In the distant future: I just submitted four class proposals for the PA Fiber ArtsFest in September. I taught at the first one two years ago, and was on the schedule for last year but had to cancel for health reasons. I hope they let me come back; I haven’t been teaching nearly enough.
- Proposal 1: Card Weaving for Anyone (Half-day)
- Proposal 2: Fingerloop Braiding (Half-day)
- Proposal 3: Ply-split Braiding (Half-day)
- Proposal 4: Sticks and String: Weaving with Minimal Equipment (Half-day)
That last is a new one. I’ve written about it here before but not taught it hands-on. But I just got the wonderful new book Norwegian Pick-up Bandweaving by Heather Torgenrud, and it has reignited my enthusiasm for that particular textile technique, including my desire to do it with the least possible equipment.
See, everything you really need to weave these bands is available at an office supply store: a box of unsharpened pencils, a package of rubber bands, a ball of twine, and two bulldog clips. I’m still working on the best low-equipment warping method, but I have time to figure that out.
I’ve started a new Flickr album for band photos, though there isn’t much there yet.
One of my great enthusiasms is getting people interested in weaving without forcing them to purchase complicated expensive equipment. Another is the way skill of hands and equipment complexity can be interchanged. And look: they overlap right here, in pick-up band weaving. Perfect!
on Feb 10th, 2015 at 7:32 pm
Ah, you’re working on a plan similar to what I was doing — getting people to try weaving in the most non-threatening way I could think of, thus the potholder looms that so many people remember from their childhood. (I just got that book, too. I’m looking forward to dipping into it soon. :-) )
on Feb 10th, 2015 at 7:51 pm
Yeah, it’s been a thing of mine for oh, ten or twenty years. :) More weaving! String for all!