Hi, welcome to my site. If you would like to be emailled whenever I write a new blog, then sign up to my news. You can do this from the News page, top right handside. Enter your email address, and then follow the instructions. You will be sent a confirmation email, remember to click on that link to confirm you wish to get my news sent you. Thanks Anne

February 15th 2012

There was a very timely discussion on the Weave-Tech list last month, about whether weavers should use ‘recipes’, such as those in Handwoven, or whether we should be designing projects from scratch. The new book I am writing is about learning to weave using projects, starting with the very simple and graduating to the more complex.

I thought about it and have decided there are three types of weavers. There are those who always weave projects designed by someone else.  Then there are those who start with projects, and when they have more knowledge and confidence they change the projects to suit them selves, and gradually move to designing their own. The third group is the weavers who always design their own projects. I think it is mainly a matter of confidence

A good comparison is cooking. Do you start by giving someone some flour, sugar, an egg or two and let them make something, or do you give them a recipe? They may invent some great dishes, or they may get so dispirited that they never cook again and eat in restaurants for the rest of their lives!!

My own learning started very young. I wove a very odd scarf at school when I was about 10, then later got my grandfather to make me a rigid heddle loom. Then, living in an isolated part of New Zealand with very young children, I bought a four shaft table loom and a book. It took me 3 days just to get a warp on the loom. Because I started spinning before I started weaving, the only yarn I had was my own hand spun. By necessity I was a ‘design your own’ beginning weaver. Because I had no teacher or fellow weavers nearby (this was the 1960′s) I made every mistake I could, and even some new ones that no-one else had even thought of. This has probably made me a more understanding teacher, but it was slow learning. It took me a year before I understood that overshot patterns have a plain weave background!

Because I was so young the fact I was slow didn’t matter, I knew I had years of weaving ahead of me, and the mistakes and the slow pace didn’t make me give up my passion. But I would like other beginners to benefit from my experience and I want to pass on what I learnt so laboriously. Hence the new book. I am up to Chapter Eight, which is a reversible cocoon and I am having fun thinking up projects that are fun, interesting and will advance the learning process.

Anne

 

24.1.12

I now have a proper space to work in, I didn’t realize how much I missed somewhere relaxing to weave in . It is 11 months since I lost the studio, in 5 minutes last February it was gone, and it seems to have taken ages to recover to the stage I am at now. What I have is different but works well.

Christmas Day was not spent having the usual snooze after a big dinner, as my son-in-law Tony, Jane and I put up shelves, sorted the yarn, and the next day got the AVL up and running. Jane and I coloured 2400 heddles (It is a 24 shaft compu- dobby loom, Series A, 30ins wide), and then mainly stood around making admiring noises while Tony did all the hard work. We used wardrobe shelving for the yarn, which has a small lip at the edge, turned it upside down, so the ledge prevents the yarn from falling off, and the shelves run all around the room at ceiling level. Thanks to Sandra Crompton for showing me her well organized studio and letting me borrow the idea.

The AVL is up and running, with a warp on,  I have all the yarn named and sorted by fibre content, I have weaving and posters on the walls, and I feel at home. I have been weaving on my Baby Wolf surrounded by banana boxes of yarn and stuff, now the boxes are gone.  I bought a hair- dressing trolley, which is perfect as it holds the lap top, and has lots of drawers and I can move it from the Baby Wolf to the AVL.  I have one of Walt Turpening’s  benches and it is a dream to sit on. The cat likes it too!.

So here are the photos of the new studio.

I have a collapse weave warp on the AVL, with 1 inch stripes of handspun, and commercial yarn, enough for two scarves, I have lots to learn on this new loom so am not starting with anything to complex. Also I still have problems with my torn tendon in my left shoulder (luckily I am right handed) so will need surgery on it in a couple of months, so I can’t weave for any length of time.

So life is returning to a new normal, we are still having some biggish quakes, two the day before Christmas were quite unsettling, people were crowded into the shopping malls and there was some panic but no injuries and little damage.Ii think what can fall down has done so and I haven’t replaced the broken china anyway.

 

Anne

 

 

 

 

 

7.1.12

My new AVL (24 shafts, 30inches wide compu-dobby) loom arrived the week before Christmas. My son-in-law and daughter came down for Christmas so, after eating a big Christmas dinner, there was no time to have a post-prandial snooze, as they were only here for 2 days. By that evening all my shelves were up. I bought wardrobe shelving which has a 2in lip, turned them upside down, and they are up around the room near the ceiling. The lip has stopped the yarn falling down as we are still having lots of quakes.

By the end of Boxing Day the loom was up and running. It took Jane and I about 3 hours just to colour all the 2400 texsolv heddles. I have a collapse weave warp on, only 17 ins wide, not quite finished threading yet, but nearly ready to go. All the yarn is labelled and I have got rid of all the boxes. For the first time since February, I feel I have comfortable, relaxing weaving space. I have put up posters and weaving on the walls and have yarn hanks hanging down. I didn’t realize how much I missed my ‘proper’ weaving space.

One thing I found very useful. I bought a hairdresser’s trolley. It has wheels, my lap top can fit on the top, it has five drawers and is very sturdy and only 12 inches wide. So now I have somewhere to put all the stuff you need while weaving, shuttles, darning needle, etc. I could even colour my hair while weaving, as I have a little dish which fits in the top!.  Perhaps I can use that for pins!!! I bought it through the internet from Hairquip, NZ$81 + postage.

I will get some photos up of my new loom room, when I have some good ones.

Anne

 

 

28.12.11

We had two big shakes the day before Christmas, the first a  5.8 and the second a 6, both quite shallow, so we certainly felt them. Edward was coming down in the lift for the first one, but it continued down as we didn’t lose power, although lots of other parts of Christchurch did.  We lost a  few small bit of china, but as I haven’t replaced the last lot yet, there isn’t much more to fall down.

Because it was a big shopping day, the malls were full so there was a lot of panic. There was more liquifaction and flooding, mainly in the same areas as the February quakes.  The  sand and water needs to be cleaned up before it dries out, as it then turns to fine dust.  We feel we are taking one step forward, and two back with these quakes. There were only minor injuries this time, but many of the damaged buildings and houses that were repairable before may now need demolishing.

Our Weavers and Spinners guild has a email round robin that we can all reply to to say we are OK, a godsend to those who live on their own. However, we are all shaken with these latest quakes, and feel we have had enough. After the big two on the 24th, we have been having swarms of after shocks, some quite large, and we know these will continue for some time.

The AVL loom is up and running, so I now need to put the first warp on it. I will give an up-date on that in my next newsletter, hopefully with photos.

Anne

 

 

21.12.11

My AVL loom arrived yesterday!!!!.  Two of the boxes are damaged  but I won’t check the contents until the weekend, when I have help to put the loom together. What a great Christmas present. I also have ordered one of Walt Turpening’s stools, so that is an extra treat.  On Christmas Day, I usually have a little sleep after eating a big Christmas dinner but this year I think I will be helping put the loom up. I can’t do the heavy lifting but I need to help as then I will know how everything works.

The loom is 30in wide, with 24 shafts and is compter-assisted. It also has the 100 pick cloth advance. My old loom ( I had it for 22 years and it is still sitting in my damaged Arts Centre Studio), only advanced up to 32 picks, and over that I advanced by hand.

We have a barbecue on the evening of Christmas Day. I can’t imagine a cold Christmas, as I guess those of you in the northern hemisphere can’t imagine our hot day.  It is also the beginning of our long summer holidays, so most things shut down for a few weeks. Our daughter Jane and son-in-law Tony are coming down, Tony is the one who will help with the loom, he also did this web site for me so is a useful lad. He is bringing down a new warping mill he has made for me, as mine is again still in the Arts Centre. Jane weaves full time and Tony makes fine furniture (www.jointworks.co.nz) in their studio near Nelson.

So I now think I have everything I need for the new studio. It is now 10 months since the big February quake so I can hardly wait until I get set up properly. The Baby Wolf has been a godsend in the meantime, and I am up to project 5 for the current book, all woven on this loom.

Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

Anne

Quality Yarns, the mill in Milton, New Zealand, where I get my high-twist yarn and the lovely soft 110/3 merino, has closed down. Lots of large mills closed down many yeas ago, mainly when woolen blankets went out of favour and duvets came in.  Quality Yarns  went into making speciality yarns, and I have been buying from them for many years. I hope someone else can take over the factory, but we will have to wait and see.

I will be looking hard for another source, and will post when I have had some luck. Wool prices in New Zealand have gone up, good news for farmers but not so good for yarn manufacturers.

I have finished the banners and spent last night twisting the ends. I use a battery operated hair braider and if anyone knows of a source for these please let me know. Now the cat is keeping the banners warm, and no doubt moulting all over them. I will have to wait until some warm weather to do the devore work on them.

My AVL loom is on its way and I am hoping it will arrive by Christmas as that would be a great Christmas present. The shelving for my yarn arrived yesterday so I am all ready to make a proper workshop at home.  It is amazing how much new yarn I have accumulated since I rescued my damp and insect-eaten yarn from the Arts Centre Studio.

Anne

6.12.11

At present I am weaving some banners for the ‘Flight’ exhibition. This exhibition is for the Professional Weavers Network, a NZ group of serious weavers who meet once a year. This is our fourth major exhibition and the first show is in Blenheim while the Creative Fibre Festival is on in April.

The reason I am weaving slowly is because I have a torn tendon and some inflammation in my left shoulder, so I do my weaving in short spells. My Baby Wolf loom is only 26ins wide (I thought it was 24), so luckily I don’t have to stretch far. There will be three banners and I am going to devore a series of bird wings in reverse devore, that, is the wings will be left solid, while the background will be transparent. When they are hung, the idea is that the wings will seem to be suspended in mid air and will move and be seen through the banners. At least, that is the theory!

The birds are based on the Godwits, which are marvellous creatures. They fly from Alaska to New Zealand every spring, then fly home six months later. Isn’t that a huge undertaking?. So when you are flying on the long trip to New Zealand, and grumbling about the boredom and discomfort, think how lucky you are. You don’t have to flap your wings at all!. When the Godwits arrive each spring  there is a big photo in the paper, and we breathe a sigh of relief that they have made it yet again.

I will post some photos of the banners when they are done.

Anne

Hi All,

This web site is getting there, we are still adding to it. The latest addition is my calendar, which shows my teaching commitments for next year. All the details are not in yet but it will give you an idea of where I will be. I have two spaces yet to fill in in the USA/Canada section.

I am still setting up the studio at home. It will be much smaller so I have had to have a grand clean out first. My 24in, 8 shaft  Schacht Baby Wolf loom is up and running. Schacht were very generous and also gave me their new Sidekick spinning wheel, which is a beauty. I am the envy of other spinners at our spinning days now.  I have woven three projects for the new weaving book on the loom already.

The other loom will be the 30in, 24 shaft computer-assisted AVL which I am waiting on. And I am getting one of Walt Turpening’s seats to go with it. I sat on one at a conference and was hooked.

I do miss the contacts I had in the Arts Centre studio and welcome visitors to my new studio at home, just contact me first to make an appointment.

The insurance paid out replacement costs for most of the equipment I lost in the earthquake, and for the stuff that is still in the the damaged studio. The building is too dangerous to enter, so my looms, warping mill, shelving  etc are still there. Luckily, in May,  I did get out my yarns and weaving (some damaged by insects and damp), and my books (which were undamaged). It will be years and millions of dollars before the Arts Centre is restored, and much of the centre of the city is still cordoned off. It is odd driving around and because so many buildings are down, I lose my sense of direction. There are now bus tours through the cordoned off areas, but you get lots of instructions what to do in the event of an earthquake and cannot leave the bus. We had a 5.5 quake about 6 weeks ago, so there are still big ones coming through.

We had our Christchurch guild AGM yesterday and I am back on the committee, I think this is my 4th time. We have no permanent rooms yet, so are meeting in various church halls still, Space is so hard to find, with so many lost and damaged buildings. All our guild belongings are still in the Arts Centre rooms, but it is amazing how we have come through. And the support we have received is amazing.

Anne