in due course along with other Handworks exhibits.

Show and Tell, July Meeting

Above and below, Joan's beautiful wrap
incorporating silk and handspun alpaca.

Judy B's super-soft scarves in 3/1 twill
with ends hemstitched on the loom.

Rosemary's soft acrylic blanket in shades of grey.

Betty has been experimenting with weft-faced weaving
and enjoying the vigorous beating.

Judy B's scarf with two layers, slightly offset,
stitched together with double weave blocks.

Also Judy B's, a linen scarf with contrasting lines of inlay.

One of Chris's tie-on summer and winter throws incorporating mohair boucle.
This is number three in a long line . . . number four to tie on next. 

Rose has a work in progress combining
linen weaving and hand made bobbin lace.

The summer and winter workshop that didn't happen when the CF Event in Nelson was cancelled.
Some people worked on their samples anyway.

Not weaving but beautiful crochet. Jolet started working on this at lockdown.
The variation of colour is in the yarn.

Nancy is a knitting guru and always comes up with something fascinating.

This month we had a visit from the Marlborough Lacemakers' Group. This is a "mantra" from a 1980 Lace magazine:
 From breaking thread and bending pins, brittle parchments, unmarked prickings, lumpy pillows, half hitches that run, and people who say "Is that all you have done?" Good Lord deliver me.

Seen at Marlborough Weavers' Meeting

By their scarves you will know them!

May Meeting - Nearly Normal

It was great to meet together in May. We kept below the maximum number for a gathering, applied social distancing and people brought their own refreshments, but otherwise we chatted, questioned, admired show and tell and otherwise enjoyed a couple of hours with like-minded people. 

Above and below, this was the show and tell table with a great variety of work, most done in isolation.

Though she has been weaving for several years Anne had not made a baby blanket before. This is a great "first".

Also from Anne is this textured scarf in a very pleasing colopur scheme. Close-up is below.

Above and below, Joan's Bhutan Sunrise scarf in silk she brought back from her travels

A triumph for recycling. Joan unpicked two knitted jerseys, warped up with the two yarns alternately and made two woven ponchos - ready for another life.

Rose is in the process of piecing together three panels woven in alpaca and mohair to make a large blanket. The seams will be covered with a narrow lace trim on one side and feather-stitch on the other. 

Quick and easy. Betty saw a huck pattern she liked the look of and in very little time had made this open texture colour and weave knee rug.

Above and below. Another recycling story. Betty had a knitted garment not quite finished and after it had hibernated for several years she unpicked it and made this great rug. Good idea Betty.

Also from Betty is this triangular scarf knitted from sock wool.

Chris has been on a throw rug exercise during isolation. Using the tying-on method she made a warp long enough for three in Summer and Winter. 

Same warp but very different weft. This black and white one is stunning.

Two down and one more to go. Even then Chris says she will not run out of stash.

And something different from Chris. At first it looks like cotton but it is actually washable merino. Light and lovely with interesting blocks of pattern, it is eye-catching and stylish.

Keep weaving everyone. We have an exhibition to work for . . . now timed to be on show at the time of Garden Marlborough in November so let's make it a great one.