NOTE: All workshops are "Round Robin" format

This workshop will focus primarily on wool, but cotton, linen, and silk will be included. Participants will weave samples and then wet finish them, providing them with a library of samples to refer to in the future.

Pre-requisite: Participants should be able to read a draft and dress their loom.

Magic in the Water II     examples
Like Cinderella going to the ball, some textiles undergo a magical transformation during wet finishing.

Weave structures such as clock or crepon, deflected warp and weft effects, honeycomb, waffle weaves, and some seersucker effects rely on the shrinkage differential and take up differences that happen when the yarns are wet finished, and encouraged to either full, or relax and shift towards areas of least resistance.

While having more shafts can be useful for some of these weave structures, many can also be done on four. This workshop is geared towards those weavers who are interested in weave structure and how fibres react in their interlacements, and in wet finishing.

Participants should be able to read a weave draft, and follow a treadling or liftplan. They should be able to do drawdowns.

Experience the Magic in the Water - the transformation of your handwoven web into cloth of distinction!

Pre-requisite: Participants should be able to read a draft and dress their loom. Looms with more shafts will allow for greater experimentation, but some warps are designed for 4 shafts.

Mug Rugs and More     examples
Participants will weave round robin on a variety of different weave structures using fibres suitable for table textiles. Wet finishing and finishing touches will be explored. Each person will go home with a variety of mug rugs woven in such weaves as Summer and Winter, lace weaves, stuffed double weave, twills, etc. Treatments such as four-sided fringes, hem stitching, and hemming will be demonstrated.

If more than two days are available, time will be spent on the theory of the weave structures.

Pre-requisite: Participants should be able to read a draft and dress their looms.

Focus on Lace     examples
The similarities and differences of the three main lace weaves will be explored, as well as some other weave structures that can be woven "lace-y". The structure of Bronson Lace, Swedish Lace and Huck lace will be examined. Samples will be woven in a variety of fibres, and appropriate wet finishing for each will be provided.

Focus on Twills     examples
Examine the possibilities and potential of twill! Twills can be much more than a 45 degree angle - advancing twills, broken, crepes, double two-tie unit weave. Participants will weave samples round robin to produce a library of samples for future reference.

Focus on Block Weaves     examples
Participants will experience weaving a variety of block weaves such as Crackle, Summer and Winter, lace weaves, double two-tie unit weaves, shadow and overshot. Profile drafting will be explained and participants will practice designing block weaves. If more than two days, the theory of the weave structures will be explored.

Gamps Galore!     examples
10 different gamps will be set up and participants will weave a gamp on each loom. If more than 10 people are in the class, the slower weaving structures will be duplicated.

Gamps are a fabric showing what happens when a series of variables are established, then woven in o rder in the cloth. For example, a colour gamp would have a colour order wound into the warp, then the colours would be woven in the same sequence in the weft. The gamp can then be "read" to see what happens when each variable crosses the others. Structure gamps might show what happens when treadling variations are explored.

Pre-requisite: Participants should be able to read a draft and dress their loom.

For all workshops: maximum enrollment is 20. Material fees are charged for each workshop and include the yarns, handouts, and mailing costs to send the yarns to each participant. Contact me for current workshop teaching fees, and material fees.