We have a winner!!

What fun we had with our 12 Scarves of Christmas promotion on our Facebook page. For those who missed it, we posted a picture of one of the scarves we have for sale each day for the 12 days before Christmas. We then invited folks to comment on them, and every day someone liked or commented on the post we entered their name in a drawing to win a 50% discount on one of Barb’s or Karen’s creations.

Even better, we sold three of the scarves before the promotion ended! And we made a whole lot of new fans and friends. Our weekly views skyrocketed! One goal for 2011 is to really get a handle on social networking and make this Facebook thing work even  better for us.

So, congratulations to Debra Davis of Brevard, NC, just south of Asheville, whose name we chose in a very scientific method. I’ll be happy to explain it to anyone curious. We have not met Debra in person yet, but look forward to her visit to sutherland. It seems Debra collects yarn, lots of it. Already we’re kindred spirits. And she’s taking a few small weaving classes in January from a local group. The chemistry is palpable.

So, once Debra gets totally hooked on weaving, we’re looking forward to getting her in some of our classes. Following is Karen’s new class list for 2011. We’re going rogue with the scheduling, as we could never stick to the calendar anyway. If you see a class you’d like to take, call or email and Karen will schedule it based on time and loom availability.

AND don’t forget to sign up for Kathie Roig’s Warp it! Paint it! Weave it! class at sutherland Feb. 18-20. See the Dec. 16 post!  This is going to be lots of fun. Kathie paints warps with fabric paints instead of dyes – a lot less mess. Please call if you have any questions.

Barb and Karen feel very blessed to have spent the last year doing what makes them happy and sharing it with friends old and new. Here’s to finding your creative passion in 2011…and doing something about it!

Hardy Holland took Karen’s Weaving I class last January and several others in 2010. This fall he stopped by to show off the overshot baby blanket he wove for a friend and stitched together by hand! Well done, Hardy!

sutherland Weaving Classes

© Karen Donde

For Beginners

Just Weave $95 This class invites students to weave a complete scarf in one day on a loom already warped in rayon chenille. They will learn the basics of loom operation, how to wind bobbins and efficient weaving and finishing techniques. It is perfect for beginners who want to try weaving before committing to an in-depth class, lapsed weavers who need a reminder of how much fun weaving is or experienced weavers with no time to warp who simply want to spend a day throwing the shuttle or weaving a quick gift.

Weaving I-Three Warps, Three Towels $310 + yarn  Warping the loom can be the most intimidating part of learning to weave. The only way to become comfortable with warping is frequent repetition. This in-depth introduction to weaving guides students through planning, warping and weaving three separate projects on three different short warps in eight 4-hour classes. Dish or hand towels are perfect short projects. The first will be a plain weave towel with a solid colored warp and contrasting color weft. The second will introduce twill. The third will feature threading and color variations. Along the way, students will learn about choosing fibers and colors, how looms and other weaving equipment work, efficient warping tips, proper weaving techniques and how to finish handwoven textiles.

Beyond Beginners

Weave a Twill Gamp $215 + yarn  Students who have completed Weaving I, or have basic weaving experience, can explore four different twill patterns by weaving a gamp or sampler. We will review good warping and weaving techniques, and students will learn how to thread different patterns and vary treadling to weave different but related fabrics. Six 3-hour classes.

More Twills and a Taste of Overshot $215 + yarn  A follow up to either Weaving I or Weave a Twill Gamp, this class introduces students to two additional twill patterns and an overshot threading to make a cotton table runner. Students may choose one threading, or use them in the same warp. Lessons include a first look at overshot theory and design, and examples of twill variations. Six 3-hour classes.

Handwoven Lace Techniques $215 + yarn  Students who have taken Weaving I, or who are familiar with warping and plain weave, will be introduced to three different threadings for weaving lacy, open fabrics using fine cotton or fine wool. Choosing from Huck Lace, Swedish Lace or Atwater-Bronson Lace, weavers will create a scarf or series of napkins experimenting with various pattern effects possible with treadling variations.

Drafting & Design $215  For students who are comfortable warping, working from an existing draft and weaving tabby, twill or other basic weave structures, this class helps them learn how to design their own projects and draft their own patterns. Students will be asked to come to the first class with a general idea of a project they want to weave. We will work through decisions about appropriate fiber, yarn size, color and structure for the desired textile, practice planning yarn needs and pattern drafting and weave a project sample. Students will be introduced to computer drafting programs. Students may supply their own yarn or we will order for you from one of our suppliers. Six 3-hour classes.

Color and Weave $215 + yarn  This class introduces some of the many color-and-weave effects possible when color order in warp and weft interacts with weave structure in a gamp or sampler. Students may choose three different color orders and will weave them in both plain weave and twill. With the remaining warp, students may experiment with other weft color orders. Six 3-hour classes.

Introduction to Designing & Weaving Warp Rep $215 + yarn  Warp Rep is a warp-faced (or warp-dominant) block weave in which a thick weft alternating with a thin weft produces color patterns and horizontal (weft-wise) ribs. In this introduction, students will learn Karen’s building-block technique for rep design. They will then thread studio looms with their own designs and weave a variety of treadling variations into a series of mug rugs or coasters. Six 3-hour classes.  Minimum Experience Level: Advanced beginner. Students must be able to read a draft and warp a precise color pattern independently.

Warp it! Paint it! Weave it! with Kathie Roig

A sutherland Handweaving Guest Teacher Workshop

Feb. 18-20, 2011

sutherland Handweaving Gallery & Teaching Studio is pleased to welcome guest teacher Kathie Roig to the studio to teach her popular and unique method of warp painting in a workshop Feb. 18-20, 2011. The class explores two different methods of painting a warp using fabric paints instead of dye. This spontaneous method of applying color to yarn can be used in either functional or non-functional pieces. Students will learn to paint the warp once it’s already on the loom and prior to dressing the loom, and will be encouraged to experiment with color, texture, and weave structure. Students must have basic warping and weaving experience. They will need to bring a loom pre-warped according to Kathie’s instructions with a warp she will provide in advance. sutherland classroom looms will be available for rental. Contact us as soon as possible for fee and availability.

The class runs 1 pm-5 pm on Friday, Feb. 18; and 9 am-4 pm Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 19 & 20, 2011. Workshop fee is $250, plus a $20 supply fee. Class is limited to 10 students, and full payment in advance is required to hold your space. If the class must be cancelled for any reason, fees will be refunded.

For more information or to register, email sutherlandstudios@gmail.com  or call Barb Butler: 803-513-1814.

sutherland’s “12 Scarves of Christmas” on Facebook!

In celebration of sutherland’s first anniversary, we invite our friends and followers to enjoy a little contest feature we call, “The 12 Scarves of Christmas.” Starting today on our Facebook page through Dec. 24, we’ll post a picture of a different scarf or pashmina available for sale at sutherland. Think of it as a little inspiration for your own or your true love’s holiday gift giving.

Every day you leave a comment (a nice one we hope) we’ll enter your name in a drawing on Dec. 26 for a coupon worth 50% off one of Karen’s or Barb’s creations. One entry per day, please.

Featured items may be purchased in the studio or over the phone at any time, so if you have your heart set on one, best not wait! Call or email for prices.

Enjoy the pictures and good luck!

Karen

PS: Each day we’ll also offer another gift idea available at sutherland. Feel free to share them with anyone you think might be interested.

And here’s a peek at the 1st Day’s scarf.

Happy Accidents

The latest things off my loom are the results of other plans gone awry. But sometimes you succeed despite yarn and color challenges. I am still experimenting with beiderwand and how to turn the draft for faster weaving and more drape. While at the Southeast Animal Fiber Fair last month, I stopped in to see our friends at Just Our Yarn, looking for some pattern threads to go with some of their hand-dyed tencel skeins I had on hand. We pulled out this gorgeous deep red violet color of a very soft cotton from Habu that I’ve used before. It would make a beautiful pattern weft for the next beiderwand scarf. I snapped it up, without another thought.

Back at the studio that afternoon I couldn’t wait to wind the warp. It dawned on me briefly that when turning this draft, the pattern weft would now be in the warp, alternated 1 on 1 with the tencel. I gave it the old “Is this strong enough for warp?” test, before winding the two yarns together. Mistake Number 1. What was glorious on the warping board turned into a nightmare when trying to wind it on the beam. The cotton was just too fluffy, the double-weave sett too dense. I persevered (stubbornness mixed with the thought of wasting this hand-dyed beauty) and once on the beam, it threaded fine. I started weaving the beiderwand pattern and it was beautiful. But about 8 inches into the scarf, the cotton fluff started clogging up my 15-dent reed and those devilish little cotton warps started breaking. One, then another. I fixed them and kept weaving. Then a few more, and finally two snapped in the space of a quarter inch. I gave up on the turned beiderwand for now, but was determined not to waste either the cotton or tencel.

I lifted the pattern shafts, put a cross in all that cotton and pulled it away from the tencel, winding it on a kite stick on the floor under the warp beam. Then I decided to just weave the remaining tencel in plain weave. Probably would have enough for two scarves. I used the remaining cotton on the ball for weft and started weaving (very fast I might add). After about 48 inches of scarf, I ran out of the cotton. I toyed with the idea of using some of the warp ends I’d been saving, then thought better of it. Who says a scarf has to look the same on both ends? I used some stripes of the warp yarn and a little bamboo I had on the shelf to weave another foot or so. It’s a bit short, but I liked it so much I decided to keep it for myself.

The fun thing about those JOY colorways is that you can weave almost any color into them and they look good. I pulled out some turquoise and blue silk I’ve had for a while and decided to weave them together in an ombre pattern. Here is the result. Happy accident number 1.

The remaining cotton warp is now on my studio loom being threaded into a point twill, at a much more open sett and in an 8 dent  reed. We’ll hope that ends in happy accident number 3.

Happy accident number 2 was the result of not wanting to move heddles around on my teaching looms at the studio to accommodate that beiderwand project. (I wove that at home.) With an empty studio loom and time, I decided to stop planning and figuring and just wind a warp out of leftover bobbins. Because they came from Barb’s stash (thanks, Barb) they were mostly silk and bamboo. I gave only minor thought to the order and started winding stripes. As soon as one bobbin emptied, I started another. Here’s a pic of the warp on the warping board. I thought it reflected Meagan Chaney’s tiles pretty nicely.

Barb dubbed it the ugliest warp she’d ever seen. You can’t see the audacious pink stripe in this pic. Again, I persevered. After our first sutherland Weaver’s Study Group meeting last month, I decided to weave some honeycomb in this scarf which I threaded into twill blocks. That looked nice but was a bit heavy, so I wove the center portion in 1/3-3/1 twill to make pleats. Then I finished off the other end in honeycomb. Barb still wasn’t convinced. So I washed the thing, which made both the honeycomb and the twill pleats do their thing. Then I decided to stitch the honeycomb ends into tubes to more closely match the width of the twill pleats. Ta da! Happy Accident number 2.

As for the short scarf, I haven’t photographed it yet. It’s around my neck today.  

Karen

Weaving His Way Back into Notoriety

I’m not really a Conan O’Brien fan, and was only half paying attention when I first caught his new American Express ad. Here he was walking into a shop in India, picking up a cone of silk and tasting it. Then he’s winding it, presumably a warp, weaving it on a loom with a fly shuttle (well, we see only one pick), crushing berries for dye and standing waist deep in red water either dyeing or rinsing.

Next time I paid more attention. Still kind of missed the point of the Amex ad, but enjoyed all the weaving references. Maybe we should show this in a loop when explaining how much work goes into our fine handwoven cloth. The slogan: “When every detail counts.”

Even if you’ve seen the ad, here’s a longer online version, which is even better.

Enjoy.

Karen

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/08/conan-american-express-india_n_780364.html

As it should be…

I had an economics professor back when I was in college – the first time – who used to talk about “hog heaven.” I can’t quite remember what constituted hog heaven from an economics standpoint. It had something to do with supply and demand, and it seems the elasticity of one or the other was involved. Basically it described a state where everything was humming along happily.

Now while today’s economy may be a long way from hog heaven, I found myself in that blissful state today. I had returned from design class at Haywood Community College, where I have finally enrolled in the Professional Crafts-Fiber program, albeit on a limited schedule. After lunch I parked myself in my sunroom overlooking the Western North Carolina mountains and went back to work on my tapestry loom finishing a piece for the Blue Ridge Fiber Show in October.

Meanwhile at the studio, I have two students coming in for class on Saturday, and I am weaving a scarf also intended for the Blue Ridge Fiber Show. It’s turning out even better than I’d hoped, but I won’t share pictures of either until after the show is judged, just in case the handweaving judge should happen across our blog.

So while I was weaving today, listening to my Josh Groban CDs and snacking on a few pieces of dark chocolate (for my health, of course), I was thinking about these projects, being in school again and all the exciting things coming up on the sutherland schedule this fall: new classes; the start of a new study group at sutherland (more about this soon); the CURVE studios & garden open house and twilight party the last weekend of the September, an in-studio workshop with Daryl Lancaster on Sept. 27, new displays and furnishings we’re adding to the gallery side of sutherland, a special exhibit of contemporary tapestry rugs by Wence and Sandra Martinez that opens Oct. 8 with an artists’ reception (more about this later too) and being able to share it all with my good friend and studio partner, Barb.

Suddenly I started remembering Professor Kuhlman and hog heaven, and how that seemed like a pretty good description for my current state of mind. I don’t have a clue what hogs had to do with it, but here we are, me and the hogs, lovin’ life.

Karen

I’m on TV, but don’t blink

Remember when I told you about QVC coming to our studio to do some filming about Asheville for a jewelry designer? Well the segment aired on Aug. 8, and here’s a link to a very brief peek at me at the loom now on UTube. CURVE studios & garden got a nice plug, and that’s our studio mate and CURVE owner Pattiy Torno quilting.

Constance Williams next door got a speaking part, but then she’s president of the River Arts District Artists. The other clips about Western North Carolina are fun to watch too.

Seriously, don’t blink.

Karen